Tuesday's Recommended Release

For six years music geeks around the world have patiently waited for a new album from the technical pop prodigy known as Max Tundra. Since releasing his wonderful Mastered By Guy At the Exchange was released in 2003 we have been yearning for some more video game blips and bleeps, some more jangly keyboard bits, and of course Max's wistful melodies and quirky lyrics. It's been quite the wait, but at last it's finally over with the release of Parallax Error Beheads You and album that immediately atones for the long delay with some of the finest electro-pop out there. Of course, this is music for geeks with all the programming involved in the making of it and all the technical references found within the songs, making this an album that is probably not going to win everyone over but will make the egg-heads pretty happy.

For six years Max Tundra, or Ben Jacobs if you prefer to go by actual names, has been toiling away working on this record, the odd job here and there, and little else. It shows as everything on this album is meticulously laid out, with programming loops and melodies pieced together to give a fully realized sound that is never rushed but is immensely dense and layered. The album also reveals a lot of loneliness experienced by Jacobs during the making of this albums. Songs like "Which Song" detail his yearning for the perfect woman and the fact that he lost the woman detailed in his 2002 album, Some Best Friend You Turned Out to Be. Of course he also mixes all these emotions with his technical background combining emotional lines with references to pieces of technology as in the wonderful "Will Get Fooled Again" which details his trials meeting women through the online world of Myspace and Friendster. As emotional as it can be it is also done with a self-deprecating humor that is a joy to behold. He almost laughs at himself throughout parts of the album and the sounds of all the electronics and piano add to the light heartedness with which he experiences his emotionally trying times. In other words he's not going goth or suicidal just because he can't land his dream girl.

But when you get right down to it the reason us music dweebs log in to find out about new Max Tundra material is the sounds he lays down. Relying heavily on the Commodore Amiga (though it's apparently mostly for sequencing as we'll learn in my interview tomorrow) and a variety of other synthetic sounds, as well as an array of scales on his keyboard, Jacobs composes his most immediately pop album to date. It's an album with surprising depth and layers that may seem a bit chaotic during your first few listens, but it spreads out with each successive listen.

All in all this is a damn fine record from Max Tundra, certainly worth the six years of waiting we've had and definitely one of the year's finest piece of music. It's a compelling, interesting listen that you can get down to or bounce around with or sing along to whatever your preference may be. It pushes the pop music to new soundscapes and new places that only Max Tundra can bring us to right now.
Max Tundra - "Will Get Fooled Again"
Max Tundra - "Which Song"
Max Tundra - "Number Our Days"