Alex Niedt’s ‘Don’t Forget to Tip Your Bartender’

In his MySpace bio, Kansas City singer and multi-instrumentalist Alex Niedt lists a hell of a range of influences — from “Twin Peaks” composer Angelo Badalamenti to Norwegian mood-masters The White Birch, with stops by Joy Division, Kanye and Talk Talk along the way.

And all these mile-markers make perfect sense after several listens to “Don’t Forget to Tip Your Bartender,” Niedt’s debut EP and single, available now online. The three tracks are one-man-band creations that combine dreamy swirls of electronics with Niedt’s alternating vocal gravel and silk.

The title song weaves a tale of a wannabe Lothario’s woe at the bar (“Tell her that you really wanna dance now/Oblivious that you don’t have a chance now”). A clicky percussive groove ornamented with synthesized handclaps loops under an intensely catchy hook of what might be distorted steel drums and atmospheric snippets of noise and glitch. Niedt “oohs” in falsetto along with himself, creating a hypnotic jam.

“Five Years” is even more stripped down, with big blasts of deep tom-toms and naturalistic claps accompanying chattering synths to a slow, pretty build of romanticism.

“Anywhere You Land” ventures the deepest into an R&B feeling, with an uptempo lilt and Niedt’s most pop-oriented melody and vocal performance. When he croons, “I don’t need anyone else,” he hits that buttery Backstreet Boys smoothness — and that isn’t a knock, by a long shot.

Accompanied by a slick promo video, “Don’t Forget to Tip Your Bartender” is a strong introduction to an artist whose path doesn’t seem to follow in the footsteps of any single inspiration.

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