Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship
Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship
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Bamm Bamm
Contact: goteambarsheem@gmail.com Web: barsheemsounds.com Seeking: Label, Booking, Publishing, Film/ TV, Distribution Style: Soul/Pop/R&B
Contact: snkmanagement@gmail.com Web: soundcloud.com/bammbamm4am Seeking: Label, Film/TV, Booking Style: Hip-Hop
Artist Barsheem’s heroes couldn’t be more prominent––mainly Michael Jackson, as on the well-produced tune “A Love All Mine.” The phrasings are unmistakable. But on the energetic “Find Happy,” Barsheem manages to add a fairly modern edge to the MJ tip, not unlike Bruno Mars. We only wish the track were more richly orchestrated to add a dazzle factor. Barsheem’s social consciousness is sincerely proclaimed on “White World Black World,” though unlike Marvin Gaye’s classic “What’s Goin’ On,” its lyrics are overbearingly preachy. This artist has plenty of room to grow, and he might want to exploit the MJ/Bruno Mars soundalike quality of his recordings.
Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship
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Bamm Bamm has a consistently dark, melancholy mixtape vision, with lean, stark tracks that capture a desolate, 4am feeling. This would describe “No Snoozin’,” his glimpse into the “no-rest-for-the-hustla” lifestyle. Set to bass drum beats, a mournful piano and punctuated by an ominously tolling bell tower, the recording unfortunately suffers from a muffled low end. Bamm’s knack for eerie keyboard fx propels “RIP Bango,” but his flow is again buried in a muddy mix. Most successful is “I Luv My Momma.” The hooky tune’s languid groove and chorus rhymes yield a compelling listen. Ultimately, Bamm Bamm will need to upgrade his production quality to make these songs more industry ready.
Atlas and the Astronaut
Scooter Page
Contact: aatmusic@gmail.com Web: atlasandtheastronaut.com Seeking: Label, Booking, Track Sharing Style: Rock/Indie/Post-Punk/Prog
Contact: scooterpagebusiness@gmail.com Web: fb.com/scooterpagemusic Seeking: Booking, Label Style: Alternative
Led by strong lead singer Beau Rosser, these spirited Portland rockers have a concept album delineating the saga of “Pixl, girl beast-slayer.” We only wish these erratically mixed recordings had less mud on them as the persistent murkiness of the bass and drums all but overwhelms the rest of the band. “Enter the Sun Beast” has great energy and nice, shimmery guitar fx, but like “Kings With Pastic Masks,” it is sabotaged by the mix––or is it the recording? Punk energy drives “Tension & Release” as Rosser’s rangey, banshee vocals (a la Zack from Rage Against The Machine) generate excitement. All of which makes it seem like this could be a kick-ass live act. Material, however, will need to improve.
Sometimes an artist wants to take what’s tried and true and add a twist that makes it all new. Results are usually more interesting than satisfying, and that is the case here. “I Miss Home (Not!),” for example, has a very familiar garage-rock guitar chord progression that’s dressed up with a slick/ smooth choir and a polished turbulence that overpowers him and climaxes in a manner that is strained and overblown. “The Day” has excellent acoustic-guitar tone and good backup players. However, its sullen Metallica-meets-Soundgarden vibe escalates quickly and ultimately arrives at an ill-fitting spoken word/rap section. We admire Page’s daring to be different; we just wish his songs were more satisfying.
Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship
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Rozetta Marie
Seren Skies
Contact: rozettamarieent@yahoo.com Web: rozettamarie.net Seeking: Label, Film/TV, Booking Style: Pop/R&B
Contact: seren.skies@yahoo.com.au Web: serenskies.bandcamp.com Seeking: Booking, Label Style: Rock/Pop
A curvy diva in the making, Rozetta Marie has a ways to go to realize her vision, which is now all over the place. Specifically, on “Caged Animal” the chaotic track is cluttered with campy sound effects and other elements that are buried in a murky, amateurish mix. The song’s sexy message is overstated as Marie makes it clear (via tiger sound fx) that she is ready to tear you UP. However, a videoclip peek at her live performance of “No Introduction,” proves that this singer has ample amounts of something that too many frontperson’s lack––balls. She is a born performer. And if she can somehow simplify and focus her act, she might develop into something more than a wannaBeyonce’.
Very much a hobby project, with more passion than professionalism, these demos are the collaboration between a pair of Australians, singer/songwriter Seren Skies and producer/songwriter Damian Smith. Unfortunately, working remotely over the Internet, the artists’ individual contributions fail to gel, resulting instead in sterile, stilted-sounding recordings that have too many shortcomings for us to delineate here. The rap-rocker “Through the Veil” is a complete misfire. Nevertheless, for an amateur project, tracks such as “Become A Display” (the duo’s best effort) are kind of fun in their own way, demonstrating an overall fan’s abiding passion for bouncy, upbeat, oldies/’80s pop-rock.
CHYRS ANDERSON
Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship
Barsheem
Production Lyrics Music Vocals Musicianship
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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: There is absolutely no charge for a New Music Critique. We critique recordings that have yet to connect with a label or distributor. To be considered please go to musicconnection.com/get-reviewed. All submissions are randomly selected and reviewed by committee. February 2015
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