May 7, 2002 by A.S. Van Dorston

It’s ironic that a fan of such elaborately produced British music like Bowie, King Crimson, Genesis and XTC would write a paean to low-fi recording. It makes more sense knowing that after John Vanderslice’s experimental pop band MK Ultra broke up, he was inspired by Neutral Milk Hotel’s richly layered music recorded with modest equipment. Vanderslice is on a creative roll, producing his third solo album in less than three years. Like last year’s Time Travel Is Lonely, The Life And Death Of An American Fourtracker is loosely based on a theme inspired in equal parts by William Blake, contemporary fiction by Steven Millhouser, with additional lyrics by John Darnielle (Mountain Goats).

Here the tortured, romantic child prodigy struggles with his instability and ends up drowning himself in the ocean while still a teenager. It’s a familiar story about the torture of artistic inspiration, drugs and suicide, but co-starring, um, recording equipment. Leave it to the owner of Tiny Telephone recording studios to come up with that modern twist — there’s even a love song called “Me and My 424.” To my ears it beats the hell out of Tommy. With help from members of Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie, Mates Of State and Beulah, Vanderslice’s sound is richer than ever, his voice stronger and less quirky. His arrangements deftly segue from spare acoustic moments to full-blown orchestral bombast on tracks like “The Mansion,” with horns blaring with a nicely booming Led Zeppelin/Flaming Lips drum sound. While the protagonist is a failure, the music is a love-suite about the amazing possibilities of sounds. It helps that it also features some of Vanderslice’s best songwriting, every track piled with infectious hooks, melodies and emotion putting him on par with fellow eccentric mad geniuses Hawksley Workman, Eels and Sparklehorse.