Let's Get Quiet, Vol. 2

In a way, EPs are the marinated olives, the fun-sized Snickers and the Frito Lays of the music world. EPs can and often do serve as an appetizer, easing a band into the public eye. And they can stave off the hunger of impatient fans, chips and salsa-style, when the making of a full-length album takes longer than was intended. More than this, they offer an artist a chance to experiment in ways that might be too risky on a full-length album; they are the tapas, the sushi, the artichoke and aioli. And it's in this third sense that one should approach Her Space Holiday's second installment of Let's Get Quiet. This EP is a bento box: small in stature, large in terms of flavor and imagination, complete in and of itself. Even if it stands well enough on its own, though, Vol. 2 offers the perfect accompaniment to its predecessor, springing from the jaunty banjo plunks of the previous disc ("Such Small Hands") and diving right into a slick, bass-heavy dance-pop beat that Mariah Carey would be proud of ("OSAF"). Like the first disc, Let's Get Quiet, Vol. 2 is a departure from Marc Bianchi's main course offerings; it's largely ambient, and it's far-reaching in terms of style and instrumentation. Juxtaposition of the electronic with the organic and the anxious with the carefree is the order of the day: manic, mechanical glitch-blip antics give way to warm bursts of acoustic guitar and flute ("Panda Strikes"), and cotton candy poufs of synthesized horns and woodwinds give way to jumpy, joyous tablas and shakers ("Wishbone"). There are times when Vol. 2 can seem a tad precious or fussy, as if it had been served with a dollop of carrot foam. But this is a tasty little bite nonetheless, and it's all the better for being paired up with the first volume.