Brian Arlet
Vengeance by Villagers
self-released
Click to hear: “The Bamboo Strut”
Local musician Brian Arlet makes songs that land just this side of what’s called Outsider Music — the crazed compositions of off-kilter (and often off-key) performers like Daniel Johnston, Captain Beefheart and Portland’s own Dan Knudsen. Most mainstream music fans would consider this album amateurish and unlistenable, but for those with ears to hear it, there are joys abounding among these eight diverse, quirky compositions.
“Seagulls and Loons,” the opener, is a Maine version of a Martin Denny exotica song, an organ-heavy instrumental with birds and a bouncy bass line in the background. “The Greatest Thing” switches gears, delivering a simple — and simply wonderful — pop ditty about a pregnancy, buoyed by acoustic and wah-wah guitars.
My favorite track is a cartoony instrumental called “The Bamboo Strut” [which you’ll also find in the Music section of our Web site]. Arlet sprinkles a bunch of fun and funny sound effects over a groovy, effects-heavy guitar line. You can’t help but smile.
“Feel Low Down” hearkens back to Arlet’s previous release, the more guitar-centric and traditional In Rhythm, I Have Rhyme. Imagine Syd Barrett playing slide blues in an echo chamber, and you’re halfway there. The breezy “Shake it on Down” follows, featuring some nice backing vocals by a trio of ladies and Vince Nez.
The last track, “A Believer,” is as close as Arlet gets to rockin’. It’s just him and an electric guitar, but it packs a power-chord riff that sneaks up on you as surprisingly as it ends. Good stuff.
— Chris Busby
For more on Arlet, see myspace.com/brianarlet.
