"The intricacy he puts into each instrument shows the talent that he does possess"
-Alec Cunningham, BLANK News
Even if you think you’ve heard it all, Brantli may still throw you an unhittable curveball. He is like nobody you’ve ever heard before, guaranteed.
Brantli sings with a high, wavering voice.
Motion Days is Brantli’s second release, and first full-length offering. He also put out the EP Gold Rooms in January of 2012.
Brantli has called both the east coast and Austin, TX his musical home at different points during his career. The Austin, TX in his musical personality is most overtly revealed through his guitar playing. He accompanies himself with a sort of avant-garde style that somehow also incorporates Stevie Ray Vaughan licks -- of all things. A song like “Light to Water,” for instance, finds Brantli singing its words, and then throwing in cool guitar licks between verses. This happens on most, if not all, songs on Motion Days. It creates an odd, but ultimately rewarding aural juxtaposition.
There are times when this music brings Antony and the Johnsons to mind, mainly due to Brantli’s vocal similarity to Antony Hegarty. It’s strange because Brantli songs feature fairly standard arrangements. Something like “Gold Room Yesterdays” would simply be a pretty ballad, were it not also for Brantli’s unusual and otherworldly singing and guitar playing on it. These two elements are truly the wild cards in his artistic arsenal.
The arrangement to “New Road (Up and Down)” stands out from the pack. It begins with a sparse bass and drums groove, before the guitar chords come in sounding like a heavy metal song. However, there is so much open space in the arrangement, as well as a spacey guitar solo it could only be heavy metal if it were on the absolutely wrong drugs. Lyrically, this track appears to be a song about life’s various directions. Simply put, when life puts us on new paths, these fresh ways come with both their ups and downs.
If you don’t appreciate Brantli’s voice – and let’s face it, his singing is an acquired taste – you can always just choose to focus on his guitar playing alone. While the lines he chooses to play on his guitar are jarring at times, they’re usually also surprising and pleasing. There are instances when he brings to mind jazz guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer, an Ornette Coleman protégé who is as influenced by Jimi Hendrix, as he is inspired by free jazz. Ulmer both rocks and swings, but in the most peculiar ways, and the same can be said of Brantli.
Brantli ramps up the volume and rhythm on many of these tracks. However, he also has a gentle side, too. This softer region of his musical personality is best expressed on “White Bird Home,” which brings Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” to mind in various moments. It finds Brantli stretching out on electric guitar with pretty, staccato notes that also have a little Nigerian African flavor to them.
Motion Days is one of those albums that folks will either love or hate. It’s simply impossible to imagine Brantli’s songs as ever becoming music of the masses. It will, however, find a good home with eclectic musical tastes. Those that get easily bored by, say, 4/4 time pseudo-disco dance songs on the radio will gravitate magnetically to Brantli’s off-the-beaten path approach to creating music. He’s like a visual artist that is more interested in creating visual design than painting realistic nature vistas. He goes to the beat of a different drum, that’s for certain. To put it another way, many people are satisfied with burgers, fries and Cokes for lunch. But for those with more exotic propensities, Brantli offers a tasty alternative to the same old thing.
-Dan MacIntosh
Paste, Mean Street, Chord
Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5)
Brantli sings with a high, wavering voice.
Motion Days is Brantli’s second release, and first full-length offering. He also put out the EP Gold Rooms in January of 2012.
Brantli has called both the east coast and Austin, TX his musical home at different points during his career. The Austin, TX in his musical personality is most overtly revealed through his guitar playing. He accompanies himself with a sort of avant-garde style that somehow also incorporates Stevie Ray Vaughan licks -- of all things. A song like “Light to Water,” for instance, finds Brantli singing its words, and then throwing in cool guitar licks between verses. This happens on most, if not all, songs on Motion Days. It creates an odd, but ultimately rewarding aural juxtaposition.
There are times when this music brings Antony and the Johnsons to mind, mainly due to Brantli’s vocal similarity to Antony Hegarty. It’s strange because Brantli songs feature fairly standard arrangements. Something like “Gold Room Yesterdays” would simply be a pretty ballad, were it not also for Brantli’s unusual and otherworldly singing and guitar playing on it. These two elements are truly the wild cards in his artistic arsenal.
The arrangement to “New Road (Up and Down)” stands out from the pack. It begins with a sparse bass and drums groove, before the guitar chords come in sounding like a heavy metal song. However, there is so much open space in the arrangement, as well as a spacey guitar solo it could only be heavy metal if it were on the absolutely wrong drugs. Lyrically, this track appears to be a song about life’s various directions. Simply put, when life puts us on new paths, these fresh ways come with both their ups and downs.
If you don’t appreciate Brantli’s voice – and let’s face it, his singing is an acquired taste – you can always just choose to focus on his guitar playing alone. While the lines he chooses to play on his guitar are jarring at times, they’re usually also surprising and pleasing. There are instances when he brings to mind jazz guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer, an Ornette Coleman protégé who is as influenced by Jimi Hendrix, as he is inspired by free jazz. Ulmer both rocks and swings, but in the most peculiar ways, and the same can be said of Brantli.
Brantli ramps up the volume and rhythm on many of these tracks. However, he also has a gentle side, too. This softer region of his musical personality is best expressed on “White Bird Home,” which brings Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” to mind in various moments. It finds Brantli stretching out on electric guitar with pretty, staccato notes that also have a little Nigerian African flavor to them.
Motion Days is one of those albums that folks will either love or hate. It’s simply impossible to imagine Brantli’s songs as ever becoming music of the masses. It will, however, find a good home with eclectic musical tastes. Those that get easily bored by, say, 4/4 time pseudo-disco dance songs on the radio will gravitate magnetically to Brantli’s off-the-beaten path approach to creating music. He’s like a visual artist that is more interested in creating visual design than painting realistic nature vistas. He goes to the beat of a different drum, that’s for certain. To put it another way, many people are satisfied with burgers, fries and Cokes for lunch. But for those with more exotic propensities, Brantli offers a tasty alternative to the same old thing.
-Dan MacIntosh
Paste, Mean Street, Chord
Rating: 3 Stars (out of 5)