Life Is Full of Possibilities [Import]

Dntel | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 30, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Plug Research
• ASIN: B00005QHR8
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,190 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Umbrella

2. Anywhere Anyone

3. Pillowcase

4. Fear Of Corners

5. Suddenly Is Sooner Than You Think

6. Life Is Full Of Possibilities

7. Why I'm So Unhappy

8. (This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan

9. Last Songs

Editorial Reviews

Dntel comforts himself by combining melancholy melodies with an assortment of electronic production styles, as well as enlisting friends to add vocals and guitar on some tracks. The resultsrangefromTimbaland inspired minimal techno to pop songs buried in static, cut-up acoustic guitars, sampled symphonies struggling to find somewhere to settle, found sound and blissed-out drones. This album includes vocal contributions from Chris Gunst (Beachwood Sparks, ex-Strictly Ballroom), Mia Doi Todd (solo artist, City Zen records), Meredith Figurine (Figurine), Rachel Haden (solo artist, ex-That Dog), and Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), plus guitar by Paul Larson (Athalia, ex-Strictly Ballroom) and Brian McMahan (The For Carnation, ex-Slint).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something just got edged off my desert island list..., January 4, 2002

By 

Erik F "Master of Funk and Evil" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Is Full of Possibilities (Audio CD)

In many ways, this record seems inevitable. It's as if all the right influences were gathered at once and coalesced into one fifty-minute stretch. You could compare this to alot of things, but what really makes it so incredible is the fact that it takes its influences and molds them into something very new and very memorable.

"Umbrella" starts the album off very similar to the way Radiohead started Kid A off with "Everything in its right place," slow majestic and building, but never quite peaking out. Chris Gunst tentatively sings evocatave lyrics, which are at first heavily distorted, but with each verse, the strings swell ala Bjork and his vocals become clearer in the mix.

"Anywhere Anyone" features Mia Doi Todd. The lyrics sound like snippets of other songs spliced together into a cohesive whole. The song itself is beautiful, swirling almost-trip-hop that sounds a bit like Massive Attack in a major key.

"Pillowcase" is an atmospheric instrumental which sounds a bit like Garbage-era Autechre and segues into "Fear of Corners," which is just...incredible.

You could make comparisons to Autechre (especially in the rhythms, which never seem to settle on a downbeat) or Squarepusher, and some folks have compared it to Timbaland's mix of "Try Again," but it's distinctly its own timid beast. It opens with brooding, disjointed bass drum patterns, and at two minutes, the hi-hat comes in and lets you know where the pulse is while strings remniscient of "Twin Peaks" saw away sullenly in the corner. It's highly atmospheric and haunting, with just a hint of menace.

Crowd noise and drums in the next room open "Suddenly is Sooner Than You Think." Meredith Figurine sings over a feedback loop and sparse bass until the music swells and crests into a heavily treated accordian (yes...) sample that *has* to be one of the coolest things I've heard in a long time.

The title track is another great instrumental that starts off with what sounds like poorly grounded machinery humming. The hum finds a pitch and becomes a chord, sparse but effective bass comes in, Oval-style skips seep in around the edges, and then clean acoustic guitar samples glide the track out.

"Why I'm so Unhappy" is another mind-blower. Rachel Haden from That Dog sings what's already a mournful song, and in the second half, her vocals are spliced and fed back through over more glitch, focusing especially on a distorted soaring two-note sample of her voice which has the same effect as the Rabbit in the Moon remix of "Precious Things."

"Fireworks" is a Richie Hawtin-style instrumental, which although nothing special compared to the rest of the album, works well as preparation for "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan," which is an honest-to-god pop song, and a great one at that.

I don't know who Benjamin Gibbard is, but his delivery is great in an '80's synth-pop sort of way. The song is uptempo, sarcastic and catchy as hell...reminds me of Magnetic Fields with better production and slightly malfunctioning equipment. The rhythm completely breaks down for two measures in each chorus, but the effect actually adds tension and release rather than distracting.

"Last Songs" closes out the record with skipping acoustic guitars over a beautiful, almost '70's prog-rock sounding string melody and a drum loop that seems to fade in and out of the mix imperceptively.

So, yeah...bits of Autechre, Oval, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Magnetic Fields, Eno and alot of other stuff. Sounds awful when I describe it, but taken as a whole, this is one incredibly beautiful *album* that holds together as a whole without a single weak track. The approach is very similar to some of His Name Is Alive's work. I've probably listened to it over sixty times in the few weeks I've had it, and it has yet to get old.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Musical Glitch, October 29, 2002

By 

"christophercabin" (Albany, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Is Full of Possibilities (Audio CD)

Jimmy Tamborello's ability with electronics is wonderful, like Autechre and Mum and touches of Massive Attack are hinted at. What sets him apart from the legends is his fresh sound and an underlying embracing of pop textures. "Umbrella" is a pretty little ditty with Beachwood Sparks singer Chris Gunst dropping in a few lines with slight shifts in tempo. "Anywhere/Anyone" strikes out as one of the albums best tracks with the dark eno-esque rising yet depressingly low waves that crash below poet Mia Doi Todd's tear welling voice as she confesses "How Can I love you if you don't love you self". It's devastating and thats the only word for it. Dntel finds it's most Autechre-like track within "Fear of Corners". The moody slithering tempo that's interrupted by floating drum machines is a fine reminder of how good electronica music can get on its own terms, even without vocals. "Why I'm So Unhappy" stakes its claim as the 2nd stand out of Life is Full of Possibilities. That Dog's bassist Rachel Haden's vocals are miraculously complimentary to the eerie, barely pop skit skats that Tamborello sets up as some kind of musical version of the board game Mousetrap. It's alive with musical surprises and doesn't let your attention dwindle. While "Fireworks" finds itself mutating Daft Punks dancefloor sound, Tamborello finds his masterpiece in "(This is) The Dream of Evan and Jaron". The staticy beats layered with what sounds like a bass flatlining and what wind on another universe sounds like wraps Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard's melancholic voice. You'll feel a clench of your heart as Gibbard yells "I won't let go" and the release doesn't come till his last pattering plead of a telephone "ringing off" as static covers the grave he has nestled into. This is what electronica music can do and it's a wonderous pleasure watching such a young man do these things. And the simple fact that this happened with one man, one machine and some vocals, is a testament to music's power.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRILLIANT, April 12, 2005

By 

D. J. Richardson (Bay Area, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life Is Full of Possibilities (Audio CD)

This album is just about perfect. I had reviewed this album earlier, before I understood it completely, and gave it four stars. I am compelled to re-evaluate - four stars just isn't good enough.

How an artist could combine the talents of multiple singers, yet still complete a full sounding and personal piece of musical art is beyond me. But it has been done here. I think what I love best about this cd is that it successfully relates heartfelt music and human emotion with seemigly "lifeless" electronic instruments. The result: a serene, hauntingly beautiful soundscape that washes over the soul.

"Life Is Full Of Possibilities" DNTEL says, and the songs explore this concept by presenting ambient-like sounds in a fashion that demands attention to every passing moment, heightening the experience of living with a introspective and somewhat somber flavor.

The music, to me, gives the feeling of an ambulance ride (much like the cover might suggest) which makes me imagine a person who is close to death, perhaps by some tragic accident - a stroke of bad luck, per chance, or ill-fate... and this person is seeing life for what it is through memories of missed oppurtunities and finding a new appreciation for life through this very moment - a moment that might not last, which gives new meaning to the last song, entitled "last songs" - as if all will not end well and someone is saying good bye to life itself - the motion picture ending to one's life.

The album starts out with the fantastic "Umbrella" - "You can turn the world upside down, like an umbrella, but it wont keep you dry." - the song begins through crackling electronic sounds. People can "turn the world upside down" in many ways - but one thing is certain - no one is safe from harm, from love; even. Life is going to throw you curve balls that you cant prepare for (You aren't going to "keep dry"), no matter what safety precautions you take to living your life.

The 2nd song is the absolutely beautiful "Anywhere Anyone" - which questions "how can you love me if you dont love yourself?" A feeling of introspection accompanies a soft musical journey - an awareness, that "a-ha" moment of clarity (which comes at times of great distress or disaster?).

Song after song dives deeper into introspection and sadness until I find that I have hit a meditative state that is close to sublime. I wont go into each track, they just need to be explored and I bet everyone could derive their own personal story as to the point and meaning to these songs.

If you enjoy this cd, I beg you give DNTEL's band, Figurine, a listen. It is different in scope, but much of the joy exists in each track of both cds: "Transportation + Communication = Love" and "Heartfelt."