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`The b vocabulary’ is fun to learn, and contains little tricky grammar
Archive
Do you like acoustic guitars? Do you like electric guitars with weird effects on them? Do you like keyboards that sometimes sound like those used on the theme of the show “Rugrats”? Do you like samples from obscure movies? Do you like pictures of little kids whispering to each other on the covers of records you own? If so, you may or may not like the b vocabulary, but at least now you know something about them.
Actually, the b vocabulary is just one guy–a solo project of BSU English major, and member of local quartet Clock, Mark Hitz. Some of the guitar work is definitely reminiscent of Hitz’s collaborative endeavor, but as a whole the disc is more stripped-down and intimate.
The project is pretty darn lo-fi, and like so many others of its kind, recorded on the standard 4-track home equipment with little or no sonic manipulation. The b vocabulary features no drums, and no percussion save the occasional emphatic guitar strum and the use of a xylophone.
The four guitar-based tracks feature the addition of well-placed keyboards emphasizing strumming and finger picking, and occasionally they carry the melody. As stated above, some of the keyboard sounds (as on the first track, “ambition”) really do sound like those used in the theme songs of certain Nickelodeon cartoon shows, but they don’t detract from the music, giving it an eerily exuberant circus-like quality which is much more endearing than annoying. Much too often artists using keyboards use them as a crutch to make their music sound fuller, but this isn’t the case here. The b vocabulary thankfully abstains from using the extremely cliche and gaudy pump organ sound that graces many rock albums these days.
Hitz’s voice also accompanies these tracks, and accompany really is an appropriate word, since the vocals move alongside the guitar and keyboard rather than soar over them. The vocals seem to “know their place” so to speak, that is, they never monopolize and batter the rest of the music into submission. Mr. Hitz is obviously not giving a nod to traditional pop music, which is typically recorded with the vocals rendering everything else background material.
Two songs, “unspecified repairs”, and “delaware drive” are largely guitar-free. Not that the guitar is something unsavory, like fat or MSG, but it’s kind of nice when an artist is proficient on more than one instrument. “Unspecified repairs” is an almost traditional, dark piano piece with samples of movie dialogue placed over it, creating a precise mood. If the last track, “delaware drive”, is any indication of what it’s really like to drive in Delaware, then it might be a pretty interesting place to visit. The song combines spoken word, several vastly different keyboard sounds, and a bit of unorthodox guitar work, which makes a sort of slow-boiling avant-garde soup of sorts.
No record is without its flaws, and the b vocabulary’s biggest drawback is the volume at which it was recorded. You’ve got to turn the speakers up a little bit louder than normal for this one, but it’s worth it. This is honestly one of the most unpretentious (the insert states, “Record your own album”), creative and enjoyable solo discs a Boise musician has put out this year. Bennett Yankey, assistant music director at KUOI in Moscow remarked, “It’s pleasant to know that music like this is being recorded in the Boise area these days.” While slightly on the experimental side of things, the b vocabulary doesn’t drift off into completely alienating territory, and might be accessible to just about anyone who doesn’t have an N’SYNC poster gracing their bedroom door.