Dntel
Aimlessness
Pampa Records
Album CDPAMPACD006
Out: 01-06-2012
Electronica
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What we say
Pop and electronica eye each with mutual curiosity: the latter longs to get stuck in a
listener’s head like a pop song, the former longs to incorporate the exuberant sonic
richness of electronic s
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Pop and electronica eye each with mutual curiosity: the latter longs to get stuck in a
listener’s head like a pop song, the former longs to incorporate the exuberant sonic
richness of electronic sounds. From his home base in Los Angeles, Dntel has
transformed this mutual desire into an inexhaustible love affair. The magical,
unforgettable melodies and strange, outlandish sounds of his music generate an
intimate, unique universe.
With the 2001 album Life is Full of Possibilities, he established himself as one of the
most important figures in the glitch scene, which has infused electronic music with
new dynamism and complexity. Unforgettable songs like “Anywhere anyone” won him
a loyal fan base. Since then, Dntel – aka Jimmy Tamborello – has explored many
different moods and worlds of emotion in numerous releases. As much as a certain
degree of solitude and perhaps even isolation is a condition of his music, he has
never been satisfied sitting alone in the blue glow of his laptop. The list of singers
with whom he’s collaborated reads like a who’s who of West Coast indie music. As
part of the band Figurine, he developed an at times charmingly bewitching, at times
absurdly silly electropop sound. Together with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie,
he started The Postal Service, whose song “Such Great Heights” was featured on
Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Songs of the past Decade. It caused a small sensation
when Nirvana’s former label Sup Pop signed Tamborello as its sole electronic act, but
it also took the artist somewhat out of sight of his European fans. Not so for Pampa
founder DJ Koze, who met Tamborello after playing a gig in Los Angeles. Together,
they decided to release Dntel’s fascinating Enya remixes on Pampa, but legal issues
intervened and Tamborello released the tracks online instead. But the artists stayed
in touch. As Tamborello began recording Aimlessness, Koze assumed the role of
transatlantic counterpart, helping the artist mold the exuberant flow of ideas into
tracks and the tracks into an album.
From its earliest moments, Aimlessness transports the listener to the middle of the
Dntel universe. The opening song, “waitingfortherest II” is Dntel’s foam birth:
inexorable electronic sounds breathe life into a body, an emotional world. “Jitters”
explores the way childish naivety can evolve into presumption, how helplessness and
implacability work together. “Still” featuring Baths, is a pop monument whose
haunting vocals are ripped from the noisy electronic sounds like the gusts of a storm.
“My Orphaned Son” evokes distant memories; a gentle house groove anchors the
track in the here and now. In “Bright Night” a surprising effervescence bursts forth
from beneath Dntel’s habitual shyness, its groove transforming itself into a rhythmic
buzz. In “Retracer” a friendly, meditative dub groove pumps against thronging,
shimmering sounds into which an ethereal female voice is woven. In “Puma” the
inclusion of jubilant strings annuls the austerity of looped Steve-Reich-like chords;
in “Santa Ana Winds” Nite Jewel’s voice shines like a glacier in the winter sun. The
intrinsically quieting sounds of the album are interrupted by the playful game console
bleeps and swinging rock groove of “Trudge”. The wistful techno beats of the “Jitters”
Geotic mix (Geotic is a side project of Baths' Will Wiesenfeld) evoke Wolfgang
Voigt’s Love Inc. productions; The pensive mood they generate then dissolves into
the optimistic, light-flooded house beat of “Doc”. The album fades away with the
graceful “Paper Landscape" in which sublime fanfare sounds sampled from
krautrock heroes Popol Vuh are interwoven with playful analog synth beeps.
One wonders how this so very otherworldly music fits into one’s idea of L.A.
Tamborello's home base in L.A. is the public radio station dublab, where he produces
the weekly Dying Songs broadcast. L.A., it turns out, is not just about endless
freeways, perpetually good weather and, lately, mainstream dubstep. From Van Dyke
Parks to Pavement, from the Dead Kennedys to Dr. Dre, California pop music has
long fascinated listeners with its emotional depth. In much the same way, Dntel pulls
us into an improbable maelstrom of beautiful iridescent melodies and never before
heard electronic sounds.
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