The men o’ Menomena. Photo by Alicia J. Rose.
Menomena
Sept. 20, Independent
By Michelle Broder Van Dyke
Menomena’s music is a serene reverie of looped and layered guitars, capricious drumming, intrusive saxophone sounds, and slightly offbeat lyrics contributed by all three members: Brent Knopf, Justin Harris, and Danny Seim. Tracks spiral out from their introductory piano chords and buoyant drum beats, creating increasingly complex rhythms only to switch erratically and fork off into an entirely different direction. Some tracks capture this effect more successfully than others, dragging the listener along with the 90-degree turns, yet somehow Menomena’s melodious and moody sound works on both their albums – they have three long-players to date – and in concert.
On stage, the band inevitably transforms the recorded songs, loosing some of the complicated and complex layers while still maintaining a playful energy with clapping and tambourines.
In the studio, the outfit’s musical process begins with a computer program designed by Knopf called Deeler, which is short for Digital Looping Recorder. Drummer-vocalist Danny Seim creates the initial beat by playing a drum track. The three members take turns listening to the tempo and meter, improvising more patterns and melodies, and passing the microphone, while recording everything they play. Using the files like a jigsaw puzzle, they fit them together – duplicating some, rearranging the order, trimming pieces, layering parts, and creating an overall song structure. For the final recording, the music morphs again, as Menomena capture the magic created in the Deeler sessions but then performs the parts again, live.
