- Danuel Tate is a contained maximalist. On his own, he hasn't done anything on his own yet as clearly iconic as "Indie in Me" or "Dump Truck," which he made as part of Cobblestone Jazz. But while that group's output has obvious musical connections with the pair of solo EPs—2007's wonderful Pushcard and 2009's far more skeletal (and iffy) Doesn't Like You Back—Tate has released on his own, his solo work is clearly distinctive.
The clearest tie with Cobblestone is—what else? —jazz. But rather than adapting that music's group-improvisatory methods, ala the trio (or quartet, if the Mole-enhanced lineup that made the group's last album holds), Tate likes to work with riffs and patterns that sound like they were performed by people who've had a few, then tweak them till they're squiggly, airy, fizzy and utterly comfortable with their own loopiness. Take the relatively quiet "OK Then." Here, the piano and bass and percussion are all playing recognizably jazzy figures very quickly. Speed is as much a jazz trait as anything, but here the instruments' speed of delivery feels tweaked and slightly cartoony—like someone who can wear neon orange and hot pink together without seeming desperate for attention.
"Shootingblanks" is more straightforwardly jazz-funky, almost loungey, with a loose hi-hat pattern, very dry snares and nod-along electric keyboards, but the "vocals"—snatches of syllables occasionally passing through the mix like extra percussion—give the groove more of an off-kilter feel. "I'll Be Your Whatever" goes furthest out, changing tempo and feel several times within a short span. But if "wacky" was the point, this album wouldn't be worth discussing. Tate's weirdness isn't an end in itself—he's rickety and jittery in a way that feels lifelike as well as arty. And he layers things in ways that draw connections. "Populatio," for instance, makes a short, hypnotic two-chord piano pattern its base, like a midway point between modern jazz piano and the mnemonic riffs at the heart of house music.
Tracklist 01. Mexican Hotbox
02. Big Spender
03. If I Want To
04. Careful Mind
05. OK Then
06. California Can Can
07. Shooting Blanks
08. I'll Be Your Whatever
09. Cinnamon Sugar
10. Populatio
11. City Kids