CD: Computer vs. Banjo

Well, 2008 is almost ¾ over, so start getting ready for those year-end lists (you can bet a few of them will be supplied by our own Jeff Lyons, too). This year has been such a blur for me that it’s going to take some thought to get my picks all sorted out in my head. But one thing is for sure, since I’ve been living with the self-titled release from Computer vs. Banjo, the track “Guitars Need A Sinner’s Touch” has vaulted itself right up there with my favorite individual tunes for the year.

When I first heard their name I thought they were either going to be a real tongue-in-cheek act a-la Cake or some smirking folkies who got their hands on some sequencers, had a mind blowing Newport ’65 moment, and well, you know the rest. Not so! Overall this sounds to me like (wait for it) the guys from Toad The Wet Sprocket and SixteenHorsepower got together and put out a recording helmed by the guys from Soulwax (swish!).

Oh, there actually are banjos here – but utilized very sparingly. They’re never the centerpiece of the track (or, rarely – “San Joaquin” and ‘Give Up On Ghosts” are welcome exceptions), and when they do show up they tend to have watery processing applied to them that you don’t often hear – adding a really unique tone to the sonic palette.

OK, so, the aforementioned “Guitars” is just the knock-down killer of the lot – but there are a few others with similarly memorable choruses over expertly crafted downtempo grooves that bubble to the top for me (including “Outerspace” and the gorgeous mandolin-powered “2Heavy2Hold”)  which could have made for an absolutely epic EP if rounded up together.

That’s not to say that this LP is a misstep – it just takes what you’d hear on that EP and plays around with some more stylistic changes and experimentations in between. Check out  the 4-bit digital glory of “Concealed” – I would bet money that one of those samples is from Atari’s “Yar’s Revenge”…um, only EVERYBODY’S favorite fly-based video game. Actually, the whole album is worth your time and attention to let it grow on you – the only track that doesn’t really connect for me is “Magazine Queen”, but that may only be because I have such an aversion to songs about women in magazines…being seventeen…being beauty queens…that’s territory better left for Journey or David Coverdale or some other castrato in purple spandex.

So, did you listen to enough great music made THIS year to have a complete hipster top 10 to post on your Facebook page? If not, this lil’ nugget may just help you round out that list. Go banjo, go!

- Russ Starke