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One Day I'll Be on Time

by The Album Leaf

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Anyone who's been blindfolded and left to navigate a space by touch rather than sight will already have at least a passing familiarity with the work of the Album Leaf, solo project of über-instrumentalist Jimmy Lavalle. With the Album Leaf, Lavalle moves from the punk rock of his earlier bands, Swing Kids and the Locust, to the post-rock purveyed by his other current band, Tristeza. Using the typical tools of his kinder, gentler trade--tasteful percussion, gossamer guitar, and minimal electronics--he creates new forms and structures in his entirely instrumental songs, and makes listening a synesthetic experience. Songs like the aptly titled "Story Board," textured with field recordings of wind and traffic, as well as a conversation between Lavalle and sometimes-engineer Rafter Roberts, conjure different images in a dreamy mental movie. But it's songs like "Asleep," which convey movement as realistically as a gentle shove, that really show off Lavalle's songwriting powers. In One Day I'll Be on Time, open-minded fans of jazz, electronic, indie rock, and hardcore can find something that will almost literally reach out and touch them. --Sarah A. Sternau