I picked up Silent Nightmare’salbum Awakening at con several years ago and was reminded that I had it in my drawer in a series of very odd events (Nothing quite makes this young critic jump like the phrase “Wait you’re Arin Wolfe?” Thankfully it was only “I saw you at a con!”) It’s good stuff on the whole.
Vocalist Tara Duhan clearly has years of vocal training under her belt giving her a thoroughly sophisticated style and very technically correct sound. However, this is also her biggest weakness she is so focused on being correct that she loses a lot of the emotional content. She also comes off a little tight in places. That beging said, she has an incredibly powerful voice with a dynamic range spanning the majority of the mezzo-soprano range.
The guitar work is also solid as is the bass work. However, the balance is in desperate need of a rehaul. Hearing all of the instrumentation at the same level at once is cacophonous and distracting in a otherwise charming piece.
There is a cinematic feel to the work as well, it sounds as though it should be a video game soundtrack and it has that same produced sound on top of the dramatic sentiment
My favorite track is the acoustic version of “The Key” as a lot of the over produced sound is dropped and even the vocals are less technical and more passionate. I would love to see more like that track.
Overall it was a decent album. Solid all the way around.
Walk the Talk is exactly what I wanted when I heard “Compromising Me,” It has all of the cheek and defiance that fans have come to expect from William Beckett without being the same thing we’ve heard before. I’ve always been impressed with Beckett’s articulate, yet still simple and honest vocal style and the lyrics that invariably match. There has always been a vulnerability to him that draws the listener in without being so raw it hurts. In the decade(?) he’s been in the industry (the majority of with he’s spent as a Chicago celebrity) he has yet to lose his shyness. I vividly remember seeing him doe eyed and utterly startled ad the number of fans present when he was signing after one of his solo shows a few years ago. He may have grown more confident, but he never got jaded like so many other artists.
I could go on forever, but this is about the EP not the man behind it.
All of the personable openness I went on about above doesn’t make for a somber album; on the contrary the album is light hearted, defiant and occasionally earnest. If this EP is indicative of where his new sound is going I will be very pleased. Wonderful voice combined with the ability to use it well without being pretentious, William Beckett is a cut above the rest.
(5/6)
Faded Pearl 4/6 Maybe I should give new artists a little more credit as this is the second really solid new artist I’ve discovered that is legitimately good and has a professional sound. I found Faded Pearl at C2E2 hidden in the tiny section reserved for novelists and merch no one is sure what to do with. I would have overlooked them, but the novel one of their members put out caught my attention. They have a really solid post-grunge sound; deep vocals combined with a good baseline and really nice guitar work. Despite it being a little ten track album that is so new it’s not even in the CDDB, Faded Pearl displays a nice range of tone, while still holding to the underlying current of rugged gravel and passionate drive. I particularly found the vocals appealing. I will admit that the gravely rugged vocals of post grunge are a weakness of mine and Michael Schmidt does that kind of singing well, yet still mangoes the occasional smooth tenor note. Mark Manning fills out the low end nicely with an earthy pick-bass sound which is well complemented by the rough and tumble guitar work Francesco Bevilacqua offers.
Overall I was very pleasantly surprised by this band, if they ever play in Chicago,I’ll be the first in line.
I had high hopes for A Strange Case of...after hearing the single "Here's to Us." While I've enjoyed everything I've heard from Halestorm and have gushed in excess about Lzzy Hale's powerful voice, I find that Halestorm can be limited in their subject matter and tone, what got me interested in A Strange Case of... was that "Here's to Us" had a softer feel without losing Halestorm's signature powerhouse feeling. I was disappointed to find that the vast majority of the album was the same vitriolic, in your face, stuff we heard on the debut album. While, the band itself is very talented and Lzzy hale has a fearless attitude and powerful voice, Halestorm is regrettably limited in their range of subjects and tone.
As a stand alone piece the album is wonderful. Fierce attitude with strong vocals and solid guitar work. The drummer is also very good and fills out the few holes in their sound. The album's few slower numbers are sexy and the more up beat songs are positively vicious. I love it on it's own
However, when held up against the rest of Halestorm's discography it becomes redundant, if a fun breakup album. There is a little more of a reconciliatory tone in "Here’s To Us" but beyond that its the same stuff we've heard before.
(Jiminine Christmas,
guys I’m so sorry about how late this is)
I was a big fan of
William Beckett’s old band The Academy is... his voice is a large part of what drew me to TAI. When I caught wind of this
single I had to check it out.
Now that I've heard it,
I'm very intrigued about this new sound. No longer simply the
prety boy next door, Bekett has grown up into a foxier, more confinant person. “Compromising
Me" has a hint of electronic flair with Beckett's precise, smooth voice.
Unlike other artists who've gone solo that I've heard, his backup band
manages to bring the same degree of professionalism and
talent to the table that Beckett does.*
He brings a proud, yet
dignified tone and still wears that winning smile fans have come to adore.
If this track is any
indication, Beckett has lost some of his shyness, and really stepped into his
own.
I look forward to Walk
the Talk.
*I have been unable to
locate this information, but I suspect the "band" is entirely
Beckett's handy work.
Man Get Out ("Berlin" single, This
is What Happens When You Whisper into A Megaphone)4/6
Here's a little blurb on these guys from their drummer: "Man Get Out began our journey in late 2008. We all met through mutial friends, and played our first show together in May 2009. At this first show we were approached by sony and asked to add our track Doppler to the Playstation 3 game Hustle Kings. This secured our first media coverage in the form of a half page feature in the Liverpool echo and a live interview on Radio City Talk.
Various shows up and down the UK followed, including a couple of decent 'battle of the bands' cometitions which we won. The first funded the recording of our first EP “This Is What Happens When You Whisper Through A Megaphone” (available on itunes and spotify, and also from www.mangetout.tv). The second was judged by Mitch Winehouse, who said some nice things about us.
In 2011 we decided to get an extra guitarist to help us beef up the live sound, making us become a five piece. We kept on gigging, and found ourselves gaining another high-profile fan. That fan was BBC Radio 2 DJ Janice Long. Our meeting came at a gig at Hoxton Underbelly in London where she was watching a band called Flight Brigade. After our show she commented that she really liked us and asked for a cd. We were then taken by surprise to hear our track Geronimo aired on her show later that evening. Around a week later she invited us to perform a live session and interview on her show. This marked one of our greatest achievements to date and also one of our most fun and rewarding experiences as a band. Janice has continued to champion us ever since and regularly plays us on her show. She solidified her support by naming us as her band of the year and even made the trip up to Liverpool to present and compere our sell out single launch event for our single Berlin in Mojo Liverpool in January 2012.
The video for Berlin, our latest single is available to see on youtube - http://youtu.be/V_A_O_OSgIw - and the track is available on itunes, spotify and physically from www.mangetout.tv . We continue to perform live shows as often as possible (dates on the website), and will release more music and videos throughout 2012.
"
First, as per request,
the video for Man Get Out’s single "Berlin":
I tend to expect bad
things from younger bands; it's part of the nature of learning. I
was surprised to hear something both professional and well
orchestrated in Man Get Out. With a splash of synth work and a
playful 90s eruo-pop sound, Man Get Out has a catchy sound with fun vocals. I
would love to hear more from them.
Bob Dee with Petro Up
All Night ep. (3/6): I want to like this EP. It has an 80s American
rock sound with the same insouciant attitude
and rugged vocals that endeared me to rock in the first place. In most cases, I’m fond of a gravely voice
and romantic sentiments, but in Dee’s
case i t feels like there’s no effort there. The vocals are mumbled and
nasally, often coming across forced.
I also don’t hear a
single, most of the tracks don’t stand out.
However, what Dee does
well is attitude there is a rugged sexuality that is palpable on the album and
a sneer to his voice that is charming in its own way.
On the whole not a very
strong sound, but worth a second glance.
With Our Lady Peace’s tendency to go years between albums, the mere existence
Curve is
as much of a surprise as some of the stylistic changes are.
One part
gravely rocker, one part melodic balladeer, singer Raine Maida's vocal style is
anything but conventional, without
being bizarre. Exploring a deep baritone as well as a
whispering tenor is simply expected from Maida. Throw in wicked passion
and beautifully constructed lyrics and you have quite a sound.
This album explores
a sound that is closer to Raine Maida's solo work than the familiar alternative
rock sound of Burn Burn (2009).
Folk sentiments rub elbows with the hard edges and an almost tribal drum
style. Duncan Coutts 's use of slap bass is a wonderful throwback to
their first album
Naveed (1994) with its raw where some of the
lead guitar work is softened and ethereal without losing the teeth this album
has grown. There is a distinctly more urgent feel to Curve than previous
albums. Unlike many artist Our Lady Peace has done anything but soften with
age, if anything they've found something to feed the fire.
Curve also has a more
manipulated sound; it feels like Our Lady Peace spent more time mixing than
usual. The amount of effort really shows through in this polished, yet raw
album.
