| The Robot in the Clouds | ||
|
1. The Bloodship 2. My Feet are Tied to Cabins 3. Service Station 4. The Ghost of James 5. The Onion Farm 6. Pear Trees (of Deceit) 7. Bee Boy Banishment 8. Bramisher's Road 9. The Nightshade Family |  | |
| *PC=Right-click to download song MAC=Ctrl-click " " | ||
| Recorded over the months of February and July 2006 on a MXL 991 condenser mic, an A.R.T. Tube Mic preamp, and into a dell laptop on cakewalk. Mixed on Ashley's setreo at the "Couch House" where it was also tracked in two different rooms. ANDY COMBS: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar and Electric Guitar, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Violin, Viola, Cello, Banjo, Harmonica, Mandolin, Programming, Humanatone, Key-boards, cover art, layout, engineering, mixing, production, kazoo, pots and pans This album is so hot Andy got his own press review in the Portland Willamette Week! Check it out: Andy Combs and The Moth The Robot in the Clouds (Tingle Finger) Combs traverses a world of genres, but remains firmly planted in the clouds. [MIXED-BAG FOLK] The credits inside The Robot in the Clouds, local solo artist Andy Combs' second release, read as follows: "CombsÑvocals, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums, percussion, violin, viola, cello, banjo, harmonica, mandolin, programming, humanatone, keyboards, cover art, layout, engineering, mixing, production, kazoo, pots and pans." And that abundance of instruments accounts for Combs' thoroughly eclectic sound: Robot's nine tracks vary from melodic pop to freak folk to even metal. And every time an interval of tracks consistent enough to be categorized turns up, the album immediately changes into something elseÑmaking Combs' sound impossible to pigeonhole. On the eerie opening track, "The Bloodship," Combs wryly sings, "I pocketed my hands when the bitter frost began its bite/ It gnawed away my poor thumb so I haven't a full five/ Now I can do equations if they have to do with nine," with a Danny Elfman-like whimsy and Tom Waits-ish creepiness. But despite the fact that Combs' quasi-demonic delivery sometimes emulates Waits', the delicate tone of his voice is more evocative of Sexton Blake's Josh Hodges. Standout track "Service Station" (which is awfully reminiscent of Isaac Brock's work as Ugly Casanova) momentarily takes the album's dark mood into more humble and happy territory via a classic ragtime/country sound. And that feeling carries over onto the next track, "The Ghost of James Datson," on which Combs momentarily puts the electric guitar to rest in exchange for a banjo and harmonica. But, a few songs later, Robot changes pace again when Combs unleashes "Bee Boy Banishment," the album's heaviest track: Its intense drum beat and helium-morphed vocals result in a Ween-meets-Queens of the Stone Age mix that's as intriguing as it is unexpected. The fact that Robot skips across so many genres while still remaining coherent is enough to convince you that Combs is a bona fide mad genius. His cornucopian creativity and impressive use of plethoric instruments place CombsÑlike contemporaries Anton Newcombe (Brian Jonestown Massacre) and BeckÑin that elite class of musicians who continually surprise listeners by not only taking risks, but pulling them off. -DEVAN COOK © 2006 Andy Combs. TF Release #039 | ||
© & ® 2007 TingleFinger.com Recordings. All Rights Reserved.