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Greg Davis and Sebastien Roux, "Paquet Surprise"
Thiswhole album is relaxing and feels warm through every listen. If theidea of being on an island or on a beach isn't appealing, then imaginesitting on a dock and fishing somewhere with nobody around—only thesound of crickets or the call of different birds all throughout theday—the water would pass slowly by and even the most pressing matterswould slip away with it.Paquet Surpriseis a mostly quiet album. Not that I ever had to turn the album up tohear all the sounds, but all the songs bleed a quiet gentleness. Evenwhen a distorted line of garbage interrupts the soft singing on "I AmWaiting (For December)," there's a sense that it belongs in that placejust as naturally as all the other, quieter sounds. Seconds pass bysizzling with Davis' own peculiar warmth, a result of his approach todigital editing and composition I suppose, but also present is Roux'sdelicate touch.
Though Davis' Somnia was melodic in its ownright, there's far more melody present on every song than I wouldexpect from a record Davis might compose on his own. Roux's additionsstrike me as being harmonious with Davis'. I understand theysent their music back and forth and, as such, both their signatures aregoing to be present in the music, but every song is so fully satisfyingand lively that I have to attribute some of its appeal to how wellthese two work together.
The cover of Paquet Surprise depictsall manner of animals and flora being stuffed into a tiny box; theimage is a perfect parallel for the album's distinct flow and generallygentle sound. Fluttering computer talk, instruments, and fieldrecordings all bump into each other, flowering and decomposing as theyintertwine and generate moments of melody, rhythm, and chaos. At timesthe jumble of electronic stuff will get overwhelming, but slowly bereplaced by the shake of a rattle and the ring of a guitar and, beforelong, a "song" in the classical sense of the word will emerge briefly.It's only succumbed by Davis' and Roux's massively low sound, but thosebrief interludes are lovely and only adds to the generally attractivenature of the entire record.
At one point the sounds of the ocean washup over a percolating digital swarm and there's a sense that I might bein paradise somewhere, resting on the beach with a beer in one hand anda book in the other. By the end of the album I've realized that thewhole time Davis and Roux have been building this atmosphere, thiseuphoria of a paradise in my bedroom. The tropical, sunny dispositionof each song is enough to make winter seem unbearable, but at leastthere's this album. Warm waters, sunny beaches, green trails...everything's just been packed up and stuffed inside these songs for theseason. It's enough to want to hear Davis and Roux do somethingtogether again, though I doubt it'll happen.
Davis has been a part ofseveral collaborations this year and with that in mind, it is likelythat he'll just move on and continue to change his sound along with hisconspirators. Sebastien Roux has a record available right now onApestaartje and I imagine, from the merits of his work on thisrecording, that his solo material is worth a listen, too.
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