Dorian Small

Dorian Small and his backing band are having a great time. They managed to pack VZD's in Oklahoma City last night with more people than it's seen in a long time, and they were just the support act. Dorian's got a record out, too. It's called 'Contradictions' and on it acoustic pop melodies mesh smoothly with samples and plenty of synth, much like Simple Kid or Brendan Benson, or perhaps a less stoned Beta Band.

Dorian Small - Ragged Armageddon

Clocking in at a brief two and a half minutes, Ragged Armageddon serves as the introductory track to the album. Showcasing the acoustic/synth duality in Dorian's sound nicely, this track feels to me like the sort of thing that'd be perfect for a festival. With any luck, the weather will improve enough for Dorian to play an outdoor show before I head back to the UK in May.

Dorian Small - Belly Of a Whale

Really bringing out the Beta Band influences, Belly of a Whale is vaguely political. It's not hard to get what Dorian's talking about when he sings 'You manufacture war machines, you turn us into refugees'. About 3 minutes in, however, the fairly standard verse/chorus structure upto that point breaks down into an slow instrumental build-up, twisting and reverbing with electronic wurbles and squelches.

I think Dorian Small's got a lot of promise. Have a listen to these songs, and if you like 'em then you can buy the album from CDBaby here, though currently they're out of stock. You can visit Dorian's MySpace site here.

Duncan