Review: David Homyk - True Story

David Homyk - True Story
2008, David Homyk

David Homyk is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to the entertainment world. Singer, songwriter, producer, actor and model, this Canadian born son of Virginia has worked with some of the biggest stars in show business. As a musician/producer, he's worked with Beyonce Knowles, Solange Knowles, Kelly Rowland, Aqualeo, Cheri Dennis and Cherish. As an actor, he appears regularly on All My Children, with numerous appearances on The Tyra Banks Show, Sex And The City and One Life To Live. Homyk also has a lot of presence in the advertising world, appearing in ads for Burlington Coat Factory, Capri Sun and Anheuser-Busch (the official mixologist for Bud Light Lime). In 2008, Homyk turned out True Story, a collection of seven original songs written, performed, mixed and produced by Homyk.

Homyk opens with the radio edit of Hard To Make A Friend, a relatively average tune with a significant amount of vocal FX work going on. Homyk sounds vaguely robotic, like a cross between Liam Gallagher and Max Headroom. The music itself has a vaguely lifeless quality; played primarily on acoustic instruments but with the mechanical nature of a computer. Fool In The Middle sounds different enough to say it's different from Hard To Make A Friend, but sounds like it could almost be alternative take of the same song, musically. All In All has a bit more verve to it, and gets points for novelty in sound but likely won't garner a lot of attention after the first or second listen.

Addicted To You is catchy and acoustic but very danceable. Homyk shows a touch for Pop hooks here that bodes well. It Makes You Believe is the highlight of the album. Sounding again a bit like Oasis, Homyk's look back at a relationship that's crumbled has real heart and soul. The law of averages kicks in thereafter on It's So Easy Now. Homyk goes from touching and real to predictable and repetitive in the course of one song. Knock Knock might not be the best song presented here, but it's the one most likely to be a Pop hit. It's the song where the guy begs to come back; catchy and annoying at the same time. It's the sort of song that catches on with the teeny bopper set and dominates the radio until it disappears as quickly as it showed up. Homyk closes out with the original version of Hard To Make A Friend, sounding like Alvin And The Chipmunks chipped in on the introduction.

True Story is a real mixed bag; there are a couple of songs here that show real hope for Homyk as a songwriter and performer, and he definitely has a distinctive Pop touch, but there are some touch moments to get through as well. True Story's biggest failing is probably the lack of another songwriter or contributor to bounce things off of. Sometimes material blooms with the advent of creative tension. Homyk has enough talent as a writer to exploit the benefits of such a relationship. The listening experience would also have been more enjoyable without all of the special effects on the vocal line. The best producers know when to play with their toys and when to put them away.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about David Homyk at www.myspace.com/davidhomyk. You can purchase True Story as either a CD or a Download from Amazon.com.

Review: Bryant Oden – Songdrops: 30 Songs For Kids

Bryant Oden – Songdrops: 30 Songs For Kids
2009, Bryant Oden

Bryant Oden followed the path many Indie musicians take; where music is a love, a hobby while careers are pursued; but sooner or later the artist must follow his muse. Oden has been writing songs since his teens both comical and serious. A native of Oklahoma, Oden moved to Denver after college to be closer to the mountains; his inspiration. With a Masters in Education Psychology, Oden has worked as a counselor, an ESL teacher in a high school and as an entrepreneur. Over the years he has entertained family and friends (and occasionally strangers) with his comical children’s songs. After hearing for the umpteenth time that he should record them, Oden set out to do just that in 2008. It appears that Oden has struck a chord. His The Duck Song has over 3.5 million streams on various media sites, while several other songs have over 100,000 streams each. On November 1, 2009, Oden releases his first album, Songdrops: 30 Songs For Kids. Kids love The Duck Song. Parents love The Duck Song. Will Songdrops deliver on its promise?

There are children’s albums for children; children’s albums for adults, and the best kind: albums so masterfully written that children and adults get them on different levels and both enjoy them. Listening to a group like Trout Fishing In America will give you an example of the latter. Such bands/albums are rarities as even the folks capable of writing them don’t nail them all the time. In his masterful and humorous creation, The Duck Song, Bryant Oden gets there for a shining moment. The album born from that inspiration, Songdrops, never quite gets there again. That’s not to say it’s a bad collection of songs, but Oden never quite hits that same level of divine inspiration on the other 29 songs presented on Songdrops. Ultimately, this is a children’s album full of songs that adults will think kids will think are fun or funny funny, but may have a hard time gaining much traction with the kiddos.

Oden opens with The Duck Song, a fine and funny song with a classic vaudevillian twist at the end; enjoyable for everyone. I Got A Pea is a cute song built around an age-appropriate double-entendre that will have the kids cracking up and will even bring a smile on the parents faces. Perhaps the biggest drawback to the album overall, a conceit, if you will, is the use of Chipmunks style vocal mixing on the album. It sounds as if Oden has sped up his vocal lines to raise the pitch of his voice, creating an Oden-on-helium sound with rapid-fire vibrato mixed in. It may amuse the younger set at first, but it becomes grating quite quickly and doesn’t really seem to serve any purpose in the long run. This shows through clearly for the first time on Songdrops, which is cute buy annoying because of the vocal thing.

I enjoyed Bob The Snail, an ode to an unusual pet, and I Love U (It’s My Favorite Letter) will get little feet moving, but it just doesn’t have that quality that will have your toddlers walking around singing it at the top of their lungs a few hours or days later (a mixed blessing). The Unfinished Song will bring you back to your Scholastic Book Club days with Madlibs set to music, but the song may well be over the head of the younger kids. Oden hits his best “serious” moment on Sing You A Rainbow, seeming to summon the spirits of Raffi and John Denver in a sweet moment that will appeal to the sentimentality of the Moms listening (and a few of the Dads). Oden may go over the line a tad for some parents on I Don’t Like Tomatoes; getting very close to something some folks may consider a hot-button word for your toddlers. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with it, but there are some parents out there that won’t appreciate the humor on this one.

Oden is a humorous guy. He enjoys writing and playing for kids, and the songs are honest and well-intended. The quality is very much hit-or-miss throughout the album. The Duck Song is a classic, and there are a couple of other entries here that are very well done, but on the whole Songdrops leaves a lot to be desired as a children’s album. In the end I wouldn’t play it for my own kids, as after listening to folks such as Laurie Berkner, Trout Fishing In America, Elizabeth Mitchell and even The Smudge Fundaes, Songdrops just wouldn’t hold their attention.

Rating: 2 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Bryant Oden at http://www.songdrops.com/ or on Facebook. Songdrops will be released on November 1, 2009. Expect availability on iTunes. For information on CD available keep checking Oden’s website. You can listen to the tracks on his site, or watch videos on YouTube.