Wednesday, December 14, 2011

MP3// Alto Jeffro: Stay At Home


When I'm sent something like this I usually pass on posting it, sending a polite email in the place of dissection results. For Alto Jeffro however, the moniker for Jeffery Gallagher, I felt the need to give him a chance. I won't lie, most of the tracks brimming over the edge of his SoundCloud don't work. The quality of the recordings or more the lack of such control and sonic restriction limit the music. 'Stay At Home' is one of the few numbers in which the truly brilliant experimentation is not mauled by fluctuating, irritating reverb and spikes of deadly high pitch. The gritty guitar phrases are muffled at the start but a drum beat and a bubbly, surreal melody soon take over. They settle into a certain groove, the vocals less important than you might initially think. There is something very chilled about them, care-free, with a blissfully ignorant ethos diffusing through the air. At five minutes long you have all the time in the world to fall into step with this refreshing aesthetic, and I am digging it. An electronic voice represents Jeffery's lover, her monotonous tone really quite thoughtfully executed. A few harmonies here and there and a relatively catchy chorus give 'Stay At Home' potential and an awful lot of it! Any producers out there? Get this guy in a studio! Stream up above.