Pino Palladino & Blake Mills - Notes With Attatchments: Review
This is a collaborative album
that I was looking forward too given the pair of names attached to it. Both Blake and Pino have done most of their work in the music industry from behind the scenes with Pino in particular playing bass on a ridiculously stacked amount of legendary projects over the years. Given that Blake has completely blown me away with his production and arrangements on the last two Perfume Genius records I was excited for what the pair was going to bring. Notes With Attachments is a strange series of instrumental compositions with a wide variety of instrumentation that is unafraid to be unconventional throughout.
The first leg of the record makes liberal use of a horn section which I didn't anticipate, but rarely do they sound like a conventional execution of the sound. Soundwalk has quite the unpredictable arrangement of keys and brass. It sounds like one of those YouTube videos where they take a song and put the beats out of order because everything is composed and makes sense together sonically, but the notes are never predictable and will certainly keep you on your toes. Ekute appears like a much more conventional jazz composition at first but it breaks the mold by increasing the tempo while leveling out the mix in a really strange way. There's also a second half breakdown that re-emerges with a completely different sound and mood. While none of it is sonically dizzying it is unconventional enough to stand out. The opening track Just Wrong takes its time building up to the core of its composition with a rousing brass section that bounces between relaxing lounge vibes and some more high intensity moments. The background is fittingly spacious and it all feels like something you'd head in a 5 star restaurant on the Arctic Monkeys moon hotel, at least until the wild off-kilter drums kick in.
Djurkel is the first point on the record where it starts to really feel like a bass driven project with the hooky groove that it builds instrumentation around. Unfortunately I think most people's enjoyment of the song will depend on the trumpet solo that takes up quite a bit of the back half of the song and while I can see some people enjoying it, I think the way its presented in the mix feels so thin and I wish it had a lot more impact. The title track Notes With Attachments is under two minutes and I wonder if it would have fit better as the outro of the project. It spends a lot of time in its second half fading away which doesn't really feel fitting for a song smack in the middle of the record, especially when the next track has an extended intro of its own. I feel similarly about Off The Cuff it's the records most conventional and lowkey song and it serves as the closer. While it is pleasant to listen to it also feels like a flat way to end the record off compared to how expressive and unique it is for most of its runtime.
Chris Dave is definitely taking the cake for strangest percussion on the record with what sounds like both a conventional drum set as well as some kind of alternative percussion running at the same time. It's once again kind of unsettling but intriguing nonetheless despite the more comfortable performance style and it makes for one of the most memorable songs here. Man From Molise features all kinds of cool splashes of abstract instrumentation surrounding the core bass. It's a great combination of a relaxing sound while still having creative sound play. With the 2nd half in particular sounding like a strange ancient carnival I can't express just how much I love the unique sonic palette that makes up this track.
Notes With Attachments succeeds in creating experimental and off-kilter songs while using a mostly conventional array of instrumentation. This means that when alternative instrumentation arises it is usually fresh and interesting but it also keeps me on my toes from start to finish, never really sure what the album is going to do. While that sensation connects these songs there isn't anything strong that ties them together beyond that and the hit or miss nature of the record makes for a mixed bag. This is an interesting instrumental album that is certainly worth hearing for anyone who is a fan of either artists involved, but I don't foresee it developing a reputation as anything other than a strange side project. 6/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
This is by far the most to the point cover I've ever reviewed. It is what it is. I like the boldness the artist has and how every person is credited because that is usually overlooked in music. I do think it could have been done in a different was with a better background color and font combo but it's just words on a grey square. Nothing exciting. They get points for boldness but that's mainly it. 4/10
For more Blake Mills production check out my review of Perfume Genius' Set My Heart On Fire Immediately here
