REVIEW, by the Strangest of Batteries

*Note: sorry that I am interrupting people's string of reviews with this monster post...I thought I would be the first to do this!

Anyways...

Hello all!

As you can see, It’s review time! Hopefully everyone is happy with their work…I know I am. I encourage everyone to post their thoughts on the music – feedback is totally sweet. Don’t feel obligated to listen to every second of every song – general impressions are just fine (although personally I like to go as in depth as I can). Don’t feel obligated to post your reviews at all! I enjoy writing and reading this stuff, but I don’t expect others to feel the same way.

Here are my reviews. More to review this year, and less time to review it…I will have to keep it a little shorter than usual!

EDIT: Whoops…so much for the shorter thing.

REVIEWS

ROB FISHER – YEARS TO REMEMBER: Rob is a friend-I-have-never-met from the UK. We make music together in the Intercontinental Music Lab, an awesome musical experiment I am very lucky to be a part of. As some of you may have read, he was going for a 7 Wonders of the World concept, but had to scale it back a bit, and now we have this track. I particularly love the background vocals (I love BG vocals in general)…there are some awesome harmonies in there – I think I heard more than one diminished something or other. I also the sort of natural ebb and flow of the track – starts out with just two chords, then starts building tension and going into more complex stuff without you realizing it…so great. And there is an overall pleasant, trance-like quality throughout. Rob’s silky-smooth voice goes without saying.

LUXI – SACRED GEOMETRY: Last year she was Alexandre Maxine, this year she is Luxi! The name change actually makes sense (I did the same thing, and I’d like to think mine makes sense as well)…this is a totally different artist…more underground hip hop than electronic pop now. Production has definitely stepped up, as she pointed out, and the guest musicians add a ton. I think I like “Wrecktronix” and “Alchemy” best – especially the guest artist in the latter. On a more general note – I really like how consistent Luxi’s whole vibe is – from what I’ve seen Alexandre seems to have a really bold, unique style that ties together all her artwork – musical, visual, and otherwise.

BRAD ADAMS – CHANGE: Nice debut RT track from Brad, who I met in drumline at Ball State. Don’t have a whole lot to say about it, except nice lyrics, nice message, and is that a French horn?!?

ORYX AND THE CRAKERS – I’m not really sure if there are more Oryx and the Crakers tracks besides this one and the one for RT5, but there ought to be. I think Nadia and I have a lot in common musically – she appreciates a good dose of humor and often uses it to sneak in some pretty serious and (in this case) pretty dark stuff. Though she denies it, Nadia plays a mean Jew harp here. Wish the vocals were just a teeeeeny bit louder…I generally like buried vocals but this is pushing it!

LOBSTER SHANTY AND THE CRAB RANGOONS – FRIENDS OF MINE: Gotta say, I was very surprised at how this record turned out, for reasons I will not go into. So poppy! This is a collaboration between my good from Joe Wilinski and my Facebook friend Nick Puglisi, although you’ll have to forgive me for seeing it mostly in the context of Joe’s previous records. Joe seems to have a major breakthrough every Record Time, and this one to me is pulling all of his previous lessons together – like he’s finally got all the elements in place, he’s finally got a unique style going, and I think it’s finally time he explored his songwriting career outside Record Time. Nick’s bass playing is incredible, though I would expect no less after hearing the new Kings of Push record. I say get a third member of Lobster Shanty and go on tour.

ERIC PUTNAM – NIGHT TIME: Eric and I have been friends for the better part of 700 years. He told me that this Record Time he wanted to experiment with unplugged electric bass, and at first I was skeptical, but of course it worked. Of COURSE it worked. Those bass sections are definitely the highlight for me. Eric has one of my favorite types of voices – kinda out-of-control but somehow always in tune. Now that he has a job, Eric just needs to buy REAPER and get his production value on.

LOGAN BRADLEY – FORMULAS: I always look forward to Logan’s music (and his artwork), and he never disappoints in either. As he posted, he was doing little homages to his favorite bands…though I don’t think he was trying to prove anything in particular, the album shows there isn’t much he can’t do. I was particularly impressed by his vocals, especially on “Throats” – don’t think I’ve heard anything like that from him. The Sleigh Bells track is my favorite. Logan also wins loudest album by far – I literally had to remaster my entire record after hearing his, and it’s still not even close.

CAMERON KING – WE ALL SOLDIERS: A great RT debut. It’s hard for me to comment on stuff like this that has no gimmicks, no tricks…all I can say is that Cameron has a great, very masculine voice (rarer than it seems), and I especially like the little bits of vibrato here and there. Sounds a lot like Bon Iver, or at least the one Bon Iver song I’ve heard. That falsetto is hard to pull off without sounding ridiculous, and Cameron pulls it off.

MIKE WEBER – FLOWER: The less I give away about this album, the better. But I will say that it gives me fond memories of college, and the worthless skills learned therein. Not that this album is worthless, of course. I think Mike would agree that this album could be depressingly popular in the right circles.

PAUL MARQUISSEE – BRINGER I think Paul has meant to do Record Time at least once before, and I always hoped he would follow through with it – I remember seeing him perform one of his pieces (violin + tape of some kind) and remember loving it. Paul and Mike’s albums show two sides of the computer music coin – Mike’s is…well, th0nk, and Paul’s appreciates the need for some kind of emotional anchor in this kind of stuff. His wife Kylene pulls everything together and it sounds like they had a great time making this – they’re also one of the few who planned on a concept and actually stuck to it! Very very impressive RT debut!

ANDREW MILLER – SELF-TITLED: Andrew is my roommate now, and I’m extremely jealous of both his talent and his rig. We’ve already discussed his album in person quite a bit, so I don’t need to go into too much detail, but I will say that Limbo might be THE standout track of this RT, and the other 3 are easily good enough to send to music libraries and make money on. So he needs to close this browser and DO IT NOW.

REBECCA ALLISON – COOKIES: Every year I mention that you can bake stuff, and Becca is the first to actually do it. What can I say? They look delicious. Props for a very thorough story, and for providing a recipe – it’s Super Bowl weekend, people…you’re gonna need a dish to pass!

THE KILLER METEOR – THE PHILOSOPHER STONED: Oh my Lord. Ed’s submission last year was teetering on the brink of madness…now he has gone completely off the deep end. At first I thought it was just too much for me, that I liked the last one better…but once I actually sat down to listen I changed my mind. I really like this. The beats are really something special, if you could call it that…it seems like all of the grooves that I hear in this are completely by accident – like each drum is doing its own thing and come together once in a while, but never for MY sake. Like some kind of phasing or algorithmic thing…I never completely understood Ed’s plan for this, but I think that may have been a part of it. I do kind of miss the weird voice he used on the last one. I almost want him to do something even weirder next time, if only because I literally can’t imagine it.

LAKE EUCLID – C SIDE: Definitely one of the most professional-sounding records we’ve had. I work at a music licensing company/library, and this is exactly the type of stuff we are pitching to TV shows every day. Nice, straightforward stuff, great vocals, good universal lyrics – you can make money doing this. If you’re into that sort of thing. My only complaint, and this is very nitpicky…I wish the pitch correction were a little more transparent. I only bring it up because that alone would put it over the edge quality wise, and you could seriously start licensing this stuff. Just a thought.

RANDY STARY – ROCK TO THE BIG GAME (2011 VERSION). Randy and the rest of the Starys are good friends of my family, though I haven’t seen them in a while! I’m really glad Randy was able to submit some music –a Packer song just in time for the Super Bowl, no less. Nice groove, nice guitar playing, nice lyrics…and it’s already up for sale to benefit cerebral palsy. Doesn’t get better than that.

KRIS ECKMAN – HIROCHI NO HI: So happy this album exists. Weird as hell, and an orgy of genres, just how I like it. And I’m really glad Kris followed through on the concept…almost makes a nice counterpart to the Killer Meteor record, conceptually and…sonically? Almost? A lot more noise-type stuff than I’m used to, but it’s very “colorful” noise. Also like the use of Asian instrument samples – really helps out the imagery and…stuff. Really cool.

FLAVOR TOWN VOICE POTENTIAL – SELF-TITLED: Great band name. Legendary even. I’m always happy when people use all real instruments...the production on this one definitely has a certain charm to it, especially “Ode to Alejandro.” I think my favorite of the three, however, is “The One About that Girl” – has a really nice, tight groove, and seems the most natural out of the three.

FIVE-MINUTE FAN CLUB – BIG SHOULDERS: I was so excited to have Eric Sherman back (from Record Time 2, I believe!) and this time with his awesome wife, both of whom I met in October at Mike Weber’s wedding! Such a small world, although not really, because all of that was organized…hmm. Anyways, to the record. I alluded to it a little earlier, but I love when male singers actually SOUND LIKE MEN. Eric’s vocals are my favorite of this entire thing. They’re not perfect, but they’re very rich, and for some reason I like the way he pronounces things. Some of the field recordings (I believe all done by Blythe ) are real highlights as well. Even though I think Eric said they were stepping back from the Chicago concept a bit, I think they really nailed that. This record is epic in scope – whether intended or not.

OSMIN – FLOW: I always have the hardest time reviewing Osmin’s (Oscar’s?) material. I just never know what to expect when the next song hits. He’s got an 18-minute track here! That actually might be my favorite one…not sure who the girl is or what she’s reading, but there’s a nice tone set there. I also like the last track…nice and direct lyrics, and I like the build toward the end. I know Osmin told me that this record isn’t totally finished, but I liked what I heard so far.

REALITY CALLS – REALITY CHECK: I can definitely hear Jason, Stephanie, and the rest of the crew trying out some new things here, especially in the drums…I think I remember their previous stuff being a little more square and straightforward. Love the keyboard sections. And overall, I gotta say again, you guys seem to have a very intuitive sense of arrangement and melody – the songs are catchy and easy to listen to, but never seem formulaic or forced. I think I like “History with No Beginning” best.

KELSI EPHRAIM – VIDEO: (Note: I would urge you all to look at the note along with Kelsi’s link…she was having some technical issues) This video is tiny, and awesome. Among many other reasons, I like Kelsi because she isn’t afraid to make things that don’t mean anything (something I think Record Timers can appreciate), and it’s hilarious when that makes people angry. Also kudos for finding a workaround to the shaky camera issue – it’s so small now that nobody can tell!

STRANGE BATTERY – TINKLE: Tinkle is exactly what this record sounds like. 0/10.