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