Tarlton - The Papa Theses

Writing about electronic and instrumental music can be difficult, so I'm going to keep this one short. Around midnight the other night, I became aware that Tarlton's new album is finished.

And it is wicked.

The Papa Theses is the second album from the former Minneapolitan (now based out of Seattle). While the first album was impressive technically, I had difficulty connecting with it. In practice, Tarlton's "songs" feel more like pieces in the artistic sense than songs in the well, song, sense. That's a quality that takes some getting used to. The Papa Theses puts rhythm at the forefront like Tarlton's debut, Van, did. However, in production, Theses feels more accessible.

The band's only member, Brett Bullion, once again proves himself to possess not only a great amount of technical ability, but also a very strong sense of song construction. It's easy for a lot of techno/instrumental artists to get caught up in pushing the types of sounds they can make further while neglecting the art of songwriting. On The Papa Theses, Bullion pushes himself sonically without forgetting to engage audience members. It's a very cool album.

Up top are two tracks off of Tarlton's last album. The Papa Theses is best taken in as a whole, so we did not post any MP3s from it. You can download both Tarlton albums here.

Tarlton MySpace Page

(April Wright)


Disclaimer: Tarlton is a friend of mine (and Ian's). But, well, you know the drill.

Tonight: Tarleton at the Nomad World Pub

Download: Tarlton - "Oatmeal"
Download: Tarlton - "Two Nights Of Storms"


Good news, everyone! Brett Bullion, a.k.a. Tarlton, has returned from Seattle for a show in Minneapolis. Tarlton will be performing as part of the http://spark.cla.umn.edu/. The schedule is way too massive to list here, but check it out on the Spark website.

Tarlton is performing at 9 p.m. Thursday at the Nomad World Pub. Having seen him perform last night, I can safely say that he's never sounded better. It is absolutely worth your time to go see his set.

Tarlton MySpace

(April Wright)

Full disclosure: Brett is a friend of both Ian and mine and may or may not have built us a solid gold monument on the moon. This does not change the fact that Tarlton makes objectively awesome music that each and every one of you blog-o-nerds would love.

Tarlton - "Ian and Nathan Sidechained"

Download: Tarlton - "Ian and Nathan Sidechained"

There is something a bit magical about Tarlton brain-parent Brett Bullion. He doesn't really think about music like anyone else I know. He sees and hears things in ways that are truly unique and then incorporates these invisibles into his music seamlessly. I am dying to hear a full album, but Bullion keeps leaking one or two tracks at a time on his website. Click below to dig in, I recommend it.

www.tarltonmusic.com

(Ian Anderson)

Tarlton - "Minivan"

Download: Tarlton - "Return"
Download: Tarlton - "Two Nights of Storms"

Minneapolis transplant now Seattle homebody Brett Bullion (aka Tarlton) is somebody you need to get to know. In 2005, Bullion released a completely striking debut EP: "Minivan." Turns out, this here fella may be playing a few dates in the Fall from Seattle to Minneapolis, so I'll post those once I hear word.

Band Website
MySpace Page

(Ian Anderson)