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LIFE & ARTS

Dntel strikes ‘Luck' with Sub Pop debut

First album in nearly six years is nuanced, showcases collaboration with a slew of independent musicians

by AUSTIN HAVICAN 
The Daily Cougar

Almost six years after his latest release, Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello has finally assembled an album comparable to 2001's Life is Full of Possibilities. Dumb Luck, Dntel's first album on Sub Pop Records after five years of creation and revision, does more to earn its listeners' respect than the happenstance title suggests.

The track listing almost reads like that of a rap album, in that every song except the title track features a guest artist's accompaniment. 

"Dumb Luck," the first song on the album, is all Tamborello and acts as a warm and choppy introduction to his musicianship. Don't try to figure out how the guitars are cut up to create that staggering wash of calm electronica, or you'll forget to notice the curiously personal lyrics, pop-electronic chirps and acoustic guitar.

Despite the do-it-by-myself comfort the album starts with, Dumb Luck quickly adopts all the positive traits of collaborative music. Death Cab for Cutie/Postal Service frontman Ben Gibbard is curiously absent from the album when one considers how heavily he was involved with Possibilities, but Postal Service band mate Jenny Lewis (also of Rilo Kiley) lends a pleasant influence to "Roll On."

Although it does feel more like Tamborello brought his computer to a Rilo Kiley practice, the song is about the difficulty of perseverance in the face of self-disdain and unhappiness toward the people around you. In other words, it's like most Rilo Kiley songs.

That's not to say Dntel is a little bit of electronic music added to the work of other popular indie artists. Bright Eyes fans may pick up the album for Conor Oberst's involvement in "Breakfast in Bed," but they'll be surprised by the departure from his traditional vibrato vocal style. Tamborello's electronic influence is slow-moving and strange ? thudding bass lines and lightly-tapped snares follow pedal-heavy guitar plucking and keyboard blips.

The music is all Dntel, but leans toward the undeniable spheres of influence from the various guest performers. Unlike rap albums, though, many of the featured artists sing and play additional instruments.

The album's second track, "To a Fault," features the voice and instrumentation of Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear and sounds like one of Animal Collective's songs heavy with repetitive plucking and ambient fuzz. Two minutes into the song, the pair shifts to synthesizers and digital clicks, and the reverb-soaked vocals carry the title through the fade-ins and -outs of early 90s-style keyboarding.

Out of context and on paper, the album probably seems like a disorganized mess of noise and indecision, but Dumb Luck is actually a great collection of music. The five-year incubation period Tamborello allotted doesn't necessarily come across on the first listening. Although the calmness of the album makes careful analysis seem counterintuitive, paying close attention to the complexity and delicate placement of samples offers a deeper sense of construction that's almost completely absent from current Top 40 hits.

Please send comments to dcshobiz@mail.uh.edu.