Sola Rosa - Get it Together

Sola Rosa - Get It Together

Once again my penchant for genre blending (bLending, not bending...) music becomes apparent, with Sola Rosa being labelled as: Electronic, Hip Hop, Reggae, Latin, Rock, Pop, Funk / Soul.

Sola Rosa is a 5 piece band that begun with solely Andrew Spraggon in 1999, and has evolved to include many members of many famous New Zealand groups.  Get It Together, Sola Rosa’s third full length release a genuine pleasure to listen to with fantastic instruments mixed together in a toe-tapping manner that will leave you wanting more after each listen. Unlike The Evpatoria Report, reviewed earlier, this album is perfectly suited to an in depth listen just as much as it’s an ideal background album to chill to with friends over.

The album begins with a gradual lead up into a stunning frenzy of well structured instruments in The Ace of Space, which sets the tone perfectly for the first half of the album. It’s all very upbeat and nothing would seem out of place at a Latin nightclub, with the exception of perhaps the New Zealand accents. The album’s third song, Del Ray, was described to me by a friend as ‘Techno Spaghetti Western’, a term which sounds so wrong but works so well in Sola Rosa’s case. The Genres melt perfectly into each other, from cheery dance beginnings to slightly gloomier hip-hop middle and beyond.


Sola Rosa - Turn Around ft. Iva Lamkum

Lady Love featuring the well known Bajka is a sweeping emotional piece with spoken word verses and a delicate chorus in a beautifully unique voice layered over brooding strings and guitar. A traditional structure but somewhat unorthodox vocal arrangement reminds of hip-hop music without any of the aggression. This album is a continuous surprise in the scope of different sounds and yet retaining a certain familial sound that ties it back to the band and previous records.

The album is closed off with a reggae-like vibe in These Words, These Sounds, These Powers featuring Spikey Tree, albeit with a more dub influenced musical backdrop. Overall Sola Rosa’s Get It Together is an album that has something for almost every occasion, a perfect addition to an entertainer’s collection. - Last.fm - Myspace -

Younger Brother - A Flock of Bleeps

"Oh goody,

Let's pump ourselves full of magic monkey juice and take a trip to space land"

In anticipation to the imminent release of Younger Brother's third studio album, "Vaccine", here is a quick look back at the first two albums.

Younger Brother - A Flock of Bleeps

Starting off the album is Weird on a Monday Night, an aural masterpiece that starts with distorted vocal intro that only Simon Posford can be responsible for. The tone for the album is set from this brilliant opener on, with a surprisingly organic mix of electronic elements all meshed together to form a stunningly creative album. Each track can be singled out as a highlight, yet no one song over-powers any of the others, which is something that plagues plenty of other albums.

Crumblenaut is arguably the album's best known track, which blends the down-tempo album start with Posford's infamous vocal adjustments of Michele Adamson's beautiful voice. The later part of the song leads into a somewhat faster mood which perfectly lines up the following tracks.

As a debut album, forgetting for a second the pedigree that Mr. Posford (Shpongle, Hallucinogen) and Mr. Vaughan (Prometheus) bring to the table, this is a phenomenal start to what started out as a side project. A Flock of Bleeps has now reached something of a cult status in electronica circles after its release in 2003, an album that takes music in a completely new direction that is almost unclassifiable.

The mid-section is oft regarded as the trance equivalent of the album, and thus has reached a slightly broader audience but this should by no means put off listeners from listening to the outlying tracks.

There are fantastic vocals and vocal samples throughout, some laid straight over the track but most manipulated expertly by Posford to create some breathtakingly unique sounds which become music of their own accord.

Younger Brother - Weird on a Monday Night

The finish of the album comes through two tracks; Safety Zone, a seemingly dub influenced track that blends perfectly into Bedtime Story, an utterly chill track with predominantly acoustic guitar picking laid over ambient sounds. The track would not be out of place on a toddler's bedtime tape, and yet it book-ends A Flock of Bleeps so perfectly, finishing on such a peaceful note that leaves the listener in the best possible way relaxed. - Last.fm - Myspace -

Younger Brother - The Last Days of Gravity

Younger Brother - The Last Days of Gravity

Happy Pills, the opening track on The Last Days of Gravity is almost fitting to be listened to directly after the closer of A Flock of Bleeps, such is the peaceful introduction to the sophomore Younger Brother release.

Far from replicating their debut album, however, Simon and Benji have combined their original sound with something more acoustic, almost band like for Last Days. Although not evident by traditional sounds, instruments can be identified throughout, mixed within the modified sound scape that is the electronic base. Some songs have glitch elements and vocal distortions in them, whilst others have simple guitar riffs and drum beats, and yet it all blends together to create a listening pleasure that is yet again somewhat unclassifiable.

The growing up would have attracted more fans that relate this album to more well known works, with a stronger commercial psychedelic link musically. Yet somehow it manages to maintain the beauty of the first album, it still appeals to the audience that A Flock of Bleeps was made for.

This hashing of two worlds is what has made this album so compelling and appealing, setting yet another musical benchmark for the two producers.

Going back and forth between the acoustic-like (Your Friends are Scary) and almost entirely manufactured (I am a Freak) and to a complete blend of the two (Psychic Gibbon) means that this album does have a slight err in identity. It simply doesn't flow together as well as A Flock of Bleeps did, and has some clearer stand-out tracks as highlights.

Apart from this minor detraction, The Last Days of Gravity is an album that is absolutely essential to have in a library that appreciates unique and colourful music.

The final moments of Psychic Gibbon end with a heartbeat, again an ideal book-end to a brilliant album. - Last.fm - Myspace -

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I'll leave you with a slight preview of the upcoming album in the form of a video of Younger Brother recording some claps and stomps. If this doesn't get your juices flowing for the new release, then nothing will.

The Evpatoria Report - Golevka

The Evpatoria Report – Golevka

Despite their label of post-rock, The Evpatoria Report is a genre-crossing band that mixes the elements of post-rock with modern classical in an almost cinematic manner, with epic sweeping songs. The shortest song on the album is 8:34...

Above all, Golevka is an album that needs attention, which can be both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because if you give this album the time that it deserves, a world of music becomes apparent, and one of the most stunning aural experiences can be had with just a good pair of headphones and closed eyes. A curse because the album doesn’t allow for a quick listen in between a task, or putting on a song in the background whilst performing other tasks. The attention it demands is simply too great.

Don’t get me wrong, the songs are phenomenal, each song tells a story. Instead of trying to cram an entire story in a 3 minute radio song, they’re all given the time they need, to grow and mature in each individual song. That brings me to another slight downfall, unfortunately, and that’s that this album doesn’t flow. Each song in itself feels like an album, whereas they should feel like individual chapters of an all-encompassing book. Thankfully this doesn’t detract too much because the songs are long enough to gain their own footing and impress individually. You also feel like you want more after a song finishes, so there is great incentive to keep listening, because you’ll hear more of that beautiful music.

The Evpatoria Report - Taijin Kyofusho

Individual songs are hard to review because of their complexity in the stories they tell, so I’ll refrain from spoiling that for any potential listeners. Suffice it to say that each song plays an important part in the album, and the album is one that is not to be missed.

Their 2003 EP and the first track from this 2005 Golevka album are available for free download from their website, so if you wish to have a sample this is the perfect place to start. The Evpatoria Report also have a second full length album out, called Maar. - Last.fm - Myspace -