Hailing from Finland, Tuomo Pr\u00e4tt\u00e4l\u00e4 and Markus Nordenstreng have recorded under a couple of different monikers; formerly Pratt & Moody, they have simplified things (and, in my humble opinion, embraced their Nordic roots further) by being Tuomo & Markus.<\/p>\n
Frankly, regardless of the name, I think these two gentlemen are pretty talented.<\/p>\n
Their latest release Game Changing<\/i> is a complex and layered piece of what on first listen appears to be folk with a strong thread of Nordic music. (I think I heard a Stavanger fiddle in there somewhere. No album credits on advance releases, so I\u2019m not sure. I know there was an accordion and a clarinet.)<\/p>\n
However, as you dive deeper, Game Changing<\/i> has some elements to it that add levels of pleasant complication to it. There\u2019s a strong prog-rock and jazz presence; a little Ian Anderson flute here, a little Rick Wakeman synthesizer there, and a smooth horn line on \u201cLove\u2019s Coming Down.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sometimes they shift their musical presence entirely, as in \u201cHecho In Mexico,\u201d a sorrowful ballad about The Wall and what it would mean (and a sharp criticism of American border policy to boot); \u201cHecho\u201d is a soft, sad mariachi number.<\/p>\n
The centerpiece of all this, however, is their voices. Tuomo and Markus harmonize easily and beautifully; their musical lines weave around each other elegantly. While their advance promotional material cites Crosby Stills & Nash or Simon & Garfunkel as comps, I think there\u2019s a lot more Seals & Crofts there; that same gentle harmony. There\u2019s also a bit of Duncan Sheik or Nick Drake in their songwriting, and as far as I\u2019m concerned that\u2019s a damned good thing.<\/p>\n
Specific highlights include: the title track; \u201cWishful Information,\u201d a tongue-in-cheek examination of our digital lifestyles; \u201cWe\u2019re Not Buying It,\u201d in which two Scandinavian guys channel Bobby Womack; and the breathtaking \u201cGalway,\u201d a strong contender for the best single track I\u2019ve heard this year. On the downside, I cannot get into \u201cAliens With Extraordinary Talent\u201d; it sounds like it\u2019s experimental and weird for the same of being\u2014well\u2014experimental and weird.<\/p>\n
Tuomo & Marcus are extremely talented, and Game Changing is an outstanding example of that talent. It comes strongly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":34565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10762],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-46412","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-tuomo-markus","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46412"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}