With the release of 2002's The Life and Death of an American Fourtracker, John Vanderslice proved himself capable of striking a balance between his thoughtful, inspired songwriting and his equally intricate and skillful production techniques. As owner of San Francisco's Tiny Telephone studios, the former MK Ultra frontman no doubt has ample time for sonic explorations behind the mixing board. However, on Life and Death, Vanderslice's bag of production tricks never outshone his greatest strength, songwriting. With the release of his fourth full-length, this year's Cellar Door, it seemed that balance was beginning to tip. While tunes such as "Pale Horse" and "White Plains" showed Vanderslice was still at the top of his songwriting game, some tracks seemed weighed down by his elaborate studio savvy.
Already hard at work on a proper follow-up, the increasingly prolific California troubadour is treating his fans to a limited-edition disc titled MGM Endings: Cellar Door Remixes. While the tracks on display here are, after all, "remixes," and a certain amount of studio experimentation is to be expected, it seems evident that Vanderslice is becoming increasingly interested in bringing his inventive production talents to the forefront. Scott Solter, J.V.'s engineer and right-hand man, is again at the helm for this collection of reinterpretations.
MGM opens with a remix of Cellar Door's closing track, "June July". In its new version, here sneakily re-titled "August", the warm acoustic ballad is stripped of its guitars and vocals leaving only booming drums and repetitive string and synthesizer gestures. That the record begins with an instrumental is a harbinger of things to come: Vanderslice's distinct vocals are notably absent from 8 of its 12 tracks. However, the second track, "Bushnell Scope", better represents what's to follow. A remix of Cellar Door's "Up Above the Sea", "Bushnell Scope" features super-compressed bass and layers of huge trash-can-like drums typical of the overall sound of MGM. Like several songs that follow, this track gives the impression of meandering experimentation, the song itself taking a backseat to the myriad effects and gear at hand.
This sound further reveals itself on "Lifeboat", where massive percussive blasts are accompanied by ethereal, wordless female vocals. By the time the compressed drum hits return for the third time, the track has essentially worn itself out. Likewise, layers of reverberating percussion and fuzzy guitars make up the remix of Cellar Door's "Pale Horse", here listed as "Behold a Pale Horse". Ultimately, the thundering percussion isn't quite enough to sustain the track, as it otherwise fails to develop.
Not surprisingly, the MGM remixes are most successful when Vanderslice's emotive tenor is at the forefront. "Field Guide", a rumination on escaping demons of the past, features Vanderslice's vocals backed by layers of slightly distorted acoustic guitars. Although the track is a fairly straight-forward interpretation of Cellar Door's "White Plains", the warm lo-fi feel, coupled with the stripped down arrangement, makes for a satisfying alternative to the original. The remix of "Promising Actress", re-titled "Requiem", also benefits from vocals. Here, a consistent background texture evokes scratchy vinyl, and after a hollow opening of echoing bells, fuzzy guitars emerge to support Vanderslice's delivery of a condensed version of the lyrics.
Of course, not all of the instrumental tracks suffer from a lack of vocals: "Bomb in Reverse" consists only of acoustic guitars, accompanied by intermittent sonic swells. The tempo is significantly decelerated from the original "My Family Tree", but Vanderslice's melodic gift is clearly evident in the undulating guitar figures, which have no trouble standing on their own. It's this melodic inventiveness that's most missed on this collection. Over the course of four solo releases, Vanderslice has established himself as one of the Pacific Northwest's most imaginative indie pop songwriters. When combined with his distinctive voice and unique songwriting, J.V.'s production skills produce remarkable results, but when the elaborate studio arrangements overtake the songs themselves, his talents are often obscured. For many other artists, this wouldn't be cause for concern. Vanderslice, however, is simply too strong a songwriter to take a backseat to production.
