Author: Captain Capm (Page 4 of 118)

Adolfo Lazo: On Tape

February 12, 2009 /

Generic indie-rock that would be better if Lazo wasn’t doing the singing. His nasally voice would have been a wonder had he been working in a band like Camper Van Beethoven, but alas he only has his plain white music to prop himself up. There’s nothing inherently terrible about the album, but it’s just another one of those indie shots that sounds like it was recorded for the artist’s own amusement rather than something to grab anyone else’s ears by. Of course, the two Spanish-infused tunes here (“Rey de Espana,” “Wall es tu Carrera”) sound like Santana Lite, and a third one (“Borracho”) is just plain silly filler. Suffice it to say that Adolfo Lazo isn’t a very interesting musician or singer, and this album certainly isn’t going to further his cause. It may have been better for everyone if he had kept this one on tape in a shoebox. (self-released)

Adolfo Lazo MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Latin

Michael Anthony Milton: Follow Your Call

February 10, 2009 /

If there’s one genre that’s often hard to critique it’s contemporary Christian. Not being a very religious person myself, it’s tough to know which angle to approach these things. Is it overly preachy? Is the music good? Could any of the messages in the lyrics apply to someone else who wasn’t a devout Christian? Well, it’s probably a safe bet that if you aren’t into this sort of thing, then this album won’t be worth your time. But Michael Anthony Milton does have a nice singing voice, and the songs are pretty enough, produced well, and aren’t too obtrusive. But I feel the same way about this that I felt about George Harrison’s Krishna stuff: it might be groovy to others, but I’m not feelin’ it. Let’s just split the difference and call it even, then. (self-released)

Michael Anthony Milton home page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Christian, Pop

Daniel Lenz: Stuck in a Dream

February 9, 2009 /

There’s something tasty about Daniel Lenz’s electronica forays. It might be that it echoes some of the more carefree aspects of Information Society back in the early ‘90s, but then again the 15 tracks here sound like a lot of the stuff that was coming out back then – for better and for worse. The good news is that there’s a lot to enjoy here if you’re of the dancefloor crowd. The bad news is that like a lot of the other stuff in that genre, this album can wear a little thin before it’s all over. Still, solid tracks like “I Do It Again,” “This and That,” and “Time to Rock” are the kinds of things that would work amazingly well in some summer blockbuster action movie or even a video game. A few too many vocalists spoil the groove here and there, but overall Lenz is a lot better at doing this thing than many other similar-minded artists. (self-released)

Daniel Lenz MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Electronica, Pop

Chantry: The Emancipation of Elizabeth

February 6, 2009 /

If you like a lot of guitar with your cheese, then chances are you’ll love Chantry, an Italian one-man band featuring Alessandro Monopoli exploding all over this disc’s ten tracks. The first tune “Shine” sounds like it would have been amazing back in the mid ‘70s when Rush and Yes were cranking out epic concept albums, with its slightly majestic pretension and show-off guitar work. But then it becomes clear that this is one of those egomaniacal releases with each subsequent track finding Monopoli shoving every little silly guitar trick and bad production technique into his compositions, whether they fit or not. I can’t tell if the drums on this disc are real or programmed, but they’re so over-the-top and obnoxious that I’m leaning towards programmed. Just listen to “Stars,” “Emergence” or “Flawed Archetype,” and you’ll see what I mean. Dude, are the ridiculous 100 mph kick drums really that necessary? Not at all, but then neither is the majority of this disc. (self-released

Chantry MySpace

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Instrumental

Daniel Park: These Illusions

February 6, 2009 /

I’m sure Daniel Park probably has a legion of fans somewhere. He’s got a professional look, his voice is pleasant, and his songs are the sorts of creations you could imagine hearing on your local college radio station. The problem is that he doesn’t seem to have anything beyond just being pleasant. So many of the tracks here – especially the first three – have an easygoing quality to them that never becomes fully defined. Park doesn’t seem to care about memorable melodies as much as just sounding soothing. How many mid-tempo, acoustic-based tracks can you sit through before you get itchy? When he goes for something more upbeat (“Shipwrecked”), he still undermines himself with the nice guy factor. Elsewhere, he’s just noodling around aimlessly (“Prelude”) or trying to sound Important (“DTR”), but remains busy going nowhere because of his mere pleasantness. You hear one song on here, and you’ve pretty much heard them all. It gets boring fast, quite frankly, but again this is the sort of stuff that hits are often made of, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see him getting something bigger from this release. (self-released)

Daniel Park MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop

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