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A Is For Atom

A Is For Atom

Review by Gary Hill
I’ve included this in the progressive rock section of Music Street Journal. It might not be the best fit, but every single song here has some prog in the mix. It’s also got plenty of alternative rock and pop mixed in, but that prog definitely is included. While there are only five songs here, they represent a pretty diverse set of sounds and make for an entertaining musical experience.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012  Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Creation
Starting with a rather proggy arrangement, this works out to a bouncy kind of alternative rock meets pop arrangement. The vocals are rather subdued by multi-layered and powerful when taken as a whole. There are some intriguing melodic moments and there are definite progressive rock layers added in the lush arrangement later. Parts of this are intricate and delicate while other sections have powerful, rather symphonic sounds built into them.
See You Again
This comes in with an almost world music folk sound. That carries it in a quirky arrangement for parts of the song. There is a hard rocking section that serves as the counterpoint to it. In fact, that section rocks out more than anything in the opener. This is quite a cool tune that’s sort like folk meets alternative rock and punk. Then it moves out into a weird psychedelic jam mid-track that again lands this more into progressive rock heading.
Light Years
This tune comes in feeling rather like something from an alternative rock meets Americana sound. That mode holds it for a while, but later it gets worked out into a jam that seems to combine progressive rock with jazz (brought in via a horn section – not sure if it’s synthetic or real).
Bird in A Cage
One of the most unique cuts here, the chorus is pretty, accessible and mainstream, but the verses have an almost Europop stripped down strangeness to them. There really is a cool contrast of sounds here.
Whiskey
What an unusual piece this is! It has a lot of folk and even world music in it, combined with an alternative pop sound. That said, there are still quite a few progressive rock elements on display here.
 
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