Luck is running out

It has been six years since Jimmy Tamborello, a.k.a. Dntel, released his debut album, Life Is Full Of Possibilities, but he has been far from idle. In the interim, he has become much more famous as the electronic-instrumentals half of The Postal Service -- his (originally, one-off) side project with Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard -- whose 2003 album, Give Up, achieved surprise mainstream crossover success. So, given all this, you'd think that Tamborello's sophomore release, Dumb Luck, would differ considerably from 2001's Life -- especially since Give Up was a major departure in style. \nBut you'd be wrong and, unfortunately, it's not to Dumb Luck's benefit. \nFor Give Up, Tamborello held his glitches, blips, fills and various retro-synth sounds to a precise song structure -- and, combined with Gibbard's warm vocals and sad-sack lyrics, the result was pop gold. Tamborello's Life, on the other hand, was a droney, fussy, partly ambient, willfully experimental-sounding album -- which, I suspect, has been disappointing Postal Service fans for years. (Listening to Life, it's easy to tell why Tamborello decided to work with Gibbard -- their collaboration on the album, "This Is The Dream Of Evan And Chan," is by far the standout track.) Dumb Luck is more accessible than Life, but far closer to it than to Give Up -- and the result, a meandering succession of pretty elements being interrupted by unwarranted glitches or sound effects, is rather boring and slightly irritating. The strongest songs are Tamborello's collaborations with Rilo Kiley-singer/soloist Jenny Lewis ("Roll On"), Seattle-based newbies Arthur and Yu ("The Distance"), and Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst ("Breakfast In Bed"); as well as the title-track, "Dumb Luck," for which Tamborello himself sings. While these songs are uniformly downcast and sedate, they also best match Tamborello's electronica to the singers' lovely vocals -- at least until Tamborello, invariably, throws in some random sound that makes you want to slap his hands off the mixing board. On the other hand, "I'd Like To Know" with Lali Puna is much too busy; "Rock My Boat" with Mia Doi Todd pairs her smooth voice uncomfortably with a sharp, smacking beat; "Natural Resources" with Fog and "Dreams" with Mystic Chords of Memory drag on interminably; and "To A Fault" with Grizzly Bear is a sprawling mess.\nTry this if you like experimental electronica -- otherwise, wait for the next Postal Service release.