Over the holiday's, between barely catching my flights and train, the last thing I had a chance to do was go check out local shows in the Baton Rouge – New Orleans Area. Fortunately all I had to do was check my Inbox and local music was waiting for me. David Loti, a successful self promoter and local musician emailed me, (You can do the same at NewdeltaArt@gmail.com ) and when I came back I had two albums from A Soup Named Stew and a David Loti waiting for me. Next thing I know I'm writing his review. It's that easy.

The Soup Named Stew album Loti sent me was Shhh! We're in the Library. I dug the homemade envelope packaging and the concept of recording a live album in a public library. Also, any band that makes their music available for free download is cool in my book. It is obvious the band has quite the camaraderie. They are having fun; I've read that their live performance highlight their humor, yet I haven't the chance to experience the Soup Named Stew's show. So if you like your humor and music combined they're the soup for you. Now I'm usually only a fan humor and music combined ala Dana Carey "Chopping Broccoli." Some of the changes in tone and repetition by Loti on the album are in this vein. On the scale of humorous music, I would say their audience is of They Might Be Giants sensibilities. Tenacious D's combination of humor and music curdles in my stomach. A Soup Named Stew certainly agrees with me more than the D.

Shhh! We're in the Library is essentially a litany of odes. The obvious clue to this is track 4, "Ode to the World's Pukes." A series of odes is a tricky thing to pull off—unless you're Neruda. A Soup Named Stew had me on "Penguins", a comprehensive resource on the subject at home in the library, shelved next to the World Book Encyclopedias. When the series of odes continues to the subjects of monkeys, llamas, zambonis, lawn chairs, and bowling, I'm a little less amused. The best song of the album is "You've Gotta Work With What You've Got"—a solid love song reminiscent of Shakespeare's Sonnet 130.

My biggest complaint with the album is pretty much intrinsic to the art of integrating music and comedy. Sometimes the humor takes precedence over the songs. I have little complaints about the music on Shhh! We're in the Library, but how much talk is too much talk? The introductions to the songs really needed to be dropped; "this next one/song is about/called" before each of the songs becomes tiresome. Relatedly the countdowns of how many songs left in the set segments Shhh! We're in the Library. My final criticism of the Shhh! is that the chefs overseason the Soup with self-deprecating humor—which should be skimmed off the top. Their bluegrass and country tunes jam, no place for self deprecation.

Onto Loti's solo project, Ambivalence, his EP debut deserves some space. David Loti trades in his numerous jester hats from A Soup Named Stew for a little sincerity in his solo EP Ambivalence—a gesture I'm partial to because I prefer depth over humor. Depth is the essential stock missing in the Soup's recipe.

Loti's selection for the title of the EP is extremely apt for the present time period. I'm so ambivalent lately I have worn clogs for the past few years because I couldn't bear to cross even shoelaces in the morning. David Loti is ambivalent too. Religious themes, certainly arising from Loti earning his MDIV right now, comprise "Hope's Song" and "Catharsis." The miracle of "Hope's Song" is the admirable use of a strings synth. Loti's producer John Tulley deserves much praise for his handling of David's tunes on Ambivalence. Some other nice touches by Tulley are the bass coda to "Catharsis", which I wish was extended. All the synthetic aspects please me immeasurably. The arrangement of "Wishing I Were There" including the simple drum beat, build up, breakdown, and picking track distinguishes the song a living tune. "You Are Always Good" is my favorite song on Ambivalence. It has a syllogistic refrain about Love on top of a drum track combined with some well-selected distortions—reminding me of an updated interpretation of "Love is Real."

One thing I'm not ambivalent on is the quality of David Loti's solo EP. Get in touch with David Loti (www.myspace.com/davidloti) and pick Ambivalence up; it's 2007 and Loti's providing the soundtrack to a "Good Year."

--Vincent Cellucci of Baton Rouge Lagniappe Magazine