Dorthia Cottrell : s/t

The lead singer from Windhand has released her first solo album. Truth be told I have never been blown away by Windhand.It starts off dark and blues, her voice is sultry and strong, then on "Gold" a country element begins to creep in. This is not pulled off in the same manner as say Marissa Nadler and sounds more like a Bonnie Raitt unplugged album. Her song writing is pretty bare bones and the instrumentation is sparse. She gets away with this at first. The songs are to the point so don't drag, there might be a little different flavor of haunting on "Oak Grove" but the guitar in the distance makes it sound too much like the previous song. If the instrumentation on songs like this was given a helping hand by drums or piano she might have sold me on this. Her voice is good , but not good enough to carry songs on an empty stage. She fares better on the country blues collision that reminds me of the Cowboy Junkies on "Orphan Bird" We are back to just the tentative strum of guitar and her vocals double tracked up front.

 Perhaps if her lyrics were more convincing this would be an easier sell, since her voice is right out in the open then you would think she had better have something to say. The more down home country flavor to " Maybe it's True" sound like K.D Lang with less dynamics.It's one of the longest songs on the album at seven minutes but doesn't go anywhere. She works better in more of that Cowboy Junkies place as demonstrated on "Moth". When she is harmonizing with herself she captures a unique quality, but laid bare bones just strumming a chord, it's a snooze fest.Eight songs into the album I find myself really struggling to get through the whole thing, but I force myself and press on. She doesn't touch on any new ground on "Kneeler" and is a far cry from Chelsea Wolfe when it comes to being able to pull this off with just a guitar in hand. "Rake" is barely a shade different from the previous song. It's more tedious guitar strumming, which if you are going to go that route you might as well put a little more into the playing and bang the hell out of it to create dynamics, which is why this album is flat as a table.

 The country comes out on "Perennial" which feels better than the bulk of the album up to this point , but it is too little too late. The country guitar in the background is really sticking to the color by numbers country intervals. The chorus doesn't jump out and grab you. The album closes with " Song For You", there is not much feeling coming from it or the album as a whole ,normally female singer are able to inject some sort of sex into their singing even if it's not intentional objectification even Chelsea Wolfe does it, Marisa Nadler does it and even Laura from Kylesa does it , its just a quality the female voice has , but little is done to inject that. Making the moments that should be more personal, come across as bland.  Said about al there is to say about this one I'll give it a 4.5, maybe she will take something away from this an apply it to Windhand to make them more interesting.

Up From the Underground : Nate Paladino's "Good Boy"

Right from the opening passages of guitar that opens this ep, you can tell there is something different about Nate Paladino. The smug irony of the lyrics to " My Kind of Bitch" has a dark yet honest sense of humor to them. It takes you back to early days of the 50's  doop wop rock n roll. It seems like something that would be much better suited for this season of American Horror Story than having Evan Peters sing the less time period appropriate Nirvana. There is also a hint of indie folk to songs like the first single "Buy Your Heart". It keeps the swing of  "Earth Angel" covered by a guitarist from Orange County whose riffs reflected the California sun.  This sunny disposition does away with the tongue in cheek darkness of the opener, but it is still well executed.

"Don't Say Maybe" takes on a dirtier  Jerry Lee Lewis style of rockabilly.The piano bangs in the background making this  a pretty color by numbers tribute to this style of Elvis era rock. The guitar playing owes a great deal to Brain Setzer. His voice takes on the mock warble of the King at times. The more western feel that recalls more of a Roy Orbison feel sets the tone to " Come Back to Me." Less heart wrenching than say " Only the Lonely" it is sung in a much less dramatic fashion than Roy, never going up into that classic head voice, instead it brings to mind Bright Eyes ' country album.The blues of "Something to Prove' brings the album up into at least the 70's. He adds more husk to his voice. Not the grainy worship of whiskey and cigarettes that Tom Waits has, but that's  what is being aimed for here. The instrumentation is more in line with something Joe Cocker would have backing him, but the lyrics have that more deprecating Waits feel. Tom Waits never gets this upbeat even in his earlier work.

The album closes with another song that not only steers clear of the earlier retro sound, but brings Bright Eyes to mind. Though he doesn't have the overly emotive quality as His voice returns to his normal plaintive mid range. The guitar is crisp and as lyrical as the folk melody he pours his contemplation over.  This ep is a good escape back to the beach for those of you who do not relish the coming dark of the winter months. At times  Paladino  might relish weaving  some of the songs together with retro sounds, over all it's indie flare and attitude dripped over clever singer songwriter pop that avoids sounding like your run of the mill CW soundtrack fare.  The album is not drenched in the rock a billy reverb and all the sounds are pretty refined and crisp. If you are in the mood for some pole dancing, ... I mean really when are you not ? You can check out the video for the first single "Buy Your Heart" below. While Paladino's the mellow brand of indie folk might be more suited for burning one at at park on a sunday morning, it isn't going to become a strip club classic anytime soon.
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Up From the Under Ground: Ras Xix -s/t

This former Singapore based artist relocated to Austin Texas " Weightless With You" recalls 90's alt-rock in many ways. The vocals are the strongest part of the album and the mix suggests it was intentional to put the vocals up front in your face. This guys influence range from David Lee Roth to Chris Cornell.

The drums on this album are often the unsung hero and they work their way around the rather simplistic guitar lines that are living wide breadth for the vocals. Things back off on "Nora 5" and his more sedate moments remind me at times of Lenny Kravitz mixed with the trashy hotel lobby jazz Stone Temple Pilots dipped their toes into. I can also hear some Red Hot Chilli Peppers beneath some of the melodies, though he is a more competent singer than Keidis. I do think some of the acoustic moments on the album get drug out a little too long.

The Incubus comparisons can not be denied on "Over" though some of the vocal shifts are more like Mike Patton, whose band Faith No More should have been getting a cut of Incubus' royalty checks. There is a much more straight ahead rock sensibility than anything Patton would do. "Simulacrum" touches on Brandon Boy'ds affinity for ballads. The ghost of hair metal gone radio stars Extreme can be heard haunting the way the melodies ride of the the strum of acoustics, as the feel of "Whole Hearted" lingers.

There some great sounds on this album and a wonderful ear for melodies, think however the dips into 90's metal isn't their forte. Though it's not to say this sound is totally dated , I think fans of the post- Panic at the Disco radio rock format , would find something they could latch onto here.Of course around here we have a pretty high bar set for metal, I think this could be rocking the suburbs of your average radio listener.

This album swings between the acoustic rock ballad and the more funky post- nu-metal of 2000. The chorus of "If it's Gone" is well crafted and all of the melodies are pretty convincing in this sphere of the album. I think sound is best realized on "Las Aremas de Catagena" which has more Latin flare to the flamenco picked guitar parts ,that are hands down the best playing on the album. Everything falls perfectly in place here, this is the direction I think the album would have most benefited from, instead of wanting to inspire a mosh pit.

Speaking of mosh pits the angular crunch of "New Religion" is the best stab at that sort of thing, as it allows the drumer to play around the song and doesn't try to hard to make them into unconvincing tough guys. However they use rock as an effective dynamic on the chorus to "Miss Simon". It is also the first time I really take notice of the bass playing which should have been more in my face for what they are doing.

This song leads into "Intergalactic Love Affair" which relies on the guitar playing to convince me these guys aren't just an Incubus tribute bands trying to fly some originals in under the radar. The approach to the guitar on " Machine" does also help to counter balance the more Incubus inspired vocal lines, it even drags them away from going to the more obvious intervals Brandon Boyd would sing.