I have NEVER heard a song this happy ... that I liked. In fact, I was almost going to hit the stop button on this one and come back to it when I was in a more accepting mood. But, as fate would have it, by the chorus I sort of "got it". And now, twenty listens or so later, I think I have come to understand what the concept of bliss truly means. Stop laughing. "Flowers and Balloons" is a highly danceable euro-house / dance groove with a playful message and a serious kick. And it's fun. And sometimes, that's the point.
ABOUT THE BAND: : New York City's Bliss Station is the brainchild of Israeli born Gary L. Starting his musical career as a drummer, Gary eventually moved to keyboards and started Bliss Station after becoming fed up with being "locked behind the drums" (maybe he was playing behind Phil Collins' set. That'll do it.). Completing the band, we have vocalist Shara, guitarist David Bernstein, and programmer Rodney Smith. And if the rest of their tracks are anything like "Flowers and Balloons", the Bliss Station union has resulted in a good energy quartet with a great mixture of fun and serious dance beats. For an American audience, try to fuse eighties pop vocals with good house music. For those on the other side of the ocean, imagine going to any of the dance clubs in the UK and you could easily expect to hear this song there. Imagine a floor full of hot british girls letting it out on the dance floor. Now add a few brit guys in there (I said stop laughing). Now listen to this song. You're there. In fact, I'm going there as soon as I finish this review.
ABOUT THE SONG: "Flowers and Balloons" is dance through and through. Gary L's roomy keyboards draw us into a groove that's nearly impossible not to move to. And don't be thrown by the opening lyrics themselves -- like I said, it's a painfully cheerful song, lyrically. "The sun is out / and it's so bright / birds are chirping / dancing 'round / we float up to an ice cream shop" ... and so on. I wasn't kidding. However, once you grasp the song in it's entirety, you sort of get the tongue-in-cheek approach Bliss Station is taking here, as well as the general fun vibe of the tune.
ON THE DOWNSIDE:
Not a whole lot of downsides on this song, for what it is. There's an odd point near the end of the song where the harmonies back away from the melody in what sounds like a mistake. My ear caught it, and I'm pretty sure yours will too. Had it not been for that little thing, this song would have been flawless.
STRONG POINTS:
Once again, the dance beat is downright infectious on "Flowers". In fact, I've probably made an ass of myself in front of my roommates because of it. The production on this song is solid and well done; the bass shines through nicely, while the drum track itself doesn't come off as too electronic, which is a good thing, in my opinion. Also notable here is the breakdown during the bridge. A downturn from the "sunshine and love" verses and choruses, the bridge takes a serious turn before skip-skip-skipping back to the meat of the song.
THE CONCLUSION?:
Again, "Flowers and Balloons" is a very danceable track, which won huge points with me. If you're into dance or house electronica, eighties synth pop or euro house, be prepared to download and get down a little bit. Along with this track, Bliss Station has tons of tracks available for download at their website. And it's made me want to go dance in public, which is probably one of the only bad things about this track.
With an unshakable percussion track and aliquid electronic surround-sound wall of groove, "Stars" is definitely a tune that will get your attention. A sound that will probably strike a note or two with Moby fans, and a glorious mix of pop, rock and electronica (read: real instruments), "Stars" is both a production quality highlight and an awesome debut track for this artist.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Abie Toiber is a musician producer out of Mexico City who began his career out of middle school (what were the rest of you thirteen year olds doing in the eighties?). Later, studying at the Musician's Institute in Los Angeles, Toiber met up with other musicians and formed the pop/rock group COMA, which -- after a brief stint being signed with EMI, fell into state in 1998 and has yet to be revived (but there's still hope). Around the same time, Toiber managed to begin making plans for Lotus (released in May 2005), while working through collaborations, advertising, mixing and producing, all working towards starting his own label, Toca75.
ON THE DOWNSIDE:
In the beginning vocals, the production decision to bury the vocals slightly beneath the noise didn't really appeal to me all too much right off the bat. It was difficult to make out the lyrics and really get a feel for what was going on. While the vocals surfaced somewhat later on, I kind of felt that the song would have had more "push" if it had gotten on with it from the start. But, hey, it's probably too late for that now.
STRONG POINTS:
One can't help but think that, along with a few other independent producers out there (i.e. Deliccato of Geisha Glory), Abie Toiber is going to be someone bands and labels are going to want in the studio with them during production time within the next twenty years. Incredible decisions and sound quality, as well as awesome performances -- not just on this track, but throughout the entire Lotus album. In fact, production quality and performance here are equally strong points about the "Stars" track.
THE CONCLUSION?:
Buy the album. Or just stream it, and THEN buy it. I can't tell you what to do with your hard-earned money, but remember ... I can guilt you into it. I mean, not now that I said it, but ... Seriously -- you can't miss this one.
"Singed" starts out on a solid and spacey groove, bringing us into a thick twilight of keyboard synth, strong, unsteady alt. rock vocals, and then a final collapse into a distorted retort; a grungy element that I thought, however mainstream, brought a nice pickup to the track in general. With a great mix of subtle lows and expansive highs, "Singed" is a decently familiar nod to fans of any of the late nineties alternative rock bands in many good ways. The groove, The Breeders. The vocals, The Pumpkins. But, mind you, this is no copycat track.
ABOUT THE BAND:
With dozens of television and radio performances in North America, Canadian alternative rock band The Adopted is on the fast track, with a strong industry buzz and, yes, a cool new video (you can see it here). In fact, these guys have opened up for several folks you may have heard of, including Natalie Merchant, The Northern Pikes, The Trews and The Grapes of Wrath. With a strong and loyal fan base, lead guitarist/vocalist Cheetah, bassist Anthony Way, and drummer Ryan Dunford are three rock stars just waiting to happen.
ON THE DOWNSIDE:
The lyrics on this tune left a lot to be desired for me. I didn't really think they painted much of anything, and I wasn't able to glean a lot from the story itself. They seem a little introspective and somewhat trite at times, like my reviews.
STRONG POINTS:
"Singed" is a clean production through and through. I've also got to point out a few really nice touches production-wise that really kicked things up a notch ... so to speak ... including the wide, atmospheric keyboards and the whispered harmonies during the verses. It firmly establishes the moodiness of the opening and lyrical segments of the song, and gets you into the emotion of the piece before crashdown. Great choice. It's also obvious that these three have been playing together for awhile -- the performances mesh brilliantly, with a definite focus on the rhythm section. These guys click -- they enjoy playing together and you can tell. Well, I can tell. You can think what you want.
THE CONCLUSION?:
Listen to the song, download the video, buy the tee-shirt, and support the Canadian music scene. And tell them I sent you.
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July 09, 2008, 12:56:43 AM
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