Brushfire Records
2008
Stuff
About This Album
Zach Gill is the singer and keyboard player and one of the main songwriters of the Animal Liberation Orchestra, and the songs on this, his first solo effort, have the bright laid-back ALO vibe that you'd expect from that band. There's not much jamming; each tune is delivered simply in Gill's warm and insinuating tenor with tight arrangements that touch down all over the pop spectrum to deliver their cheerful messages. Even when he's singing about the troubles of love, Gill's boundless optimism shines through. He's also a humorous songwriter, striking hard to find balance between comedy and sincerity without ever coming across like a sap or a sentimental fool. "Don't Touch My Stuff" is a good example of his approach. Its slow reggae groove, with just a hint of Brazilian percussion, will sound familiar to any married man who fights with his wife over the housekeeping chores. "What you call a mess," he croons, "is just my organizational system." Sweet falsetto backing vocals accent his running catalog of the junk that clutters his room. It's a tongue-in-cheek ode to inefficiency. "Bettina" is part tango, part Latin R&B, a jaunty love song peppered by a playful percussion track.
Track List (try tracks 1,2 and 9)

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