Music Review // Todd Warner Moore "Spark"

$7 //
https://toddwmoore.bandcamp.com/album/spark //

There are times when I hear music which is out of my element and so I'm not really sure who to compare it with, but I feel like it's a good chance for me to type about what I don't always type about.   Isn't it funny how you can hear something such as Todd Warner Moore's "Spark" and know that it's good while those who are listening to it with its contemporaries may judge it based upon them?  Comments like "Well, it's good but it's no" and then they name some obscure folk artist only three people have ever heard before.   In this way I am glad I don't have many comparisons for this one because music should stand on its own and not be reduced to "better or worse".

Acoustic and folk are two words I'd use to describe these songs.  There is a bit of Simon & Garfunkel in here and throughout the first two songs you'll hear some backing vocals that can even make you think of Of Monsters and Men if you need that more modern pop reference.    There is a song on here about cooking noodles- which is called "Noodles"- and it's hard to find anyone who doesn't love noodles.   I eat Ramen at least three times a week, sometimes four.   Shoutout Maruchan.   Shoutout to spaghett.   Has there ever been a song about noodles before because I can't seem to recall any and I really feel like they need more respect.

At times this can remind me of Jimmy Buffet, though of course I only know him for that one song so I should really say it reminds me of what I imagine all those other Jimmy Buffet songs sound like.   Let's not get into the musical enigma that is Jimmy Buffet right now though (People go to his shows, he obviously has other songs, how come they've never made it to the radio or in film?)   A song like "Drift Away" gets pretty intense while "Mess" channels a sound between Jack Johnson and Bob Dylan.    "Gem" is softer, sad and has all of these strings.   I like to think of this as being either a cassette or record and how if it was, "Gem" would be where the first side came to an end.

"In the Water" picks things right back up in an acoustic way and the backing vocals from those first two songs return as well, just making me further believe this is the start to the second side of this album.    Though this does not seem to have a physical release, I still find it to feel like it was planned (on purpose or not) for one.   Perhaps Todd Warner Moore just believes in album structure, something I believe more artists should learn from him.    Ultimately, this sends off a nice reset sort of vibe for the album.

Keys and bongos come out through the next songs, which seem to be much more sing-along than those which came before but eventually you will be singing along with all of these lyrics in that Billy Joel "Piano Man" way.     Melodies take us through the song "Already There", which seems to be about complacency, and into the drumming of "Bird's Eye View".    As there is a prologue, so is there an epilogue and it always bothers me when there is one but not the other.   What you can learn from "Spark" though is that this might start off as folk and acoustic, but it grows into so much more and really cannot be defined by genre but should be heard by any fan of music.