Dntel

Dntel, the project of Jimmy Tamborello, former guitarist of Strictly Ballroom and brain behind Figurine's synth-pop effort Transportation + Communication = Love (1999), was revealed to the world by two albums that had originally been recorded in the 1990s. The mostly instrumental Early Works For Me If It Works For You (Phthalo, 1998), recorded in 1995-97, is an accomplished if derivative collection that runs the gamut from the lively synth-pop of Loneliness Is Having No One To Miss to the orthodox drum'n'bass jam Pliesex Sielking and to the lugubrious industrial atmosphere of Curtains. His soundsculpting skills are on display in the lush, sleek and creative movement Fort Instructions from church organ to carillon. There are moments that border on new-age music (Sky Pointing), but complemented by hypnotic cosmic moments (Winds Let Me Down Again). The trance aspect of the music becomes psychedelic in High Horses Theme and Termites In The Bathtub. The African element emerges in Danny Loves Experimental Electronics, like a jam between Jon Hassell and Spring Heel Jack.

Something Always Goes Wrong (2000) is mainly devoted to a six-song suite recorded in late 1994: In Which Our Hero Begins His Long and Arduous Quest, a bit too smooth, In Which Our Hero Finds a Faithful Sidekick, a little more abrasive, the eight-minute In Which Our Hero Is Put Under a Spell, a slow ominous synth wind in the vein of old cosmic music, In Which Our Hero Dodges Bullets and Swords, the ten-minute In Which Our Hero Frees the Damsel in Distress, a bit too mellow and simplistic, and In Which Our Hero Is Decapitated by the Evil King, a bit too bombastic. It's a rather childish work. The album also includes two 1999 drum'n'bass pieces: The S.O.S. and A Machine and a Memory Keep You.

Tamborello used laptops to craft the charming folk tunes of Life Is Full of Possibilities (Plug Research, 2002 - Sub Pop, 2011) and immerse them into a glitchy soundscape. What stands out is the sophistication of the sound. Umbrella is a delicate elegy wrapped in dense and loud drones, Anywhere Anyone is a lament wrapped in a psychedelic echo chamber, Why I'm So Unhappy is the prototype for somnolent and delicate female-fronted songs, the instrumental Fear of Corners is a sea of celestial electronic waves. The standout Suddenly Is Sooner Than You Think is a barely audible female lullaby that disintegrates in abstractions before returning lulled by an accordion. Zen meditation and cosmic music combine to turn the beat-less Life Is Full of Possibilities into a poem of suspense that ends in a melodic loop. Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard even sings a conventional pop ballad, (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan, but the result is awful. The album ends with an instrumental piece for guitar and strings, Last Songs, that sounds like the remix of a film soundtrack.

The Heartfelt (March, 2005), credited to Figurine, was an exercise in retro electronic pop that blended techno and synth-pop of the 1980s.

Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake (Plug Research, 2006), credited to James Figurine (yet another Tamborello persona), is vaguely reminiscent of New York's electroclash school (Fischerspooner and the likes) but more obviously related to Euro-disco-pop.

Dntel's Dumb Luck (Subpop, 2007) veered towards Figurine's more accessible sound, leveraging a cast of distinguished vocalists (notably Mia Doi Todd in Rock My Boat). But the protagonist was still the arsenal of electronic and digital devices employed by Tamborello to sculpt beats and soundscapes, something akin to the role of the producer in crafting the aural context of a hip-hop rap. The style of the songs ranged from rock'n'roll to country to pop ballad, but they sounded cohesive and uniform because they all sprang from the same hi-tech method.

Dntel's Aimlessness (2012) lacked both the magic of his best productions and the class of guest vocalists.