On
Skyclimber, Austin resident Will Patterson takes time out from his work in acts like
Sunset to deliver his own brand of engagingly winsome pop with a decidedly late-'60s bent. Patterson's
Sleep Good project is even more decidedly
Pet Sounds and after -- like any number of acts he has a definite
Brian Wilson jones, audible in both his overdubbed harmonies and his fondness for gently lush arrangements and studio tricks and tweaks. What makes
Skyclimber a bit different from the usual pack is the sense that it is a one-person affair -- it actually feels like a solo project, something quietly engaging in its own right rather than trying once again to reinvent a 1967-era wheel. It's not that there aren't plenty of evident points of immediate comparison, as a song like "Water Voices" shows, while the wordless vocals, gently played guitar, and sleigh bells of "Paper Bird" are even more of a signifier -- especially when the latter leads directly into the vocals-and-keyboards combination of "Diamante." "Shoney's," which features a fuller-bodied singing arrangement that almost turns into a frenetic cackle, is a nice kick against the grain, while the burbling loops and flutters of "Fractl" are almost like an analog version of quirky Warp label releases from the mid-'90s. Then there's the opening track -- "Hey Man" feels if anything like a bit of a lost vaudeville song from the 1930s, ukulele and all -- then again in a world where
Amanda Palmer can rake in huge amounts of cash courtesy of
Radiohead covers on said instrument, maybe it's more timely than might be thought. ~ Ned Raggett