Boost Your IQ Safely and Painlessly: John Vanderslice with the Tallest Man on Earth [Tonight at the Parish]

Like a gifted athlete, a talented musician makes the most carefully cultivated craft seem effortless. This ability is what allowed Bob Dylan to carry off the illusion that his actually superbly refined lyrics were just hastily scribbled castaways from everyday conversations. He convinced us that somehow—if only we were there, in the right place, or more importantly, precisely the right cultural moment in time—we may have made these observations as well. It’s an enduring artistic slight-of-hand that makes a work of high art seem populist, straight out of William Blake’s playbook.

For nearly a decade, John Vanderslice has consistently accomplished the difficult task of seamlessly, and seemingly carelessly, blending the streamlined, edgy production he terms "sloppy hi-fi" with complicated lyrics expressed by cryptic characters. In 1997, Vanderslice founded an all-analog recording studio, Tiny Telephone. Bands who have recorded there bear this signature style, employing melodic simplicity to buoy the weight of literary lyrics: Beulah, Death Cab for Cutie, Okkervil River, and Spoon. Thanks to folks like these, indie listeners may have their cultural IQs raised simply by osmosis; surely more than a handful of Okkervil River fans were first introduced to John Berryman upon hearing their glorious example of the literary rock anthem, "Sloop John B."

Vanderslice cites among his influences the likes of David Lynch, Neutral Milk Hotel, William Blake, and Robert Lowell. And opening for Vandeslice’s tours seems to be a stepping stone to widespread acclaim- ask Sufjans Stevens, St.Vincent, or Bishop Allen. That’s why we’re particularly excited by tonight’s show at the Parish, featuring The Tallest Man On Earth.

The Tallest Man on Earth is the moniker for the Swede Kristian Matsson, whose suitably towering vocals accompany particularly adept fingerpicking and a front-porch songwriting style inspired by the American Deep South. Preliminary tests prove his music to be an antidote for the sedation caused by those omnipresent folk mixes Starbucks has taken upon itself to inject into our systems.

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