No. 37: Dan Deacon

The first time I ever saw a picture of Dan Deacon, it was in an issue of Blender magazine that inexplicably showed up at my house. Deacon was doing an editorial for the magazine and the picture consisted of Dan Deacon cloned over many times in a room in various states of activity. After hearing his music, I have to say that picture was worth a thousand words. Musically speaking, the acronym "ADD" comes to mind, but Deacon somehow manages to make it all cohesive. Armed with synthesizers, loops, and drum machines galore, it can take a while for one to adhere to his style, sort of like slipping into a steaming hot bath. At first it's sensory overload, but after a while you start to appreciate the method behind the madman.

I've been adapting to his new album, Bromst, for the last couple of months and there are a couple of tracks that I find myself searching out on my iPod constantly. "Red F" and "Snookered" are polyrhythmic odysseys that take the listener on quite a ride as Deacon weaves beeps and boops in with his own synthesized voice and builds tension with deep valleys of release. I would like to see him in a live setting to see just how the hell he does it all, but I kinda get the feeling Dan's suicide soda of "beats" might start to grate on me eventually under the hot Chicago sun.

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