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Friedman's Ear Food
By Ben
Dent May & His
Magnificent Ukulele
The Good Feeling Music
of Dent May & His
Magnificent Ukulele
(Paw Tracks - 2009)
Before delving into Dent May & His
Magnificent Ukulele I have to make a
confession. My name is Ben and I am a
ukulele player.
Ever since I saw Steve Martin and
Bernadette Peters playing and sing
ing “Tonight You Belong to Me” on the
beach in The Jerk, I have had a soft spot
for the little Portuguese and Hawaiian
guitar like instrument.
I should only be so lucky as to have
fallen in love with Steve Martin's ukule
le instead of Bernadette Peters' French
horn. Being a ukulele player, The Good
Feeling Music of Dent May & His Mag
nificent Ukulele jumped out as being a
very intriguing album.
From the first track on The Good
Feeling Music, aptly titled “Welcome,”
it is apparent that this is not a normal
record. So maybe the average record
may not croon “Hello!” when it is popped
into the stereo, but the first track gives
a certain ambiance to the rest of the
album. The greeting gives the record a
little affected touch that suggests May
is not only making a record, but trying
to put on a performance.
Dent May is a showman and acts out
a persona on his record and a big part of
his music seems dependent on accepting
this character. In trying to approximate
this persona a few things step out.
As a character, May strikes me as
being something like a combination of
Tiny Tim and Truman Capote, except
his voice is not as falsetto as the former
and he is not as flamboyant as the lat
ter.
In pictures and music videos, May
is normally dressed in either a velvet
jacket or a tuxedo, which along with his
mopish hair and large owl like glasses
gives him a distinctive appearance.
After the ukulele, the most notice
able aspect of the music on the record is
the deliberate retro quality. May croons
many of songs that at times sound are
reminiscent of Tin Pan Alley times.
There is a collegiate tone in some of
the songs on the album. The Oxford,
Mississippi resident sings about girls at
Oxford Square (“Girls on the Square”),
professors in love (“At the Academic
Conference”), and those people who
never grow out of college (“College Town
Boy”).
The Good Feeling Music has a few
uneven parts in its composition as cer
tain songs are very much of higher qual
ity than the others.
“Meet Me In the Garden” stands out
as being the best song of the album and
it displays May's song writing prowess
to the fullest extent. The beat is catchy,
the ukulele is not too overbearing, and
the lyrics present a beautiful pop song
with excellent imagery.
Other pearls on The Good Feeling
Music are the light hearted “Oh Paris!”
and the Four Tops cover, “26 Miles
(Santa Catalina)” which reinforces the
records nostalgic feeling.
‘You Can't Force a Dance Party”
Friedman
and “Howard” round some of the better
tracks on the album and show off more
of May's versatility.
The are a few apparent problems on
this album. The first two problems are
that some songs do not seem to fit in
with the rest of the album and others
have awkward lyrics.
For example, the song “God Loves
You, Michael Chang” is an all right
musical composition, but it seems odd
to include a song consoling the 1989
French Open champion after a loss.
The couplet “Since graduation day
he feels like a fraud / He still regrets he
never studied abroad” in “College Town
Boy” is an example of how the lyrics are
some times just week.
A final problem is that a few of the
songs are overproduced with effects and
synthesizers that seem unnecessary, in
comparison to many of the more mini
malist songs on the record.
Dent May overall has produced an
enjoyable listening experience with The
Good Feeling Music.
‘Meet Me In the Garden” is the defi
nite highlight of this album, but there
are other great songs that are very
enjoyable.
Dent May is a real character who
seems poised to become a regular figure
at least on the novelty act circuit after
his recent appearances at the South By
Southwest festival in Austin, Texas and
THE ISLANDER, JUNE 15, 2009, PAGE 5
The Sasquatch Music Festival in Wash
ington state.
Even with the uneven quality of
some songs, the album is still worth
hearing. □
College News
Berry College
Katherine Wiley, daughter of Dr.
and Mrs. Robert Wiley of St. Simons
Island was named to the Dean's List for
the spring semester.
Lynn University, Boca Raton, Fla.
Alexandra Corry of Brunswick was
named to the Dean's List in the spring
2009 academic term. Corry, a sopho
more majoring in Advertising and Pub
lic Relations, earned a GPA of 3.5 or
better. □
Sea Island Credit Union
is now
Frederica Credit Union.
We have a new name and a new look, but you'll find
the same friendly professionals here, and of course the
same owners—which are our members. The adoption
of a fresh new name is designed to change the image of
our credit union to a more open membership. Plus the
change will allow us the flexibility to expand into new
markets and additional locations with a name that is
more broad based for the convenience of our members.
Welcome to Frederica Credit Union!
FREDERICA
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