By Deuce

So, the name of the artist for this four-song Extended Player is Eric Anders and Mark O’Bitz. The name of the project? Contrapasso. Eric is on the vocals, climbing the ethereal heights with his feathery falsetto. Both of the gents are credited with songwriting.

But the one to watch for is Mike Butler, he of producer, multi-instrumentalist, and mixer status.

The things Butler does with the guitar, hell, any variety of guitars, on this album are not to be done at home. They’re not to be done anywhere, in fact, outside of the where and when Butler decided to pick up those things and put them to ineffable work.

Now granted, some of his playing, the trajectory of the composition, and perhaps even the chord progression or the notes themselves, must be attributed to the foregoing composers. But check the guitars on “High on Cult Life”, which is first up to bat on this affair. They’re better than those found in the movies. They’re panned, one on the right, and the other on the left side. And they drive this song home, or anywhere else it wants to go, as much as anything else on the number.

“So many high on cult life” Anders phrases, with a penchant for sumptuously inflecting the final two words. And, with Butler’s guitar playing, you’ll be one of those out your body and your mind, trying to keep up with this one. The stringed instruments open up the song, buttressing a touch of bass, and are eventually kitted out with a sloppy sounding programmed snare and heady kick. But the guitars themselves, the sentiments and sensations they summon, are every bit as inspirational as everything else on the rest of the project.

Now mind you, Butler’s not just confined to the acoustic instruments he’s fingering on “Cult Life”. On the rest of the EP he gladly trades them for banjos, mandolins, dobros (whatever those are), a lap steel, and almost every other instrument heard on the four songs.

“Bells Toll” sounds similar to “Cult Life”, with the panning of two of the aforementioned instruments Butler’s mastered. The drums are tighter, yet more distant, and Anders’ falsetto is still in good shape. “This Haunted Love” is quicker than the two ballads that precede it, and still heavily stepped in a variety of guitar-like instruments.

But that “Cult Life”? Uh, it needs to be played again.