Carefully constructed production pop with echoes of the ‘60s
This 7-song album seems to have drifted into the market than havebeen launched. Originally recorded in 2004 by songwriter and Cat Power bassist Erik Paparazzi with a seven piece band, the project was shelved for several years. Paparazzi deconstructed and remixed the tracks and finally came up with some lush pop that suggests the production-bound work of Brian Wilson and mid-period Beatles, but also touches of chamber pop and even the snappy 60s-isms of Herb Alpert (check out the horns that end “Up, Up and Awayâ€). There are short, contemplative instrumentals, glam rockers and minor key crawls, and though the album’s title might suggest the tracks are ornate, Paparazzi’s final constructions are carefully decorated rather than overdone. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com] 