Aiden Brookstone aka Aiden is a twenty-three year old musician from Vancouver, British Columbia. He released The DrB EP. The EP features four songs and every song sounds like a completely different artist so let's take this one by one.
Up first is “Outer Space - feat. (Aliens)” which is this loose and comedic song. It reminded me of Beck in a number of ways if he was a little more silly. The groove is fun and revolves around a harmonica riff, a loud bass drum and a couple more riffs. It’s also pretty catchy with lots of comedic interjections. “My Life Story” is a hip-hop song and has some similarities to Sage Francis. It’s similar to the first song in that it’s tongue-in-cheek and comedic. That being said there are points in the lyrics where he attempts to be motivational, is a bit morbid and explores the absurdity of life itself. In another drastic turn he creates an experimental soundscape on “What is Music?” There are some chipmunk affected voices and some psychedelic swirls which feel like you might be traveling down a wormhole. “Circles” is a song where he sings against clean guitar. It’s a bit jazzy and atmospheric. I would say it was the highlight and also the most sincere song of the four. The song was well written and I liked his singing voice. On his Bandcamp page he explains the songs are a little bit different. I would say these songs are very different. As I’ve explained before I think forming a signature sound is an important factor in gaining an audience. It’s hard for the audience to fully connect and become a fan with an artist, especially an up and coming one, if an EP or album doesn't have a sense of cohesion. Even if they connect with one song they will most likely hope some of what they heard will pop up again in a slightly different way. The good news for Brookstone is that he seems to excel in the areas he attempted. “What is Music?” was the only song that didn’t leave much of a mark on me. The other three were really well done. So much so it’s hard for me to pick a highlight. There is a difference become genre hopping and melding genres. I would encourage Brookstone to think about how he can combine these styles into one signature sound. In fact the artist Beck comes to mind again who has done this on albums like Odelay and Midnight Vultures. At the end of the day Brookstone showed he is talented and versatile. The songs are really well done and I think there is more we will be hearing from him. Take a listen.
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