On Fillmore - Extended Vacation

By: Gareth Meade

On Fillmore
Extended Vacation

(Dead Oceans)

SOUNDS LIKE: A couple of musicians who have too much time on their hands.

With some albums it should be mandatory for the artists concerned to accompany their release with instructions. This would be for the purpose of giving the listener a clue as to how and when an album is best listened to. Because with some albums—and Extended Vacation by On Fillmore (duo Darin Gray and Glen Kotche) is definitely one of those albums—it is entirely unclear what the intention of the musicians was.

What we have here is a slightly Tom Waitsian (circa Small Change) take on jazz, without any vocal accompaniment, save for the addition of Dede Sampaio's bird imitations. But the intention of it all gets lost behind the oblique flourishes of vibraphone, xylophone and the aforementioned animal noises. Coupling this with the fact that "Daydreaming So Early" and "Extended Vacation" both stretch beyond the 11 minute mark, the slow burning repetition becomes almost irritating.

Forget the fact that Kotche is a member of Wilco, this is an album for people that find the above description appealing. 

^{Posted: January 26, 2010}