Bayard Russell- Selftitled Review

Artist: Bayard Russell
Title: Selftitled
Website: http://www.bayardrussell.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bayardrussell
CDBaby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bayardrussell
Style: Pop/Techno
Rating: 8.1 out of 10
By C.W. Ross

 

Russell, who's from Indiana, grew up listening to The Beatles and Ice Cube. He started playing the piano at age 4 and picked up guitar playing during his high school years.

 

He attended Dartmouth with a major in philosophy and a minor in music.  After graduation he moved to NYC to pursue his music.

 

Besides his solo work Russell is also the lead vocalist, bassist, and songwriter for the garage rock band Negative Ken.

 

Selftitled is Russell's debut solo release. On it you'll find a collection of music characterized in his press material as, 'Indie heartbroken pop.'
As that description indicates the songs found on this release deal with love and loss, with most of it centering on the heartbroken side of the love scale.

 

The music has an electro-pop style that runs throughout it ala bands like The Postal Service, which is one of the bands Russell list as his musical influences along with, Elliot Smith, John Mayer, Fountains of Wayne, Jack Johnson, and Belle and Sebastian.

 

The release has a lofi, not over worked, raw edge to it that creates a nice feel. With its wide variety of techno sounds and dance beats, intermixed with an alternative meets Indie pop sound, with a dash of playfulness and experimentation added in makes Bayard Russell's Selftitled a release worth buying.