Miighty Flashlight

Miighty Flashlight

[Jade Tree; 2002]

Styles: guy with guitar
Others: (Smog), Devendra Banhart, Beck circa One Foot in the Grave

Goddamn, it’s hot out. The air is kind of waving at me. I can’t move very quickly. The evening is my only hope of relief, not because it gets especially cooler, but because that’s when I get out my Miighty Flashlight. It’s soothingly familiar, not so distracting as to clog the already thick humidity; in other words, just right for relaxing to.

As Miighty Flashlight, Mike Fellows plays breezy, lethargic little tunes. The whole fingerpicked and slide guitar deal provides a throwback to the blues, and, coupled with Fellows’ drawled delivery, gives the set the ambience of a back porch private show. Contrasted with this is the sprightly "Ventilating Zephyrs," a gleeful falsetto lark riding atop a wooden flute and handclaps hook. Fellows sprinkles his homespun songs with subtle laptop beats, providing a bit of backbone without compromising the acoustic essence of the album. Even ’spacey’ tracks like "Go On. Die. It’s Easy," with its swirling noises and stuttering drum pads are anchored around a simple guitar riff.

All of this adds up to a nice little collection for summer nights, perfect accompaniment for flipping through old photo albums, games of cribbage, or just drinking beers and trying to think of new ways of describing how hot it is.

1. Several Water Cannons
2. Stop Blocking
3. Go On. Die. It’s Easy
4. Vehicular Dome
5. Fatherland Focus
6. Ballet Skool
7. Ventilating Zephyrs
8. Forget This Space
9. Hala Hanan Di Halida
10. Lavish Corduroy

by Path

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