Who's Your New Professor
This second solo release by the leader ofThe Sea and Cakeis a perfectly rendered miniature. Not only do the eleven songs have the feel of table-top sized vignettes, but the entire set clocks in respectably under thirty-eight minutes. Near-tropical rhythms, coupled with frisky and layered strumming, give this album a feel more removed from the friendly urban architecture of his other work, both solo and with his band. A visual artist as well as a musician, the songs seem informed by a painter's eye, as Prekop works all areas of the canvas into a integrated whole. Working with the same small ensemble as previously, there's a casual surface to the proceeds that slowly reveal finely wrought writing and arrangements and unusual tunings.-- David Greenberger