Marry some of the most bittersweet melodies with one of the sweetest voices in the world of
rock & roll
and you get
Mike Randle
's wonderful debut solo album. The packaging mimics
Leonard Cohen
's equally revered and reviled 1977 collaboration with
Phil Spector
,
Death of a Ladies Man
, but there is nothing to be ambivalent about regarding
My Music Loves You (Even If I Don't)
. As one of the masterminds behind the great Los Angeles
rock
band
Baby Lemonade
Randle
's tunesmithery is well established, but nothing his full-time pursuit released up to this point could have prepared listeners for the departure that the album represents. It is a graceful and reflective daydream, an oasis of wispy summer songs. Each song sounds fantastically different from the next one, whether it is the loping banjo-trombone-accordion rag
"Wrote This Just for You,"
the breezy
bossa nova
of
"Flat by the Sea,"
the hazy croon of
"Day in the Sun,"
or the
Steely Dan
sheen of
"Desert Waiting for the Rain."
The tribute to friend
"Danny McGough"
has a Gallic accordion trim that somehow captures both early-century Paris cafes and the sly Bohemian gait of
Tom Waits
, for whom
McGough
plays keyboards. Producer
Eric Carter
even pulls out canned rhythms and odd synthesizer textures for the title track that are apropos, working a smooth groove up into a
quiet storm
. It is certainly miles away from the clamor of
, but just as endearing in its own softhearted way.
shows a tremendously eclectic range of songcraft. There is sleek
garage rock
(
"Ingrid"
) with quasi-cheesy Hammond organ that recalls early
Love
and
the Doors
but also
"96 Tears,"
or the choked
cabaret
"Out of My League,"
with its rain-soaked sentiment straight out of the boozy after hours of any lounge. And strains of vintage
Prince
even show up in
"Island View Inn."
These are insatiably guileless songs, entirely attuned to the wild pangs and beatings of the softest hearts, feelings that extend to old girlfriends and new crushes, city streets and surreal sunsets. They are idyllic tunes, full of all the panoramic faces of Los Angeles, both the actual city and its spiritual shadow, which follows anyone who lives there no matter where they are at that moment, Sunset Boulevard or Stockholm. It is an ode of sorts to the starry-eyed nature of the city that
calls home, but it reveals the easygoing mood that runs beneath L.A.'s shiny exterior, the warmth that courses through its veins. In a way, the whole album is a collection of odes and serenades, songs about the delicate desires of the heart.
My Music Loves You
is a gorgeous, lazy late-afternoon record, music to fall in love to. Music to be in love with. [The 2001 Japanese version includes bonus tracks.] ~ Stanton Swihart