| D Numbers - Lightparade |
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| Written by Steve McPherson | |
| Monday, December 10, 2007 at 11:34 AM | |
 D NumbersLightparade Self-released myspace.com/dnumbersband I have a weakness for instrumental music, particularly of the indie rock variety. Perhaps it's because I play guitar but can't sing, or maybe it's because most of my musical education was in jazz, even though my heart always belonged to rock. Whatever the reason, bands like Pell Mell, Tortoise, Tarentel, and Battles (who are more or less instrumental, since Tyondai Braxton's vocals are almost always warped well beyond human) have always appealed to me, even if they've never been my absolute favorites. Like those bands, Santa Fe, NM, trio D Numbers say something about the primacy of texture over technicality with their music. More melodic than Tarentel (who, bless them, are purposefully as melodic as a refrigerator), less math-rock than Battles, more electronic than Tortoise, D Numbers is a band whose coordinates can be sussed through triangulation, to an extent. Their debut CD, Lightparade, opens with "Atalaya," an extended meditation on what happens when you rub two disjointed and angular guitar riffs together. Buzz saw guitar melodies that wouldn't be out of place on a Shawn Lane record are laid against this fractured base, but just when you think you've got them figured as a proggy rock fusion band, a hint of dub floats in. And when the melancholy acoustic guitar of "Xylem Up" drifts out of your speakers, you're in an entirely different space. The honky, funky bass that rides up next to it sounds like an outtake from a mid-period Red Hot Chili Peppers record, but it sits beautifully next to spidery Rhodes lines and the harmony guitars that guide the song melodically. The clean and ringing electric guitar harmonies in "Collusifiction" will remind you of The Allman Brothers' "Blue Sky," even while the underlying keyboard lines are more reminiscent of Nintendo music from the 8-bit era. It's a soncially diverse record, but built around a consistent structural approach. The weight of the record rests squarely on its layers, a feature common to bands and artists that rely heavily on looping. If you can think of the dynamic structure of music as existing in two planes, then the way individual parts build and recede over time is horizontal or linear, and the way parts build and recede against each other is vertical or structural. The use of loops or samples tends to lead to a more vertical structure since these things are difficult to change on the fly. D Numbers, however, do an excellent job of making the music move in both these planes. As players, they're flexible enough to incorporate something as standard as a guitar solo here and there, injecting what might otherwise be a compelling piece of texture with verve and individual creativity. Thus the music moves up and down and in and out as well as forward. By its very nature, instrumental music tends to be more impressionistic than vocal music. With no words to get in the way, we're free to make records like Lightparade the soundtrack to a clear, bright snowy day, a rainy, inky black night, or a hazy summer afternoon. It's a testament to D Numbers' flexible musicality and ear for melody and tone that their debut record could be at home working within any of these contexts. Lightparade is a compelling and complex but immensely enjoyable first effort, and one that should win the band greater success. COMING UP: D Numbers is opening for Mel Gibson and the Pants as part of the Minneseries. Thursday, December 13. Nomad World Pub . 9 pm. FREE. 21+. |
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| Last Updated: Monday, December 31, 2007 at 03:50 PM |
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