John Vanderslice Again!

So my dreamboat has a new album out this month and it is called Romanian Names. It is pretty sexy so far. I say "so far" because I have only listened to it a few times and if you are like me, you know that albums are singular pieces of art that need to be broken in. Overall, I find the dynamic quality of this album different than previous Vanderslice. There is a very transparent, concise quality to every track, and we do not experience his usual bombardment of compression distorted acoustic guitars and jagged synths. He instead seems to be working in a different medium that includes very accessible song structures and melodies. That is just a fancy way of saying he sounds more mainstream on this album, also evident by the shorter average song lengths. He is working within average human attention spans and sounds more "Popy", and am ok with it. But, I will probably always be ok with whatever he does for as long as we both exist and have ears.
His albums have always had distinct flavors. But dispite that overall flavor, the individual tracks always seem to be quite dissimilar. In the case of this album, the track "Fetal Horses," one of his lead singles, has some very Morrisseyesque vocal melodies in the verses. "C & O Canal" brings in a Lo-Fi two step sound that just reminds me of everything my stereotype of "Indie kids" love. I have to say though that I think my favorite track has been "Too Much Time." There are lots of little surprises in the form of subtle nuance that just make it all sound very right, something he has such a knack for.

It is not my favorite John V. piece yet, but I will still listen to it a lot because it is still new and makes me giddy. His last work, Emerald City, was absolutely brilliant in my view, and Cellar Door may just always be closest to my heart because of how fantastic it is, and how many countless times I have listened to it for days in my car. The best advice I can give JV unawares on this album is: just buy it and worship him with me.