Perhaps you haven't heard Mysterious Dot yet - on headphones, on your way to work, on a bus, or a crammed on the morning MAX light rail, drumming along on your own steering wheel stuck in traffic, or thumbing on your bicycle handles as cars almost bounce you off of the road, maybe in the rain, perhaps some lightly falling snow – well if that is the case and you haven’t taken a listen to this recent release by Portland music maker / table saw wielding Justin Potts and you consider yourself a fan of interesting music: put the needle on… (better yet: click play) ¦ From the opening fuzz of the first track wonderfully titled: Open Up you are taken into a world created by a man that obviously is comfortable with what he creates and he doesn’t need to prove it to you, the listener, but you do get the feeling that he is always happy to have you bobbing along with his art. Kyleen King’s backup vocals offer a nice juxtaposition here as well, though this is the only track in which you hear a duo of voices, it is still a great beginning to a fun filled musical experience. Headphones people : headphones! ¦ Fulcrum, Flocks, Knowledge Gaps and Cratered and Crowned are songs that I would consider having a classic Justin Potts sound, and yes dear reader, I have heard all of his albums, so I will fully stand behind the term: classic. ¦ The mellow fuzz of Knowledge Gaps, and the speed at which it drives along, are very much a consistent style of Justin Potts. I must also mention here that family man Potts invited both his son Jonah and the family pooch Benji as guest stars on Cratered and Crowned – go team Potts! ¦ There are many great images in these musical paintings, some move along more like short stories put to music, others are just nice moments captured in digital amber for you to apply to your toast, mini-masterpieces to magnet to your fridge, or postcards from a friend you wish was sitting close by. ¦ Mysterious Dot features all forms of instrumentation: great thick purposeful beats, well placed keys, fuzzy guitars, ooey gooey bass, viola, Hammond organ, the dog mentioned above, even a cute female white rat named Squeachers… ¦ I would venture to say that Runaway Bear is the sweetest little tale of bears leaving the circus behind that anyone will ever write. I hope he plans a sequel or even a trilogy of bear related songs for future albums… the future… the future... ¦ Alive could be my favorite track on Mysterious Dot, the chorus features a great outburst that both pops out at you and brings the hairs on the back of your neck to attention. And that lizard is still crawling around in the graveyard... of my mind... the big top-esque keyboards, the marching band/machine knocking drum loop all added to my love for this one. ¦ Mysterious Dot, both the song and the album, are a great musical photo album of a year in the life, mind, style and energy of Justin Potts. When my synesthesia synched up with Mysterious Dot, all I could see were golden oranges and red shimmering surfaces of honest musical diary-like entries layered like thick oil paints on canvases of day to day moments. ¦ If like me you are a lover of sincere music not soaped up for mass culture, I think you too will enjoy Justin Potts catalog, and please do start with Mysterious Dot. ¦ Dear reader, this CD is packaged in an awesome bag/case which is covered with the talented Mr. Potts artwork and designs on it – buy a real copy – do it now! ¦ Then order a copy of his album Eohippus… tell him Nitwit sent ya!