Band : Jeffrey Altergott
Album title : Balloons
Label : Own release
Distributor : ?
Release date : 06/10/2009
Release : CD

From out of nowhere (editor-in-chief ain’t sure whence it was sent to him from) Concrete Web was sent this 4th solo album [it follows 2000’s debut album Icarus Grounded (which was lauded by such prominent publications as Chicago Tribune and Dicovery Channel, and saw the title track handpicked by LinuxTag for inclussion in the OpenSource compilation album, released in Europe), 2004’s Runt, and 2007’s tender acoustic Don’t Be A Stranger] by Chicago-based singer-songwriter Jeffrey Altergott. Although Altergott is claimed to be a “Chicago music scene veteran”, I’ve found no traces of a career in music prior to the albums mentioned earlier.

Altergott readily cites Aimee Mann, Duncan Sheik and Andrew Bird as his favourite artists, but although his music is also on the more tender side of Rock (with influences of Folk and Jazz rhythms) he has amelodic Soft Rock sound of his own. In one specific way, Balloons is a weird album, since it re-visits no less than seven songs (being “Till Tomorrow Comes”, “Everyday Is  A Reason”, “Don’t Prove Me Right”, “Brothers Beautiful”, “Kickband”, “Dandelion” and “Thank You”) from his previous album. This new album was produced by The Whole Fantastic World drummer Chuck Harling (already worked with the likes of Roxy Swain & Ellen Rosner) and engineered by Mike Hagler (has credits for work with Wilco, Neko Case and Lloyd Maines, among others), and the 11 songs were mainly played by Harling and his bandmates Daniel Sheron (guitar on 5 tracks and keyboards on 3 others) and Craig Hamilton (bass on all tracks but one, plus piano on 3 and organ on 2 other songs), with the additional guest musicians being Lou Carlozo (guitar on 2 songs, bass on the one Hamilton didn’t play on), Paul Von Mertens (noted arranger-bandleader who’s played with Brian Wilson; plays saxophones and horns on the song “Kickstand”, giving it a ‘40s swagger), Chicago Alt Rocker Heather Perry (piano on “Don’t Prove Me Right”), and engineer Mike Hagler (plays organ on “Something Crazy”; he also mixed and mastered the album). On top of everything, Altergott not only brings his soft tenor voice (complemented in some of the songs by backing singers Jenna Swanson and Kathy Cowan), but also plays all acoustic guitar (and electric guitar on two songs).

If you’re occasionally into the softer side of Rock, this tenderly brought album may just be the thing for you to spend those more intimate moments with. To make your acqaintance with the album, you’ll find 3 songs posted at Altergott’s own website (www.) jeffinthebox.com. An additional song off the album, plus two songs off older albums, can be found posted at myspace.com/jeffreyaltergott. If you’re somewhat thrown off by the idea of supporting an “unknown” artist by buying his album, know that in his own corner of the world Altergott has quite a few fans indeed! Enough, at any rate, to get voted “Fan Favourite” with his song “Don’t Prove Me Right” at the 2009 Billboard World Song Contest following a simple announcement in a blog on his Myspace page (as a result, the song would be featured on a CD including songs from all categories). Before that, in October ’09, the title track of the new album earned Altergott a nomination for Outstanding Songwriter at the Out Music Awards. In more recent news, it was announced that the song “Thank You” (one of the songs featured also on the acoustic 2004 album) was added to the soundtrack of the Douglas Langway directed movie Bear City (premiered June 11 at NY City’s New Fest LGBT film festival).

80/100

Tony.