'EPonymously Titled' drop-d review

http://www.drop-d.ie/article.php?article_id=865

Des Lynam, Richard Harris, Terry Wogan

Limerick (It's in the west of Ireland for all you Dublin types) has given us some of the greatest people ever created and musically speaking she has been no slouch either with wunder-rockersgiveamanakick and the Out On A Limb posse all hailing from that direction.

Enter Ronan Carroll, who, according to himself, may currently reside in this writer's hometown of Galway, and who peddles his aural wares under the moniker of Tenaka, a mysterious tag with Manga overtones.

EPonymously Titled is his debut EP and the love and care positively oozes from the speakers, delivering top drawer, chill-out electronica with Mr. Carroll demonstrating an enviable ear for melody and IDM noodling.

Opening track, Ain't Nobody, begins with a plucked guitar chord and gradually builds with the vocals, bongos and keyboards all easing you into proceedings. Someday's farting bass grabs you next with swirling synthesizers and an out-of-tune vocal that results in a song equal parts eerie, warm and hypnotic. Open Up is all rumbling Nirvana bass with a pulsating beat driving the song and the requisite amount of glitch to give most electronica fans that nice feeling in their pants...or, possibly, their tummies.

While living in Galway for my formative years effectively ruined my appreciation of the bongos - given their New Age association and Quay Street ubiquity - Tenaka is doing his damnedest to heal my bruised ears with his use of said percussive instrument. Alaskan, the final track and my personal favourite, has a tasty 80s opening with bongos teasing the mix. Various sounds and textures gestate and evolve, giving way to Tenaka, or the song's character, submerging himself in water and re-emerging to the sound of playing children. It's a beautiful piece and one that hauntingly concludes the EP.

The liner notes of this four-song collection tell a story about each track and if you read them whilst listening to the music it is hard not to feel the very personal nature of this recording. Tenaka is already popping up on many 'ones to watch' lists and hardly needs my endorsement, but this is an impressive and touching record with a heartbeat aswell as an electronic beat. Go out and buy it - no excuses.