FULL RECORD TIME 5 REVIEW

well imma gonna start with the main guy

DAN WALDKIRCH – MY BUSINESS. this the third album i've heard from you. and you are getting better. IT is great that not only you are playing POP metal, but you are also fooling with the acoustic guitar. and your album sounds the most proffesional compared to the others. Good job Mr. Waldkirch. my favorite songs: a fight between "nerdy girls" and "Diamond shreddies"

BERU – FIRE EYES ALIVE. I like the subtle genre changes. The female vocalist has a really mellow yet, an intense voice. Has a mixture of Yoko ono and Bjork's voice. I like it. Also the guitar work is great. It goes to the urge of being heavy but not to the extenct of being "metal". overall Beru reminds me of some Sigur Ros and Pink Floyd's Meddle. My favorite songs "In Motion alive" or "Hope"

THE KILLER METEOR – ILLER GREEDIER. dude, keep it up. you have loads of potential. your voice def. reminds me the rapper from Control Machete. Favorite songs " Shenme T F" and "Hooked on chronics"

S.A. BACH – OFF DAYS & DAYS OFF. Kinda have to agree with Meghan and Dan. Your songwriting is good, love the fact the songs are short, sweet and to the point. I also like the blunt factor on your songs. Also like your guitar techniques. Favorite song "enharmonic"

ALEXANDRE MAXINE – PROGRESS Woman, you have a good voice, and your songs are pretty catchy. the only problem is that you might be repeating the jingle a bit too much. Just experiment more and practice your vocals. over all its good! your melodies are good and the harmony is done well. favorite songs:"Avoidance tactics" "hidden under floorboards" and "everything's golden"

ERIC PUTNAM – RETRO I have one question for you, do you rock with your cock out? cuz i think you do. even the ones that arent energetic are good too. the only constructive criticism is to show more confidence on your voice. favorite song "opium"

JIMMY K – FIND A WAY its pretty soothing and nice, wish you could post more. Love the piano arrangement and sound effects.

REALITY CALLS – A COLLECTION OF PSALMS The thing I like the most was that i didnt know where the song will be going, this makes me happy, one moment the singer is whispering then the next theres screaming. another thing i really dig is the transtion of songs. my favorite song is "sparrow" especially the chorus.

F.E.A.R. – UNTITLED dig the "circus" and techno mixture. seems like you dig a lot of Danny Elfman tunes.

JOE WILINSKI – BITCHIN’ BELLTOWER PRESENTS ON THE OUTSIDE I cant put my finger on it, but the intense emotion in your voice you put into this record really reminds me of Tim Buckley (not his son). I love the emotion, the more emotion the better. Also the guitar solo is so melodic as if David Gilmour was playing your guitar. I like it. favorite songs "this moment" and "flight 773"

ORYX AND THE CRACKERS – A LONG NIGHT’S JOURNEY INTO DAY. More goofiness the better, i just wished you guys have more deep conversation about Roger Waters

FRACTIOUS – FRACTIOUS I LOVE IT. the only problem is the synth. it can sometimes sound a bit too tacky as if you are playing from the 80's. however, I do love the mellow feel of this record. Has a jazzy indie progressive feel. if you have more music please post more up. You gained a fan.
favorite song "Drink Through it"

LOGAN BRADLEY – THE GNASHING Even though this is not my cup of tea, I am not a big fan of the slow parts for the fact it doesnt sound as heavy as if you've played during the fast parts. But i did like the subtle change of electronic beats here and there. Favorite song "x"

ANDREW MILLER – WRECKLESS IMITATION. you know how to play metal, you know how to play some good riffs , but where does it go? to me, it seems like its a big plateou, it would be cool if theres more complex parts here and there, like Image of Helplessness.<--hence my favorite song

MATT COVELLO – POMEGRANATE. YOU.YOU are a perfect example of how to sound dark, heavy, horrific without even using a distorted guitar. your eerie harmonic doo wop voclas are phenomenal. truly made me happy. I love the emotional value you show through your voice, good job. keep it up. Favorite songs "A call to prayer" "This Boy" and "what have we done"

OSMIN – SOSA. meh

MEGHAN O’CONNELL – WAKE UP quit being lazy and write more songs. you are good but the procrastiantion must die.

NICHOLAS WILLY – BITTERSWEET. the song is good but theres moments where the song is dragging, but once the tempo changes its all good.

Ed Mellen - The Killer Meteor Iller Greedier

Incredibly unique sound with excellent composition! I consider myself more of a rock-head, listening to bands of the 60s and 70s. However, I REALLY enjoyed your entire album, and although I consider the themes whimsical, I had a lot of fun listening to it. Favorite track is definitely "Scorpion vs. Sub-Zero". Very well done, a creative treat. I would love to hear more of your skills though, and less TV. But, I will say that it did give it a nice ridiculous touch to the album.

Waldkirchz0r - My Business

Never a let down in production. I still don't know how he can be so disciplined when recording all the parts he includes in his albums-- making his albums crystal clear, and incredibly clean. Although he considers My Business to be a let down, which he reserves the right to, it is one of my favorite Wally albums. It has very upfront and simple riffs, themes, and instrumentation. I know how much "stuff" he always packs into each of his recordings, and I'm sure there is plenty of "stuff" in the background of these tracks, the but the ability to not consciously pick them out this time adds a straightforward feel that I very much enjoy. Favorite track is "Spider Bite," mainly because the way in which the phrase 'an itchy little spider bite' is sung. Fucking great. I think this album had more emotion and less mechanical feel in it for some reason too, which I personally haven't strongly received in several past albums...even with the use of your drums and pads in a box on this album (Dan... this is a positive comment, I swear). Anyways, nicely done.

More Reviews to come...having trouble finding the time to give some worthwhile thought into everything!

a note on "wake up"

Not much to say except that every time I do something for Record Time it is completely  different. I apparently have no style or genre that I stick with, but I like that. Haha.

I wish I had had my keyboard with me during this week so I could try to come up with another piano piece, as I really enjoy writing piano music... and I don't even sing on this album, either! Piano and singing are really the only musical skills I have developed for many years... but hey, my spoken word is pretty neat, too, as are my amazing garageband loop skills. lol

Reviews

Beru -- Fire Eyes Alive
This album is really impressive. It's the first album I listened to from Record Time V and I actually had it going on my ipod while i was doing dishes last night. I wish I was a better reviewer and could do it more justice! I love the use of acoustic instruments like flute and clarinet and the "no fear" attitude you bring with the harmonies and structures. The voice is really lovely and fits the music perfectly. I just love that you could put together such a creative piece of work in such a short time. I'm with Dan, I think this might be my favorite record of the bunch. I would be interested to see you explore outside the world of ambient stuff. I'm so excited to hear from you next time! Thanks for the tunes!

Dan Waldkirch -- My Business
First of all, I really like East Wind. Throwbacks are sweet. Second, Pinwheel opens up the album nicely and I love its lyrics! Not to be sentimental or nostalgic but its always nice to hear from Dan Waldkirch, especially now that you're all the way out in L.A. Your piano skills are taking off and its easy to tell that you've been doing some film scoring lately haha, especially in the chords of Here at My Party. It seems like the new tuning (drop D, right?) really pushed you and I like what came out. It's got a different but nice tone to it. Your music seems overall a little more hopeful and such and that's cool too. I'm looking forward to the further evolution of Dan Waldkirch. Until next time!

some reviews

BERU--very Sigur Ros/Bjork-like. Love the use of sounds and how different each track is, and how the vocals dare to be ambient-creepy. Effective use of harmony, very original. Some very well-placed guitars; Viking Warrior is my favourite. If anything, I'd like to see some tracks with some multi-layered tribal drums, the voice really suits it.

S.A. BACH--a little biased here, knowing him in real life, and having listened to his music for years. But I love the guitar in Heart's Way, he makes the most simple chord progression seem very complex with astute finger-picking. I like Title Track best because it's so unlike him (except, of course, for the irony behind the title; haven't forgotten the Hidden Track on the Bachs album). Still impressed he did this on an iphone. Makes me want one.

LOGAN BRADLEY--The Gnashing, so far, is my favourite on Record Time V. Deth Metal without real drums, what a concept. Love the video-game approach to percussion as well as the electro-spokenword interludes. Its epicness reminds me of old Opeth. XI is my favourite track (11 is also my lucky number *little thrill*) because of its guitar layering. I love that he just uses Roman numerals for titles, that's so old-school metal. Someday, when I have the technology available to me (namely a real recording program, plug-ins/a microphone that works) I want to make a record like this. If anything, I just encourage this person to experiment more with different effects, because everything he tried on here works.

ANDREW MILLER--it's nice to hear some old-fashioned heavy metal, there seems to be so much less in circulation these days. I really like the old-style distortion and the real drumming is very ambitious. Reminds me of the band Kylix. I think, as a foundation/backbone these tracks have a lot of potential, but could have really benefited from some vocals or some more pronounced lead guitar licks; very good but to me, these tracks are missing something. Overall: good garage metal that just needs fleshing out.

DAN WALDKIRCH--genre variation on an album always makes it that much more interesting. I like Pinwheel but I don't think it's right as an opening track...but it reminds me a little of Imogen Heap with its tight vocal layering. Love the drumming in East Wind...it's so wierd to hear metal guitars with pop vocals over them, what an original idea. Really like Diamond Shreddies, very sountrack-y, kind of Moby/Radiohead informed. Nerdy Girls is by far my favourite track, love the background vocals, catchy chorus--makes me think he and Sebastian Bach should collaborate; it would be the new face of progressive pop.

MATT COVELLO--excellent harmonies. Love how The Boy comes off, to me, as a metal track pared down to one acoustic guitar. Props for the spanish influence on The Infidel, made me think of old Doors. Crazy Enabler is my favourite track, brilliant on a Thom Yorke level, and reminds me of the Roustabouts in Dumbo (random but nonethless). I hope to one day be able to write songs in a lower register so I could layer vocals the way he does. Excellent minimalism...I'd just like to see what he would sound like with heavy-reverb tribal drums (he and Beru evoke a similar emotion).

BITCHIN BELLTOWER--first of all, radd bandname. Also, it's nice to see someone writing originals in this genre, I hear so little new lately. Dig the psychadelic undertones of This Moment. Love the drums on Heartbreak is Short and Sweet. Reminds me of a lot of different things, but most prominently old Primus.

FRACTIOUS--excellent use of percussion. Very british sounding, reminds me a lot of Thievery Corporation. The use of elevator-music keyboards is a plus. Buzzing Black Rock is my favourite track. Not a complaint, if anything, a compliment: this is the sort of thing I have on as background noise...very ambient by nature.

NICHOLAS WILLY--very 90s, the kind of song i've tried for years to write. The vocals just need some reverb to put them on par with the guitar and drums. Dig the minimalism, very early White Stripes. Any song with "stain my teeth" in it is going to be interesting.

OSMIN--by far the strangest thing I've heard on Record Time V so far, but that's a compliment. I honestly didn't get into this so much UNTIL it went into psychadelics; love the guitar on Mafalda's Quixotic Views of Cthulhu...it reminds me of that Mazzy Star song "Umbilical" except faster. Love the trippy background noises. Love how Day In the Life of Gustavo starts to sound toward the end. Cauliflower Ears is just neato all-around. I would encourage this person to lay on the electric guitarwork thick, it is their strong point.


[more later]

Dan reviews EVERYTHING

Joe Wilinski – Bitchin’ Belltower presents On The Outside: A good friend for almost 9 years now, Joe and I have had plenty of time to exchange musical ideas, and I’m always looking forward to his new solo efforts. The new Bitchin’ album features a rather shocking discovery of Joe Wilinski’s upper vocal range, and the results could not be more awesome. Joe told me a few days ago that he hit a High C at a certain point in his album, and I absolutely refused to believe it…then I listened. Not only does he nail a C, he convincingly hits a high D just a few tracks later. Unbelievable. His new vocal style suits his music MUCH better, and I think his last track (Head Down) finds him at his most natural and comfortable. Definitely a huge step for Joe, probably the hugest of the bunch.

Oryx and the Crakers – A Long Night’s Journey into Day: LOVE this track. Adorable melody, awesome drum solo, but I really can’t say enough about the lyrics. At first glance, they seem like pretty standard happy indie lyrics, but I think there’s a lot more to them, intended or not. Little hints of just about every emotion are sort of pleasantly obscured by a good dose of humor and fun.

S.A. Bach – Off Days & Days Off: I really, really like this collection of songs…it was especially impressive because I have a VERY hard time getting into male singer-songwriters (sorry, I just don’t find the male voice all that interesting on its own). What really got me here were the lyrics, although I suppose there isn’t much else to comment on (guitar playing: good, singing: good). It doesn’t get much more relatable than unrequited love or questioning the existence of God…what I didn’t expect was a great sense of humor and plenty of sarcasm. I really like how his stuff drifts between poetry and music, so you find yourself appreciating different elements at different times.

Jimmy K – Find a Way: Can’t think of a whole lot to say about this one, except that the production is fantastic and Mr. K certainly has his pop stylings down. Great, pleasant voice and overall a really nice and marketable sound.

The Killer Meteor – Iller Greedier: Awesome. I’ve been trying to think of ways to articulate exactly how I see Ed Mellen’s insane experimental hip-hop…no luck yet. This album is merely more proof that Ed is a kung-fu-fighting alien in a human outfit...as if we needed more proof. I enjoyed reading the lyrics on their own as much as listening to the music…the words are too dense to pick up on first listen. I would definitely have to single out “Concrete Faceplant” as the highlight; demented, hilarious and even a bit…romantic? Already listened to this record several times.

Beru – Fire Eyes Alive: I’ll go ahead and say this: “Fire Eyes Alive” is my favorite album of Record Time V. And strangely enough, I can’t really think of a whole lot to say about it. This project is the pseudonym of Jessica Nicole Collins, and yes, it’s a reference to THAT Beru. I haven’t listened to music like this in a while, but it reminds me a lot of Ulver and a strange band called The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud (who only play shows in castles)…so maybe it’s just bringing back fond memories of my favorite bands from high school. Either way, I could really see myself getting into this record, and hopefully can get a hold of more of her stuff.

Nicholas Willy – Bittersweet: Since his single last time, Nick has decided to try out a different vocal style…I think most people would have a hard time comparing it to anyone but Bob Dylan. This is Nick’s 2nd song ever, as far as I know, and he’s definitely progressing in his guitar abilities and songwriting. Lots of potential…just gotta keep writing!

Alexandre Maxine – Progress: Definitely some of the most legit artwork of the bunch. The mixes are nice and dense, just the way I like it…never a shortage of things to listen for. Probably the most interesting thing to me about this record is the choice of samples…lots of REALLY aggressive drum sounds against mostly beautiful pads and vocals…very cool. Especially the bass drum samples; most of them have that nasty (in a good way) bit distortion you’d hear in way more aggressive hardstyle or gabber music (my favorite kind of electronica, since I’m not huge into subtlety). Bonus track is lots of fun too.

Reality Calls – A Collection of Samples – One thing I’ve noticed from Jason McDowell and Stephanie Belesky over the past few Record Times is the unbelievable tightness of their sounds. Every note is DEAD ON in timing, pitch, everything. Some people aren’t into that kind of thing…I’m WAY into that kind of thing. I’ve been informed that this time around it’s a full-band effort, and I think it’s really taken the music to another level. I’m not sure who in the group writes the vocal melodies, but I have to specifically commend him or her…I think these songs have some of the best and most natural vocal melodies of the bunch. Melody-writing is probably the only skill in music you can’t really learn…you either have it or you don’t…and as such, it’s one of the highest compliments I can give people. Awesome work. Really loving “Sparrow” in particular.

Fractious – Fractious: Barney Brown and Layla Vandenbergh have been kind enough to bring Record Time all the way over to Europe for us (Cambridge is it?). I had a really hard time figuring out a genre for this record; I have a feeling the sound of Fractious is the combination of a whole lot of artists I’ve never heard before. I really enjoy how they managed to keep a cohesive sound while giving each song its own character. Love the lyrics, and as soon as I’m finished with these reviews I’m going to figure out what the hell a Bentobox is.

Matt Covello – Pomegranate: Matt Covello can sing. He’s the vocalist for Boston rock band Kings of Push (which also features Joe Wilinski on drums!) and he’s simply on another planet as far as rock vocalists go. He’ll probably have a hard time getting away from Chris Cornell comparisons, but I doubt I could find anyone who would consider that a bad thing. “Pomegranate” is easily one of the most ambitious RT debuts, as he is both sticking to a Middle Eastern sound throughout and writing within a narrative concept (which I would really like to know more about!). Only complaint is how restrained he is on this album, although “Infidel” shows pretty clearly what the man is capable of.

Andrew Miller – Wreckless Imitation: This is the first heavy stuff I’ve heard from Andrew, and I’m REALLY impressed by how great it sounds (I really need whatever Andrew and Logan use for drums). Nice to hear someone using good old odd meters rather than polymeters (sorry, but Meshuggah owns the market as far as I’m concerned). Definitely needs vocals eventually, but the music kept me interested on its own as well. Really impressive RT debut.

Meghan O’Connell – Wake Up: Though she probably didn’t mention it, I think Meghan would prefer you to be on some sort of substance while listening to her track. A few weeks ago I found a self-hypnosis video on YouTube, and the opening spoken word section of her track is almost identical to the type of thing I was hearing on the video, especially that crazy delay. Definitely impressed by the music once it finally kicks in…I have a feeling it’s mostly loops but they were well chosen and great quality samples.

Logan Bradley – The Gnashing: When I use the word “genius” (and I don’t necessarily want to use it here), I’m specifically referring to people whose creative processes I absolutely cannot figure out or dissect when listening to their work. Logan is one of those kinds of people; I honestly can’t figure out how he makes music like this. It’s not just the riffs or vocals or rhythms, it’s the actual sound; Logan seems interested in creating a completely unique musical world, which fits very nicely with the concept and story behind “The Gnashing” (the sequel to RT4’s “Before There Wasn’t"). This is obviously not for mass audiences, but those of us with an appreciation for genre-bending metal will find plenty to explore in this record.

Osmin – Sosa: Really glad Oscar decided to embrace his weird side with this one. Though I only know him through Facebook, the guy has a killer taste in, and knowledge of, music of ALL kinds (Oscar, I pay close attention to anything you post). This album shows some huge progress on the recording side of things. Plus, real strings? Unheard of on weeklong albums. Some great electroacoustic weirdness on “Mafalda”…not sure if Oscar minds being compared to the Mars Volta, but there are a few similarities which seem hard to deny. “Cauliflower Ears” sticks out for me...no pun intended!

Eric Putnam – Retro: Eric is a former roommate of mine, and a heck of a bass player. I like “Retro” because I see a lot of potential. Eric is really developing a personal style, and I think this is a great jumping-off point, in terms of both the composition and recording side of things. I think this kind of music really needs high quality production to really come through…now that he’s had a chance to try out some new techniques, I think his stuff can really take off from here.

F.E.A.R. – Untitled: This is a project by Dennis Ohlson, who I chatted with briefly a few nights ago. This is good stuff. One thing I really noticed was how great the samples are here…not just high quality sounds, but sounds that fit really well together and create a very unique little world. It’s also a pretty big deal to make dark industrial music without sounding like some era of NIN, so extra points for that.

Dan Waldkirch – My Business: Terrible, inconsistent, pathetic album about a lonely nerd who can’t get a job or a girlfriend! The guitars are too scratchy, and the cymbals are too crashy! BOO!