Sound Machine Dream

Chris Koza's newest effort, entitled Patterns was released not to long ago. I picked up my copy a week or two ago when I went to see him play at the 331 Club on a wednesday night (i especially like to go to the 331 on Raleigh's texas taco tuesdays to eat the wondrous tacos... just fyi). The record is a really nice piece of work. It was recorded with the help of one Paul Marino (who some of the readers may remember from NHS) at Pachyderm Studios in cannon falls, and at Paul's home studio. The recording is really excellent. It is nice to find a piece of work from a band so early in their career that is really nicely polished. The arrangements are all very well thought out, very intelligent, and really compliment the songs. My favorite tracks off of the record are Midnight Rose, View From a Pier, Patterns, and Divine Andromedary. These four songs really capture the aesthetic that I get from the band, the experimental indie-folk-pop sound I picture when I hear the band play live. Of course, this is just my personal and subjective opinion. The only song on here that I don't think fits into the record is track 7, Fear of Mimes. The style of music and lyrics suddenly change on this one track, evoking a sort of 60's bubble-gum sort of feel reminiscent of some early Beatles head bobbers. Compared to the rest of the album this one song just seems trite and quickly contrived. Despite the one track—which i don't actually not enjoy, i just don't think it fits—I really am liking this album. I look forward to hearing what new things lay on the road ahead for Chris and his band-mates.

(side note, some may think this review to be biased, as Nancy is friends with Chris, but he really is pretty good, and it seems the rest of minneapolis and st. paul think so too.)

Hello again.

It will be nearly time for the may issue once you all get this in your email, but hey, not everyone can do what they find enjoyable all the time. I've recently been actually working a lot at my graphic design position in St. Paul, and was actually in charge of the office on several occasions while my boss has moved and gone on vacation. wow. I must be more useful than I give myself credit for.

Okay. Amazingly I have been able to write this three months in a row—nearly on a monthly basis. I am pretty impressed with myself. I do not keep up any other site that I run... my online portfolio site has not actually held a portfolio for at least a year, but has been there saying it would for probably twice that long. Point being, wow, let me pat myself on the back.

( a special message from jeff)

First on the list, Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams. A friend of mine just bought '29' and wanted to hear some of the other stuff. I recommended he start at the beginning of Adam's solo stuff, and lent him Heartbreaker. Upon the album being returned to me, I began to listen to it again as well. Also, I saw Ryan Adams play on Letterman several weeks ago, and he played Come Pick Me Up off of Heartbreaker instead of one of his newer songs. His initial offering is still a very enjoyable record. Adam's style has made a sort of zig-zag path from this initial recording to what he is doing now.

So, the clap your hands and say yeah show in Minneapolis was sold out in about a day. Some of Nancy's friends were complaining that the tickets went so fast. I told them that is what happens when a band is hyped so badly—and then play an insanely small venue. I guess they will just have to

Next on the the list, CRYSTAL SKULLS. Last time I told you all to go and check out their record, and so I took the advice myself and started listening to them again. I really got hooked back in and I am really excited to hear their new record which should be released farely soon I should guess. They have a good style that I have not really heard repeated by any other groups. I saw them on tour with Suicide Squeeze labelmates HEADPHONES. I really went to see my pals DUPLOMACY open up, but it was worth my while to stay for the rest. Headphones I had already heard at the time, but the Crystal Skulls sort of blew me away. I was unprepared for what came off the stage-given the sort of droopy appearance of most of the band. There's is a good combination of smart lyrics, good arrangements, interesting song structures. In short, a winning combination that I give an enthusiastic thumbs up.

An attempt to watch Ryan Adams perform on Austin City Limits led me (and nancy) to another artist, Tift Merrit. Nancy the next available day went out and purchased her last record Tambourine. Tift is on Lost Highway Records along with Adams, and shares the same country-blues / country-rock stylings. She is fairly comparable to a younger bonnie raitt, or perhaps a more country influenced norah jones. Fans of Gillian Welch and Kathleen Edwards would be wise to pick up her release. I don't hear a particularly large amount of tambourine, so perhaps I am missing where the title is coming from. However, George Drakoulias (the other part of the American Records team-i.e. not Rick Rubin) produced the record, and it has the same sort of rock flair that made bands like the Jayhawks and Tom Petty's early recordings so well liked.

DIFFERENT DAYS by L'ALTRA was a recent purchase. The disc was released in early 2005 and I heard two or three songs off the album on the current before i decided to go out and buy it. The band is made up a former husband and wife duo, whose apparently messy divorce did not stop them from being able to work in the studio together. According to my sources they said to each other that the band was their job and they could work together to still make music. Pretty cool. The record definitely carries a somber, depressed feel to it, perhaps a relic of the divorce, perhaps just their style. I do not know, but I did like the record. I have been told that I like to listen to depressing music, and so that may be a reason that I've been enjoying this. The somberness level is up their with the likes of ARAB STRAP, LOW, or maybe RED HOUSE PAINTERS less rocking moments. The disc is slow in tempo, and even in its mood, occasional electric drums punching through slowly strummed guitars, soft strings and carefully tapped piano key. Lovely, Somber, Perfect.

Um, could somebody tell me why I have not heard this Unicorns record (who will cut our hair...) before? It is awesome! The right amount of Lo-Fi combined with smart arranging and orchestration. A lot of great elements coming together, exuberance, up-tempo / down tempo change ups, electronic drum beats leading into real drums, crazy synths, crappy guitar parts, sloppy solos, the breathy, youthful vocals. I love it. Everyone should go out and buy this right now. I tried to check out their website, but apparently they are a band no more. Let their lyrics speak to the wonder and memory of the band, "...we are unicorns, we're more than horses..." Wow.

The Shout out louds are another beauty of a group hailing from sweden. I am in love with those nordics. kings of convenience, check, the concretes, check, the ravonettes, check... the list could go on. Checklists aside, the shout out louds write simple, compelling, indie pop tracks that hook you in. Most notably agreeable is the first track, The Comeback. The simple one verse, one chorus and repeat format makes for a neat little number that has a good beat and steady, even strum guitars. It is IKEA simplicity applied in 3 minutes to music. When initially released, this track was a staple of The Current's day to day track lists. Another fave of mine from the disc was track 4, A TRACK AND A TRAIN which bizarrely sounds just like a new VICIOUS VICIOUS song called Castaways. Unfortunately for the artwork this CD does brandish the FBI anti-piracy logo, but the designer did handle it the best of all the discs I have seen thus far.

I have been enjoying some fine albums. THE CONCRETES, hailing from Sweden with names like Eriksson, Nyström and Ulrik, craft a simple indie-pop record that, though lacking in some of the production levels I value, does not disappoint. The first song, Say Something New, you may have heard in a target commercial. The rest of the album shares the catchy simplicity of track one, the softly distorted, bright guitars, with the addition of a hint of Motown, vaguely similar to THE RAVEONOTTES. Though not so apparent on the recording, THE CONCRETES are made up of six or seven people with about ten additional guests on the record. Where the sounds all these people made lie in the recording I have yet to determine.