# IRC’s Top Indie Albums of 2019, Vol. III – Evan Mix’s ‘Described With Adjectives’

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2020/01/best-indie-albums-2019-vol-iii-evan-mixs-described-with-adjectives/
- Published: 2020-01-15T13:56:57-05:00
- Author: IRC Staff

Every time that we’ve listened to a new drop from Indiana experimental artist Evan
Mix, it feels like a mushroom trip. It’s always surreal, entertaining, intriguing
and completely different.

His newest album, a 10-track tour-de-strange, is titled _Described with Adjectives_,
and it doesn’t stray from Mix’s well-establish brand of music: Mix music. That’s
because it is unlike anything you’ll hear anywhere else.

Mix’s tag-line for his fifth album, he says, is “homemade pop music that represents
the heart of southern Indiana.” Well, with all due respect, that is an over-simplification
of a multi-layered, multi-dimensional work of obscure sonic and poetic art.

The album opens with the lazy, minimalistic chorus-sung track, “Greeting Quayvon.”
How compelling it is; some might even think of it as a children’s’-leaning song –
complete with a magical electric piano; an enchanting xylophone riff, and what sounds
like drumsticks on cans, along with other unidentified instruments and sound effects.

On the album’s title track, Mix and producer/long-time collaborator, Kaiser, create
a haunting – and yet somehow unintimidating – wave of sounds with organ whirls that
transform into piano riffs as Mix sings theatrically – like an actor in a stage 
performance – in his strangely seductive way.

It’s no stretch to observe that Mix’s musical and lyrical influences and sentiments
are of another age; but never in a boring or old-hat way.

On “Nobody Flees,” Mix and Kaiser collected the beats per minute ratio from several
songs – including Justin Timberlake’s ‘SexyBack’ and Elton John’s ‘Saturday Night’s
Alright For Fighting’ – to come up with “an average beats-per-minute,” he says.

“The song ended up having a BPM of 157. To make the bass sound seem faster than 
the drums, the bass sound was filtered through an arpeggiator plugin. There are 
a few short tempo increases in the middle of the song as well.”

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The track is completely odd-ball, but again, it’s engaging, fun and appealing. At
first, some listeners may be turned away by Mix’s totally unconventional approach
and sound.

But listen more, and with some different glasses on (if that makes any sense), it
becomes quite an entertaining and enlightening experience.

Many of Mix’s tracks do just that: and yet, somehow, in all of their weirdness and
free-form styling, they draw you in to listen more. And we’re not even going to 
dive into examining his lyrics in-depth because that would take many hours to examine
competently.

Therefore, you’ll want to absorb the lyrics yourself. That is not hard: Mix’s sonic
storytelling, if you will, is clear and well-spoken – but still quirky – on track
after track.

In fact, there seems to be a deliberate effort to ensure the words are forefront
in the recordings and the music and sound effects secondary so that there is never
any chance of the words being drowned out (which is a common issue with many DIY
recordings).

The genre-labeling of Mix’s musical escapades is hard to nail down, but essentially
it’s avant garde/experimental/obscure and many of his tracks would play well on 
the famous and long-running Dr. Demento Show. I dare to say that even for Dr. Demento,
many of Mix’s tracks are too different, too original and perhaps too trippy.

He reminds me of a cross between CAKE, Brian Eno, The Nails and any number of artists
you’ll hear on the Dr. D show. Mix’s music is definitely not for everyone, but for
those who do follow, or are open to ‘very different,’ experimental music, Mix is
likely to become a nice new find.

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Then there’s the trippy, exceptionally wordy, “In Heavy, Smoking Coats,” that comes
off more like a slam poetry session in the Fifth Element than a song one would find
on an album in 2020. A tepid, understated beat serves as the backdrop of his reading.

The anti-folk pop track, “Sure, I’ll Spot You,” is propelled by Mix’s signature 
talk-singing style, and Casio and piano keys within a swirl of sound effects and
homemade percussions.

Oddly, this track stands out; perhaps one reason is that it’s as close to a ‘song’
than most of Mix’s pieces.

For what it’s worth, it’s perhaps one of the more structured songs, with its funky
beat, a vein of melody that underlies the track, and a tropical electric piano riff
that is unmistakably joyous.

Then there is the freakshow number, “Years and Hours of Infertility,” which is like
many of Mix’s works; it’s not a song in the conventional sense, but rather a conglomeration
of words, instrumentations and experimentation.

A lyric from the bumbling track mentions ‘Hurstbourne,’ a reference to Hurstbourne
Pkwy in Louisville, Kentucky.

It was there that Mix had a meeting canceled after having driven a half-hour from
his home in Floyds Knobs, Indiana.

The lyric: ‘Scattered five dollars worth along Hurstbourne’ refers to how much money
he spent on gas to get to and from Louisville.

“The melody was always planned to be in a major key so it would sound appropriate
for several voices to sing together,” he adds. “It tells a tale of someone who sounds
young but doesn’t think they’re young.”

“Deteriorating Spirit” is so strange and anti-pop that many may not even want to
listen to all of it. It could be that to some it feels that at times Mix is intentionally
pushing the boundaries of obsurdity to provoke an emotion or a reponse from the 
listener.

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If that is true, I feel it’s innocently nefarious – like a devious child who plays
tricks but is forgiven because he is so cute.

The fact is that in the final analysis Mix’s arrangements don’t necessarily come
off as annoying or petty – at least to this listener – is another testiment to his
child-like, theatrical and quirky talents.

The anti-pop number, “The Nights Between Travel,” features strangely tweaked reverb
effects, a skipping drum machine beat and keys and xylophone riffs.

The closer, “Does Anyone Like January,” is one of producer Kaiser and Mix’s best
collaborations on the album. Even though Kaiser produced the entire L.P., Mix also
believes that “Does Anyone Like January” is his highlight work.

“In the original demo for the song, both the piano and vibraphone played straight
through from beginning to end. Kaiser was able to listen to the arrangement and 
decide when to mute either part so it wouldn’t clash with the other sounds. He also
made helpful recommendations on the phrasing of the vocals in this song.”

Some would say – without really examining his music closely – that Mix’s works are
so offbeat; unscripted; demoey; chaotic, and unconventional that they are essentially
unlistenable.

But, I disagree, but not without merit. That sentiment – that Mix’s work is ‘unlistenable’–
was my own at first. Soon, however, a transformation happened.

After some time of adjustment and settling into Mix’s weirdo world, and really listening,
my mind was changed. Mix is an underground quirky 21st century beat poet who creates
instrumental riffs, sounds and effects that are not music, but more like acts in
a play or perhaps even adult child’s play. Whichever one prefers.

[https://www.facebook.com/mixevan/](https://www.facebook.com/mixevan/)

 

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