IU Professor ponders with computers

In a time when radio airplay sucks more than usual, the "new rock" of the past year is just recycled Kinks-style material and emo bands start to think they aren't even emo, Bloomington's local musicians are doing their best to put something fresh into our rock and roll ears. Some succeed, some fail, but at least they try. \nAndy Hollinden's new album, Begging's Not Endearing, is an exercise in striving for something new. He has taken the idea of combining different sounds to a more technical level, stripping his songs down beyond genres in using loops and an array of instrumentation to convey singular thoughts. In 11 instrumental tracks, Hollinden's take on weird combinations, like a hip-hop backbeat with a tinny banjo in "Aunt Bea," is a survey of hits and misses. \nThe loops, which give Begging its depth, were mostly compiled in a program called Acid, which lets users select the sound, define the number of needed measures, adjust the tempo and tone and finally drop it all into the mix. Holliden chose from thousands of samples to pick out the best phat bassline ("Two Hogs Fightin' in a Feed Sack") or oddball-world vocals (the choir in "Ohio River Bleach Bottle"). Then the loops were combined with live instrumentation and keyboards/samples in ProTools. The rest was two years of fine tuning. The computer programs allowed Hollinden to play, record, mix and produce everything himself. The only other person involved was Mark Hood, who mastered the final product.\nThis independence allowed Hollinden to put together many different sounds. "Onion Puddin'," is a take on soul with horn loops and a clear jazz tone on the guitar. "Lily" is an example of the good-and-bad. While it is formed around a beautiful single bar piano melody inspired by Hollinden's daughter, the harpsichord towards the end makes the remainder of the song seem displaced and somewhat mechanical. "Two Hogs Fightin' in a Feed Sack" runs with a funky beat and some cool slide. "Ectomorph's Revenge" is a tense bit of energy and sci-fi sounds.\nBegging's strengths are in its layers. On the first pass, the songs sound like some instrumental tracks with a few weird choices thrown in. After listening to the album a few times, there comes a realization that there's a lot to listen to that keeps it interesting. Many of the basic chords and ideas come from way back when Hollinden was in high school.\nWhile the songs on their own are interesting, it seems an exercise in fun using a setlist to communicate ideas, which detracts from the focus of the album. The only emotion most of the tracks convey is fun, which is fine if that's your thing, but it doesn't boost the album's weight. While "Music for Kissing," "Don't Speak to the Sleepwalker" and "Lily" seem to inspire something deeper, the songs aren't going to make listeners want to jump off a ledge, cry, fall in love or save the world like truly good songs do. \nBegging isn't for everyone. It is more interesting than it is something to keep in a regular rotation. Those ready to listen, fans of local music or even those who just want to check out something different, pick it up. To appreciate the album it takes more than one listen. It might not change the world, but it's a decent investment nonetheless.