Art Lessing – “Lectures” – [Electric Eggplant Recordings]

Melancholy, slightly-higher-than-low-fidelity pop on this two-LP compilation of 1999-2009 work by Sacramento bedroom recordist Dan Quillan, under his Art Lessing moniker. No contributions this time from his sometime group The Flower Vato, so Dan is singing and doing all the playing himself on guitars, violin, cello, sitar, percussion–whatever the track needs, he seems to have it lying around. Whether he’s rocking out on an up-tempo tune or crawling through a droning dirge, Quillan strikes me as a talented but eccentric musician with a unique vision. The liner notes–in the form of elaborately twisted doodling by Dan–give us the following tip: “Listen in order. Or don’t.” I concur. Several of the tracks are instrumentals.