[Magnatune : we are not evil] [Free trial: only $15 per month] [login] [info]
Ohio Sessions, April to June by The Town Monster The Town Monster : Ohio Sessions, April to June.
Sounds like synth pop walking down a dark alley.


These three EPs, combined into an album, each shows different sides of the rock/prog/electro-rock sound that is The Town Monster. Each EP explores a different musical concept.

The three shorts from the April EP are almost entirely electronic and feature a much snappier, more polished sound than the previous EPs. This one treads bizarre yet poppy territory, coming off like a Burlesque/New Wave mashup of Radiohead and Faith No More. "Atari Girl" is a raging beast of a track with multiple layers of bass, synth choirs, and some demented big top rapping. "Stay 4 Tha Night" is a song about being seduced by the devil and features some impressive synth fondling. The final, moody track, "Meet Me in the Forest", was used for the band's first foray into music video and animation, which became a large part of their work in the future. By April the band had realized they couldn't stay in the warehouse for a prolonged period of time and found a new headquarters at Electraplay Studios in Hilliard, Ohio.

The May EP sounds a bit like the band has spring fever. The production is brighter and bits of sunshine are beginning to peek through. The arrangements are lighter, too: the main instruments in these numbers are acoustic and electric piano and banjo. The first track is mysteriously titled "The Town Monster (Part Two)" and tells a story of an angel who comes to earth and warns the townspeople to repent...to which they promptly reply by burning him at the stake. By this point it is apparent that the band has grown comfortable taking risks with their music and their presentation of it, but also confident enough to write low-key, folk-inspired songs like the closing track "Onward", one of the best in their catalogue.

Definitely an oddball of the group, the June EP saw The Town Monster in a transitional period. This was to be the last they recorded with their excellent former bass player Mike Rana and he is featured heavily here, practically taking lead duties on the only instrumental song in the collection, "1 A.M.". This EP is deep, dark and groovy...syrupy, even. All three are tinged with hip hop beats and further experimentation with pitch-shifted and auto-tuned vocals. The closing track "Oil" was written the day after the historic BP oil spill and wound up being one of the band's angriest, most unique and most universal songs. It helps that it features fantastic lead guitar work by Rob Bradley of Sleepers Awake, as well as samples of the late Professor Longhair, a creole pioneer of rock and roll.


Songs:

1. Atari Girl
2. Stay 4 Tha Night
3. Meet Me In The Forest
4. The Town Monster (Part Two)
5. The Lightning Conductor
6. Onward
7. 1AM
8. Strangelove
9. Oil

Listen to: the entire album.


License Sounds like synth pop walking down a dark alley by The Town Monster for your project.
Play the music of The Town Monster in your restaurant or store.

Release date: 05/05/2013
The Town Monster lives in Ohio USA

Tagged as: Alt Rock, Folk-Rock, Prog Rock


Recommended albums:
  1. Intimland Part 3 - Penetration by Angelight: New Age/World Music for mankind from Russia
  2. Masquerade by Poeticall Musicke: Late Renaissance and Early Baroque music, historically performed
  3. Silent Knowledge - The World Stop by Angelight: New Age/World Music for mankind from Russia
  4. Lines by Paolo Pavan: Urban funky jazz piano, in a sober and straightforward style
  5. Tantrabeats 2 - The Space of the Soul by Angelight: New Age/World Music for mankind from Russia
  6. Explorations by Pranavibes: creating a colorful atmosphere thats mixes tribal world music, African rhythms, folk and many rythmes
  7. Fall Submissions by AntiGuru: IDM in the style of early Warp
  8. English Renaissance Music by La Primavera: English Renaissance music.
  9. Green by Arphaus: aficionado of deep house, IDM and ABBA
  10. Insomnia by Processor: industrial acid house.
  11. Harper's Brew by Aryeh Frankfurter: Timeless and enchanting folk music for the soul
  12. The Mathemagician's Riddle by Psycliq: an electric heart with an organic soul
  13. Cruel Waters by Ash Ganley: masterfully nuanced AAA rock
  14. China radio sunshine by Psychetropic: intelligent electronic listening music
  15. Soyes Loyal by Asteria: late-medieval vocal and instrumental music
  16. In thy Dormition thou didst not forsake the World, (O Theotokos) by Putinki Church Choir: clear calm voices of spiritual music
  17. Universe Acceptable by Ash Ganley: masterfully nuanced AAA rock
  18. Finding Sanctuary by Anthony Salvo: solo and layered violin music on the theme of relational and spiritual intimacy
  19. New Moon by Beth Quist: electro-Balkan / Indian meets New Age.
  20. Electro Retro by Ambient Teknology: upbeat underground with shades of new wave

Downloads:
  • MP3: High quality MP3 variable-bit-rate files. Most people download these: they are audiophile files that play everywhere.
  • ALAC: Perfect quality Apple Lossless format files. If you use iTunes or an iPod, get these. They're an exact audio copy of the original CD, and include the CD artwork and artist info. This is the same format as High Definition audio provided by the iTunes store.
  • AAC: High quality Apple Audio Codec files. If you use iTunes or an iPod, these files sound great and include CD art and artist info. This is the standard format provided by the iTunes music store.
  • WAV: Perfect quality WAV files. This format works everywhere, and is an exact audio copy of the original CD. It sounds fantastic. Album art and artist info is unfortunately not possible with this format.
  • FLAC Perfect quality open source FLAC files. This is an open source audio format. It is an exact copy of the original CD, and includes CD artwork and artist info. Works great on Linux, VLC and many audio players based on open source.
  • OGG: High quality open source OGG files. This is an open source audio format. It is a compressed (smaller file size) version of the original CD, and includes CD artwork and artist info. Works great on Linux, VLC and many audio players based on open source.
  • 128k: Medium quality 128K MP3 files. These are medium audio quality MP3 files that will work on every device. The audio quality is good enough for most uses. These files are intended for cases where you want to conserve disk space.