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diversions:
cd review
Into the 'Oh'
musical zone with Geggy Tah
By Jamillah Gabriel
On-line Forty-Niner
In their fourth
album, "Into the Oh," Geggy Tah has managed to put
together an album that is diverse yet uniquely cohesive.
The members of
this Pomona-based duo, Tommy Jordan and Greg Kurstin, cover
music genres such as rock, jazz and alternative, with Jordan
usually singing lead vocals and Kurstin singing background.
Both play numerous instruments throughout the album.
"Into the
Oh" appears to be a concept album that Geggy Tah uses
to express many emotions, namely love, but also to convey
to the listener a new understanding of these emotions.
It opens with "Goodnight
to the Machine," an endearing message left on an answering
machine by Jordan's grandfather, followed by "One Zero,"
a mid-tempo song with a decidedly 80s feel to it. In fact,
much of the album sounds like revamped 80s tunes.
One can hear many
influences of music groups of the eighties from the police
to Depeche Mode. At the same time, Geggy Tah is able to combine
these influences into a style all its own, while adding many
new elements that belong solely to the group.
Some of the standout
songs include "Sweat," a slow and jazzy ode to what
they call "the perfume of lovers," and "Holly
Oak," a somewhat fast-paced song about a secret place
where two lovers would meet.
The unhibited style
of Geggy Tah continues with the track, "I Forgot,"
a folk-sounding song and the seemingly Beatles-influenced
track, "Special Someone," which is about finding
that special someone.
At its conclusion,
the album finishes with yet another ode to love in "Love
is in Love," a hopelessly optimistic song about finding
one's way to love.
Though the topics
covered throughout the album are somewhat redundant, Geggy
Tah manages to spin a new take on each song, thereby giving
the listener an indescribable listening experience.
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