Redstone Hall - Elephant [EP]

Redstone Hall - Elephant [EP]

2010, Redstone Hall

Los Angeles quartet Redstone Hall debut today with their debut EP, Elephant, a six-song effort ensconced in the sort of fuzzy 1960’s pop/rock that grew into the garage rock movement.  Steven Rothstein (vocals/keys/rhythm guitar); Zack Hall (guitar/vox); Mac Hadar (bass/vox) and Mike Nussbaum (drums) have developed a reputation for their jam-filled live shows as well as for a distinctive pop sensibility.  Redstone Hall opens a national tour to support Elephant in November of 2010.

Elephant opens with “Rain”, a splendid example of 1960’s pop/rock.  There’s some serious instrumental work going on behind the scenes here, and the songwriting’s none too shabby either.  “Allison” sounds like something Elvis Costello might have written if he’d started out in the 1960’s.  Even the messy garage-rock sound fails to disguise the distinct melodicism inherent in the song.  “Get Back Jack” is catchy; a decent turn before Redstone Hall launches into the Moody Blues-like “Ready Set Go”.  This classical/pop/new age blend is catchy synth pop, early 1970’s style, and has a melody you won’t be able to shake. “Cold Black Cloud” is soulful, repetitive and desperate.  This is one of those songs where a lot of good elements are involved but as a whole it doesn’t mesh well.  Elephant closes with “Oh, Celia”, a catchy bit of 1960’s-style folk/pop that seems likely to be licensed for the movies or television.  It’s a great close to the album, a catchy but somewhat refined pop tune with a life of its own.

Elephant displays a young band with serious intentions toward the future even while having roots firmly entrenched in the history of rock n roll.  Retro enough to cross generations but fresh enough to catch the ear of modern radio programmers, Redstone Hall has the tools to do big things.  There’s a primitive nature to the songs presented on Elephant, a quality that will bear out well live, yet serves here to give the album a live and un-retouched feel.  There’s a lot to like about Redstone Hall.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Redstone Hall at www.redstonehall.com or www.myspace.com/redstonehall.  Elephant is available digitally from Amazon.com or iTunes.

Gregorian B.C. - Conquistadors Of War

Gregorian B.C. - Conquistadors Of War
2010, Gregorian B.C. Records

If a high school dropout can become a doctor of pharmacy, there's no reason a kid from Iowa with a penchant for Gregorian Chant and flamenco guitar can't become a rock star. That said, Brian Chupp, aka Gregorian B.C., is an overachiever. The rock star part is perhaps still in question, but he's achieved the rest already. With a talent and sound born of the same rebellious spirit that gave birth to rock n roll in the first place, Gregorian B.C. blends Chant, flamenco guitar, rock, blues and metal into a sound that has perhaps not been heard before. Singing with a relaxed baritone voice that occasionally calls Jim Morrison to mind, Gregorian B.C. has to be one of the most distinctive artists in rock n roll today. Gregorian B.C. releases his debut album, Conquistadors Of War on July 6, 2010.

Conquistadors Of War opens with "Arise", a heavy rock opus that will appeal to Sabbath fans. The song is a call to war and a call to freedom wrapped into one. It's an ambitious opening foray that announces both the musical intent and personality of Gregorian B.C., who styles himself after the 16th Century Spanish Knights from whom his name is derived. "Gregorian Starlight" mixes elements of progressive rock, 1970's metal and Gregorian Chant. "Live Today" embodies "Carpe Diem" in song, admonishing listeners to live in the moment and not work their lives away. Gregorian B.C. takes the arrangement off the map mid-song, showing some wicked guitar skills in the process. "The Clock Of Time" sounds a bit like Jim Morrison fronting The Moody Blues, circa 1972. It's the most laid-back composition on the disc; a somewhat surprising and gratifying change of pace.

With "The Rise Of Spain", Gregorian B.C. moves into more gothic territory, decorating it with dashes of Flamenco guitar inside an expansive rock arrangement. "The Rise Of Spain" is a warning to today's national powers to heed history and how even the mightiest fall in time. Conquistadors Of War keeps the same tone but returns to the Sabbath-inspired slow, heavy rock style. "The Spanish Armada" takes a more conversational tone, as Gregorian B.C. highlights symbols of the Spanish empire in the 16th Century. Conquistadors Of War closes with "East Coast Rocker", sounding more like Jim Morrison than at any other time during the album.

Conquistadors Of War is an uneven but intriguing experience. Nearly half of the album is a historical song cycle with geo-political implications for today's rapidly changing international politics. The rest is a collection of Black Sabbath or Doors inspired tunes; the sum of which suggests that Gregorian B.C. has found a theme but not a solid writing voice he's yet comfortable with. The blend of sounds on Conquistadors Of War is highly original in spite of the influences referenced here; Gregorian B.C. has a sound that will gain him a lot of intention, although it's not as accessible to current mores as it would have been in the 1970s. If you're a fan of Black Sabbath, The Doors or other such acts, then Gregorian B.C. will appeal to you. His is an interesting sound.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Gregorian B.C. at http://www.gregorianbc.com/ or www.myspace.com/gregorianbc. Conquistadors Of War drops on July 6, 2010. You can pre-order the CD from Amazon. Expect wide availability.

Review: Isaboe - Love Son

Isaboe - Love Sun
2008, Ninjagirl Records

Australian singer-songwriter Isaboe had her first musical indoctrination at the age of 5, learning to play paradiddles on her father's 1950's Ludwig drum set. The days of youth quickly ran away with Isaboe, but the music beckoned her back and at the age of 14 Isaboe discovered The Police, bashing her way through Stewart Copeland's manic percussion and finding a sense of utter joy. Next came the guitar and saxophone and the discovery of jazz. Before long Isaboe was writing up a storm. In 2006 she set out to record an album. Two years later, after re-writes, a hiatus and time off from work to complete it, Isaboe released her debut album Love Sun. Full of personal reflections and empowering images, Love Sun serves as a powerful yet frustrating introduction to the world of Isaboe.

Love Son opens with "Brightest Love", an upbeat-yet-mellow rock love song with orchestral undertones. Listeners may be reminded of a blend of Aimee Mann and The Moody Blues here. The orchestral pop continues on "Calling To You", a song about seizing the moment where love is concerned. "Future World" continues unfettered with a light electro beat beneath Isaboe's ethereal vocals. Isaboe draws on themes of universal consciousness and connection in a somnolent piece that lingers across four-and-a-half minutes. Isaboe gets too caught up in prose on the title track; "Love Son" plays more like a diary entry than a mellow pop song.

"Golden Year" is a mildly upbeat song of reminiscence that seems to shake Isaboe out of her torpor. The energy carries over into "Revelation", an acoustic/electric track that decries the state of humanity and aims toward a more spiritual state for mankind. Isaboe's prose gets the best of her again on "Stellar Child", a song so caught up in Isaboe's new-age lyrical wash it forgets to grow and flourish as a song. Isaboe saves her best work for late in the album; "Home" is a love song that sits a bit outside the traditional love song box but carries a lovely, ethereal arrangement and melody and is likely to be a favorite for most anyone who comes across it. Love Son closes with "For All Our Days", a more traditional love song that sinks back into Isaboe's complacent, ambient pop arrangement style.

Love Son is something of a confounding album. Isaboe has a wonderful voice, and a keen ear for melody, but her tendency to arrange most everything with a monochromatic acoustic/orchestral pop style makes the bulk of her songs sound like one long cycle. There's a lot of potential displayed on Love Son, but Isaboe really struggles to maintain her pop sensibility under the weight of ambient but not energetic songwriting.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Isaboe at http://www.isaboe.com/ or www.myspace.com/isaboeofficial. Love Son is available digitally from e-tailers such as Amazon.MP3 and iTunes.

Review: The Greening - The Last Tibetan Midnight

The Greening - The Last Tibetan Midnight
2010, Zai Records

San Francisco rock trio The Greening dropped their debut album, After Shoal Parlor in 2003, creating quite a buzz in California over time with a mix of oddly-placed shows and a sound based in the beauty and violence of creation. The band constructed their own studio and set to writing and recording new material in 2009, culminating in the release of last year's (She's So) Electric EP. All told, The Greening wrote and recorded twenty songs, ten of which see the light of day on their most recent album, The Last Tibetan Midnight. (The other ten will be released in 2011, but will get proper airings during live shows between now and then). On The Last Tibetan Midnight, The Greening creates art devoid of cookie-cutter musical imprints.

The Last Tibetan Midnight opens with "Black Lotus", a chaotic number that seems to slip in and out of reality. Shifts in style, meter and sound are as random in occurrence as they are seismically varied, with a sonic nod to The Doors. "Belong Me" carries over from the (She's So) Electric EP as a welcome resolution to the chaos of "Black Lotus"; a poppy love song reminiscent of the middle ground between Ben Folds and The Beatles. If the sing-along nature of the chorus doesn't grab you, the instrumentation and vocal harmonies will. The Greening is struck by lyrical elephantiasis on "The Tangerine Floating In Ink", where the verses last too long and don't flow well, but the chorus is strong, the harmonies are true and the instrumental breakdown is worth sitting through the verses for.

The Greening plays with multi-part song construction (ala The Beatles) on "Sleeping Grandpa Tacoma" while incorporating that would bring happy tears to the eyes of Brian Wilson. Not content with all this useless beauty, The Greening upend the serene nature of the song with chaotic percussion underneath, suggesting a worldly duality-cum-chaos that lies beneath the placid surface. "Better Days" and "Winter Sunshine" are both solid, although both are prone to a less cohesive style of play than the rest of the album. The Greening sound a bit like vintage They Might Be Giants at the opening of "Don't Have The Time", but the arrangement becomes more open and fluid as a lyric ballad before opening the throttles as a quasi-big rock song. It's a decent tune, but the fluidity and grace of the dance through different styles is intriguing.

While often eschewing the pure form in light of more challenging variations, The Greening does pure pop quite well. "Sunday Afternoon" dances with the aesthetic without giving up the vaguely psychedelic approach that runs through the heart of The Las Tibetan Midnight. "Sunday Afternoon" is the tune most likely to end up on repeat. "(She's So) Electric" is a barn burner with real pop finesse built around a classic lick. Moody Blues fans will find a lot to like in this tune that nods to the old without losing a sense of the new. The Last Tibetan Midnight closes with the Floydian psychedelia of "Thought I Told You". The song is not a classic closer, but works well in contrast to the rest of The Last Tibetan Midnight. While seeming initially out of context, the more you listen to The Last Tibetan Midnight the more you realize that this is where The Greening was leading you all along.

The Greening are going to inspire a lot of mixed reactions with The Last Tibetan Midnight. It's not a cuddly album; not an album you treat as an old friend. Think of The Greening's latest more as a long-known and respected adversary. The Last Tibetan Midnight is a challenge to listeners to step up to the plate and take what they want; no quarter is asked and none is given. This is art, like it or not. But whether or not you like The Last Tibetan Midnight, it will inspire respect. This is a meaty album that will outlast many of its contemporaries.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about The Greening at http://www.thegreening.com/ or www.myspace.com/thegreening. You can purchase The Last Tibetan Midnight as either a CD or Download from Amazon.com.

Review: Everything Is Made In China - Automatic Movements

Everything Is Made In China - Automatic Movements
2009, EIMIC

Everything Is Made In China is an English-singing band from Moscow that has used the internet and constant gigging in Eastern Europe to gain wider attention for themselves. Everything Is Made In China has a highly ambient feel constructed around lyric vocals and a repetitive mien ala modern Electronica played on manual instruments. The band's third recording, Automatic Movements, blends the sounds of Dream Academy, The Moody Blues, The Midway State and Howard Jones into an eclectic and subtle package.

Automatic Movements opens with "Moving Fragments", a wonderfully smooth and ethereal bit of pop songwriting. Full of layered sounds, "Moving Fragments" features a pretty melody that is understated yet encompassing. "The City Of Airship One" is a bit more urgent, using sound effects to support an arching theme. "Blindfold" is pretty but bland; more engaged in sonic mood-setting than thought, like a painter who does great backgrounds with ineffective objects. "Sleepwalking" finds Everything Is Made In China dancing with 1980's New Wave pop while maintaining an ethereal and detached air. The song is pretty and perturbing at the same time. The rest of the album is an exercise of more of the same, with the penultimate track, "Gentle Silence" offering up essentially a rundown of the album stylistically.

The music of Everything Is Made In China is quite pretty, and Automatic Movements is a pleasant sojourn, but there's really very little contrast or conflict throughout. The result is a pleasant listen that loses traction as you repeat the experience. No one will doubt Everything Is Made In China's ability to construct pretty, esoteric pop songs. The trick will be to add in an emotional aspect that urges listeners to buy in once the initial aesthetics have been appreciated. That quality is not often evident on Automatic Movements. If Everything Is Made In China can combine these qualities they have a bright future in front of them.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Everything Is Made In China at http://www.eimicmusic.com/ or www.myspace.com/eimic. Automatic Movements is available as either a CD or Download via Amazon.com.

Review: Dreaming In Stereo - Dreaming In Stereo

Dreaming In Stereo - Dreaming In Stereo
2009, Dying Van Gogh

Miami Beach, Florida’s Dreaming In Stereo is the brainchild of neo-Guitar God Fernando Perdomo. Perdomo is a highly-in-demand session player as well as the lead guitarist for Transcendence. On Dreaming In Stereo he gets to show off his songwriting and vocal chops to good effect. Together with drummer Eddie Zyne (Hall & Oates) and joined by bass man Giuseppe Rodriguez on stage, Dreaming In Stereo plays with verve, wit and intelligence. Dreaming In Stereo’s self-titled debut album was released in July of 2009 and has already wracked up a fair amount of positive press for the band. Let’s check it out!

Dreaming In Stereo opens with the piano-based instrumental Sea Dreams, which sounds like scene setting music from a musical or a movie. It's a short piece, and pretty. Misery Loves Companies details our cultural fascination with drugs and their ability blunt psychic pain. It's a catchy tune; a bit awkward lyrically and a bit out of synch on the harmony vocals at times but a decent effort. Steal This Song is an altruistic musician's anthem that underlines an interesting dichotomy that occurs in the music business. Very often it's the musicians who have already made more money than they need who decry peer-to-peer sharing, while the hungry artists trying to make their way often welcome it because it opens up potential new fans. This is a great tune and makes a great point with a dash of wit.

Smile is a positive, simple song with a great string arrangement in accompaniment. I'm Not Gonna Move To L.A. is an amusing song about having the strength to be who you are, where you are, regardless of the consequences. The song is intelligently written with an element of dry humor, although the chorus does get repeated a few too many times. Let Me Love You and The Will To Love pair well as melancholy love songs that sounds like they'd be more comfortable in Country/Americana arrangements. Dreaming In Stereo closes out with Amicable, a six minute shot of meandering musical ambience full of melancholy and regret. The arrangement is quite pleasing, although the song does drag on a bit longer than might be optimal.

Dreaming In Stereo takes a wide-ranging musical course on their self-titled debut, from straight up rock arrangements to Moody Blues-style ambient/orchestral rock. The vocal talent is a bit mixed here, and pitch issues do present in the mastered recording at times both in the lead and harmony vocals. The songwriting is uneven but with some very strong moments (Steal This Song, I'm Not Gonna Move To L.A.). Dreaming In Stereo isn't a comedy band by any stretch, but they do seem to shine the most when they let their inherent wit inhabit their songs. Dreaming In Stereo is a decent debut that shows strong potential for growth, a distinct musicality and a creative spark that should serve them well.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Dreaming In Stereo at http://www.dreaminginstereo.net/ or www.myspace.com/dreaminginstereoband. You can purchase Dreaming In Stereo through Amazon.com as either as CD or download.

Review: Hyperstory - Hyperstory

Hyperstory - Hyperstory
2009, Pureland Records

Hyperstory is the brainchild of Los Angeles musician C. Scott Blevins; a loop-driven mix of organic and electric/electronic rock crafted brick by brick. Blevins recorded in numerous spaces with varied personnel and setups to bring sonic variety and an old school feel to Hyperstory, his debut album. Brooklyn, NY's Julian Cassia contributed vocals to the project, and instrumental support came from Joey Waronker (Beck); Deron Johnson (Seal, Miles Davis); Chris Chaney (Janes Addiction) and a host of other friends and acquaintances. Blevins aimed to not only make a collection of great songs, but a great album in the classic sense. Hyperstory will be available on November 10, 2009.

After a brief Prelude, Hyperstory gets things moving with A Happening, a plodding mellow pop tune full of a melancholy angst that closes with something akin to Gregorian Chant. As an opener it's quirky enough to get your attention yet just bland enough to make you hunger for a bit more. Something Good takes a more vibrant tune, sounding something like The Moody Blues might if they were starting out today. Something Good has the right hooks and sound to break the radio wall with the right push. Will It Ever Change is a post-ambient rock tune with Chicago-style horns and an impassioned flair that flows from the previous, spoken word track, Mandate. Ascension gets a legitimate dance beat going and brings in the funk early and hard. The horns are here again, this time sounding a bit more like Tower of Power. This is a great instrumental track. Hyperstory closes out with two pleasant but essentially innocuous instrumental entitled A Reckoning and End Story, respectively. Both continue to vein established on Will It Ever Change and Ascension without really providing anything to the conversation.

Hyperstory is ultimately an album I walked away from with mixed feelings. There were a couple of great moments (Ascension, and to a lesser degree Something Good), but the rest just really didn't move me one way or the other. Hyperstory is a pleasant listen, but not something that compels me to come back. Perhaps it's all just a little too lush and a little too well produced; good songwriting but no risks. Risks are essential.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Hyperstory at http://www.hyperstory.com/ or www.myspace.com/hyperstoryofficial. Hyperstory drops November 10, 2009. Keep checking Hyperstory’s website for availability.

Review: Kowtow Popof - Exalted Headband

Kowtow Popof - Exalted Headband
2009, Wampus Multimedia

Kowtow Popof is a Washington, DC area singer-songwriter who'd developed a distinctive taste for instrumentals that mix organic and electronic instrumentation. This form of Organica has developed a bit over time, finding fruition in Kowtow Popof's latest CD, Exalted Headband. Inspired by cinematic composers such as Bernard Herrmann and John Barry as well as electronic pioneers Ryuichi Sakamoto and Bill Nelson, Kowtow Popof wrote Exalted Headband with a cinematic scope in mind, using recurring thematic elements to construct an integrated series of compositions that work as a stand alone modern Organica symphony.

Exalted Headband is extremely intricate and nuanced in both composition and performance, opening with the Acoustic/Electric hybrid of Swimming Downhill, which sounds a bid like Windham Hill updated for the digital age. Enigma Of The Spokes continues in this vein, but has a more European sound, mixing acoustic guitar with electronically-generated strings for lovely soaring passages you'll want to play again and again before branching into piano/synth duets that are as pretty but perhaps not quite as imaginative. Kairos '77 is an intriguing composition, struggling with its own identity crisis between a theme of hope or despair. This is a piece I'd love to hear broken down for live instruments, and I think there is a lot of beauty in the depths that electronic instrumentation can seek but not quite find. Kung Fu Sunset sounds like what might have happened if Vince Guaraldi had fallen in love with space-age Electronica rather than Jazz.

Run To Daylight features one of three primary themes from Exalted Headband quite prominently. The Daylight Theme is nearly a stand-alone melody here, sounding like something out of 1970's Jazz-Pop set to a dance beat. Exalted Headband (Funkspiel Fringe) sounds like a theme to a 1970's detective show, right down to the Chicago-style horns. Theme From Lucky Guy sounds like the theme to a show you might find on ESPN in part A with a creepy transition or bridge. My favorite track on the CD is Balloon Bazooka; a surreal waltz that devolves into a computer-generated electronic composition that will invade your brain and stay there with a thematic element that intrigues. Rebreather is a fun listen, using a synth voice-generated melody as a foil to its thematic expression. Other highlights include Chronis, Children Of The Teeth and Floaters.

Kowtow Popof is an unusually placid voice in electronic music, searching for thematic order where chaos reigns supreme. His use of musical elements from across various cultures and schools of musical thought suggests significant classical/theory training, and opens doors for Popof that many musicians might not even know are there. Exalted Headband works on so many levels because of Kowtow Popof's willingness to try anything. Exalted Headband is hopefully a herald of things to come.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Kowtow Popof at http://www.wampus.com/ or www.myspace.com/kowtowpopof. You can purchase a copy of Exalted Headband as either a CD or download at www.cdbaby.com/cd/kowtow6.

Review: Son Of The Sun - Before And After [EP]

Son Of The Sun – Before And After [EP]
2009, Son Of The Sun

Son Of The Sun may be the hottest new band in Upstate New York. The Buffalo quintet mixes the ethereal languor of Radiohead with the orchestral complexity of The Moody Blues and the Country/Rock spirit of Blue Rodeo on their EP, Before And After. The EP, a preview of their full length CD The Happy Loss (due Spring, 2009) is revelatory in the depth and breadth of styles and musical choices Son Of The Sun braves. Guitarist/vocalist Zak Ward and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Stocker create a moving target of musical styles across the six songs presented here. Their job is made easier Jeremy Franklin (guitar), Steve Matthews (bass) and Brandon Delmont (drums), who provide an incredibly tight and musical base.

How Can It Be and Big Record Breaker had me thinking of The Moody Blues circa Days Of Future Passed. Singer Ward has a lyric vocal style that first perfectly with these lush, almost ethereal arrangements. Listen Darkly has a straight up Americana feel to it with some Roy Orbison-style guitar embellishments. Spanning Time is something of a sonic watercolor, filling your ears with sounds and rhythms than transcend construction or intent. Son Of The Sun takes a wonderful turn toward the country/rock landscape with punker verve on Stay The Same (my favorite song on the CD). Son Of The Sun winds things down with Tell Me, a sprawling 1950’s style ballad that has a highly memorable melody. My only complaint about the EP at all is that the vocals on the last song were mixed way too low.

Son Of The Sun presents a quandary for classification. It’s not so much that they are all over the map, but that they’ve re-written the map to suit their own musical purposes. Before And After covers everything from symphonic rock to alt-country, even showing some flashes of punk energy on Stay The Same. What do you say about a band that does everything and does it well? Bring on the full length album…

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Son Of The Sun at www.myspace.com/sonofthesunmusic, where you can purchase a copy of Before And After [EP] on either CD or vinyl via PayPal. You can also get it digitally through iTunes.