Many people can certainly attempt this type of composition but it is very rare that you find someone who has a knack for it the way that Jon Faber (vocals, guitar and "noises"), Mark Mulder (bass, Fender Rhodes, piano, backing vocals), Mike Knorr (guitar, "noises", backing vocals), Christopher Morse (drums, samples), and Scott Krieder (keyboards, guitar, accordion, beat production) do.
Smallspace has created a product jam-packed with musical content and alt-rock influences – I hear elements of Radiohead, Pink Floyd, and, to a lesser extent, A Perfect Circle. If Telepopmusik went alternative, it would strongly resemble the Smallspace sound on No Matter. The last of the 11 tracks, "don't go (the cosmonaut)", is very comparable to the sound of Broken Social Scene. This album is on the very edge of underground and commercial, a catchy envelope-pusher.
‘Don't judge a book by its cover’, they say; I think in this case you can – the cover of this album is a great representation of its’ sound. Mark Johnson illustrates what appears to be a giant TV being trampling through an industrial city next to the forest. This idea applies nicely to the music – organic with an electronic touch.
Michigan is quickly pumping out excellent artists of all genres and one thing they have in common is that they do it all themselves. The production and mixing of this album is incredible. With a very polished sound, Smallspace will impress you that they did most of it on their own.
