Looper
Up a Tree
SubPop

These days, Belle and Sebastian, for whom Looper’s Stuart David plays bass, make some of the catchiest folk pop on the planet. The lyrical and musical content of their records is absolutely top notch. For some folks, though, the breathy, overly expressive singing can be more than unnerving. Stuart David and some close friends (ie. Looper) have done us the favor of alleviating this minor hindrance, for the most part.

One thing’s certain: This record was crafted with a whole lot of love and skill. It’s obvious when someone puts his heart into his work, and this record is a fine example of that. The details and obsession shine through. On "Impossible Things #2," which is a smoother and more cohesive reworking of last years exciting and unexpected 7", both the music and the prose piece it accompanies are thick with nuances.

"Columbo’s Car" is a perfect example of the fine mesh of prose and pop Stuart David is capable of weaving. A fanciful story about the narrators' continuous run-ins with Columbo’s automobile is matched by a smoky, loungy, upright bass and sax score that would hardly be out of place as a backdrop for an episode of the TV show by the same name.

As the moniker suggests, samples and loops run rampant on this record. Yelping harmonicas, explosive kid voices, typewriters and popping organs are all tastefully sewn together. The four spoken word ditties are all equally intriguing and well said. For the most part this is a sit back and listen or maybe even a headphone album. Songs like "Impossible Things" and "The Treehouse" may make you want to bop around the house in your Hello Kitty underwear but the "Ballad of Ray Suzuki" is really the only dancy track on the album.

There is an overall depth in the combination of samples that the Dust Brothers would be proud to call their own. Speaking of the Dust Brothers, remember the record crackle running between the songs on Beck’s Odelay? Well, it’s here too, only it’s less effective.

"Quiet And Small" and "Up A Tree Again" feature the typical airy twee pop vocals that drive some of us to drink. Although these songs are still great compositions, the vocal approach creates a stumbling block over which it is difficult to climb.

On first listen Up A Tree is a sugar-sweet, ear-candy treat. The loops and gravelly samples pull you in and it’s good fun figuring out what David is saying through his syrupy thick Scottish accent. Although hearing and deciphering the spoken word pieces seem worthwhile, it’s ultimately the music that turns this record flat. The sounds turn old and contrived pretty quickly. The naive feel this album has at first turns quickly to calculated cutesiness.

— Larry Davidson (crumbtrail@hotmail.com)