Mehldau is a very good pianist who's in a gloopy mainstream rut. Here, he tries to break out a bit, with producer Jon Brion (Aimee Mann's buddy) sprinkling in touches like drum machines, used very lightly for a more "hip" sound. Also, Mehldau takes some chances with prepared piano (#5,9) or electronic tricks (#7).

Overall, it's mellow modern jazz, but with enough risk-taking to be worth a try. Note the two Beatles covers and the Radiohead song.

1- Slow warm groove, comforting but a bit cheesy
2- Slow chaotic crashing, vibes-led. Nice.
3- Cute Beatlesque melody. Too cute.
4*- An attempt at techno + jazz. Works if you're a jazz fan; probably sounds limp to real techno fans
5*- Radiohead cover in multiple phases. Starts lush, becomes a loud clatter, includes a dark classical interlude
6- Fast but mellow
7*- Piano altered to sound like mean guitars. Funny stuff, and I'd expect Mehldau knows it's not quite like Sabbath
8- Slick contempo jazz
9*- Nice snaky prepared piano
10- Fast and rolling
11*- Fast with some drum tech; cheesy melodies on vibes
12- Sentimental, soft, new-agey