Memory Tapes: Player Piano

Memory Tapes
Player Piano
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

As a genre, chillwave had a very short shelf-life. There is really only so much you can do with a blissed out, sunkissed, dreamy sound that hasn't been done before. All the bands that were the stars of the scene, Washed Out, Toro Y Moi, and Memory Tapes, have released their follow ups to their defining albums and the results have been quite interesting. Toro Y Moi ditched the chillwave sound entirely, moving toward a more 70s R&B/disco vibe, which, at least for me, didn't work very well. Washed Out's first full length (after two lauded EPs) Within and Without has just been released, and I will likely review it next week, and at first listen sounds like his original work, but more expansive and with much better production values. By far the most notable member of the genre, Memory Tapes's (one man bad, Dayve Hawk) debut album Seek Magic was filled to the brim with experimentation, hooks, and a fun vibe. It was on endless repeat two years ago on my iPod. With breathless anticipation I have waited for his sophomore release, wondering where he would take his sound.

Player Piano is an interesting second album for Memory Tapes. The experimentation and hooks are still there (and it is obvious the production values are far better), but where on Seek Magic these worked off each other well, here they seem to be an odds with each other, creating a tension that is in some instances welcome, and in others in congruent. Almost all of the tracks start in one direction and then end up in a completely different place, making the album feel slightly schizophrenic. The good thing about this approach is that if a part of a song, or the album, is not to your liking, you merely have to wait a few minutes and something new will come along. In contrast, when you are digging a hook or melody, he inevitably mucks it up by taking it in a direction you don't want it to go.

When he gets it right, it is spot on. "Sun Hits" is a 3 and 1/2 minute piece of pure pop bliss, with chiming/ringing guitars and upbeat tempo, featuring the lyrical hook "Nothing's a dream if you never wake up."



"Trance Sisters" is slightly darker, but also benefits from a driving beat, fuzzy surf guitars, and funky synths.



"Offers" features a delightful use of oboes as a counterpoint effect to the lowkey instrumentation and laconic delivery of Hawk.



And first single "Yes I Know" is a complete surprise, a delicate, almost pastoral ballad, featuring lush synth strings and woodwinds to calming effect.



The problems with Player Piano are not many, but they are pretty glaring. First, on Seek Magic, Hawk only sung on a few tracks, the remainder being instrumentals. Here, he pretty much sings on every track, and his voice, which is thin and reedy, is best taken in small doses. And to mask his weak voice, most of his vocals are heavily reverbed or multi-tracked to mask his deficiencies. And second, as mentioned earlier, the songs that mutate have some diminishing returns. "Today Is Our Life" begins strongly as a midtempo electronic pop song, then midway turns into a synth-pop/country hootenanny.



"Worries," on the other hand, starts weakly with a bizarre organ churned melody and high-pitched vocal from Hawk, but erupts midway with gorgeous guitars and upbeat drumming.



The rest of the album is made up of slight instrumental passages that really don't add to the flow of the record or provide any direction to where Player Piano is going. Hawk still knows his way around a hook and how to put together sounds that you wouldn't think would go together; but where that talent was fully focused and brilliantly executed on Seek Magic, here it is mostly scattershot and unsuccessful. By trying to make himself into a "band" he has limited himself, and unfortunately his voice is just not strong enough to carry an album's worth of songs. For his next project, it would benefit him to rely more on his strengths, and to not try to be something he is not.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.