Monday, January 15, 2024

If Tchaikovsky Had Called It "The Apathétique": A Cautionary Tale

From late last year (November), and his (then) just released new album What A Difference Indifference Makes, please enjoy pop craftsman extraordinaire John Dunbar and his neo-classically melodic confection "I Wonder If She Colors Her Hair Now."

Or, as a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance said to me as I was listening to this yesterday -- "Wow. It sounds like George singing a Paul song." Which sums it up pretty accurately, I think (and saves me the trouble of trying to characterize it -- thanks, babe!)

Meanwhile, as John (incognito) puts it in his press kit over at Bandcamp:

Dunbar has been known to give himself specialized guidelines when embarking on new albums to keep things fresh and challenging. This new album is no exception. During a radio interview he did while promoting The Other Women, the host pointed out that each song John chose to play by his favorite artists were their “piano songs". An astute observation. Dunbar recognized that he certainly had a soft spot for songs where the piano carried the instrumentation. With that in mind he decided to try and make an album of songs that could all fall under the category of “piano songs.". There are no guitars on the record, other than the bass. Although he ruined any chance of the album being reviewed in Guitar Player magazine, the results sound positively inspired.

I should add here that if John's name seems familiar, it's because I previously (2020) and justifiably raved about his work as part of his equally fab band The John Sally Ride (featuring friend of PowerPop and proprietor of the invaluable Burning Wood blog Sal Nunziato on drums). I should also add that among his other obvious gifts, John has a real flair for song titles, as witness the new record's hilariously yclept "You Really Got Meh."

Heh.

In any case, Indifference is now my favorite new album; I suggest you hie thee over to John's Bandcamp site and stream and then buy a digital copy pronto.

You're welcome very much.

2 comments:

Gummo said...

Nice. Retro in the best possible way.

Joe Jackson made a no-guitars album 40 years ago with Night & Day.

Anonymous said...

Jaunty and wise. Liking this.