Daniel G. Harmann – The Lake Effect / 2004 Post436 Records / 10 Songs / http://www.post436records.com / http://www.canarypromo.com/harmann / Reviewed 10 June 2004

Coming through with dreamy indie rock of the most solid variety, Daniel G. Harmann is able to create an album in The Lake Effect that simultaneously meshes the catchiness of Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend” and the musician cred of Sean Lennon. Infusing The Lake Effect with emotive and smooth tones, Daniel swaddles eir’s listeners with blankets of the purest gauze, and lulls them into a sense of safety with ey’s soothing voice. Not an electronic artist by any stretch of the imagination, Daniel is able to use synthesizers to create a more rigid arrangement, which is evidenced perfectly in “Ghosts of the New Harbor”. Adeptly moving towards a faster tempo in the beginning to the second half of the disk, Daniel is very deliberate in the different direction that ey takes on the disc, wanting variety for variety’s sake instead of trying to be diverse and failing at it.

“Fade In/Fade Out” is the naked and most bare of the tracks on the disc, shucking practically all instrumentation and pairs Daniel with the simplistic (but not base or boring, in any stretch of the imagination) piano lines laid down by Lesli Wood (Ms. Led/Saeta). Daniel has tempered all of the tracks on The Lake Effect with the most sold of hands – where there are songs like the aforementioned “Bloodletting” which are radically different from the rest of the CD, all the tracks still contain that one element, that one threat thread that mark them specifically as Daniel’s from this time in eir’s career. Creating ten different methods to affect eir’s listeners, Daniel ensures that The Lake Effect is an album that will reach individuals in all walks in life. The best track on The Lake Effect, “Sometimes I Forget My Name”, while only paring Daniel with eir’s usual partner in crime, Graig Markel, is one of the most satisfying and full-bodied songs on the disc.

“Sometimes” is much more electronically charged than the rest of The Lake Effect, and the cold tones of the synth on the track are the perfect contrast to the soaring voice of Daniel. This interplay of cold and warm is further enlightened by the lyrics on the track, showing a humanity that extends far beyond the singer, especially evidenced by “I’ll water the plants I’ll sweep the porch as long as you don’t leave…I don’t want the pain of saying goodbye”. A fitting end to a solid disc.

Top Tracks : Bloodletting, Sometimes I Forget My Name

Rating: 6.9/10