Lullatone: Plays Pajama Pop Pour Vous
Audio Dregs

Lullatone fans can rejoice as Shawn James Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida return with another delectable collection of sleepytime electro-pop lullabies. Befitting its ‘pajama' theme, the music is a little more ‘bedroom'-styled this time around (the material was premastered onto a vintage cassette 4-track machine to bolster its analogue feel) and Tomida's whispery vocals now play a more a prominent role, but otherwise little has changed in the Lullatone universe. Shawn James Seymour has lost none of his talent for crafting softly tinkling melodies and conjuring toy orchestra arrangements of sambas and bossa novas from sweetly singing melodicas, entrancing harp strums, glockenspiels, and keyboards (the album's bass drum sounds were created from a pillow). Though Plays Pajama Pop Pour Vous is primarily a duo effort, “Thoughts and Clouds” converts Lullatone into a small combo with guests adding flute, drums, wind chimes, steelpan, and vibes to the song's vaporous ambiance. Still, while the pillow pop music of Lullatone is definitely refreshing, it's interesting that the album's strongest piece, “Pajama Party Pop,” is also its most animated, even if the song's major strength is its potent vocal hook.

January 2007