Ocean Floor Funeral by Tacachale Chamber Orchestra

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Ocean Floor Funeral by Tacachale Chamber Orchestra is an occasionally if not outdated effort. Great for a road trip with close ones it is otherwise bad for any other situation, unless by other situation you mean busting out a bag of ‘shrooms. At best, Ocean Floor Funeral’s six songs (Yes, just six songs. We’ll get back to that note in a minute) feels like a hallucinatory ride with unicorns. At worst, you can imagine a creepy children’s show with disturbing dinosaurs.

My personal favorite number is track “What’s Your Home?” It sounds like a Civil War chant or something you would have heard when the Titanic went down. Some may label it spiritual and others religious. Regardless, it’s a catchy hymn utilizing a harmonica and the best of the Orchestra’s singers/choir and thought-provoking poetry. For example: “Look outside/ A blanket of snow/ The world is clean for one day but the cars will pass/ And everything will turn gray again.” Dreary images, yes, but set against this melody and instrumentation it is oddly uplifting.

Cold Winter reminds you of Simon & Garfunkel in the way it takes folk-inspired storytelling with sing along-y tunes. Although, this track does possess perhaps the Orchestra’s laziest line too.

One of the album’s best features may actually also be one of its biggest criticisms. While the record possesses twelve tracks, it consists of full songs in the first half with the just instrumentals in the second. May not be everyone’s cup of tea but you’ll have a chance to enjoy the music if the folky vocals don’t win you over. On the flip side, it would be comparable to purchasing shorts for the price of jeans.

Of the six full songs, none are longer than three minutes, giving the vocals a run time of somewhere in the 15-17 minute range and the instruments the full album. Not sure if it purposeful or album filler but Tacachale Chamber Orchestra make good use of the time they do use. For what it’s worth, Ocean is sonic solace for however you choose to listen and for the time period given. Even if you don’t go past track six, you’ll enjoy the first half. For the moment, Tacachale offers a snippet into what one can expect from future releases. Hopefully next time we’ll get the whole deal.

Rating: 7.5/10

I-TUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ocean-floor-funeral-ep/id1005625874

By Cody Seide