Search - Mark Sloniker :: Perfectly Human

Music for a Halcyon Spring Afternoon

Peter Romero | Greeley, CO USA | 03/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My first exposure to "Perfectly Human" was in 1991 and 1992, when some of the songs were played during the local forecasts on The Weather Channel. I fell in love with the laid-back "Harpo's Tune" and the radiantly hopeful "Bright Wish" immediately, although I didn't know they were from the same album at the time! "Bright Wish," with its warm and friendly acoustic and electric pianos and saxophone, is one of those tunes that can be listened to a hundred times right in a row without getting old. Most of this fully instrumental album is altogether joyful, and transports the listener to a bright, childlike place. From the fast clave-laced piano work on "Dance for Eight Fingers and Two Thumbs" to the easy, wistful saxophone/guitar melody of "Remembering You," the album is eminently listenable. "Dreamt I Was a Kid Again" surprises the listener with a whistly wooden flute melody line, and "Getting There IS the Fun" is an optimistic send-off. The album's less memorable tracks are weaker perhaps due to an overuse of Sloniker's dreamy synthesized timbres, but they do not detract from the loveliness of the album as a whole. A great one to put on the first sunny day in spring when you open the windows to let the breeze through."