NEWS. PRESS. MUSIC. SIDE PROJECTS. CD BABY. ITUNES. CAFEPRESS. PHOTO. CLIP. THINK. DONATE. LINK. INFO. PRESS. Review of darling one year @ Indie-Music Reviews: Daniel Gannaway ~ darling one year Posted on Saturday, December 04, 2004 @ 08:01:43 EST Topic: Reviews Artist: Daniel Gannaway CD: darling one year Home: New Zealand Style: Suburban Folkster Quote: "Pioneering instrumentation insists on nothing but the freshest ingredients            while still calling to mind the generation’s pop titans." By Genevieve Will Daniel Gannaway’s album, darling one year, feels the closest to a good trip as any I’ve had recently. Down to earth and laid back, it has none of the musical tension of trying too hard or the injection of false emotions. Suburban folky and bohemian chic, it ties up agreeably layered and distorted vocals into an angst-ridden, quirky pop as catchy as The Strokes but easily as mysteriously engaging as James Keenan Maynard. Infusing his genre-jumping style with a bit of electronic sound only adds to the distinctive vibe flowing throughout darling one year, and the inherently diverse nature of the album doesn’t stop there. This surfer boy has managed to ride a wave deeper than most and doesn’t seem to worry about finding another when this catch is over. A natural Viagra for the sterile music environment enveloping the current scene, Gannaway’s pioneering instrumentation insists on nothing but the freshest ingredients while still calling to mind the generation’s pop titans like Beck’s Sea Changes or perhaps a darkened Jamiroquoi. Effortless transitions from heavy to light, such as the ever so pleasant ones in “Julie,” preserve quality taste of songs like a spanking new Tupperware container. Glaringly uncomplicated guitar playing positioned nearly unintelligibly over many more sheets of the same, opposite complimentary bass by Michael Brennan and some truly excellent percussion and “looping stuff” from Stan Leboy make the album a surprising delivery from a singer songwriter. And while on the singer songwriter note, one should probably be able to sing a little; Gannaway’s no exception. Lingering somewhere between Beck’s sometimes dour humming and a Jeff Buckley-Daniel Lanois crooning competition, Gannaway lives up to all of his inspirations and others’ with an unperturbed swaying intonation easy on any ears. This New Zealander proves his prowess in the songwriting realm as well. Although sometimes on the dark side, he evinces no qualms about titling songs “Student Debt Sucks,” and the like. The aforementioned song has a gloomier side, of course, but is not without humor. While repetition ultimately helps establish a setting for his songs, Gannaway’s refrains do tend to get a little lengthy, resulting in a mildly droning end to some tracks. Still, with lines like “you say my god has treated me like a cheap one time fling,” how can you resist? Check out this fling (and he’s worth more than one time). >> BUY darling one year @ CD Baby Quick links: >> MP3s & CDs @ CD Baby! >> Apple iTunes >> Rhapsody >> iSOUND >> MP3tunes >> Napster >> eMusic >> myspace >> VIRB >> ReverbNation >> CafePress ^ top ^ thankyou for supporting truly independent music