Reviews by Dan

Alright, here goes! I feel like I can never write enough about the music, and it's hard thinking of anything to say besides "awesome" on all of this. It's all so good and the progress is always so huge. But I did it anyway, and you should too!

On to the reviews!

DEFEKTIV – NU STATE OF MIND: Another triumph from Logan, and a predictably loud-as-hell one at that. I’m honestly not sure that Logan ever really explained what this is, but it’s a sort of tribute to nu-metal, a genre he and I both enjoyed the heck out of in our formative years. I think my favorite is probably the Limp Bizkit track (“Flock”) just for its sheer accuracy. I also love “Explode,” which has hilariously stupid lyrics but surprisingly weird stuff going on in a lot of the guitar parts. I’ve never actually listened to Slipknot, but honestly “Decomposed” is a pretty badass song. The artwork obviously has to be mentioned as well…perfect. Everything about this album is dead on. If Logan could step into a time machine and travel back to 2002 (I just looked up when Trustcompany’s “Downfall” was released and went with that), he would probably make a lot of money.

BITCHIN’ VAN – BICOASTAL: Another huge step forward for Joe, thanks in no small part to Nick P. of Lobster Shanty. This is classic Bitchin’ with a Shanty shine. I can’t be sure, but from the way the lyrics are set I’m willing to bet Joe wrote a lot of the words before the music. Which I like a lot, because the lyrics seem more bold this time around. I like the line “lane splittin’, now you’re dead,” as I have predicted Joe’s death many times and he needs to stop riding his motorcycle. I think my favorite track is “Out of Phase”…seems the most mature, from a songwriting standpoint. “Marriage” is pretty irresistible as well, with some awesome guitar work by Nick. I love the line/rhyme “my college scholarship made all the ladies craze.” Bit of a stretch in a most excellent way. So glad to see the classic Bitchin’ artwork style, again brought to the next level by Nick.

WEBER – CHRISTMAS WITH THE WEBERS: Someone had to do it, and by golly, Mike and Jenni did it. The first Record Time Christmas album, just in time for…Halloween? I’m gonna go out on a limb and say “I’ll Miss You” is my favorite track from this Record Time. Every melody in that thing is absolutely perfect. Somehow the production works perfectly, too, in that it’s sort of “held back” the whole time and never really blows up…it just makes you crave that adorable chorus all the more. I like how Mike indulged me and recorded “Hippopotamus,” despite the fact that the lyrics are all wrong and he awkwardly ends on the 5^th. Pretty sure he listened to the song once and tried to play it from memory 3 days later. “Family” could be one of those Christmas classics that you love but sort of bums you out. AWESOME to hear Jenni throughout, and with a solo song even! I hope Jenni knows she’s just signed up for Record Time forever.

ANDREW MILLER – CONTENTMENT STORM: I was really happy Andrew decided to go a crazy experimental route (espcially after Logan and I teased him one night). For those who didn’t catch it, Andrew wrote this out by hand on score paper without ever hearing it until the very last day. In some ways probably the most difficult RT submission ever, even though it’s only 30 seconds. The music is up to Andrew’s usual standard and hopefully this can become the start of a bigger piece. The score itself is the real achievement though…honestly with the low-res pictures it just looks professionally printed rather than done by hand. Wise use of repetition throughout. And the artwork, let’s just say that’s a good looking ventilation grate.

BRAD ADAMS AND FRIENDS – SELF-TITLED: Cassie has an awesome voice! “Going Home” is a crazy combo, with the female vocals and rap-rockin’. Real nice. Not sure who the growler is on “Walking Giants,” but damn, that’s some low stuff. Didn’t read the lyrics until just now, but honestly the lyrics on this one are pretty similar to my Viking metal lyrics, haha.

F.E.A.R. – F.E.A.R.OLOGY: Honestly it’s hard for me to talk about one song or another, as they’re all variations on the same kind of thing, namely a bunch of atonal industrial insanity. That’s not to say there isn’t variety, though, as I don’t think any of these pieces use the same sounds. Dennis’ stuff is starting to sound almost like film score – I could hear it in something like Hostel, although the music is a lot weirder than you’d probably ever hear in a big feature film. Hopefully these demos will turn into full songs. I appreciate the creepy vocals on Misandry – would love to hear more vocals if only because I don’t know how you’d really fit them in on most of this!

INTRAPHASE – BOY/DEMON: As soon as I heard track 1 I was sold. I wish I had the guts to try a full-on prog-rock opera (like the two bands I probably compared Intraphase to last time, Ayreon and Pain of Salvation). This is almost more of a musical campfire/ghost story (which I think subtly ties into the album artwork, and again…perfect for the season!). You guys definitely need to complete the trilogy next time. The production is sounding good, and major props for using real drums!

KRIS ECKMAN: By far my favorite of the Eckman catalogue. I hear a little bit of Bungle-style genre shifting, which I will never get tired of as long as I live. Honestly I really liked any section with the synths over the heavy guitars. Some of your heavy stuff sounds a lot like something I’d write – maybe because our influences are starting to overlap a bit. You should also be using WAY more trumpet – that is the key to your metal success. I always forget that you play – and you really need to play on some of my albums from this point on. I really appreciated more soft sections this time around, and I think you hit a nice balance overall. You also managed to make your album louder than mine, ya bastard!

KEVIN TODD – AND THEN LOVE: Gah. The lyrics. So good. Lyrically you’re in that sweet spot that I’m constantly striving for – they’re clever, funny, 95% cliché free (the 5% being the clichés you truly need), direct, unpretentious…everything. I’m not even going to talk about the music because the lyrics are so good. Favorite lines “I know it in my guitar’s heart” – “I miss your heart, I miss your throat, I miss your arms again…I messed it up because of love.” My favorite song is “Blue Guitar.” I love how connected everything is thematically (or are these motifs?) – the moon, the guitar, the blue-ness, the lost love. Timeless stuff. I know he won’t take this the wrong way, but I feel like Kevin could be one of those artists where other, bigger artists make tons of money covering his songs, but all the while real fans know it’s Kevin’s weird-ass voice that makes the songs what they are (basically I’ve been listening to a lot of Randy Newman). As much as I gushed about the last album, I like this one better. Fucking awesome.

ALAN ROY RODRIGUEZ PONCE – PARA SIEMPRE AND HIS BROTHER: Wow. Not sure what you’re doing in Record Time – you should be out making money off this! Great vocals, really, unique sound – seems almost like super modern café music. I love the string sample in “Where Would You Go.” “Right All the Time” is ready to be on a TV commercial. I’d really like to know what you used for the music in all of this stuff – it seems like I’m pretty familiar with a lot of the samples and sounds amateur musicians generally use, but yours sounds really different and fresh. Really impressed and jealous.

JAKE PEARSON – SANITY – REPRESENTATION/RECOLLECTION: I love the voice: really natural and interesting. I think my favorite track is “Shimmer” – my kind of melody, and my favorite part of your vocal range. I really like hearing your voice without the effects and really up front. “Calluses” is great too, especially the second half. Great melody writing overall, which is the main thing I look for in music like this. Even though it’s definitely a sort of modern indie sound, I can’t help but get a certain type of 90s vibe from some of the melodies…no idea why, but it almost sounds a little grunge-y to me. Really great first Record Time album – you new guys are embarrassing the rest of us!

PIGEON – WITH THE TIDES: I can’t remember the last one exactly (don’t have it with me at work), but this certainly feels like a really big step up...a lot less ambient, a lot more form and structure and whatnot. Overall just seems way more confident which is awesome. Big props for using real drums (I think!). Some really beautiful chord progressions in there. My favorite is probably “Who Will Can” – it’s pretty short but I could see it turning into the chorus of a way bigger song. Love being able to hear your voice up front on “With the Tides.” Really incredible chords on that one too. Awesome all around.

GROOVE SUIT – SMOKE & MIRRORS EP: Rap + live instruments is a definite first for Record Time. Thanks so much for joining in! This is really trippy stuff…the vocals are really simple, laid back, and a little weird in a good way. I love the guitar work – there are actually some crazy chords in there, and I like the inclusion of some tasteful lead playing. I feel like there’s no good place for these songs to end, like they could just keep going for an hour and I’d be too zoned out to notice. We get a lot of really frenetic music during RT due to the time limit, but it’s interesting to see you guys go the complete opposite direction with it. Hope to hear another one next time!

ERIC CRIPE – WHATEVER UNFOLDS : This is a crazy album. I’m not totally sure what to say about it, other than that I appreciate the craziness. The lyrics are all over the place, and I like how I can hear you having a lot of fun with it (“Chipmunk” and “Jollien”). Also liked hearing some more instrumentation – just need bass now! I like your lyrical style – I’m all about concrete, direct stuff rather than meaningless abstract phrases. And I enjoyed the little stories within each song. Definitely way better than your last one, keep it up!

THE REGULARS – CAMPFIRE: Great single! The harmonies REALLY make the song. Love all the different voices. I really wish you would have pulled a Boyz II Men and fade out the music so it’s just the harmonies and claps at the very end. I like the sea-shanty vibe the whole thing has – each of you singing one verse and returning to that big chorus. In that sense it actually helps that it’s 7 minutes long – when you sing drunken sea shanties, it would be a disgrace to limit yourselves to two or 3 minutes. Honestly I think you just gave me my concept for Record Time X. Sweet song.

MERKELIG BATTERI – BLOD I HIMMELEN: Easily the worst Viking album of all time. In Viking terms, it ranks somewhere between Hagar the Horrible and the Maelstrom longboat ride at Epcot. 0/10.