HogBarber - The Beautifiul Nasty Laughtrack At The Portal To Hell

( HogBarber -  The Beautifiul Nasty Laughtrack At The Portal To Hell )

HogBarber (Aka Doctor Ew) is Drew Blankenship based out of DC and is an artist who potentially holds the key to understanding modern ambient lo-fi.  With just one long .wav file on soundcloud available, it actually makes for a very convenient listening experience.  Here are the song titles:

1) 1st Portal
2) Common cuckoo

3) An Elves Work Space
4. 4) Too late
5) Pull up ( can’t come down)
6) Acquire a hang gun
7) Let it all out
8) Something I can’t focus on

9) Slow street
10) Dance party (smashing around)
11) Shoved-under-the-rug-bug being shoved around
12) Riverlude
13) Waking up the birds
14) Portal #2
15) Roach clips theme
16) Late dinner
17) Credits rolling
18) Underneath the floors
19) Sleeping
20) Third portal
21) Drunk acid funk
22) What time is it? Old times
23) Sassy shack
24) Ice cream cone
25) With the morning coming soon
26) We can
27) Warbly
28) All these things in my life
29) Ethereal mural

The songs go in and out of shoe-gaze influenced transcendental smoothness to a more gritty lo-fi radio swelling type experience.  This has a very homemade feel to it which will delight people familiar with the underground cassette tape trade.  The rhythms are organic and the vocals are almost reminiscent of Damon Albarn.  The mixing is what really stands out in this album and ability to be completely honest in not trying to hide any imperfections which are far and few.  The sounds float long and bring you to very nostalgic states almost as if teleported directly into a video game soundtrack.  This journey will keep you questing till the end. 

I recommend giving this album a listen. 

8.8 out of 10 stars

Written by Alroy Mellor  

( HogBarber )

2019  _______________  Echo Options Label  ______________ Official Review

Shedio LP by The Snuggalos

{Shedio LP by the Snuggalos}

1.  Shoelace

2.  Wrestlemania

3.  Life is Butt a Dream

4.  I Seen a Ghewst

5.  My Channels

                   With a name like the Snuggalos you can rest assured you will receive a quality product.  Sure enough, here are some of the best songs ever written and recorded in 2015.  The levels of bliss which result from listening to Shedio LP are off the charts.  Right from the start you hear a delicious rawness combined with masterful taste arrangements under the radar of potential aliens in the distance.  The melodies will instantly stick in your mind and the instrumentation will amaze as the synthesizers support the addictive sound organization.  Only problem is the ending, I'm very sorry to hear the end of this album but looking forward to listening to this over and over again.  

                  I am happy to be haunted by these songs for the rest of my life and will always remind me of beautiful summer moments and all the ghosts I used to sleep with in the cemetery.    

Written by:  Alroy Mellor

10 out of 10*

Echo Options - Review - 2015

Fuel by Rhino Fight

 {Fuel by Rhino Fight}

1. Fuel

2.  Successors

3.  Bloodruns

4. Down with the Thickness

5. Backfire

6.  Afternoon Mood

7.  Mr. Runaway

8. Spent the Days

                Fuel is an eight track power-house under the control of the rambunctious Philadelphia pioneers of underground and basement D.I.Y. rap/hip-hop: Rhino Fight.  They have a mesmerizing quality which is evident in the excellent mixing and mastering by Mark Rascati.  Each track has a bouncing balance of beatific visions dirty dancing with some silly some serious concepts and shared experiences.  Marcus Clarke delivers dynamic and dramatic lyrics which can't help but bring on a smile and a good time.  Soulful backup vocals carry a lot of these tracks provided by Rascati and his multi-instrumental compositions and Clarke drops in the most cleverly cognizant creations of consciousness composed of vividly cinematic imagery.      

  

               Full of bass and sex-appeal, the lyrics don't always distract from the high quality musicianship but compliment each others layers of carefully composed symphonies of urban craftsmanship, poetically and tonally.  Rhino Fight makes it's case to be a leading force in the contemporary Philadelphia hip hop and rap scene with the potential to hit a wider audience of people who appreciate alternative/indie R&B and Hip Hop.  Only thing missing are the lyrics which would greatly add to the experience.  

   

Written by: Alroy Mellor

{Rhino Fight, original artwork 2015 by Marcus Clarke)

8 out of 10*

Echo Options - review - 2015

Blind and Bloodshot by Debrider

 {Blind and Bloodshot by Debrider}

1. Quarters 

2. Never Leave Me

3. The Wait

4. Insomnia (interlude)

5. Love Song

           It's no doubt that this EP by Debrider will be cherished on a wide scale and across generations.  The crystal clear vocals and beautiful mastering by Jack Hubbell make this album an unforgettable experience.  The soothing vocals are a breath-taking wonder to behold and only get better as the songs progress.  Focusing on the passage of time, the ambience brings peace to impatient minds and changes the vibrations to a more grounded pace and flow.  Everything dissolves away and you can hear the pure quality that Debrider successfully displays in all five tracks on this EP.  There is a theme of intense relaxation and curious mystery, the commentary verifies in 'Insomnia' (interlude) which is a classic teaser leaving you wanting more.        

         The overall atmosphere of this album of that of a beautiful dream.  Thanks to the artist Lia Pisa-Relli we are blessed to be welcomed into a sonic serenity and a comforting yet haunting zone of pure bliss.  Making delicate sense of dramatic topics the nightmare becomes embraceable and manages to almost draw tears to the tender-hearted.  One can almost hear a resemblance to some of Camera Obscura's best moments, mixed with Neko Case in the most unique way.  This is a very musically masterful work bordering on a gentle line between dream pop and pure americana.    

Written by: Alroy Mellor

{Lia Pisa-Relli ~ DEBRIDER}

9 out of 10*

Echo Options - Review - 2015

IVORY TOWER by INSIDE YELL

Original art by Rory Gallagher, 2015

'Ivory Tower' by Inside Yell

1. Ivory Tower
2. Wet Walk
3. Coming Around
4. Deep End
5. I Seek Chemicals
6. Feeling
7. New Wave
8.  Roulette
9. Strange
10. Real Girl
11. Not Lost

                From start to finish, this album contains the unmistakably unique glory the Richmond chill pop scene manifested as a modest cohesion of conscious melodies and perhaps unconscious nostalgia for older forms of stylistic expression.  All the songs are solid with stand out tracks like 'Wet Walk', 'Deep End', and 'Strange' which all feature Madeline McCormack on drums.  Obviously crafted delicately, these songs give off the overall impression of a brilliant culmination of humble yet harnessed musicianship coupled with well-played sonic sweetness which drips over slowly and sticks in the heart just like honey.  With this album, it's hard to listen to all of it just once and each cut begs to be heard again and again.               

              It's a blissful synthesis of lo-fi aesthetics mixed with sincere shoe gaze and polished surf rock and roll foundations.  Rory Gallagher makes it pop in the best way.  You can almost hear the potential influences such as: My Bloody Valentine, Asobi Seksu, Grizzly Bear, Caribou, Mac DeMarco, Dungen, Wild Nothing, Teen Body as well as the surrounding RVA locals/contributing soundscape developers:  Teenage Mysticism, Headless Mantis, The Satellite Syndicate, Sweater Boyz, Sherman Whips, The Portal Boyz, etc.

           Written by:  Alroy Mellor

Rory Gallagher

9 stars out of 10

Echo Options - Review - 2015