The Vantangle - He Is A Genius

Hear The Track Here

Uh oh. First thing I see when I start exploring who/what The Vantangle (or the vantangle to be absolutely accurate)are about is this steamy little quote: 'bad production and hurt'n, unispired tunes'. Ouch! Escaping the slight tang of defeatism that little motto imprinted on my day, I dug deeper. The band appears to consist of Marc Vantol, a Canadian indie artist who - judging by the hilarious reviews posted on the site - is definitely not gonna score highly at all. Yeah right, this is me we are talking about, I've heard the very best crap the net has to throw at me and I am used to looking a little further... I've lost count of the artists I have come across who seem not to know how to string a couple of things together initially, then after some time start turning in solid, polished material.

So the first thing to learn about this track is that it is none of those things.

If you are not a fan of basic (and I really mean that) home recording, it's best to turn away now. OK, so this is just a guy and a guitar, and we all know not to expect the moon from that combination. We all have to work within the constraints of our equipment (or lack of it) so it's only fair that a certain amount of leeway be afforded where lack of equipment is the main factor. Lack of equipment doesn't of course mean lack of ideas, and that - usually - is where tracks of this type usually score with me (regardless of how rough the sound is). If the idea behind the track is a good one, that will usually get it past most unbiased minds. Mind you, if the idea is a stinker in the first place, nothing on earth is going to come to your aid.

The basic idea behind this track is similiar to the one used on me (to hilarious effect) by the Krill Banks Conspiracy when they turned one of my harshest ever reviews into a track in its own right. You can find that track here, so it is an idea that has worked once, can it work again? What Genuis consists of are the reviews I discussed earlier being used as the lyrics to the song (with rebuttals presumably from the artist in his own defence). What it all adds up to is not very much. The guitar accompaniment is yer basic rhythm that does nothing whatsoever to the listener - given what kind of competition we all face online in getting people to listen to what we do. Unfortunately, at the end of all this, this track has nothing to offer a casual listener from either a musical or lyrical perspective (the lyrics are a riposte to the reviews) so it's even more obscure than necessary. If Marc is the artist he thinks he is, then this review will slide off him like water off a ducks back: that's what artists do.

Persevere.