|   French Paddleboat's Rome Loves Tan, though just now getting a vinyl release, was originally released in 1996 as a small-edition cassette on the esteemed Union Pole label. Scott August, the mind behind French Paddleboat, was never quite happy with some of the idiosyncrasies of the record, but later Paddleboat recordings and his work as one-half of Vote Robot commanded his attention and the songs were left as-is until now. This new version of Rome represents a more fully realized vision than the original tape did: August tightened up and reworked the songs and loops. One song was replaced with a more fully realized piece ("Indication of Motion," track 3, side 2). In a sense, this version offers insight into both the earlier work of French Paddleboat, as well as what he's up to now. The music-making process on Rome emphasizes analog, homemade sound sources in much the same way as Paddleboat's work with Vote Robot, though here the tone is gentle, familiar, and unabashedly pretty. The songs are, for the most part, structured on acoustic drum beats, played live and looped, which lend a solid foundation of familiarity and rhythm to the songs. From there Paddleboat layers chimes, bells, clarinet and warm keyboard tones in meticulous and intricate arrangements. The resulting songs are a wonderful combination of melody and experimentalism — particularly mind blowing in that everything here is so meditative and understated. In the wrong hands, things could quickly get stale and academic, but everything here is melodic and strangely catchy. One can listen to Rome Loves Tan for its unique take on electronic music, but one can just as easily sit back and bask in the warmth and beauty of the music presented here. Edition of 300 copies, in paint-by-numbers style silk-screened sleeve. |
