Ashwin Ramdas - DayDreams

Ashwin Ramdas

Daydreams
self-released; 2013

3.3 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Ashwin Ramdas is a solo artist from Austin, Texas who recently completed his EP entitled DayDream. Ramdas is just getting his feet wet as he started writing music two years ago and this EP was recorded using a guitar, an interface and a USB microphone. The quality sounds exactly as you might expect from his setup. The guitar is thin, his vocals don't sit well in the mix and the drums are weak. So why listen? Because behind the shoddy production he has written some decent songs that should provide a solid foundation for him to build upon.

The album starts with a brief intro called “Auftakt’ which was actually a tantalizing ambient piece that ends far too quickly. Ramdas could have built a pretty cool song around just that riff. “RebellionRoom” is a poppy alternative song (think Killers) and one of the highlights of the album. Ramdas’ vocal melody is catchy and the music isn't too shabby either. 

“DayDream” sounds like the B-side from an album from The Strokes while “Antarctica” is the centerpiece of the album. He closes with “Ausgang,” which has dreamy guitar soundscapes that suddenly drop and  are replaced by a drum beat and a jangly guitar. The song is Ramdas’ most experimental and ambitious but is also a bit scattered. Ramdas has just started his endeavors into music and with this effort seems to be exploring his interests and writing what he knows. He still hasn't found a sound that is uniquely his own but with more time and dedication these things may come into fruition. 

As far as this album is concerned, you have a couple of moments of inspiration that are too muddled to really notice because of the quality of the recording. It took repeated listens on a nice system to realize there were some well written songs underneath. The talent is there so I hope it comes through on his next effort.

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