Jherek Bischoff – Composed album review

Jherek Bischoff is probably having more fun than anyone else in the music industry today. Composed, the latest release from the Seattle-based musician/composer is a case of experimental explorations culminating in artistic songs that will awaken your ears with new sounds one minute and leave you longing for days gone by the next.

With classical elements, and playful tempos, many of the songs reminded me of a soundtrack to one of those old Merrie Melodies cartoons where a figure strangely reminiscent of Mickey Mouse (but with pointy ears and a fluffier tail) would sing and dance and sometimes behave in a very un-Mickey-Mouse-like way.

Sometimes slow and melancholic, other times more upbeat and peppy, the music on Composed changes pace and style as if to suit the goings-on in the lives of characters on film.

According to Bischoff’s blog however, the tracks are actually the result of three years worth of messing around on a ukulele and asking questions that he himself was at times afraid to ask.
Every track, with the exception of the first, is a collaboration with one or more artist whom Bischoff says are heroes of his. They are people who have developed successful, unqiue careers for themselves in the realms of music, and though he may be shy about it, Bischoff shows on this album that he certainly belongs within their ranks.

Probably the best track on the entire album is Young And Lovely featuring Bischoff’s bandmate from the Parenthetical Girls, Zac Pennington, and French songstress and femme fatale, Stéphanie Sokolinski a.k.a. Soko. The two singers bring their beautiful voices to a whimsical track that is a mix of upbeat tempos and dark lyrics that needs to be heard to be fully understood.

All in all the album is a fun one to have around for those times when you could use some artistic inspiration that is meticulously crafted and just a little bit outside the lines of normalcy.