[rating=3.00]
An indie-rock/classical/concept album trifecta may seem like a broad over reach, but in reality artists like Frank Zappa and more apropos for Television Landscape – Prince, have shuffled down these paths before, now whether the combo actually works is another question entirely. In William Brittelle’s case the answer is yes, for the most part. Fully orchestrating the Television Landscape with electronic and acoustic instrumentation infuses a sense life to the disenchanted themes presented.
The opening “Vivid Culture” sets the tone with “Every night I watch cartoons til 5am/drinking orange juice/on a brown couch/ smoking cigarettes” inching the listener towards that insomniac moment, when you can’t tell if the day is real or a dream. The lyrics never really link things up too tightly, I am not sure where “Sheena Easton” fits into all of this other then Brittelle’s obvious Prince vocal obsession, but there is an underlying sense of whole that binds the songs to each other even if the lyrics never do.
While the lyrics are vague at best the musicality by all those present is top notch. Strings and pianos over the “Halcyon Days” interlude meander, brass and marching drums in “Wasteland” and an all-out assault/adventure during tracks “Pegasus in Alcatraz” and “Rio Rio” soars. “The Color of Rain” majestically ends the album but solves no riddles in doing so.
There are a few filler tracks (“Eyes of the Ocean” and “Dunes of Vermillion”) and things can get a bit prog-rocky but that is expected when floating in over saturation waters of “theme’s and concepts”. The musical progressions and lyrics may discuss and combat a wasting away of societies mental state or maybe you just fell asleep in front of the blaring TV and are having some bizarre dreams; either way it all feels human which is vital.
Cinematically visionary, with a touch of the arty bizarre, makes Television Landscape a painting worth revisiting and William Brittelle an artist to watch.
