Good Evening

admin — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:56:00 +0000

Somewhere, there is an indie coming-of-age film that is just begging to be scored by Nite Jewel. Nite Jewel is the stage name of one Ramona Gonzalez, a songwriter and composer who hails from Los Angeles California. Using a multi-track cassette recorder, keyboard, drums and other various instruments, Nite Jewel’s music is reminiscent of that synthesized techno pop sound that reached its pinnacle in the 1980s. Good Evening, Nite Jewel’s newest musical endeavor, is a collection of ten songs that do not disappoint. The songs are a combination of hypnotic trance rhythms, steady dance beats and gentle female vocals. Most of the beats are slow but there is something infectious about them. You end up swaying, if not right out dancing to the music. Despite its being danceable, the music has a relaxing quality to it that makes it perfect background music for everyday activities. One can easily enjoy the music without being distracted with it as they go about their day working, cleaning, and reading. I cannot understand a word being sung in any of the Nite Jewel songs, but I’m not sure I’m supposed to. The soft, murmuring lyrics give the music an ethereal feel (This is most apparent in the track “Chimera”), which only adds to its appeal. Although I enjoyed the entire album, there were two songs that really stood out. The first was “Universal Mind” which possesses a constant, steady beat, but still maintains a beautiful tranquility throughout the track. The second song, “Artificial Intelligence,” is chipper and uplifting and boasts the kind of rhythm that people cannot help but clap along to.

Good Evening plays well as a whole, the songs seamlessly blending from one to the next. My one complaint is that the audio on the album is very soft. I had to turn the volume up considerably on my computer and in my car to hear it properly.

Written by: Victoria Kroeger, June 27th 2009

SoukSonik

admin — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 02:48:00 +0000

By Jef Stott

Six Degrees

After listening to the first 10 seconds of SoukSonic, I had no doubt that Jef Stott's work is strongly influenced by Middle Eastern music. According to his label's profile, Stott is a musical anthropologist who plays several traditional Middle Eastern string and percussion instruments. His anthropological training "inform[s] his sensibility about cultural relativism and issues of appropriation”--an intriguing statement since souk is Arabic for "marketplace."

The album is basically Middle Eastern-infused techno. It is at times too frenetic, as though Stott hit the fast forward button and liked the results. At other times, it almost strays into trance, though the tracks are too short and the tempo too fast.

Stott is an experienced producer, but SoukSonic eschews the full-bodied mellowness of the instruments and sounds as though it used a synthesized facsimile rather than the real thing. Overall, the EP is worth a listen, but not memorable enough to get into my favorites playlist with the possible exception of the infectious “Lamacet.”

Written by: Vita Foster, June 8th 2007