Random Numbers

Random Numbers was released in 2000 by the British record label Sargasso, usually associated with experimental music (electroacoustic and contemporary classical mostly). The songs of Songs from a Random House are hardly "normal" or mainstream, but don't qualify either as avant-garde. The immediately noticeable musical trait is the use of two ukuleles and a chord organ. This instrumentation (completed with percussion, guitar, viola and vocals) evokes the universe of Frank Pahl. But while the Only a Mother member uses ukulele, harmonium, euphonium, and other neglected instruments (together with low-tech automatons) to add an element of indeterminacy to his music, Steven Swartz's band sticks to the rules of harmony and song structures. Lyrics are kept to a minimum, playing on sonorities or common sense with just a pinch of surrealism, a recipe that produces pearls like this one found in "Hat Covered with Fishing Lures": "That's right, one night I dreamed I was a master of bass / Have you ever caught a bass? / Don't laugh, don't laugh." This humoristic approach, again coupled with the lightness of the all-acoustic instrumentation, recalls Barenaked Ladies' first album Gordon. Swartz's voice is not especially beautifully, but it isn't especially displeasing either. These light folkish songs hide a deeper meaning... or sometimes a stunning superficiality. Highlights include "Every Day Has a Number," "The Miller's Girl" and "Sheltered Life." Serious silliness backed with simple virtuosity: that's what Random Numbers has to offer. Recommended. ~ François Couture, Rovi