Talkdemonic Issue #37

Eyes At Half Mast (Arena Rock)

By Lou Battaglia
Published: September 1st, 2008 | 4:58pm

Talkdemonic is the evolved bedroom project of Portland multi-instrumentalist Kevin O’Connor and the Decemberists’ touring violist Lisa Molinaro to create Eyes At Half Mast, the band’s third release, and an album of fleeting instrumental sketches that are as refreshing as they are sleek. With beats and rhythms recalling the more organic aspects of Ninja Tune and melodic aspects resembling a mesh of Tortoise, Album Leaf, and a scaled down Bell Orechestre, Talkdemonic comes across as the Pacific Northwestern version of early-Four Tet, except with a bottle of Merlot replacing ketamine as the narcotic muse of choice.

While most of the songs on Eyes At Half Mast seem to derive their structure from instrumental, down-tempo-ish hip-hop, unlike much of the gaudy and overproduced music of that ilk, these songs are concise and even overly brief — only three of the 14 songs end up clocking in at over three minutes. Furthermore, despite being a duo, Talkdemonic places a heavy emphasis on live instrumentation, which, besides Molinaro’s viola, includes an assortment of regularly appearing wind and string instruments that give Eyes At Half Mast a poignantly organic and flowing feel.

While this range of instrumentation covers significant sonic ground, it is O’Connor’s dynamic drumming that interlocks all the albums various parts into a perceptible grove. With the minimalist momentum of O’Connor’s drumming, the teeming melodies on tracks like “Black Wood Crimson” are then able to develop emotions that such concise songs rarely realize. The blissful moments that arise on “Tides In Their Grave” and “Dust and Heat” are all the more affecting because they float away and out of view as quickly as they seemed to have surface.

While Talkdemonic pronounced brevity as their strength, it also might prove their greatest weakness. The album is a brisk listen, and these songs may end up realizing the bulk of their potential in a live setting, where the band can bring them to a different level.

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