It’s a fair time to confess that sometimes anticipation can get to oneself. Down There, the debut long-playing album from Dave Portner, promised so much on paper simply by being; Portner being part of Animal Collective and all.
It’s a fair time to confess that sometimes anticipation can get to oneself. Down There, the debut long-playing album from Dave Portner, promised so much on paper simply by being; Portner being part of Animal Collective and all. That said, cynically I really wasn’t expecting Down There to live up to the robust genius of the most recent of Animal Collective releases, those of which are no doubt a regular source of comparison.
What’s easy to like a lot about Down There is Portner’s effort to ‘be’ – artistically – and the fact that his simply being an artist does not jar or seem forced. Down There does not try and get your attention, but it’s embossed and very carefully textured. Laughing Hieroglyphic bounds but more with flow than ebb, and by 3 Umbrellas the layering of Down There is plain to see and filling the room, Portner’s occasionally schizo approach to the vocals and harmonies emerging, but again, not in such a way as to command attention. Moreso they’re a mean of rocking the boat while the oars are still in the water.
The weirdness of Ghost Of Books is probably the highlight of Down There, as Portner melds breathy voice with ambient tones and looped, echoy notes, all delayed, all distorted. It’s warm and it’s deliciously cavernous.
As Down There winds up Lucky 1 begins and its tantric pop tones are comforting, if not glassy. For anyone’s money, if Down There had a single, Lucky 1 ought to be it.
Down There is like the renovation work of an owner-builder: it seems like it’s familiar because there are already some existing structures that appear similar in aesthetic, in approach and in sentiment, but in the same way it can be said that Down There is some sound work.
Avey Tare, Down There is out Now on Paw Tracks/Mistletow
