What I value most in music is its ability to keep my attention. If I’m going to spend some time listening to a record, I don’t want it to allow me the luxury of checking my email or watching the tv with the sound off. That’s why you’ll never find me listening to Ariel Pink while doing chores. So, when I pushed play on Dana T’s newest release I was very pleased to hear some jazzy trumpet take the lead into some lyrics delivered very flat in a monotone voice. This is not what I expected and I am so grateful for that.

Dana T mixes a lot of instruments on abbr. relation to good effect. Its very similar to Of Montreal minus some of the guitars-like Kevin Barnes demo reels where there are only 10 people playing on it. I love the song “Star Projector.” At the beginning Dana Telsrow sings “Stripped down production, here I am.” And then later the song just explodes with noise coming from every which way. With the line “My every day is avant-garde,” the song becomes something completely different. Tubas and saxophones come to the front, turning into a “Yellow Submarine”-like cacophony filled with brass and vocals.

This is just the most recent release in a long series of records Dana T has put out since 2011. It seems like something new is popping up every few months, so if you dig this you should definitely keep your eyes and ears open for new stuff all the time. You can check out his website for any info you might need, like upcoming tour dates and other art made by Terslow.

abbr. relation is available as a download for $3 on Bandcamp