Natural Selection gathers 18 songs from Tanin’s ownmusical output between 1971 and 2004, beginning with four cuts off of Sublime Nation, his 1995 solo albumfeaturing Talking Heads co-founder (and Milwaukee native) Jerry Harrison.Compulsively catchy ditties such as “Little Black Book” and “Every Trick in theBook” act as the perfect introduction to Tanin’s Beatles-influenced, slightlynasal power pop. Next come four tracks from the Xpensive Dogs, a project thatpaired Tanin with Japanese electronic-music composer Toshiyuki Hiraoka for twoalbums and revealed a darker, more rugged, guitar-driven side of Tanin’smusical mind. Other songs here include progressive-leaning pop cuts from thesoulful mid-’1970s concept album Otto& The Elevators and a selection of nice-sounding but dated balladscoming at the end.
Despite its low-keyconclusion, this is a worthy collection from a guy who deserves greater renown.Milwaukee’slucky to have him.
