Tall City

Still with us? Good, because you don’t want to miss this last one. Tall City is Colorado Springs-based experimentalist Christopher Bullock. Attentive Colorado music lovers might recognize him from punk ruffiansthe Nicotine Fits, but you won’t recognize this music. Skillfully crafted from vintage electronics, simple pedals, a tortured autoharp and Bullock’s own vulnerable voice, the music of Tall City is simultaneously dense and sparse, weighty and ethereal, lo-fi and lush. The naiveté and simplicity of Bullock’s music that make it endearing, but its sophisticated sonic experiments yield surprises on repeated listens. The “Soft Sunlight” EP was released in October, and can be had from Bandcamp for $5. Steal the title track here before you buy the whole thing.

When he’s not making fascinating music, Bullock is a published poet, as well as a visual artist who creates one-of-a-kind works on found materials. He’ll be showing his series of works on antique piano rolls in a show curated by Michael Broberg’s Birdseed Collective at Inkling Studios on Saturday. Check out the Post’s calendar listing for more information.
- Denver Post

Before he became the keyboardist of the Nicotine Fits, Chris Bullock performed around the Front Range as Tall City. Part musical project, part literary vehicle, Soft Sunlight is a typical Tall City release. Bullock has found a way to fit the cadences of his poetry into the context of what some might call indie pop akin to Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. In addition to the dulcet tones of Bullock's vocals, what pushes this group of songs beyond a specific genre is his use of autoharp rather than guitar to strike uniquely textured chords. While this is ultimately some kind of bedroom recording, it is one rich in imaginative execution. - Denver Westword