Ears Wide Open: Pomdip

Cassandra Cronin on June 28th, 2017

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Pomdip is the solo project of Makan Neghaban (one-half of Bür Gür), who describes his music as “the way a Peruvian rug looks.” We’ll give you a sec to google that image.

The master pattern woven by Pomdip — a musician, painter, MMA enthusiast — is not far from Bür Gür: Both projects take the listener on an inventive frolic through a variety of musical styles, ranging anywhere from Afrobeat to folk to calypso-tinged pop. On his solo debut “A Jar at the Jamboree” (out Friday via New Los Angeles), Neghaban churns out a fantastical milieu of oblique melodies, patched together with the intricate handiwork of a multidisciplinary artist with a gripping case of nostalgia — not for an era or bygone technology, but for the feeling of sheer joy that one gets from putting familiar things together in a manner that produces a unforeseen, new beauty.

The song structures are less “structure” than they are painterly washes of rhythmic and melodic ideas, appliquéd over the peculiar soundscape of Pomdip’s unique sonic palate. Each moment of “A Jar at the Jamboree” is colored with intimate narratives delivered by Pomdip’s tranquil tenor, or populated with a clever pastiche of found sounds and the warbles, coos and chirpy harmonies of guitar, synth, woodwinds, keys, harp and glockenspiel. The weird hues of instrumentation on this bold debut are dialed into focus with strong moments of emotional clarity, brought about by unlikely vocal hooks (see also: the last :30 of “Instructions”) and stunning polyphony (see also: “Meditations on the Cuckold”, “Toy Light”). This is music for the antisocial extrovert; a cloistered celebration; a jar at the jamboree.

||| Stream: “Jamaica and the Good Bones”