Friday, July 27, 2007

Dntel - Dumb Luck

Dntel
Dumb Luck
(2007, Sub Pop)
5.0/10


5 years after Life Is Full of Possibilities and this is all Dntel could come up with? This has to be the most disappointing release of the year so far for me. Where Life Is Full Of Possibilities was a majestically constructed, minimalist glitch-electronic album, Dumb Luck plays like a half hearted display of Dntel's new indie acquaintances to stale beats. High profile friends has been the downfall of a lot of hip hop and electronic/dance music and Dumb Luck is a prime example. Almost every track features a random guest artist singing awkwardly over Dntel's new affinity for boring tracks dipped in a tiny bit of fuzz. Just because your friends with Grizzly Bear, Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst doesn't mean that their unique voices are going to tie in with your music. The number of guests effectively fragments the album into as many ideas as there are tracks, making listening to Dumb Luck from start to finish difficult even if you don't have ADD. The real problem is that it seems like Dntel doesn't have control over his own music, and is left with a scattered album featuring ideas that were stale 5 years ago, shortly after Dntel's involvement in the Postal Service. An unfortunate return from an artist capable of so much more.

-Mr. Thistle

Dntel - "Dumb Luck"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

true that when compared to previous albums it may not be "as good", but standing alone for what it is, this is a good electronic pop album. i think listeners of the postal service or the like would really enjoy it.