John Vanderslice w/ Tallest Man on Earth

John Vanderslice makes a concerted effort to change everything every time, making each album a study in something entirely different than the last. He has seen the entirety of the pop-produced indie singer/songwriter spectrum. He's recorded albums of fuzzy acoustic guitars and of heavily produced synthesizers. His last album (Emerald City) was built around brilliant lyricism and political anger, his new album (Romanian Names) has a song born from a meaningless acronym he thought sounded cool. His latest record is his most organic, totally eschewing the hip-hop levels of production on albums past. Romanian Names was recorded in a rudimentary studio he built in his basement, interesting not only in its effectan album made intimate by its thinnessbut also because Vanderslice owns the esteemed Tiny Telephone studio used by the likes of Okkervil River and Death Cab for Cutie.