Seasonal LP by Dudley (Review)

The LP’s nine songs are tender little creations, composed of graceful guitar melodies and light hip-hop beats, with exotic little synth bits and pieces strewn about here and there like falling leaves.

My fave track, “Fall Song”, even incorporates a gorgeous orchestral sample amidst its meandering flamenco guitar, something that I couldn’t get out of my head for days after hearing it. Elsewhere, “Little Whirl” engages in, well, a whirl of metallic, gamelan-like tones, and there’s a forlorn, windswept beauty to tracks like “With Rain,” with its desolate flute and acoustic guitar.

I don’t really know if there’s an official name for this sort of stuff — “bedroomtronica” might be apt, though that seems a bit precocious — but it does remind me of Darla’s “drum n’ bliss” output during the late 90s. Indeed, the disc reminds me of the first time I discovered Color Filter or Junior Varsity KM.

It’s too bad the word “pleasant” has taken on such a middling connotation these days, because it sums up this CD quite nicely — and I mean that in every good way imaginable.