Brainchild of remarkably talented Seattle songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist
Erin Birgy
,
Mega Bog
serves as a loosely knit collective of musicians bringing
Birgy
's restrained, sophisticated pop songs to life. Along with playing in a handful of other bands,
issued multiple lower-stakes
albums, working alone or with help on various cassette and CD-R releases and playing D.I.Y. tours across the land.
Gone Banana
will most likely be an introduction point to
's sound for many, and there could be no better starting point than this fully formed distillation of the project's various muses. The songs bound along with a lilting but mysterious feel, blending the music-school academia of high-gloss acts like
Steely Dan
and
the Blue Nile
with fuzzy home-recording production that adds a level of distance to
's soft, commanding croon. Prominent saxophone on many tracks by
Jacob Zimmerman
juxtaposes the darkly psychedelic feel of songs like "Cologne in the Night" with a profoundly smooth atmosphere. Somewhere between D.I.Y. experimentalism and slick musicianship,
achieves a strong foothold in a strange, almost unnameable type of mood, one that lingers softly for a while after the album comes to a close. ~ Fred Thomas