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. | | 1-10 rating
| Comments
| URL
| Song |
. | Sintax.the.terrific | 9 | Older school rap, but doesn't sound terribly retro. Actually makes me want to listen to more than just the first track. Kind of reminds me of Tribe Called Quest/Leaders of the New School. Well Done. I like it. | http://www.myspace.com/sintaxtheterrific | Hurricane Crush |
. | Culture Prophet | 8 | Very cool. Dance music, but not so repetitive that it can't be listened to by itself. Well done. | http://www.myspace.com/cultureprophet | FaceMelter |
. | Lecherous Nocturne | 8 | No set up for the song, it just dives right in with the evil. The beginning is essentially very dark math rock, then about halfway through it transitions to a more traditional death-metally double-bass pedal deep-screeming sound. The musicianship is very good, although not necessarily mind-blowing. | http://www.myspace.com/lecherousnocturne | The Divine Wind |
. | Mr. Countryfied | 8 | The production value is much higher than any of the other rap I've reviewed yet. I . . . actually . . . yes . . . like it. Not for the kiddies, though. Greenville rappers, please listen to this guy and notice that the song actually changes every now and then. | http://www.myspace.com/countryfied3000 | How You Do It |
. | The Last Van Zant | 8 | I bet these guys put on the kind of show where people get stabbed. And not because of fights, but because it's fun. I like it. | http://www.myspace.com/thelastvanzant | Expendable |
. | Graydon Tomlinson | 7 | Piano-dominated radio pop. Reminds me of "Walking in Memphis" by Mark Cohn and maybe Coldplay and The New Radicals. I like the changeup in the bridge. It makes me want to hear more experimentation. | http://www.myspace.com/graydontomlinson | Learning to Try |
. | Josh Montgomery | 7 | Reminds me of Jason Mraz. Strong vocals, maybe not the greatest range. Good guitar work. A little over-arranged (I'm thinking specifically of the reggae breakdown.) | http://www.myspace.com/joshmontgomery | Save Me |
. | The Malah | 7 | A lot of electronics, but still sounds like an actual band. High production value, good musicianship, very atmospheric. The first two minutes are just three chords played over and over again, slowly building. This reminds me a lot of the instrumental stuff done by the Beastie Boys. | http://www.myspace.com/themalah | Pursuit Improv Funk |
. | 3 Second Binge | 6 | Kind of a mix of Trent Reznor doing punk metal with a drunk English man yelling every now and then. | http://www.myspace.com/styleaamanalinkavisitedfo | Scattered Smothered |
. | Aboyd Whigham | 6 | Slow and sparse piano and vocals Radiohead-style for 2 1/2 minutes, then a bizarre twist into noise rock and almost spoken word vocals, a return to piano and vocals with some loops thrown in, then back to noise rock. The music and performance is decent, but the song is very long and unfocused and the production value isn't great. Long songs need to develop, not just change every now and then. Side note, if you want a long review, have a thirteen-minute-long song. | http://www.myspace.com/bosiferwhighamus | Phonocamptic |
. | Among Thieves | 6 | The first two minutes of this song could be mistaken for a Jack Johnson if it weren't for the overwraught vocals. After that, though, it picks up and turns more punk rocky, just with acoustic guitar. Pretty good. | http://www.myspace.com/xamongthievesx | A Pathetic Display |
. | Charles Hedgepath | 6 | Instrumental, slow, and bluegrassy. It's nice, but a bit undercooked, with no real changes until the end. | http://www.myspace.com/charleshedgepath | Arthur's Seat |
. | Cris Coke | 6 | Very high production quality compared to the other rap, and Chris has an interesting voice and style, although it's hard to understand the lyrics. It seems like his main bidness is producing ads, which are what the other "songs" are. | http://www.myspace.com/criscoke | Fooling Myself |
. | Daylight Wasting | 6 | Another completely unreadable page. Pretty good. Kind of sounds like an updated Matchbox 20. | http://www.myspace.com/daylightwasting | Final Destination |
. | Jacob's Theory | 6 | About 1 1/2 seconds into "Believe" you can tell that this band is a Christian band. Kind of out-of-date, not terribly interesting, but competent. Reminds me of late-nineties radio rock. Something like Lifehouse, Fuel, etc., but with better enunciation. | http://www.myspace.com/jacobstheoryband | Believe |
. | Sonic Marvel | 6 | On the edge of interesting. I kept expecting some more creative chord choices or maybe some timing or tempo changes. It sounds like it's written for the radio, which isn't a good thing. Production and musicianship are good, though. | http://www.myspace.com/sonicmarvel | Tragic Story |
. | Spencer Rush | 6 | Mid-tempo easy-listening pop. The production quality is really good, the musicianship is competent, and the song is decent. Pretty slick, would sound at home on the radio, but I don't think I'd actually listen to it. | http://www.myspace.com/spencerrush | How Many Ways |
. | Truescribe | 6 | Intelligent rap, with fairly interesting beats. A breath of fresh air compared to most of the rap I've heard. | http://www.myspace.com/truescribe | Where Is She |
. | When All Else Fails | 6 | Starts out slow, with a heavy distortion effect on the vocals, then picks up to a pretty fast, punky chorus. The high energy of the instruments doesn't transfer over to the vocals, which sound bored and kind of whiny. I imagine this probably isn't as much of a problem live as it is on the recording. | http://www.myspace.com/waefsc | Strung Out |