BRIAN
BOND – Fire and Gold (www.myspace.com/brianbond)
This is quiet neo-folk music. It’s got
calming vocals, acoustic guitar, and yet also
has some electronics on it. It has all of the
qualities of traditional singer-songwriter fare,
but with a dash of Pink Floyd, a teaspoonful
of chill-out electronica, and just a hint of
Current 93 apocalyptic folk. To add another
comparison most Jersey Beat readers will never
have heard of, Brian Bond also sometimes reminds
me of Michael Johnson, one of the great folk-ish
singer songwriters from back in the 80s. Like
Brian, he had a very easy style, layering other
instrumental arrangements over his acoustic
guitar. I remember Johnson’s calming music
helping me get through some rough patches back
in the day, and I can easily see this doing
the same. It’s just very beautiful.
THE
BROOMSTARS – The Silvermine Sessions
(www.broomstars.com)
This is competent, if generally forgettable,
electro-pop music from Asheville, NC. One exception
on this five-song CD EP is track 4, “Nobody
Knows,” which is pretty good. We’ve
got guitar, bass drums, electric piano, and
synth, plus some nice harmonized vocals on all
of the tracks, but it generally doesn’t
have a sense of excitement. It’s just
kind of there, you know? A few of the tracks
seem to drag a little bit, too, such as the
opener, “Flew Away,” and “Moonage
Daydream,” the third track on the disc.
What makes “Nobody Knows” stand
out a bit from the rest are the dynamics (some
quiet parts, some raucous parts), and some great
hooks.
CHAIRLIFT
– Does You Inspire You (Columbia)
Their PR machine calls this “dream-pop,”
but to me it sounds more like an easy listening
version of 1980s new wave ballads. Its got the
same crooning female vocals, the same funky
bass lines, and the same sparkly electronics.
That said, there is a decent track here in “Bruises,”
the track that’s been getting some airplay
on alternative radio stations around the country.
It still has that 80s new wave ballad feel to
it, but it has quite a lot of bounce, and I
really like the hooks. But then there are really
cheesy songs, like “Le Flying Saucer Hat.”
And there’s a little bit of variety here,
too. “Make Your Mind Up” has a little
bit of a Caribbean feel to it, while “
Don’t Give a Damn” is distinctly
country & western in nature. “Chameleon
Closet” is a short instrumental that’s
quite ambient and eerie, and it leads right
into the closer, “Ceiling Wax.”
Overall, this isn’t worth your time, unless
you really want some new 80s style music.
DETOURNEMENT
– Screaming Response (www.chunksaah.com
&
www.piratespressrecords.com)
This is classic hardcore punk! Fast, loud, furious,
and politically motvated. The average track
length is 1:30 or so, and there’s only
8 tracks on the disc, unfortunately. But this
is great hardcore, some of the best I’ve
heard in years! Too much “punk”
today is really power-pop, geared toward alternative
rock fans. This is the real deal, folks. Recommended.
GOES
CUBE – Another Day Has Passed (www.theendrecords.com)
Goes Cube offers up intense, heavy music, with
pounding bass, crashing drums, violent guitar
work, and plenty of screamo vocals. But that
doesn’t mean they are devoid of melody
or anything like that. “Saab Sonnet”
is a very melodic track, with hooks and everything,
yet it’s still a very intense track. “The
Only Daughter” is also very cool. It’s
still heavy and screamy, but there’s a
cool, simple melodic line in the chorus. “Goes
Cube Song 57” is pretty cool. It has some
nice melodic lines, plus has some angularity
reminding me of NOMEANSNO. Usually, the heavy
screamo stuff can be great in small doses, but
too much at once is just too much. Goes Cube
offer enough variety to keep it interesting,
not just on the tracks I’ve mentioned,
but on several others, too.
THE GREAT UNWASHED – EP (www.myspace.com/thegreatunclean)
This is manic post-punk in the vein of greats
like Husker Du and Mission of Burma. There’s
also a power-pop post-emo feel to it, sort of
reminding me of DC bands like Grey Matter or
3, especially on the fourth track, “I
am a Spec of Dust.” Track 3, “All
Night Breathing,” also reminds me a bit
of a great Chicago area pop-punk band of the
past, the Smoking Popes, with its lo-fi production,
simple repeating lines, and powerful, relaxed
vocals. Overall, this four-song EP provides
some enjoyable listening.
HOOTS
AND HELLMOUTH – The Holy Open Secret
(Mad Dragon Records, www.maddragonrecords.com)
I haven’t got a clue why Hoots and Hellmouth
sent this to Jersey Beat for a review, but I
sure am glad they did. They don’t play
punk, they don’t play indie-pop, and they
aren’t even an “alternative”
band trying for some mainstream attention. They’re
a country/folk/bluegrass band, playing some
great foot-stompin’ old timey music. Acoustic
guitars, mandolin, upright bass, and harmonized
vocals mix together on this disc with a joyfulness
and energy sorely lacking in a lot of today’s
recorded output. Some of the tracks, like “Watch
Your Mouth,” have a soulful gospel feel,
too. A few of the tracks, such as “Ne’er
Do Well” and “Three Penny Charm,”
have hints of pop to them, but without losing
that Americana charm. “Ne’er Do
Well” is an especially pretty tune, with
guitar work that glides through the air, and
some piano and glockenspiel embellishments mid-way
through the track are a nice touch. “The
Family Band” is a fun track, with a jazzy,
Leon Redbone sort of feel. Great stuff!
MAGIK
MARKERS – Balf Quarry (www.dragcity.com)
This kind of reminds me of a slightly less noisy
Lydia Lunch, from back in the 80s. Deadpan female
vocals and sonic mayhem were key ingredients
of her style, and both are present here. At
least on some of the tracks. The sonic mayhem
gives way on others to something quieter, but
no less unnerving, such as on “State Numbers,”
which features spooky atmospheric sounds and
piano. But while Lunch actually sang in tune,
the vocals here are unnerving for another reason
– they’re not on pitch. And the
piano used seems to be in need of a good tuning,
too. Maybe that was intentional, but it’s
pretty annoying. “The ricecar of Dr. Clara
Haber” is just noise instrumentals, and
is maybe even more annoying. I don’t know,
it sounds to me like this band is supposed to
be a joke on the listener, but maybe they’re
serious about it. If so, it’s kind of
sad. Sorry to be so brutal, but this really
sounds like that high school band that got together
and practiced a few songs once, and then tried
to do a show in someone’s basement.
RIK
MERCALDI (www.rikmercaldi.com)
This an acoustic solo effort from this long-time
NYC area musician. This is somewhat of a departure
for him, as he usually plays stuff that’s
louder and electric. This stuff has a definite
folk/alt-country feel to it, featuring, besides
acoustic guitar and vocals, mandolin, harmonica,
and steel lap guitar (plus electric piano on
some tracks, and even sitar on the intro and
final tracks). “Homoe Away from Home,”
the eighth track on the disc, even features
trumpet and brushed snare drum to give it an
easy jazzy feel. It’s nice stuff, very
much in the singer-songwriter vein, though most
Jersey Beat readers probably won’t go
for it.
MONEY/PAPER/HEARTS (www.myspace.com/moneypaperhearts)
Cool, crunchy post-punk, with a math-ish feel
to it. Angular guitars jut out, with Midwest-style
vocals, reminiscent of Pegboy and Bhopal Stiffs,
especially on the track, “Hey Camera.”
Overall, there’s more of a feeling, though,
of bands like Jawbox, Crunchy and melodic are
keywords here. It’s pretty decent stuff,
though it doesn’t break any new ground.
You’ll like it, I’m sure.
THE
ORANGES BAND – Are Invisible (www.theorangesband.com)
The former Lookout! Records band from Baltimore
is finally back, after four years since their
last release, when Lookout! stopped releasing
new titles. And what we now get is very engaging
indie-pop. It’s laden with hooks, very
melodic, and has interesting lines. For the
most part, this is really catchy power-pop,
but there’s also variety on the album,
as if the band is experimenting a little bit
with different sounds. The opener, “Ottobar
Afterhours,” chugs along nicely in a standard
indie manner. “One More Dog” sounds
sort of like a Smiths tune, if just a bit. I
really love “I Wouldn’t Worry About
It.” There’s a melancholy feeling
to it, especially in the chorus, “I wouldn’t
worry about it / because not everyone’s
listening.” And “Do You Remember
Memory Lane” could be the best track on
the disc, with it’s garage surf feel to
it. “When Your Mask is Your Revealing
Feature” has a hint of funk and reggae
mixed in with the pop, sort of what the Police
were doing, and it adds interesting variety.
The disc ends with a couple of more relaxing
tracks, “Absolutely Instru(Mental),”
an long-form instrumental, and Toulouse-Lautrec,”
a breezy pop tune. Probably not the strongest
of endings, given how punchy the earlier tracks
are, but this is a good album. Recommended.
PLAYER/KOMMANDER – On the Eve of
Absolute Get Down (Mighty Loud/Fontana, www.playerkommander.com)
This is hard-rock “alternative”
music. If that’s not enough to turn you
off, it’s a “concept” album.
Now that you’re sound asleep, sweet dreams,
and hopefully you didn’t forget to take
this disc out of your CD player before you fell
asleep, or they might be nightmares. This sounds
like one of those bands that’s trying
really hard to have a good, mainstream commercial
sound, but what they produce is so off the mark,
and won’t even appeal to indie fans. There’s
lots of white-boy funky undertones here, which
is another big turn-off. Skip it.
PUSH-PULL
– Between Noise and the Indians (www.joyfulnoiserecordings.com)
This band hails from Bloomington, Indiana, of
all places, but this never sounds like a Midwestern
band. Instead. it sounds like Canada crossed
with East Bay punk. The thumping bass and exaggerated,
silly vocals sometimes remind me a bit of NOMEANSNO,
one of my favorite Canadian punk bands of all
time. The music is kind of heavy, but remains
firmly planted in pop-punk territory. The band
is tight, the music is catchy, the guitars buzz,
and the whole thing is really good. Sometimes,
the silliness in the vocals reminds me a bit
of an obscure band from DC from back in the
80s, 9353. If you like buzz-saw guitars, poppy,
yet crunchy music, you will definitely like
this.
R00K
– Sera (www.r00kmusic.com)
This is an album of electro-pop, with the emphasis
on pop. This is very poppy, and not in a pop-punk
or indie-pop sense. It’s more like pop
music you would find on very commercial radio.
It’s the sort of thing that Madonna or
Beyonce or someone like that would do, if they
were a little more inventive, and a little more
personal and profound in their lyrics. But the
lyrical content and bits of originality can’t
save this disc from the fact that it is pretty
commercial sounding pop music. They even use
that annoying vocal processing so popular with
the top-40 acts where the pitch suddenly changes
instead of gliding from note to note, like unprocessed
vocals. Even though the band claims to be “alternative,”
this album uses some of the “top session
musicians” in the San Francisco Bay area,
musicians who have worked with the likes of
Mick Jagger, Stevie Wonder, Tracey Chapman,
and Sinead O’Conner. That should give
you a good idea of how “alternative”
this is. It actually gets annoying to listen
to this.
SHARON VAN ETTEN – Because I Was In
Love
(www.languageofstone.com)
Sharon Van Etten is a Brooklym-based singer/songwriter
who offers up a melancholy album of quiet, acoustic
songs, featuring guitar, multi-tracked, ethereal
vocals, and the occasional organ and percussion.
The songs are very simple and calming, and Van
Etten’s vocals are almost angelic. This
is a beautiful album, but I think there’s
not quite enough variety to hold my interest
for the entire length of it. If there was more
texture to some of the songs, maybe that would
improve things, but maybe the arrangements are
a little too simple, too sparse.
OLD
CALIFORNIO – Westering Again (www.oldcalifornio.com)
Old Californio, based in Pasadena, California,
is a country-tinged rock band. But don’t
let that fool you. I am not normally a fan of
country music or country rock but this is something
different. Sure, there’s plenty of twang,
but there’s also plenty of 60s and 70s
influenced rock and folk-rock. “From the
Mouths of Babes” sounds like it could
have been from Bob Dylan, down to the characteristic
vocals and the accordian and mandolin. “Warmth
of the Sun sounds almost Beatles-like. “Are
You Coming Home” just glides along in
a brilliant, sparkly way. The piano contributes
a lot to that feeling. But the stand-out track
on the disc has to be “Riparian High,”
the second track. It features trumpets in the
mix along with the acoustic guitars and mandolin,
giving it a slightly jazz, yet ethnic feel,
very cool. It’s almost like the prog-rock
from the first Ambrosia album of yore. Now,
this won’t be everyone’s cup of
tea, and that’s especially true for Jersey
Beat readers. But it’s really well executed,
enjoyable music.
ORION – 10011011 (Pop Up Records,
www.popuprecords.com)
Orion is a trio from the nation’s heartland
of Kansas, who credit Weezer, Helmet and Failure
as their influences. And if you like that sort
of commercial alternative sound, that’s
exactly what you’ll find here on this
4-song CD-EP. This breaks no new ground, and
pretty much sounds like almost anything you
can listen to on your local “alternative”
radio station. Sure, they’re competent
musicians, the tunes are decent enough for what
they are, but that doesn’t do it for me.
I need something unique and/or edgy to get me
going. And this just doesn’t deliver.
And, anyway, I can see Weezer as a possible
influence, but Helmet? No, Helmet has (or at
least had, in their earlier days, when I used
to follow them) a much heavier, harder, edgier
sound. Orion has much more of a laid back, easy
going sound. OK, Orion has some interesting
hooks here and there, but it’s not enough.
Please, do something edgier, riskier, more original,
I’m tired of bands who play it safe by
playing to the masses.
PEELANDER-Z
– P-Pop-High School (Eat Rice Records,
www.peelander-z.com)
If you’re not familiar with Peelander-Z,
be prepared! They are from New York City and
– oh wait, no, they are from the Z area
of the planet Peelander, or so they say. They
dress up in costumes reminiscent of the Power
Rangers and play power-pop-punk tunes that are
bouncy and fun. They’re silly, too, taking
on Japanese manga or cartoon character personas.
They are Peelander-Yellow, Peelander-Red, and
Peelander-Green (who replaced Peelander-Blue
on drums just before this album was recorded).
They’ve got a video posted on YouTube,
linked from their website, for the song “Ninja-High
Schoool” which features a Power Rangers
style battle with a giant monster in a downtown
district full of high rise buildings, many of
which end up smashed. And with song titles like
“Let’s Go! Karaoke Party!”
“Pillow Pillow,” “Panda III,”
and “Super Health” how can you go
wrong? What a trip!
SATELLITE TRAGEDY – New Beautiful (
www.popuprecords.com)
Well, this is primarily “alternative”
rock music, such as you might find on your commercial
radio stations; but on some of the tracks, it
has a little bit of an edge to it. “In
My Head Again” is a mid-tempo track that
starts out nice and calm and quiet, with guitar,
tinkley keyboards, and almost whispered vocals.
A little more than halfway through the track,
though, it bursts out with wall-o-guitar sounds,
and reminds me of some of the more interesting
80s post-new wave bands. “Ethanol”
alternates between a heavy chorus and quieter
verses, with a little bit of a punkish edge
to it. Good track, but I could have done without
the guitar solo at the end of the track. “Out
of My Mind” is a heavy, angular, angry
track that was way too short at one minute,
and probably the best track on the disc. I would
have liked more like this. For the most part,
though, things stay a little too close to safe
for my taste.
WINFRED
E. EYE – Til I Prune (www.antennafarmrecords.com)
This is really nice, beautiful stuff. It’s
quiet, country-folk / Americana influenced music,
with a hint of a psychedelic edge in some of
the tracks. The music sounds so delicate and
personal, it’s hard not to be moved by
it, even if you’re the most dedicated
headbanger. It evokes emotions of loneliness,
hard times, back road travels, and dreams gone
wrong. In other words, the perfect soundtrack
for these times. I know this is not what most
Jersey Beat readers listen to, but I recommend
you give it a try. It’s just so touching,
sad and beautiful.
Building a Better Robot, An Indie-Electronic
Music Compilation (Electronic Eel Records,
www.electroniceel.com)
OK, first thing to note is that this comp is
available as a mp3 download from www.electroniceel.com/buildingabetterrobot.
The label encourages people to go to their website
and help themselves. The big question is, is
it worth your time and disc space to do so?
The fourteen track album features indie electronic
music from around the world, including the US,
Italy, Sweden, Britain, Germany and Colombia.
And the disc is as diverse musically as it is
geographically. It ranges from ambient to dance-trance,
there are tracks that are all instrumental (most)
and some with vocals, some with guitars and
drums, and some with all electronics. Obfusc,
from New York, opens the disc with a hybrid
indie pop ambient piece. Detektivbryan from
Sweden offers up a purely electronic piece that
evokes wind-up music boxes and children’s
nurseries. Sintemu, from Italy, provides a dance
track with heavy beats and primitive sounding
electronics. One thing I noticed listening to
this is that the common thread among most of
the tracks seems to be a retro 80s feel. Iqtu,
from Colorado has a cool track with some really
interesting, out of the ordinary sound effects.
The Sweeps, from Germany have probably the most
conventional offering here, a very 80s piece
with full electronics and silky female vocals.
Homesic from the UK provide a really cool track
that has an ethnic feel to it, courtesy of marimba
effects, with an outdoor atmosphere coming from
the simulated bird sounds. Axiotronic’s
contribution, from Pennsylvania, is almost Christmas
carol like in quality. Other tracks include
drum & bass type stuff, deep ambient, and
trip-hop. Overall, if you like electronica,
I think you’ll at least find a few tracks
here to enjoy. So, to answer the question, yes,
I think it’s worth the time and disc space,
so go ahead and download away. It’s not
the greatest all time electronica, but it’s
good, interesting, and entertaining music.
The Nurse Who Loved Me: A Tribute to Failure
(Pop Up Records, www.popuprecords.com)
Failure was an “alternative” band
of the 1990s, which means they played primarily
grunge music. They never achieved the success
of many of their peers of the time, such as
Nirvana, Soundgarden, etc. But they, apparently,
have been well respected within the musical
community, at least enough for some bands to
decide to do a tribute album of covers of some
of their songs. They were not your typical grunge
band, because, mixed in with the grunge was
a bit of space-rock, ambience, texturing and
effects. And that’s exactly what you get
here on this sixteen track disc. Now, I must
preface this with the fact that I was never
very familiar with Failure. Some of the tracks
here are fairly predictable grunge, but some
of them are revelations. EMOTRON’s rendition
of “Undone” is a surpise here. Not
a hint of grunge in sight, just lots of spacey
electronica, and pretty cool to boot. SATELLITE
TRAGEDY’s version of “Frogs”
is also pretty cool, with a lot more spaciness
than grunge. THE COMPANY WE KEEP & RILIAN
offers up “Pitiful,” which is loaded
with ambience and a heavy beat mixed with the
grungy guitar works. The song has a pretty damn
cool melodic line, too. It’s interesting
how a lot of these tracks could be equally at
home in a rock club as well as a dance club,
and this is one of them. Some of the tracks
are just boring, alterna-rock, like PARAMORE’s
cover of “Stuck on You.” It just
sounds so out of place here, showing way less
creativity than the bulk of the tracks. But
for the most part, this is an interesting treat.
If you are a fan of grunge and a fan of ambient/space-rock
type music, I recommend this. And I think I
may check out some of the originals now, to
see how faithful to the originals these are.
BORIS
SMILE – Beartooth EP
(www.myspace.com/ countyourluckystarsrecords)
This is really nice, quiet, intimate sounding
indie music. It has loads of acoustic instruments,
and a sort of easy, relaxed vocals that sort
of makes it sound like you’re listening
to the band just relaxing and playing in your
living room. It has a sort of somber, rainy
day feel to the music, very appropriate for
the rainy day today while I’m listening
to it. The lyrics can be quite moving, such
as on “Hour of the Wolf,” which
includes a chorus of Everybody loves you /
Everybody loves you / Everybody loves you
but yourself. Strings and horns are included
in the arrangements, enhancing the mood, but
it avoids sounding too sappy. Very nice, pretty
stuff.
GREENLIGHT CARAVAN – Mother Earth
Revival
(www.smashinggrassrecords. www.greenlightcaravan.com)
This band, hailing from Lafayette, Louisiana,
have their feet firmly planted in the past.
Think 70s era funky, jazzy rock and you’ll
start get the idea. There’s Latin sounds,
organ, funky bass lines, and jazzy horns galore
throughout this album. While the second track
on the disc, “Room 909,” is a pretty
decent one, the jazziest of the bunch, most
of the tracks just seem a little lackluster,
lacking the sort of energy and excitement one
would expect from a band playing this music.
I mean, if you’re trying to play a particular
style from the past, you better well be so in
love with it that it shows in your playing.
And it just doesn’t here. A few tracks,
such as “All These Midnight Colors”
deviate a little bit from the formula, but only
in that it’s more rootsy bluesy rock,
rather than funky or Latin. But it’s still
not getting me going. Overall, kind of a snore.
THE
MATTHEW SHOW – February (www.wampus.com)
This starts out as “art rock” a
la Pink Floyd, but with less psychedelia and
more indie indluence. There’s loads of
“interview” style talking on various
topics interspersed between and within tracks,
which, at first, was kind of cool. But it’s
overused and turned into an annoyance. “The
Impotent Rage” is out of place here, as
a sort of raucous country tune. “The Last
Words of Sigmund Freud” is another one
that’s a little different, sort of a rock
band version of a Viennese waltz, complete with
violin. It was interesting, but not different
enough to make me want to listen over and over.
The whole disc is a little too much the same
thing, over and over, too laid back, too quiet,
too slow, except for that country track. This
one didn’t do anything for me.
GIRL LOVES DISTORTION – Earth Beings
on Exhibit
(www.etxerecords.com)
Individually, the songs on this album from this
Washington, DC based band are pretty good. Edgy
indie-rock is what comes to mind. The song “Psychic
Raygun” is a standout track, with a throbbing,
repeating line in the bass and raspy, puling
guitars, sort of reminding me of another great
DC band, Lungfish. “Luminance (We Don’t
Dance)” is another, with a funky bass
beat, 80s retro vocals, and a post-punk edge.
But, taken as a whole, the album leaves me a
bit cold. There’s no variety from song
to song. The tempo is the same throughout the
album, and there’s just a general feeling
of lack of energy or enthusiasm, especially
in the vocals. The end result is that this sounds
too middle of the road, too safe. This would
have been better as an EP.
MINIATURE
TIGERS – Tell It to the Volcano (www.modernart.com)
This is pretty cool, different pop music. There’s
cool, unique hooks, interesting harmonies, stop/start
lines, and interesting, quirky lyrics. This
all starts out with the opener, “Cannibal
Queen.” It starts out with a rapidly thumping
bass line, and a chorus that declares, “Coming
for your heart like a cannibal / Oh she let’s
me right in and I’m fed ‘til I’m
full. / If something goes wrong I’m accountable.
/ Life without her is no life at all. / I la
la la la la la la la love you Cannibal Queen.”
Cheesy, but cute. “Dino Damage”
is a very cool track, with interesting interplay
between the vocals and a stringed instrument
that sounds like a cross between a guitar and
a violin. The title track is another cool one,
with a very South Pacific feel. It’s about
the downside of love, when it’s not returned.
In this case, the extreme reaction is “Oom
I’d like to chuck ya,” down the
volcano. Hmmm…. “Haunted Pyramid”
is yet another cool one, with sort of a 20s
song feel to it, with the clarinet and piano,
along with the lo-fi vocals in the chorus. Oh,
so nice. There’s much to like here, and
nothing to dislike. It’s fun, unique,
quirky pop music that’s different enough
to set it apart from the crowd.
SOS – Adult Situations (www.sosnyc.com)
SOS offer up their fifth release, featuring
heavy, energetic, melodic rock ‘n’
roll music. It’s not quite punk or even
post-punk, but it certainly isn’t your
average “alternative” commercial
radio friendly stuff, either. Instead, it’s
pure, in-your-face, hard and heavy music. There
have many notable “heavy” bands
over the years, most notably the Melvins and
Steelpole Bathtub. But where much of the heavy
music of the past has tended toward the slow,
grinding sort of stuff, SOS mix in speed and
energy with the heaviness. SOS also tosses some
angular lines into the mix, with the result
hinting at a bit of NOMEANSNO influence. The
one drawback is that the album is a little too
long. Too much of this style can get a little
grating. But in smaller doses, this is great
stuff. Put it into your iPod and set it to shuffle
and you’re set to go!
POINT JUNCTURE, WA – Heart to Elk
(www.mtfujirecords.com)
Wow, this is just gorgeous! Think about Stereolab,
but with a much more chill feel. This in indie-pop
with a jazzy edge, but it’s infinitely
laid back. It’s kind of like a blending
of the driving indie-pop of Stereolab with the
jazzy chill of Tortoise. Besides the standard
guitar/bass/drums, there’s horns, keyboards
and vibraphone, and breathy, understated vocals.
The execution is perfect, everything in place,
but without sounding too contrived. Some of
the tracks are quiet, some are a little more
driving, but all are relaxed and laid back.
“Melon Bird” is just one example
of a track with a nice driving beat, through
the bass and drums, but with such a cool, easy
feel to it that it just glides along. It’s
impossible to pick out any stand-out tracks,
because they’re all so good. Recommended.
