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The
Spectacular Fantastic: Vortex of Vacancy
Weve lost Mike Detmer, only to find him manning some sort of psychedelic pop spaceship with tubed, folk-grown food and alt-country fuel. He lays down a path of tight tracks in a beautifully, poppy way. So here begins the story of a man named Mike Detmer and how he came to be named Singer/Songwriter of the Year by Cincinnatis City Beat weekly After shooting burning and bright through the North American skyline, he landed crashing and awkward on the streets of Indiana. Then after years of wandering, he began crafting ideas, literature and songs and molding them, wrapping them around each other in his basement, alone, looking for the perfect form of expression. Thus, he discovered music. He realized that with choruses and hooks massive and catchy enough to hold someones attention through an entire song no, an entire album he just might crack the code, The Pop Code; and this is how he became accused of Singer/Songwriter of the Year. The album works as a patchwork of songs ranging from floaty, bright, space-ridden Starlight Mints flavored pop, through bouncy Pavement-esque quirkiness, only to land in beer-drenched, lonesome blues-soaked folk bits. A road is laid down through the landscape set before us, glowing from the moon, shining against the space above. Synthesizers, electric guitars and a verse that reminds me of Kylie Minogues version of Loco-Motion starts us on our path under the guise of Eskimo. A little later, Youre the Reason, skips through the grass in a playful Gordon Gano-style verse, which leads into a giant Beach Boys borrowed chorus a wonderful combination in my book. After a few tracks amble on by, Adore opens with a somber, haunting slide guitar caressing a depressed, tired rhythm very reminiscent of Skynyrds Tuesdays Gone; just as heartbreaking too. The lyrics Mike spin are wonderful. Further down the road, as dirt turns to gravel around Heartache-Heartbreak, Mike trades his keyboards, fuzzed guitar and noises for a saddened acoustic guitar and harmonica. Here weve sobered up a bit, because we ran out of substances a few tracks I mean steps back, and weve tipped our country-western hat towards the moon and put our folk boots back on. We near home and the gate shuts behind the end of the album as a few more singer/songwriter tracks lead us out. My conclusion: the first half of the album is pop brilliance. The remaining pieces are very good and heartfelt, but not as captivating as the first unfortunately. In its entirety, however, this is a solid album. Mike Detmer can write some damn good songs.
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