Feather Weight Soul Tape

Artist: Robin Mitchell
Release Date: April 28, 2013
Label: Independent


Summer time is near and feel-good music is beginning to fill the air. You may want to lean towards the upcoming, feel-good release if you find yourself pleased with innovative genre blending. Feather Weight Soul Tape takes aspects of indie music and branches from that to dream-pop and moderately psychedelic territory. Over all of this though, the album is coated with acoustic guitar, electronic sounds similar to that of , and very on point vocals. The album sticks to a airy pop influenced style yet throws in some spice here and there, keeping it fresh and funky.

Consisting of 6 tracks, Feather Weight Soul Tape is a rather quick listen, clocking in at 19 minutes, 16 seconds. Mitchell, who recorded all the songs on this album in his basement, kicks off the album with an extremely catchy instrumental called "Purple Tide (intro)." Although under two minutes long, this opening track displays some of the most creativity on the album. From the extra-terrestrial sounding synths to the foundation that is the tight knit bass line, "Purple Tide" plays not only as an excellent starting point, but and excellent lead into the second track "Wide of the Mark." This track sees the albums first exposure of words, and they are pretty powerful ones at that (see: "and I wonder, do my good parts outweigh my faults?"). Electric guitar too can be heard for the first time on the album, complementing the main melody. If you're looking for some grooving time, this has the most to give off the entire genre-hopping album.

"Summertime," the third track on the album shows a fun side of beach pop. This track sounds a lot like something that would come out of a combination of Dion and the Belmonts and "Twistin' by the Pool" era Dire Straits. "Summertime" displays arguably the most indie sounds off the entire work, which would work a whole lot better if the lyrics didn't seem to be a jumbled up narrative with excellent harmonization. A recurring theme for this album the third track displays is the rip-chord endings when the songs just seems to fall off to an abrupt finish.

Return of the extra-terrestrial synths in the beautiful duet "Nothing Personal," the fourth track on the album in which Mitchell brings in Chloe Newnham. The wobbly lick that is used as the songs staple almost seems to have been torn from the Nintendo game Animal Crossing, it has a deliciously unique sound that you hardly ever hear. One of the strongest parts of Feather Weight Soul Tape is the recurrence of certain sounds placed in different environments. Sounds that Mitchell used as a hook in "Nothing Personal" are seen frequently on the album and strongly in the album opening track.

Following suit of the second song on the album, "Trapped in its Teeth" is a moderately upbeat ballad with heartfelt lyrics and a twangy guitar rhythm that would sit well on a Ukulele. The song tells a story of a man who is feelings stuck within where he currently is and is not satisfied with the lack of seclusion. Along with this is him trying to show his love-interest he "exists."

Continuing this tale is the album closing track "Homecoming." This song is written almost like three separate letters. Starting with Mitchell seemingly returning to his hometown after a long absence. Followed by him telling the city he loves it wasn't replaced by another, and he still loves it intently. Feather Weight Soul Tape's final track concludes with a letter of his leaving even though he still feels for the location, and he says he will return. It's a power ballad with the same looping organ pattern over again that drags on and on. For the impact that the lyrics put off, the instrumentation on the track is rather lackluster, and leads to a disappointing dead stop to the album.

All in all, Mitchell put out a pretty mellow album for us to begin to bring in summertime with. The album covers much ground in its just short of 20 minute run time without going too far astray for the message he is trying to convey. Vocalization on the album is beautiful and an extreme highlight of the piece all together. Don't go into this expecting the next big indie-pop sensation, but more so go into it for some easy listening, floaty feeling and dreamscape creating tunes.

- Woocci

Epigram / Microgram (CZ)

Artist: Leo Chadburn

Release Date: April 2, 2013

Label: Library of Nothing

Epigram / Microgram (CZ) is an exploration by Leo Chadburn (better known by pseudonym Simon Bookish) into the capabilities of the CZ-101, a modest little Casio synthesizer that can be found online for about $200. Each song is based on a melodic experiment and fleshed out through the use of the CZ-101, which is the only sound source used. Because of this approach, Epigram / Microgram (CZ) has a pleasant feeling of experimentation for the sake of experimentation; not every track is outstanding, but a sense of wonderment and joyful discovery permeates each sonic expedition.

Due to the nature of its writing, the majority of Epigram / Microgram (CZ) is shapeless. The ideas at work are almost entirely melodic and harmonic, and rhythmic precision is often abandoned entirely. A formula that’s used throughout is one synth voice playing a theme while others will either play in a completely different tempo, or create a background of clicks, pops, and buzzes. Unfortunately this form can become predictable and a little stale, but one thing these songs excel at is creating a vivid setting in the listener’s head. “Intercontinental” starts with a rapidly shaking atonal noise that fades into the background, sometimes disappearing entirely, only to return in a subtly different form. It evokes a feeling like drifting just outside the atmosphere of a lush planet, with the occasional company of a satellite that is buzzing through orbit.

The only track that doesn’t dabble in slow-moving ambience is the stellar “Difficult (Let’s Go Off the Cliff),” which sounds like it’s trying to defy the rest of the album as aggressively as possible. Driving bass synths growl and roar like beasts locked in combat, juxtaposed against delicate waves of music-box impersonation. It’s a standout on the album; it’s jarring, soothing, claustrophobic, and airy all at once.

Overall, Epigram / Microgram (CZ) sounds exactly like what it is; a collection of experiments that are about the question more than they are about the answer. Nearly every track has standout moments, but it seems like these are happy coincidences as a result of exploring a musical concept as thoroughly as possible. That’s not to say the album is bad by any means; it’s an extremely pleasant listen, and the overall feeling of experimenting and fiddling is simply fun. Epigram / Microgram (CZ) is a good album to play as background ambience while working. It’s unobtrusive and atmospheric, while inspiring listeners to buckle down and use their brains to do incredible things and explore the ideas they haven’t even thought of yet.

-Alex D'Alfonso

Dream Date

Artist: Joshua Van Tassel
Release Date: March 26, 2013
Label: Backward Music


Two days ago, Joshua Van Tassel showed us the inner-workings of his mind through his moving album, Dream Date. He is back for thirds, and this time he may be hungrier than ever. In-between his June 2011 debut Everyone Has It All and this new album, Tassel has received some noteworthy critical acclaim for his self-titled second album released in September 2011 The CBC rated this as one of the top albums of 2011, and it is currently in the running for "Electronic Album Of The Year" at the '13 East Coast Music Awards. Since his second album came out nearly three years ago, that leaves a lot of space between then and March of this year. Plenty of time to grow, evolve on your own musical ideas, and create something great.

Dream Date does just that. As an album, it is a patient ride that, as each track progresses, begins to unfold onto the next. The music within shows a side of Electro-Folk that is delicate. "Come Home Safe To Me" invites you in through seemingly western influenced acoustic works that are gargantuan enough to be the introduction music to a Tarantino film. Once the doors have flung open, a groove leaks out with the second track, "The Sharpest Corner." This track is notable for its liquid bass work and upbeat rhythmic section. Thus far the album remains speechless, but "The Warmest Heart" quickly changes that. With a Thom Yorke-esque sound and a Neil Young sense of writing, the third track on the album is directed towards the narrator's father. Asking him questions such as "Are you listening? Can you hear me? Where are you going?"

A huge thing about this album is the musical and technical diversity it shows. Certain tracks like "Sentimental Health" focus on a small aspect of the group (in this case, the percussion section), while others, like "Bottom Of The Well," excrete more of a powerful and moving aura. It'll take a couple listens, but while doing so you almost feel forced to hone in on the deeper message.

Moving forward, the final segment of the album is arguably the best; beginning with "Sneaky Beard," a guitar-lead journey with a constantly reappearing and ear-pleasing lick. Following the beauty of that adventure, we fall into the hands of our new Bond, "Daniel Craig." Though you may be expecting fast-paced, panic ensuing music to use when facing serious nostalgia while playing Goldeneye, this is far from that. "Daniel Craig" follows directly in the path that "Sneaky Beard" opened up; a well-constructed piece with memorable themes that will reappear before you know it. Along with that, this track flips back to the opening track in the way that it draws from western-esque influences. Approaching the finale, "I Think You're A Salesman" brings dominant female vocalization which, at this point, is refreshing. It is fairly rare to see an album feature multiple vocalists singing on separate tracks, making Dream Date stick out among the masses. "Companion" ices this gourmet cake off with its airy acoustic harmonies and plot twists. A must-hear from the album with an epic conclusion.

Joshua Van Tassel’s Dream Date thrives for attention by using a combination of acoustic instrumentation and electronic goodness that pushes it over the top. The album itself, overall, is so clearly put and delicately layered. Many different styles appear track to track, showing extreme variety and leaving you thoroughly satisfied in many different ways. Already being a big contender for Best of '13, Dream Date is truly an album to keep your attention and have you back for seconds.

-Woocci