Over the past ten years, Patrick Lee has released 25 albums. I repeat, this time with letters: TWENTY-FIVE ALBUMS.
During the same time span, Justin Timberlake has managed only two. At her peak of spouse-collecting, Elizabeth Taylor’s most productive decade produced a measly four husbands. During the 60s, when Elvis Presley was on a mission to find every movie camera in the world and stand in front of it, he starred in 27 movies. This is the only example of artistic prolific-ness I could find to compare to Patrick Lee’s incredible output over the last decade. The difference, of course, is that Patrick Lee’s music is worth listening to.
While I haven’t yet managed to make it through all 25 albums, the material I have heard is of consistent quality, and the style, while grounded in the broad “electronic” genre, varies from funk to dance to hip hop to jazz (Lee was a piano major at Colorado University). He makes all his music available for free download, and at the risk of sounding pushy, I must insist that you cancel your dinner plans and listen to some of the most interesting music you’ve never heard of. Other songs of his that nearly made it onto this list include “Ransom For The Anthems”, “Memory Flicks”, and “Warming Days”.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The vinyl crackle. It’s amazing how a rich sound like a Rhodes piano can sound even richer with a bit of analog atmosphere behind it.
2. The guitar at 1.17. A perfect complement to the crunchy piano chords, mixed nice and close to offset the big reverb of the Rhodes.
3. The synth explosion at 3.38. It’s like having a jazz club crashed by a bunch of robots who are ready to party. An unexpected but welcome climax to the song.
Recommended listening activity:
Watching butter melt on a fresh-out-of-the-toaster bagel.