| Track by Track Review
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Boy in a Record Shop
Trippy and psychedelic in texture, this is mellow and quite interesting. There are some proggy pieces of psychedelia over the top of the arrangement at times. While this isn't prog rock in the traditional 1970s way, it has a lot in common with the modern, moody mellow prog. |
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Let Go of the Night
Intricate and pretty, this is another particularly mellow cut. There strings on the arrangement make me think of the proggy side of The Beatles. |
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Relief
This cut has a lot of that modern prog texture in the mix. It's also set well within the zone of post-prog. I can make out things like Muse in the sounds of this track. There are some noisy elements when it powers upward. The pyschedelia of the previous pieces seems to have been replaced by more of techno and electronic edge. |
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Rainbow Dolphins
Trippy electronics are on display here. This is quite mellow and slow moving. It's also very artsy. |
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Whiteheart
Picked guitar and mellow electronics create the textures of this cut. It's another that's quite trippy. This is actually one of the mellowest pieces here. Given the competition, that says a lot. |
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Moving Man
Very artsy and psychedelic, this has more energy than some of the rest. The guitar work on this is particularly pretty. |
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Going through the Motions
More of a folk meets psychedelia piece, there are some hints of country in the mix at times here. The first half is quite mellow, but it gets more energy and power in the later segments of the piece. |
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A Thousand Ways to Miss You
There is a bit of that country edge to this in some ways, too. The number is another with a lot of folk music built into it. |
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Everything Under the Sun
Even mellower, this is solid, but the formula is starting to wear a bit thin by this point in the set. |
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A Betrayal
More of a stripped down folk tune, this definitely suffers from the monolithic nature of the album early. After a while some cool trippy electronic elements appear in the arrangement helping it to stand out a bit. |
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Tucumcari
Playful folk rock is on the menu here. There are still enough layers of proggy texture of the top to keep it interesting. The thing is, this brings a bit of variety as one of the most rocking pieces here. The strings bring some of that Beatles element we have heard earlier to the proceedings. |
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Sweet a Weed
I dig the psychedelic elements that run over the top of this mellow number. This one has some cool trippy part sides to it. |
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Robot
Another slow and folky tune, there are some hints of Vangelis in some of the layers over the top. This one definitely suffers from feeling a bit samey in the first part. As the arrangement gets lusher, it manages to stand apart a bit more. |
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The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants
This number is quite effective. It has some good tones and textures, and the hooks are among the best of the set. It manages to stand above the majority of the set. |
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I Missed My Own Life
Moody and trippy, there is a lot of folk music in the mix here, but also plenty of the modern prog texture. This one does loses something due to the monolithic nature of the set. |
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Is This Where the Trouble Begins?
Now, this brings some much needed variety. It has plenty of alternative rock built into it. It's psychedelic in a lot of ways. The first movement isn't all that different from a lot of the rest, but the second part definitely is. We get some distorted, rocking electric guitar that brings an almost punk rock edge to this. That plays through for a while with some vocals that are packed with angst, bringing a bit of a punk edge. It drops back to the mellower for a while, but then comes out to the screaming hot rocking movement to close the piece. |
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Chopping Block
Back into the moody psychedelic modes, this gets into more art rock stuff later. It's another that has some distorted guitar further down the road, but it doesn't rock as much as the last one did. |
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Cold Cuddle
A processed vocal line opens this without instrumentation. Some bit of instrumental texture is heard on the first section, but it never really gets involved until after the first vocal movement. The cut alternates between those two sections in an especially art rock driven arrangement. |
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February 23
Trippy psychedelia is merge with a rather minimalist art rock arrangement. This is one of the oddest cuts here, but in a good way. |
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Life School
There are some hints of jazz in the arrangement here at times. Beyond that, the tune is too samey, though. It's another slow moving, mellow folk meets modern prog cut. |
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Sleepwalking
I like the trippy kind of arrangement on this. There are some hints of Americana here. Beyond that, though, this is more of the same.
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