Album of the Day: Jonti - Sine & Moon

The first 2012 release in my collection, free courtesy of Stones Throw. The album starts off with a nice, relaxing ukelele semi-instrumental, then moves on to the meat of the content from there. Immediately I was reminded of Strong Arm Steady mixed with the soundtrack to Portal 2, but this is another Stones Throw album, so that's not entirely surprising. To describe it in a word (or two): laid-back. The beats don't beat you over the head with their forcefulness, they, at least for me, are simply good head nodding music, which is by no means a negative description. Too often beat makers try too hard to incorporate a ton of moving parts into one piece, and the whole thing ends up being jumbled and incoherent at times (I have a certain artist in mind). I like that the focus is more on incorporating a few elements, especially nice ambient waves and strings that waft in and out of the music, and build from there, rather than throwing the whole kitchen sink at you all at once. I'm also not a huge fan of heavy bass, and the somewhat subdued low ends here shift the focus to some of the more interesting stuff on the other areas of the spectrum. This is particularly good because when the bass is used, such as in 'By This Shore,' it's noticeable and meaningful, and adds weight, which I believe is what the low end should be used for anyway, rather than as a means of creating a melody within itself. This is all genre-dependent, though, as in a lot of rap the bass is rightfully the backbone of the beat, although whether the lyrics they support are worth supporting is another issue entirely. In addition to the nice chillout beats, there are some that venture closer to rock territory, like 'Young Wildebeest,' and to a lesser extent 'Lost Machines,' the full-on electronic style of 'Sugar High,' to the almost tropical feeling of 'Lovers Stone (Alternate Passaros).' For under 40 minutes, there is a ton of content and variety packed in.