Richard Gsottschneider – Somewhere in Baltimore

Richard Gsottschneider is a folk/Americana artist based in New Hampshire. The songs seem influenced by legends such as Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Johnny Cash. The lyrics tell stories – stories that are vivid and take you everywhere from the inner city to the bayous of Louisiana.

The CD is based on folk and has lots of acoustic guitar, but Gsottschneider brings in guests that contribute piano, accordion, harmonica, banjo and fiddle on select songs. The result in an exceptionally strong CD that would interest not only traditional folk music fans, but also Americana and old school country lovers as well. This might not be a CD that today’s major labels would embrace, but for fans of well written, well recorded songs in this genre, you will enjoy every moment you spend with Richard and his outstanding musical guests.

By Joseph A. Italiano

John Dyer – Gostayplay

John Dyer’s CD came across my desk and immediately caught my attention thanks for the beautiful graphic design of the front cover. As I began to play tracks from this record, I was as impressed with the music, as I was with the artwork.

Dyer writes in a style closer to that of a poet than a pop star, yet his songs are memorable and quite melodic throughout. At times, the lyrics were far too deep for my usual pop sensibilities, but it inspired me to think and give meaning to the words as I listened for a second and third time. Check out John Dyer’s Gostayplay and be ready for a moving experience.

By Joseph A. Italiano

The Dangerous Summer – If You Could Only Keep Me Alive

Fresh out of high school, The Dangerous Summer offers a forgettable EP that gets lost in the emo sea. All seven of the songs on If You Could Only Keep Me Alive are interchangeable, and they each include references to writing songs. You’re writing songs. I get it. It’s clearly a cathartic effort that doubles as juvenile with extremely straightforward lyrics that suggest little imagination, best showcased with the gem “I’m sending this shit out.”

The instrumentals are decent, but the angst-ridden lyrics paired with the singer’s harsh tone and the repetition of the line “I won’t let this die” is all enough to make you wish the band preferred journaling to songwriting. The Dangerous Summer is just another mediocre band thriving on overdramatic lyrics that will only find fame in the Myspace profiles and AIM away messages of 13-year-olds.

Maybe they should’ve stayed in the garage for a few more years until they could find a sound that was a little less desperate and a little more unique. This type of band may kill at the high school talent show, but the music industry needs something a little more substantial and relatable to people who don’t think cutting is cool.

By Valerie Williams

Sacha Sacket – Lovers & Leaders

After listening a few times to Lovers & Leaders it is a total pleasure to write this review. This CD is simply incredible and every song on this piano driven disc is well crafted, as the songwriting is top notch and arrangements are refreshingly unique. Many of the songs have keyboard or loop sample for the beginning and then the songs turn into magnificent pieces of music that leaves you wanting to listen again.

Sacha’s songs are mostly medium tempo with excellent stories, situations, relationships and people that all of us can relate to. Though the main instrument is piano, all other instruments are represented well and each of them have their proper place in the audio spectrum. Every instrument fits “like a glove” and feels like it belongs due in part to excellent production. The song structure builds beautifully from sparse beginnings to a full wall of sound as instruments gradually enter these arrangements. Sacha’s voice not only has a beautiful tone, but has great range using falsetto when needed and it sounds great when he does. Every song is thoughtful and the emotion on this disc really comes through like early piano ballads from Billy Joel.

Some people may compare the voice to Coldplay or Elton John. His sound is fresh and his music has beautiful textures take you into other peoples lives. Great stories, great production and puts the listener in a good and thought provoking place. Sacha comes through on a personal level, with beautiful music that touches you emotionally.

Bottom line, Lovers & Leaders is one to add to your collection if you love storytellers and well-performed music.

By Peter Lucibelli

The Sadies – New Seasons

With an unusual and versatile combination that infuses bluegrass, surf, rock, and funk, The Sadies breakthrough from Toronto in a style that is undoubtedly American with their release of New Seasons in 2007.

This disc is beautifully composed with an un-manufactured sound, mainly eluding from overuse of modern recording technology and getting back to the bare bones of melodic sound. The lyrics are clever, well written, adaptable, and multidimensional with the style of song they are representing.

“The First Inquisition Part IV” has a garage style rock reminiscent of early works of The Shins while “The Trial” has an old western yet folk sound concluding with a tinge of psychedelic jam. New Seasons is instrumentally strong and The Sadies exude a confident vibe with Dallas Good’s lyrical styling.

This CD is perfect for a long drive with lots of different landscapes as every track on New Seasons takes you on a series of diverse and exhilarating turns.

Review By: Laurie Sodergren

The Cult – Born Into This

This disc was surprisingly, well in a word, surprising. A refreshing “Non-rehash” of material, there’s a lot to like here. The band has rebounded with a heavier rounded sound that would fit being on a live bill with someone like U2 or Velvet Revolver.

The title track “Born Into This” and “Citizens” are rockers with guitar squeals in all of the right places. “Holy Mountain” is a nice relationship based ballad-like piece that the Stones would have sounded good doing. “I Assassin” hits a drum bass groove, and delivers. “Tiger In The Sun” delivers in a Blue October sort of way. “Savages” is a hard driving song that John Waite should cover. Singer Ian Asbury’s style and delivery are unique, and must have influenced others like early Billy Idol.

What impresses me about this band at this point in their career, is it’s ability to start a song with sounds, riffs, attacks, that can bring to mind The Beatles or The Stones, then change directions on a dime taking you on a thrill ride. Not being satisfied with following a bands historical sound and patterns is necessary for overall longevity. It’s garage band taken to yet another level, which is a good thing!

By RME

Crosby Loggins – We All Go Home

I caught Crosby opening for Joe Bonamassa (to whose label he’s signed). Playing solo live with a rack of acoustic guitars and a massive pedal board, he usually tours with a band as ‘Crosby Loggins And The Light’. At one point he thanked his parents, David Crosby and Melissa Etheridge. Opening for one of the premiere blues players in the business is no easy task, but some of his material is a bluesy mix that Joe often deals in, and it fits. The tall son of Kenny Loggins even leans toward the mike like his famous dad.

Although his style is his own, his vocals and delivery are sometimes reminiscent of his dad, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, and Lindsay Buckingham, especially on his medley combining Fleetwood Mac’s World Turning and Stevie Wonder’s Superstition. “Good Enough” is a catchy song with a structure that worked well for Jacob Dylan. “Always Catching Up” is an upbeat song (about a girl of course), done in a style that would suit a lot of the heavier rock bands. “March On America” is a heavier guitar laden song, part protest, part warning. “Here She Comes” is where Crosby throws a ballad at you about, guess what, a girl (something we men can identify with)! “Radio Song” could have been successful for Green Day or The Cranberries. “Angel Of Mercy” is another great easy moving ballad.

What I like most about We All Go Home, is that you could pull off the songs one at a time, and throw one on the jazz station play list, one on the Top 40 station, one on the blues station, put one on a movie soundtrack, and another on the station that plays Bush, Green Day, and Maroon 5. The guy is multi-talented and has successfully learned from his influences without letting them individually influence his overall style.

By RME

New Monsoon – V

They sure picked the wrong cat to review this new album by New Monsoon. I accidentally referred to it as “happy garbage” to the editors here at Skope, but what I meant to say was “hippy garbage.” It really works either way as long as you keep the garbage part in. Growing up in New Hampshire does one of two things, it embeds a love of jam bands or it breeds a loathing for jam bands. I developed the latter. And this is my response to New Monsoon and their album, V.

New Monsoon’s new monstrosity is track after track of unoriginal, auditory philandering, stealing directly or indirectly from the Allman Brothers’ “Jessica” (“Song For Marie”), Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” (“Neon Block”) and James Taylor’s “Carolina In My Mind” (“Water Vein”) come to mind. The only original thing is that most songs clock in at a meandering 6 minute average – Oh wait. Strike that. It’s like being raped by patchouli and Phish Food while Dave Matthews Band dumps their camper waste on your soul. Which actually sounds better than this now that I think about it.

If you like jam bands like (NM label mates) String Cheese Incident or Umphrey’s McGee then please take this album and shove it. I can’t listen to it no more.

By Brian McKinney

The Forms – The Forms

The Forms self-titled follow-up to 2003’s Icarus, starts off with a shoegazer blast. The album opener, “Knowledge In Hand” is a refreshing noise considering the stale soundscapes of late. But by track two it becomes apparent that the Forms are a one-trick pony. Nirvana producer, Steve Albini’s work on the album is evident in the lush guitar sounds and well-mixed drums, but that can’t keep The Forms from sounding like one giant, mopey instrumental album. Sure, there are lyrics in every song, but vocalist, Alex Tween delivers them as if sporting a mouthful of marbles or Jolly Ranchers and the effect is like a new throat-powered instrument.

Now, this sounds like a bad review and it is not at all! The music is great and very much in the vein of what I would want to listen to while browsing used CDs at the record store, but if you could understand more than two words per verse it might have a stronger emotional impact. The shoegaze gets so thick at times that I’m afraid my nose would be scraping the ground if I were walking down the street with this playing on an iPod. “Blue Whale” offers up one of the most ingenious sounding guitar effects heard in recent years, it is reminiscent of a whale call as replicated by auto-detuning strings, which is apropos for the track.

If you like preliminary emo bands like Promise Ring, Slowdive and Yo La Tengo then you’re gonna love the Forms.

By Brian McKinney

Leo – Nightmares

Nightmares is a bit of a misnomer. Leo’s recently released CD starts off with a short intro track that sounds promisingly creepy and dark, but the sound quickly morphs into muddled rock/pop. Some of the guitar work reminded me initially of Godsmack but with vocals more reminiscent of Incubus, the overall balance was wobbly.

Little range of emotion is detectable in Ian Eddy’s lead vocals for the first half of the album, though things improve toward the end. The tracks seem to have two speeds — slow verses with generally incomprehensible lyrics contrasted with jarring radio-ready choruses. The singing started to remind me of David Usher’s crooning back in the days of Moist, and the growing intensity of Eddy’s voice makes the album worth finishing, at least. The album progresses from a lackluster initial five or six tracks, gaining some energy by “Chemical Cell” and “Nightmares”, two of the final tracks.

The abrupt endings of most of the tracks, and the violent shifting between verse and chorus, with added heavy guitar work marking the start of each chorus, make it seem that this album was not seriously worked over. Leo comes across as more genuine in that sense than a lot of current pop/rock acts, even though the lyrics are disappointingly vague. Directed loosely toward some hazy ex-lover, it wasn’t until track nine, “Mourning”, that more emotional depth was exposed. Judging from the growing confidence and complexity of both the vocals and the instrumentation, despite the slow start, Leo has potential.

By Lara Killian

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