The Alan Parsons Project - I Robot

Two minutes in and holy shit is this Simcity 4? But fo real the chord progression and rhythm from a song on the SC4 soundtrack was undoubtedly influence by the I Robot title track. This sounds like some funky groove, very much similar to Pink Floyd. Then suddenly it sounds like folk. But only for a little bit. Then it's progressive rock again. Track four, dat brass.Even some disco influence. Do like. Pretty good stuff.

The Alan Parsons Project

Fatal Fraud - No Torso

I'm getting a light ska punk vibe from this EP. The first song has quite a heavy sax presence, which I dig. Later on in the EP parts diverge and it gets pretty busy, which I can appreciate, but I'm not really feeling the sound of it right now. The overall sound I'm feeling is a laidback EP with little individual parts and passages that would sound a whole lot better in a more aggressive setting. I'm gonna listen to some other stuff by No Torso and see if I get anything like that out of it. Also, another reason I'll continue listening to this artist in spite of my overall lack of satisfaction is that they were signed on to Asian Man Records, and I like a lot of stuff on that label.

No Torso

Fitz and the Tantrums - Songs for a Break Up Volume 1

I'm really diggin the bari sax on the first track but that is just super bias because I am a bari sax. This sounds like it belongs in the workout montage of one of those movies where the underprivileged black kid becomes a football star on the all-white team. At least the first track does. Oh boy! Further in I'm hearing bari saxes and struck idiophones which are like the greatest combo ever. I'd definitely listen to this album EP again. It sounds kinda like Motown with dreampop thrown in, and it sounds pretty good. 

Fitz and the Tantrums

Time Out - Dave Brubeck Quartet

The first track, Blue Rondo a la Turk, started out sounding like it was gonna be happy but then it turned into the creepy kind of happy like circus music. Its got those jazzy sax interludes so it sounds cool and circus alternating and I like it. I think there's some cool meter changes in there too; the sax sounds 4/4 and the rest sounds triplet or 9/8. This feels like a pretty standard cool jazz album. Each piece seems to have a cool horn lick that's just played over the rhythm section a few times in modulated keys. Its still pretty good, but I'm partial to swing rather than cool jazz and bop and the like.

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

From The Cradle To The Rave - A Nightmare On Wall Street

This is kinda scary. The first track is a weird sample. Next up is a drum & bass diddly with some nasty drums and a ska guitar riff going on. I was doing a bit of reading up on this while listening to it and apparently the artists label themselves as crackrocksteady and riotstep but those sound pretty subgenre of ska to me so I'm gonna tag it as ska and drum and bass. I'm really digging this album. I'd love to see this band live. The dnb with little ska interludes is something really unique, and it's pretty well executed in my opinion. Listening to this album again is a definite thing; it is staying in my library for sure. Its a free download on the label's bandcamp (linked below!!) too, so be sure to give it a listen for no loss on your part.

From The Cradle To The Rave

(a side note on the label)
There's quite a few artists on this label. The label seems pretty dedicated to dnb, punk, and ska fusion (riotstep as they call it) so be sure to check out riottunes if you like this.

In Motion - Wait For Green

Judging from the first track, Next Wave, this is like a college rock/reggae deal. I dunno why but I also get a numetal kind of feely feel. Not really a good feel either. I'm not really feeling this EP. Feels feels feels feels. None of the riffs or lyrics are really standing out and sticking with me. I think if this was on repeat I wouldn't notice because all the songs kind of sound the same.

Wait For Green

We Are The Same Machine - The Frequency

I like this so far, its pretty chill. I hear bells, and I have a hardon for struck idiophones, so there is another point in this album's favor. This album feels pretty light, with feels thrown in. I also like the cool mix of synths/drum machines and recorded instrumentals. I think this is another one of those "walking around at night" albums. Its pretty feely. This album is pretty solid, but I don't think I'd listen to it again.

The Frequency

Stone Iris - Serene Machine

I had a hard time figuring out what genre to call this so I just went to the band website and looked at what they describe themselves as. According to some percussionist named Juice, they are "blues-rock, reggae, — there are a lot of things." I'm not really feeling the reggae until the fourth track in, but I definitely hear the blues rock. It's kinda funky too. The lyrics ooze feels if you're into that sorta thing, and they also do if you're not. They're not conditional lyrics. That would be really hard to pull off. But there are feels in this EP for sure.  Pretty good feels.

Stone Iris

Meseta - Acoustic

This is just a short EP so I figured I could get it in tonight, considering the last review was on a pretty short EP too. It has a pretty lo-fi folky sound to it; I guess probably the album cover is also pretty lo-fi. There's some pretty simple but still pretty guitar with some cool multipart falsetto vocals over it. It's not really my kind of music but I can dig it. I kinda want to be riding my bike around at dark while listening to this. There's some laughing in the recording, and that makes it feel more genuine because they left a real life thing on the recording, knaw wut I mean?

Meseta

Hub City Stompers - Mass Appeal

Let me start by saying the town I live in is called the Hub City because about 40 interstates and rail lines intersect here (actually the first E-W continental highway, one of the first N-S Canada to Gulf of Mexico, two interstates, and two major rail lines). Naturally, when I first heard about Hub City Stompers I got super excited because ska band in my tiny shitty town. Turns out, some other town is also the Hub City. Anyways, about the actual music: It's pretty good sounding ska, with a slight jazzy/reggae skew. Kinda mellow and laid back. I would definitely recommend if you're a fan of ska.

Hub City Stompers

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Walkin'

This album is pretty good. I get a Blues Brothers feel, both from the first track and the album art.There's a few "hep hep" type vocals floating around and I can dig it real good. This stuff is throwing really happy vibes at me. Really nice cover of Boogie Stop Shuffle on here too. Would listen to over and over. It's pretty long too, almost an hour.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Rantanplan - Samba

This album is pretty mediocre. None of the horn lines were catchy enough to stick for long, even worse with the guitar parts. The lyrics were in German so they might be good, I think.

Rantanplan