You know those shows on Starz or HBO that have episodes where the main characters go their separate ways after a big milestone, like breaking up with someone or going to college or some other life BS, and then there're shots of them driving past trees and looking contemplative and mildly regretful? Every song on this EP could be used to score those scenes. If that sounds facetious it's because it is (I believe critics are, first and foremost, failed comedians, but that's another discussion). Having said that, Chris Strand, currently creating lonely highway music out of Austin, Texas, has crafted a meditative, at times emotive, and above all worthwhile, collection of acoustic songs that touch upon a little bit of everything. Alcoholism? Check out the deceptively winsome "Sweet Lucinda." The tremulous waters of Fate's ocean? He's got that covered in "Someday I'll Be Lucky.” Lonely lovers being lonely and unloved? "Chinaski," aisle five.
Strand's guitar playing is clever, quick and contains chord changes that would make Sam Beam blush. It's the strongest aspect of his music and it's what prevents the EP from getting stale. Except for a few creative studio touches, the songs rarely use anything else besides guitar and vocals. On any acoustic work, that's the biggest deal an artist must work out, but for Strand it's particularly important because he lacks pipes. There's not too much range or strength in his voice that allows the songs to be as good as they deserve. It's especially annoying because Strand is a confident lyricist; I think it's a no-no for a review to mention a song twice, but "Sweet Lucinda" is the best example of his writing, with creative imagery, metaphor and diction and all of that. I'm never very good at ending these things so I'll just say there's a song on here called "Premonitions (Jungian Heavy Metal)" and leave it at that.
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Xmaslites is the bedroom project of Dominic Cicere who recently released his single "Island in the Sky" along with "Ready for the Girl" When I first listened to the single I was pulled in a number of directions. I initially thought it was a bit to mainstream of a sound but after a couple listens I started to warm up to it. First off, the production sounds great which always a plus in my book. The drums were well recorded, the vocals were clear and there was a good amount of separation in the song. The vocals are interesting, as they have a 80's journey-esque exuberance that if wasn't there I would have probably been a lot more critical of the song. "Island in the Sky" does suffer a bit of an identity complex. It lies somewhere between finding a mainstream audience or hipsters. It may very well succeed at finding fans in both circles or ostracizing itself from both groups.
The second song on the split threw me for a loop. The music sounding as if muse and radiohead took a stab at industrial. As with the first song "Ready for the Girl" has a mainstream feel to it but seems to be trying to appeal to a hipper audience. It's not a bad song, in fact there is not much wrong with it. It's well crafted, has great production and sounds really big. My main concern is that this band may have a hard time finding a niche audience. It's a good start but a little bit of refinement as to what direction he ultimately want to go in will probably be beneficial in the long run. Gil Hockman is a singer-songwriter from Johannesburg, South Africa. It wasn’t until after spending a decade in the music industry that he tried to give making music a shot fulltime. He initially released an album of covers with a few originals back in 2011. Just last month he released his first EP All the Things which is his first collection of original work. I’m glad he did. The songs are great, the production is crisp and I really dug his voice. These are folksongs that deal with the transient nature of relationships, our existential angst and the outside world.
The first song is a slow number that moseys down the street. The acoustic guitar is strummed as feedback comes in occasionally from an electronic. The one-off drums and whole vibe made me feel as if I was in a saloon in the old west. The songs are put together well but I think is what is most impressive is his voice. It is original and has a captivating quality that really keeps your attention. It’s a great way to start off the album and it’s almost as good as “The Road” which has some stellar acoustic guitar work. “The Ballad Of George Marchinkowski (Hannah's Song)” felt more like a sing-a-long than the others. It had a child-esque quality to it that made me smile. The album ends with “All The Things” which is the longest song on the album. It is another song a bit similar to the first in that it felt like a mosey down the street. This is a really solid effort of Hockman’s original work. I’m glad he decided to do this as I enjoyed it and will be looking forward to his next batch of originals Self-described as good ole southern boys, The Seam is comprised of Jake Decker, Ben Towhey and Brad Dillard. They recently released their first EP as they head into the studio to follow up with a full length. This is an alternative CD that sounds as if you put The Edge and a stereotypical hard rock vocalist from the 90’s in a room together (At least for the first couple of songs). The EP has straightforward rock songs as well as acoustic ballads that are trying to appeal to a wide audience. With that they will probably be successful at finding an audience with people who are the fans of The Doves, U2, Pearl Jam, and Mumford and Sons. The songs while often utilizing a lot of clichés are well produced and have moments that work well. This EP is on the verge of sounding too contrived but somehow gets away with it. Do you remember when you saw that movie “once” and were like I think I don’t like this at all and then three days later you were singing the songs in the shower. That’s kind of what happened here. I definitely had very ambivalent feelings on first listen but after a couple of spins they really started to grow on me. The first half was a decent start if somewhat a bit misleading as to what the last half of the EP was going to be like. The song has soaring edge inspired guitars and vocals sung with conviction that end up sounding somewhere between U2 and The Doves. What’s funny is that with each song they rock out less and less which isn’t a bad thing. I felt the best two tracks on the EP were the most sparse. “Beautiful” was a soft acoustic song that sounded great - good harmonies, cool riff and solid song writing. “My Only One” was a good closer as it displays both their softer side and their ability to rock. The Seam know what sound they are going for and seem to be perfecting it. It got me interested enough to want to check out their full-length and see where they take their sound from here.
Matt Hawkins recently released a double album entitled An Orange of Infinite Layers. The first disc is composed of experimental songs with vocals, guitars, effects and the second disc is composed of mostly lo-fi ambient pieces that I preferred over the first disc.. A lot of the songs on the first disc are hit-or-miss and would have been better having a professional engineer. While the mixing was lo-fi and often distorted there were some songs that were really well put together and others that just didn’t make much sense to me. For instance the guitar playing on “Child of TV” was excellent and the vocals worked well despite the digital clipping that was occurring. But other songs like “Woolen Reptiles” suffer because of the production. What’s surprising is that after the fist disc I wasn’t expecting to really embrace and enjoy the second disc as much as I did. The songs are titled by where Hawkins was at the time such as “Marine Park Gardens 3am 2012.” The songs are ambient and to its benefit a lot of them sound different embracing different instruments as well as textures to convey the textures. For instance “Sunday Cartoons, 5am, 2001” revolves around a reverb drenched piano and a guitar while “Pagham Harbour, 9am, 2009” revolves around distant drones and tones. Overall, I would have liked to see this double album released separately. While his songs were good they need to be treated better as far as the recording, mixing and mastering is concerned. A step up in this would be a step in the right direction. His ambient material is solid but I would have liked to see him immerse himself a bit more in that direction to see what else could be improved.
Ryan Horton has been involved with creating electronic music for his last three albums and it wasn’t until recently that he started implementing found sounds that he picked up in the city, the Mississippi river and wherever else he goes. He says on his Bandcamp page that he was trying to answer the question How do I use the power of electronic arrangement in the home studio, without the use of electronic sounds and instruments?
Apparently he found it because the album is very good. Not unlike Herbert or Matmos who created one of their albums A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure by recording medical equipment, Horton is able to disguise these sounds and make them sound so much bigger then the sum of their parts. In fact I would have to say this is more enjoyable to me then how Herbert has used found sounds. I felt like Horton really left a lot of space on this album leaving you to question what you were hearing as opposed to Herbert whom I feel is making unbelievably catchy pop songs but almost don’t see the need for the found sounds. Ryan Horton latest Listen Alone uses guitar and piano occasionally while every single rhythmatic element is a found sound. We start things off on the right foot with “Feel All.” I would have enjoyed this song regardless of how it was made. With the complex almost disorienting rhythmic sequences that would make Richard D. James proud, the sweet spot is at the end when he starts grooving with what sounds like a vocal sample that becomes quite hypnotic. It isn’t until “Fire” that we have a straightforward acoustic guitar plucking a simple melody. All you have to do is wait before it is cut up and treated just like any other sample he found. After a while you barely even notice the guitar. It feels like an abstraction. It was nice to hear the short but melancholy piano-based song “Expect Nothing.” It brought some emotion that I wasn’t expecting to feel from this album. Horton created a unique, adventurous album that may be on my personal top ten for this year. Formed in 2009 by Jonny Bisaha, Tyler Shields and Tom Rasulo, Before the Satellites recently released their debut called Evolve. They are a talented indie act that lies somewhere between art rock and hard rock. The album is a mixed bag of somewhat predictable hard rock tendencies and sophisticated experimental glory. Sometimes I felt inspired; other times I didn’t feel like it was working. One appreciative element is the musicianship of the band who are all talented at their respective instruments. Another thing they’ve got going for them is that the songs feel honest and well executed. According to the band the production is intended to be viewed as one concept and should be listened to from beginning to end. (You can do this from their Soundcloud account.) The main issue I had with some of the songs is that they sometimes felt as if they were having an identity crisis.
Let’s start with “I’m Still Dreaming.” It begins with a single guitar slowly hitting mostly root notes. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The vocals entered sounding initially like Maynard from Tool but after a couple minutes I noticed the originality of his voice. Around the 2:40 mark in the song they go into rock mode - flexing their muscles a bit as the distortion pedals come out. I felt the second song hit the mark a bit better as the songwriting felt a bit more rounded. The band in my opinion sounded better with the distortion off. So the last song “Disappear Into Your Dream” was the hardest track being on the verge of black metal with double bass drum type drumming, thrashing guitars, and ferocious vocals. The lead singer on this song goes from sounding like Chris Cornell (kinda) at points to sounding like he might be better off singing for a Norwegian black metal band. Through its peak and valleys the song has some highs and lows. Verging on the side of highs. Despite the somewhat fractured genre hopping the songs on this album are solid, the band is talented and they write from the heart. I’m looking forward to how they Evolve in the future. Mr. Fuzz is a one-man band hailing from Portland, Oregon who makes electronic-infused dance music that utilizes old school productions methods with a fresh pallet of sounds to create his EP Mainroom Fuzzonomy. He creates songs that are easy to like and could also be easy to criticize. The structure to some of the songs feels like you probably heard it before. What’s nice about the music however is that he choses good sounds for his songs and while the structure may be a bit predictable the songs are fun to listen to. This being said there are some moments of this album that are a notch above for instance the last two minutes of “4 to the Floor Dynamics” are unique, inspired and made me intrigued as to what else this guy may have up his sleeve. The EP starts with “Rip It In” which felt the least original of the tracks but the song is really well put together and would get a dance floor packed in no time. “Is This Dance” starts off sounding like Sleigh Bells that forgot to plug in their guitars and start singing. This song introduces hip-hop elements that weren’t apparent in the first song. Ultimately, this song succeeds because of the care he put into tweaking the sounds and the amount of changes that happen every couple of seconds. “Lost in the Sun; Found in the Mind” was my favorite track as I felt it was the most original and introduced some singing that I wasn’t expecting to hear. The EP ended with “Mind Unwind Mind” which was the most straightforward dance number out of the tracks. While some of the parts in the songs might feel familiar the EP ultimately succeeds because it feels more like an ode to other electronic artists then anything.. It's a promising EP that hints at a lot of potential.
Ok I will admit that I didn’t listen to this whole album all the way through in one sitting. The Bunker Tapes by The Monster Gate Experiments is eleven tracks of which six go past the 20 minute mark. The most obvious comparison is William Basinski’s Disintegration Loops which often takes one reoccurring loop and repeats it as small variations are introduced. Even the most hardcore fans of ambient will be intimidated by the total running time of these songs. In order for me to enjoy these songs I felt my headspace needed to be in a different place. I needed a calm sense of tranquility to wash over me as I listened. Being present in the moment and accepting the sounds for what they were was the ticket for me. If you are a fan of Basinski you should be attracted to this music and know when you are going to use it. A lot of the sounds just evolve and devolve over time. Like a Tibetan chant or mantra these songs create a space in which a sustained emotion can evolve. Going through each one of the songs is unnecessary as each one sounds similar and is a variation on the same theme. The artist may in fact feel the same way by the fact the each song is untitled. One thing that is worth mentioning however is that the album was recorded in one day in an unheated WWII bunker near Bergen, Netherlands. these songs have a darker, almost ominous feel to them and I have to wonder how much recording in a WWII bunker had as an effect on the outcome. Proceed with caution these songs (take that word lightly) are not something you want to play at your next dinner party unless of course your guests are all smoking DMT and want to visit the seventh level of hell.
Thick Nothing is a split EP between Carnal Unit and ADM. Carnal Unit is a project amongst a group of people that have lived and played together for some time. That being said this is a new project. I’m not sure what their previous material sounded like but I’m happy they decided to start playing together as Carnal Unit. They have an utterly unique sound that combines electronic elements, harmonized vocals, synths and organic instruments. The other half of the EP is ADM, which is the solo project of Adam Petersen who plays drums in Carnal Unit and brings his own originality to the EP. This EP fuses together experimental tendencies with a pop sensibility that creates a thoroughly diverse yet enjoyable experience. The first song is “Sachristy” from Carnal Unit and starts with a meditative sound that seemed to combine cut up vocal samples before a lead synth is introduced and the sample dissolves. The song quickly stabilizes as drums and vocals are introduced. I am always a sucker for vocal harmonizes involving both sexes and this delivers them with meticulous care and timing – sometimes singing together, while at other times leaving the male lead alone. Their ability to interweave the vocal phrases must be listened to in order to be fully appreciated. Not since other contemporaries such as the Dirty Projectors have I enjoyed a band’s ability not only to harmonize but also to create enough variation within the songs to make me care. The harmonizes aside the song is incredibly catchy and has a ridiculously infectious Amazonian type chorus. The second track “Four Nothing” comes from ADM, which is a rhythmically adventurous yet sparse song that hangs in the air almost ready to fall apart at a moment’s notice. Instead of falling apart you start to get the feeling that every single step has been thought out. The electronic piano creates a warm atmosphere but the complexity of the percussion is what makes your ears pay attention. The vocals are viscerally charged emotional surges that arise on occasion. So I knew right away these kids are more talented then your average musician but wasn’t expecting the emotional reawakening that is displayed on the third track from Carnal Unit “The Thick.” This is the kind of emotion that might be expected from Antony and the Johnsons but I wasn’t quite expecting from these guys. The song starts with piano and vocals and gradually builds with strings, a crescendo and harmonizes. The last and longest song on the album “Lantern” is from ADM whom I’m guessing was classically trained on the piano. Some would consider the piano piece avant-garde but I think it’s just really good. I was so focused on the complex timing that I was a bit shocked to hear vocals pop in a little after the two-minute mark. After listening to this EP anybody who knows anything about music will realize that all these individuals are incredibly gifted. I got the sense that this is what these guys do most of the time. They studied theory, know how to clap out 7/8 time and probably listen to John Cage and Penderecki. I may not listen to another standard rock song in 4/4 for quite some time. This four-song EP was a wonderful teaser and left me thirsty for a full-length EP from both artists. |
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