d.oh
A Lukewarm Reception
(self-released)

Toronto, Ontario-based d.oh’s new album, A Lukewarm Reception, has a good mix of all kinds of stuff. Daniel Oh does everything here on this musical project that was created in 2012 while he was experimenting with music in his bedroom. A tune like “49” is built around a “shhinkin” beat, Oh’s rapping and noisy sounds. “Scaring the Child” is indeed slightly scary with a lead female vocal, low bass synth, pulsating percussion bed and vocal loops; it’s the best tune here I feel. The Moroder-like, single-note synths and big sweeps add a perfectly plucky counterpoint. The groovy love song “Shut Me Down” is a bit cliché’, nothing we haven’t heard before of this ilk, but it’s a commercial offering and well-reasoned with it’s big drum beats and singable chorus. The electric guitar lead weaving in and out of the rap works pretty well, actually (it at least makes the rap, wholly unneeded here I feel, palatable). The low synth bed of yet another love ballad, “There Goes My Heart,” mines some more good commercial territory. There’s a lot of extra synth bleeps here that I’m not sure are needed, but again, Oh manages a good mix of his keys and the tune is infectious. d.oh has things well in control here on what he offers and while maybe not anything new to the game, it is surely well delivered.

You can listen to the album here.