by Matty McPherson (@ghostplanetmatt)
About two and a half minutes into Log Across the Washer's It's Funny How the Colors, an aberration hijacks the set of affairs. The thrifty, melodic piece of lo-fi folk that sounded of warm fuzz emanating out of the AM stereo, flips on the beat. Suddenly it is a woozy lo-fi freestyle. Yet, before anything can quite be extrapolated, we're in another track, back in that golden blissed out haze. It’s the kind of gripper that suggests there’s something more to it than just stately lo-fi.
Tyler Keene, the figure behind Log Across the Washer, has a flourish for these sudden flashes. Little nuggets that flicker throughout these good ol' songs and often turn them into their own inviting world. In the past, Keene had rekindled his knack for songwriting by writing twenty songs in a day, the kind of challenge that could easily push your mind either to insanity or create a new kind of mental crate digging. It's Funny How the Colors, his latest release for the venerable West Virginia tape label Crash Symbols, is a bonafide kaleidoscopic mixtape. Hissy folk tracks and sketches that recalls the Keeled Scales tape label, reverb melodies of bedroom pop galore, and even piano and bluesy jazz that I wouldn't bat an eye over out of place on the Windham Hill compilations I gloss through. All of it is a natural fit for the label that has courted a wide roster including Luxury Elite's vaporzones to Diana Duta & Julia E. Dyck's modernist modular synthesizer longforms. Keene is nothing like the two comparisons (in fact if there is a point of reference, I’d point anyone towards Wiggly’s “If I Give You A Cherry…”, also meticulously mastered by the inimitable Angel Marcloid); they just share the same spirit of tackling an idea with veracity.
Throughout It's Funny How the Colors, Keene whips up a universe of ramshackle folk built for porch gazing as much as drifting through your own recollections of the past. The tape is never a bummer, although there's a hushed energy (in its lyrics) of accepting the present for what it is. Tracks like "Simulation Saturday" and "Stupid Guitar Final" evoke wistful memories of late night hangouts with old friends, yearning for one more chance to make those memories. "Haggard Affairs" works as a kind of autofiction absolute general isolation, shifting through years and identities far beyond Keene. "All I needed to feel real good is a letter saying 'Hey I think you're an okay fella!,'" as a synth bleeps like a brass instrument--part somber, part gracious. Yet, that downtempo drum beat keeps Keene’s time traveler moving, his heart still beating in all the right places assuredly.
While sixteen tracks may seem overflowing, Keene knows how to map out sketches and shift between styles. Naturally, he saves the best for last with a three track run from “Oregon” through “Them Old Stuff Inside the Well” that melds many of these sonic elements into their prime forms. “Oregon” amps up the bass and vocal harmonies giving a bit of a hip-hop step, while still leaving time for harmonica drone that sounds like it's in front of you. "My Brother is a Disaster" is an acoustic strummer that could've been a lost track from Double Nickels on the Dime. Keene even keeps talking over his own lyrics, using each quip as a humorous opportunity to show you "how the cool guys play it," before splicing away to the ultimate finale, "Them Old Stuff Inside the Well". Recalling Mutual Benefit in ensemble mode, Keene summons a harmonious cornucopia. It is a track that starts ginormous, with cymbals crashing like the cosmos, before finding its way back down to the Bushwick practice space where this tape came to life.