Lotus / Nomad / 2004 / Harmonized

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[ stream Greet The Mind ]

Philadelphia's Lotus certainly stands out in the livetronica scene. My first encounter with the band was at Rothbury festival in 2008. While walking by Lotus' set their unique blend of oraganic sounding funk, ambient and to some degree - house music - immediately caught my ears. It's not danceable music in the traditional upbeat sense, but rather a more laid back, downtempo style that won't leave you absolutely exhausted after the end of one of their shows. Calling it lounge music would be an injustice, but it's sure to please any listening ears who would hear it in such a setting.

The five piece band's strength is that they all play as equals. None of the musicians overplay, and they seem to have a very keen sense of following each other when they open up their songs for a bit of improvised jam. When at one of their live shows the energy given off by the crowd is generally very positive, and most attendees can't help but to get down to the funkyness of their sound.

All of Lotus' material to date is very good, but this debut album just happens to be my favorite. It's all instrumental too, whereas newer material by the band has vocals (none of which detract from their sound, I just prefer Lotus as an all instrumental band). I highly recommend checking out more of their material if you enjoy Nomad and even more so attending one of their live sets.

DoF / Sun, Strength, and Shield / 2006 / Abandon Building / V0 MP3

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[ stream Health of the State ]

Pennsylvanian Brian Hulick is DoF (Depth of Field). Unlike most electronic music, his is extremely acoustic heavy. The sound he creates is very full without being busy and cluttered. His guitar playing is catchy yet simple, and occasionally he uses post-production techniques to glitch his guitar lines. Electronic drums and clicks help accompany this sound extremely well.

Hulick also shows off his abilities with skillful piano arrangements without overplaying. The music has a very bright and happy feel overall and leaves the listener feeling positive. Fans of strings will really enjoy DoF, and his music might help those hesitant to get into electronic music because of it's “artificialness” gain a better appreciation of it. Nothing sounds quite like DoF, and it's all because of his excellent use of acoustic guitar and piano.

In my opinion Brian has progressed and matured his sound with each of his releases. DoF does both digital distribution and physical releases, of which this album is his 3rd. This is an album that will entrap you with it's chilled out, all instrumental soundscapes, and before you know it you'll be listening to the last track.

Easy Star All-Stars / Dub Side of the Moon / 2003 / Easy Star / V0 MP3

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[ stream Any Dub You Like ]

Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon is one of the greatest and most influential albums ever recorded. It was far ahead of its time, and used the most advanced studio techniques available in the early 1970s. The album's themes include conflict, greed, aging, and insanity, the latter partly inspired by Barrett's deteriorating mental state. Full of deep and memorable lyrics and warm synthesizer tones, anyone who's listened to any classic rock can hum a melody off of this album. The last thing anyone remembers from this album is a dub reggae bass line. Oh wait – there weren't any. To attempt to interject such a thing into classic rock would surely fail, right?

To find our answer we must travel across the seas to the island of Jamaica. The incredibly talented Easy Star All-Stars have undertaken a task of seemingly impossible proportions - to take an album that has influenced them for 30 years and not only cover it, but to completely change the feel and swing of the album into that of dub style reggae. I can say with all sincerity that Dub Side of the Moon is one of the best cover albums of all time. You can hear how much heart and soul went into making sure the vibe that Pink Floyd wanted to give off was completely preserved while being accentuated with a dub twist. They have even innovated the album in a new way on songs like On The Run, which they have added a breakbeat into that fits so well Pink Floyd may as well have written it. On other songs, like Eclipse, the meter has been changed to a standard 4/4 beat to avoid the need to introduce triple-meter, a rhythm not native to reggae. No matter how the Easy Star crew changes the songs it feels extremely natural. They even include a few bonus tracks, such as Step It Pon The Rastaman Scene which seems to be a take on the song Any Colour You Like but with vocals added by the talented Ranking Joe.

If you are a fan of Pink Floyd or of reggae, this music will be an absolute delight to your ears. This album truly is an inspired interpretation rather than a mere cover album.

As Tall as Lions / As Tall as Lions / 2006 / Triple Crown / V0 MP3

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[ stream Song for Luna ]

Independent rock bands rarely grab my attention, but As Tall as Lions has something very special going on. Perhaps it's singer Dan Nigro's amazing voice. Perhaps it's the well chosen chord progressions. Perhaps it's how much the band has improved since their first release, Lafcadio. Perhaps it's the somewhat downtrodden lyrics that almost everyone can relate to who's been emotionally damaged in one way or another. While this crew from New York might tap your emotions, they are far from whiny, depressing music.

The band seems to have had it's own series of obstacles to deal with in order to improve to the caliber that they have achieved on this album. Singer Nigro took on guitar responsibilities for this album as well. His new found optimism turned into pressure and unfortunately caused him a series of panic attacks, self doubt and a lack of confidence during the process of recording this album. The band soon found themselves back on their feet again, but the struggles they encountered can be heard and felt in the lyrics and melodies in songs such as Maybe I'm Just Tired.

After a successful debut release the band dropped out of college to focus on music full time and it really shows. As Tall as Lions have really nailed it with this sophomore release.

The Flashbulb / Soundtrack To A Vacant Life / 2008 / Alphabasic / V0 MP3

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[ stream Forbidden Tracks ]

This was voted the best album of 2008 by the readers of Chronic Music!

Benn Jordan is one of my favorite musicians. He knows no boundaries and is a multi-instrumentalist and producer. He writes music under many names, including Acidwolf, Dr. Lefty, FlexE, Human Action Network, Lucid32, and most famously The Flashbulb. The extreme diversity in his musical endeavors may be partially explained by his bipolar disorder. From ambient to fierce breakbeats, Jordan knows how to compose and arrange beautiful music. He also has an extremely open mind when it comes to music distribution and philosophy.

Soundtrack To A Vacant Life has an almost schizophrenic variety of sounds, but they all flow together extremely well when the album is listened to in a single sitting. It could be considered the closest thing to a musical autobiography that Benn has composed. From piano ballads to Spanish style guitar to epic tribal drumming (on the song Vicious Circle) everything fits. This is an album that truly needs to be listened to in it's entirety to be fully understood, and even after repeated listens you will still pick up on nuances the attentive and detailed Mr. Jordan includes in his music.

This is the most organic sounding audio I've heard from The Flashbulb. His inclusion of real instruments makes a big difference in the sound of the album, and sets it apart from his more electronic efforts. Benn's drum arrangements are still top notch as always, with playful rolls tediously programmed throughout the songs. His grasp on composition and tasteful melodies causes listeners to forget that there are hardly any lyrics on this entire album. This emotionally charged album is truly epic and should be considered a benchmark and milestone in music culture.

The Mars Volta / Octahedron / 2009 / Warner Bros. / V0 MP3

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[ stream Teflon ]

The fifth studio album from The Mars Volta encroaches on new territory for the band. Without alienating their unique combination of rock, jazz fusion, funk and Latin music Octahedron delivers a new “pop” sound. This less spastic music isn't a downgrade of the bands' talent however, just a progression in a new direction. The sound manipulator and saxophonist were asked to step down for the recording of this new material. According to Cedric (the singer for the band) the fresh sound is their take on what a “mellow” album coming from The Mars Volta sounds like. To elaborate: “We know how people can be so linear in their way of thinking, so when they hear the new album, they're going to say, 'This is not an acoustic album! There's electricity throughout it!' But it's our version. That's what our band does - celebrate mutations. It's our version of what we consider an acoustic album.”

Unlike some of the other material from The Mars Volta (such as De-Loused in the Comatorium) this is not a concept album but rather a collection of songs that revolve around somewhat regular composition and themes. One might call this the most listenable album from The Mars Volta. Much of their older material contained extended solos and effects-laden passages that some might consider too experimental, whereas Octahedron is bound to pull in new fans to the band (as well as potentially have die-hard followers say the band has “sold out” - but to think such a thing would be very closed-minded).

If you've never checked out The Mars Volta before, this is a perfect chance to dive into what in my opinion is their strongest album to date. If you enjoy Octahedron I would suggest working your way backwards through their material so that the listener can get a true grasp on how much more experimental their earlier works are.

Alka / Principles Of Suffocation / 2007 / Electronic Eel

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[ stream Tesla ]

Alka is the pseudonym of Bryan Michael. Hailing from New Jersey, Bryan aims to create music that is both melancholic and uplifting in a genre largely criticized for it's lack of emotion. The album title of Principles of Suffocation might suggest that the music is incredibly downtrodden, but the warm tonalities used to create his beautiful synthesizer tones are incredibly soothing.

The song Tesla stands out amongst the rest and is definitely the “heaviest” track on the album (not too heavy to knock the air out of your lungs, however). A combination of heavy drum tones, snippets of voices and vowel sounds and darker synth textures are reminiscent of songs like Telephasic Workshop from Boards of Canada. You could almost imagine it as the glitchy crescendo of the album. The rest of the songs have the listener fading back into a dreamlike state of mellow melodies and rhythms.

Fans of downtempo, glitchy music that doesn't alienate it's melodic soul will surely enjoy this debut album from Alka. Be sure to keep your eye on him for new material!