Tragic Animal Stories

Tragic Animal Stories

Editorial Reviews
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Any college rocker worth his or her bachelor's degree will sooner or later head wide-eyed in search of postgrad sound adventures. Few, though, will be as well equipped to handle a musical career beyond the gates as Eric Bachmann, maestro behind the one-person pop ensemble called Barry Black. It shouldn't surprise us: Bachmann's main gig, Chapel Hill's Archers of Loaf, has always exhibited an aptitude for making music that transcends its indie-rock pedigree even while helping define the genre. Besides, Bachmann had the advantage of spending his college years in music school. While most were chugging down Pearl Jam, Eric sipped Stravinsky. Though too informal and unassuming to be taken for anything but a lark, Barry Black's self-titled 1995 debut was an unexpected gem of eccentric pop that revealed compositional talents Bachmann had only hinted at in his other band. Now we have its sequel, Tragic Animal Stories, a far more formal and self-conscious affair. Taking time to more fully script and sculpt the arrangements, Bachmann cashes in on some of the skills he learned in orchestration class. With a blend of instruments both classical (strings, horns, woodwinds, piano) and modern (guitars, percussion, loops), he paints each of the 10 tracks in a rich and distinct--and playfully appropriate--hue. The results are like Peter and the Wolf done by the Brian Wilson Chamber Group. The pieces are consistently generous to modern pop tastes, even adding in fond references to Erik Satie's piano figures, John Cage's exotic percussion, and Brian Eno's static ambience. --Roni Sarig --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

<"b000001hwy4995"> Album Details
Eclectic solo project of Archers of Loaf frontman Eric Bachmann. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.