mebop

with spectacular drums and intricately placed layers, contrasted between angelic, dreamy vocals and harsh, grating tones, the soundscape on WE WERE JUST HERE is massive and diverse. each added instrument is deliberate, ebbing and flowing with purpose--subtleties such as the bass have an emotional quality that are absolutely necessary in completing just mustard's sound. while sometimes lacking a finishing touch that would elevate songs to the sky, such as SILVER and SOMEWERE, nothing is ... read more

there's no denying frank sinatra's voice and its impact--as too many have said, it is warm, soothing, sleek, a rich baritone--but in the wee small hours begs the question, what more is there? to answer that, beyond his consistently smooth performance, he delivers lyrically, too, with voyle gilmore's production complementing it without impeding his voice's strength. while not masterful nor magical nor exquisite, this album still has its charm--little splashes of color and ... read more

the bass feels random, the solos feel misplaced, the instrumentation is plain, and really, all it has going for it is a sense of flow and some good performances (but that's pretty easy to achieve with the rate of the music i'm listening to). i'm just left asking myself, what story is being told? what emotion is this evoking? what musicality can i injest? what direction are we headed? and i have no response for those questions. it's just not pleasing.

while not stellar, the instrumentation still manages to achieve some level of variability and dynamism that kept me barely hanging on throughout my listen. the bass is largely uninteresting, dragging on some, but the cello has a nice quality that solidifies the presence of the saxophones and the trumpet. simply put, the arrangement feels somewhat coherent, with stormy weather and abstractions featuring a much more defined mood thanks to the aforementioned cello (thankfully, it doesn't drag ... read more