WK6 - Mister Barrington - Mister Barrington (9)

Released - 1/17/11

Label - Mister Barrington

BLURB - Sometimes the best music out there inexplicably finds it's way to you. Whether it was initially a track you saw on someone's playlist, a song you heard as you walked passed a co-worker's cubicle or a great opening band you had no intention on seeing. If you're a music person, good songs and bands will somehow find their way to you - as is the case with the virtually unknown Mister Barrington. It may have been shear luck and happenstance on how I came in possession of their debut album, but clearly it's no coincidence. The record sparkles with stellar musicianship and creativity. Rarely will you find a track that is anything less than dynamic, meticulously structured or entertaining. Mister Barrington seemingly takes everything out of the pantry for this release, carefully blending jazz, electronica, funk, pop and r&b into a meal that is best served with the volume up.

Rating - 9 out of 10

FULL STORY - My roommate, who is also my co-worker, came back from lunch a few weeks ago with "Mister Barrington" in hand. He said, 'you won't believe this, but I just ran into Owen on the street and he had just gotten a bunch of these albums made - they're from some side project I guess.' So almost immediately we posted them on our shared hard drives and forwarded them around to some other friends at the office. Almost every response was, 'woah - what is this?!' That was really the question of the day. Much of the rest of the afternoon was spent analyzing this album and I think we finally settled on calling it the end result of a night of recording with Medeski Martin & Wood, John Legend, Dam-Funk, Lotus and T-Pain.

Weeks later, I'm still listening to it ad nauseam. The album is really all over the place and is constantly genre-hopping from one song to the next, while for the most part, keeping a steady foundation of laid back jazz and electronic grooves. It's extremely tough to put down, as with each listen you're hearing new sounds, effects and progressions. Aside from all of this creative chaos, what jumps out when listening to the Mister Barrington are the vocals - which are entirely crafted via auto-tune / vocoder... whatever you want to call it. So after I listened to one song, I was immediately like, 'what the hell is this cheesy auto-tune doing on here,' thinking it was just for one song.

At first I was kind of hesitant to offer the album it's just credibility due to the vocals, but I'm starting to hear how well it compliments the music. The auto-tune fad of the past decade really set hip-hop and pop music back. Instead of writing the best music they could and working with great vocals, auto-tune was used basically as a crutch to turn terrible singers into cool robot-voiced hook machines. Mister Barrington takes this auto-tune notion to a more practical approach. The band, in all seriousness, operates without any strict musical guidelines or boundaries. So it shouldn't really come as that big of a surprise that the album operates with mostly electronic voicing. Ironically, this process turns out to be a huge compliment to the music which, while heavily influenced by jazz, is filled with electronic and digital accentuations. Mister Barrington has the capacity and ability to blur the lines between not only genres and moods, but even the definition of what a song should sound like. The digital voicing allows the group to also blur what is meant to be a 'vocal' with the actual music, riffs and harmonies. The end result turns into a record that is ambitious, experimental and clever - three adjectives that every band should strive for.

For me, the second track, 'Running Away' is what really turned me into a fan of Mister Barrington. The song begins with a breezy piano introduction that reminded me of something John Legend would write. Seconds later, this ephemeral intro fades as distortion and effects build up to a head - turning into what would become the actual song. What gets spit out into the speakers is a funky, electronic groove that is immediately likable. Floods of organs establish a jazzy background while the vocals create an early 2000's hip-hop vibe (sans rapper). The drums and bass are locked tight and play off of each other extremely well - there are variations, fills and runs creating almost a conversational feel in the background of the song. As the track runs it's course, the pace, tempo and instrumentation continuously morph in and out of different colors and moods. On top of all of this, 'Running Away' has hooks and riffs throughout the verses, chorus and bridge turning the track into what I'm calling a non-traditional pop song. It's impossible not to fall in love with this song - it really has everything.

I couldn't imagine calling 'Mrs. Waters' Shopping Trip' by any other name. It's perfect theme music. The vibe is a mix of old and new school, set to a walking pace of relaxing pop and jazz. Permeating the minimal groove are tons of effects, dialogue and cool little sounds. While the main foundation of the song is gentle and airy, the instrumentation and pace vary...you can tell the track is gaining steam and momentum for some kind of powerful climax. We're teased around the 1:30 mark with a brief break that eventually turns back into the original progression. However, the song continues to build towards something and around the 2:50 mark you know something is bubbling under the surface. Finally we're met at 3:20 with the culmination of every thing the song had been moving towards - an extremely creative and powerful outro that's comprised of auto-tune vocals, a slew of more effects and background noises. What's great about the outro, is that the original progression that had been wandering around for the past three minutes is still used, but reworked into a newer, dynamic version.

'Losing My Mind' sounds like something Dam-Funk would have written. For whatever reason, this song has a real 'west coast' feel to it. I don't know what makes me say that, but it's what I'm hearing. The track has the potential to be commercial smash in some other world. The songwriting is incredibly pop yet does have some kind of tangible edge to it. The chorus and bridges have a large, full sound that engulfs the listener. It's very easy to just throw yourself into this song. One of the later bridges sees the song using many of the same riffs, but set to a steady diet of piano and even some horns. Again, this is what really makes Mister Barrington amazing - their creativity and willingness to vary the tempo, construction and instrumentation of their songs without ever compromising the song itself. Every variation or tangent they veer off on to, almost always works.

'Losing My Mind' eventually fades into 'Slippery Rail Conditions' where a silky smooth groove grabs your attention. Here it's the piano and bass that really lock in with each other. Different riffs and motifs are effortlessly bounced off of one another - showcasing the band's musicianship and precision. By the end of the track, it feels like you're sitting in some lounge listening to a great jazz open mic and everybody is clicking. The piano feels warm and inviting, as the bass maintains the groove while constantly throwing in some clever licks, courtesy of Owen Biddle.

I really don't know what will come of Mister Barrington or where they will go. Their debut album is both ambitious and adventurous, and could prove to be something of a barrier to get through. But for those that do push through and jump in, you're rewarded with each listen. Mister Barrington is that creative and fun album you've always been looking to find while digging around in someone's crate of music. You may have to throw your expectations out the window and take a risk, but it's worth it.

Can't embed it, but check out 'Mister Barrington's Daydream' here.

Tracks

1.) Place in My Mind

2.) Running Away

3.) Mister Barrington's Daydream

4.) Interlude One

5.) Wrong Number!

6.) Don't Wanna Be

7.) Mrs. Waters' Shopping Tree

8.) Interlude Two

9.) Losing My Mind

10.) Slippery Rail Conditions

11.) When I Go

12.) On a Journey