Search - Tartar Lamb :: Sixty Metonymies

8/10

Rifugium | Newtown Square, PA | 09/07/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Over the past three or four years, I've been listening to Toby Driver's works more and more, and inasmuch paying more attention to what he is doing in the music world. Many that know the young imaginative musician deem him a genius. Personally, I am extremely sparing with the term, and I am not quite prepared to label Driver as such a thing. True, he is the creative mastermind behind such projects as "Kayo Dot" and its precursor "maudlin of the Well," but I think it is far too early to start throwing the word "genius" around. However, he is brilliant nonetheless, and this latest project of his is yet another deep exploration into the realms of his imagination.



First off, if you are expecting another Kayo Dot or motW, Tartar Lamb does not deliver such a thing. Sixty Metonymies is more of a minimalist work, closer in comparability though not exactly similar to Toby's solo project "In the L..L.. Library Loft." It is dark, mysterious, and cleverly subtle. With the exception of the final moments of the last track, Sixty Metonymies is an instrumental work, comprised of three lengthy tracks and a shorter one. It includes mostly plodding, hollow, and non-distorted guitar sounds, accompanied by the versatile violin of Mia Matsumiya, some horns, and very few percussive elements.



From the start and throughout nearly the entire album, the rhythms and themes are very abstract and enigmatic, progressing, evolving, and un-evolving in a seemingly sporadic fashion. I get a mental image of an anxious and fearful search through unknown territory, the cause and outcome of which remain uncertain even at the very end. Intertwined are deeply rooted feelings of sorrow and misguided anticipations. The uncertainty comes to full fruition in the culmination of the album. Whereas the entire album seems based upon natural and primitive components, an unexpected robotic voice pervades the final moments, leaving us questioning the very existence with which we were presented herein, and feeding curiosity with more ambiguity rather than concise solution to the plight at hand.



Toby Driver seems to have a gift for making highly reflective and introspective music. Music that you can listen to over and over again and contemplate endlessly, and still never completely grasp what it was he was trying to convey. It is a buffet for the desires of even the most insatiable listeners, and even so, it leaves you wanting more. And at the rate Driver is going, I think it's safe to say he has much more to offer us in the future. To the diligent musical explorer, I offer the sage advice of keeping a close watch on everything that Toby Driver does, if you don't already."

Don't pay so much for this, even if it is "worth" it.

Ehron L. Zech | Madison, Wi | 11/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I would like to agree with the other reviewer who has done a succinct and thorough job of detailing the contents of this cd.....I am merely here to warn you not to spend $50 on this disc (even though it may be worth it to some), go instead to the Tartar Lamb Myspace page or the Kayo Dot website and purchase this direct from Toby Driver.... do not spend so much...until this becomes out of print and impossible to find otherwise. I would also like to add that Toby Driver and Mia are an exemplary duo on this release and I hope they continue with Kayo Dot and other musical endeavors; there are simply very few other musicians like this! Viva avant garde!"