{"id":567,"date":"2011-08-01T05:17:25","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T10:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=567"},"modified":"2011-08-01T05:17:25","modified_gmt":"2011-08-01T10:17:25","slug":"review-roundup-august-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/08\/01\/review-roundup-august-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Indie Roundup: August 2011, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

From time to time I do a \u201creview roundup\u201d in which I take a quick look at a stack of CDs that has found its way onto my desk. Each disc is worthwhile in its own way; otherwise I wouldn’t waste your and my time. But because there’s so much other material I want to cover in depth, I’ll restrict myself to brief summary remarks about these titles. Note that most of these are indie\/self-released efforts; no major label releases here. So these are almost certainly titles that would otherwise slip by unnoticed by most listeners. They deserve better.<\/p>\n

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Mark Anderson<\/strong> \u2013 Back From the Edge<\/em> (www.markandersonrocks.com<\/a>) \u2013 An uncharitable reviewer looking to land a few punches might suggest that Anderson’s stylistic genre-hopping here betrays a lack of focus. I prefer to see it as a showcase for his deft ability to craft and deliver songs in a number of idioms, doing so in a clearly heartfelt manner. There’s Mellencamp<\/strong>-style heartland rock, riffy and harmonic 80s-ish AOR-style rock, and even barroom-styled blues with a horn section. The liner notes explain that the songs were cut in Nashville and L.A., and attentive listeners will be able to spot which-are-which. (I like the L.A. ones a bit more.)<\/p>\n

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Golden Bloom<\/strong> \u2013 March to the Drums<\/em> (www.goldenbloom.net<\/a>) \u2013 The work of one guy (Shawn Fogel<\/strong>), Golden Bloom is a tuneful if idiosyncratic project. This disc is a carefully-assembled yet warm collection of songs. The melodies on tracks like the opener \u201cIn the Beginning\u201d \u2013 a distant sonic cousin to The Kinks<\/strong>‘ \u201cWaterloo Sunset\u201d \u2013 will seem familiar even on first listen, and they\u2019ll stick in your memory for awhile afterward. March to the Drums<\/em> is a six-song EP, but with songs this good, who’s going to complain?<\/p>\n

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Ted Hovis<\/strong> \u2013 Let it Shine<\/em> (www.tedhovis.com<\/a>) \u2013 A collection of meat-and-potatoes rock, Let it Shine<\/em> suggests that Hovis has ingested the influence of mainstream radio rock. \u201cPocketful\u201d has echoes \u2013 especially in the guitar and drums \u2013 of U2<\/strong>‘s work. The almost-funky \u201cThinking Out Loud\u201d aims for a Red Hot Chili Peppers<\/strong> vibe. Hovis plays a lot of instruments, but his bass work is perhaps the most interesting among them. A bit of a chameleon, Hovis’ personal style doesn’t seem quite fully-formed yet here, but it’s a promising effort nonetheless.<\/p>\n

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The Lions<\/strong> \u2013 Iconoclastic<\/em> (www.thelionsrockandroll.com<\/a>) \u2013 A curious release, this CD is packaged as a faux-soundtrack to a nonexistent film. That’s deceiving: these are not instrumental vignettes. Overall it’s a set of chiming, breezy, earnest and straightforward songs. The infectious \u201cJane, I’ve Had Too Much to Drink\u201d sounds like a cross between the Byrds<\/strong> and Guided by Voices<\/strong>. If that comparison makes you raise your eyebrows, well, good. Patience is rewarded with this one; the songs actually improve as the album unfolds.<\/p>\n

More next time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Follow \u201cthe_musoscribe\u201d on Twitter<\/a> and get notified
\nwhen new features, reviews and essays are published.<\/p>\n

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION:
\n\"I<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From time to time I do a \u201creview roundup\u201d in which I take a quick look at a stack of CDs that has found its way onto my desk. Each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}