Tasty musical fruit

Over the years, Astronautalis, also known as Andy Bothwell, has worked his way up from schoolyard rap combats to signing with a major recording label.

With the release of his third album Pomegranate, his traditional hip-hop sound is blown out of the water by incorporating slide guitar, electronic beats and blues tunes into his songs. Who would have thought Bothwell’s combination of several musical genres would open the door to a virtually unheard-of sound.

Pomegranate proves that Bothwell is masterful in manipulating his voice not only from song to song, but also from stanza to stanza.

Take “Two Years Before the Mast”: the initial tone of the track is soft, slow and slightly reminiscent of Coldplay. However, the quality rapidly switches to identifiable rap, filled with intelligent lyrics and weighty, gravity-laden beats.

“The Wondersmith and His Sons” exemplifies Astronautalis’ ability to meld his hip-hop background with a sound evocative of folksy blues music.

Because folk and hip-hop are not the go-to ingredients for music splicing, one would think the track would produce an awkward effect, but the result is a song rich in back-country flavors and urban sounds.

Falling into a cycle of cliched sounds occurs way too often with modern musicians. When albums are synthesized and blended to within an inch of their life, it seems as though something is wrong, bizarre and just plain painful to listen to.

But Astronautalis masterfully and effortlessly permeates multiple fields of music, manifesting a stellar genre all his own. Indeed, Pomegranate is one giant leap for trans-genre music.