Chris Bartels Myths and Mold Review by Gary Hill There is a dense, lush texture to a lot of this music. It's quite trippy. This lands close to dream pop stuff. I think it's more proggy than that, though. While you might disagree with the classification of this as prog rock, I don't think many can deny that there are plenty of modern prog elements here. I also doubt there are many would disagree with me when I say that this is quite effective music. It really defies classification, but that shouldn't get in the way of enjoyment.
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Track by Track Review
Blind
Starting with a trippy introduction, this works out to more energized stuff that's a bit like the kind of prog rock Radiohead typically does. I love the layers of dreamy stuff that come over the top. The vocal arrangement is classy, too. The harder rocking jamming later in the cut is particularly strong, too.
Missoula Vocals start this in a non-lyrical way. The cut grows out from there with a rhythmically based jam. Dream pop and more seem to merge on this soaring, ethereal kind of piece. It has a lot of layers built into it lending all kinds of prog tendencies.
Stay Piano opens this and works through some variations. Some trippy vocals skirt across the top as it works forward. Eventually this turns toward some of the soaring kinds of dreamy sounds we've heard on the other two songs. This isn't a huge change, but it doesn't feel "samey," either. The piano ends the piece, serving as a nice bookend to it.
Myths and Mold Piano starts this in a very mellow ambient way. This becomes very trippy as other instruments join. It resembles a lot of the mellow electronic music that was common on some FM radio in the 1970s. The vocals bring a more modern element to it. There is more energy as it grows outward, too. This ends with a drop to spacey sound.
Counting Hands
More of a mainstream rock vibe permeates the start of this piece. Still, this is decidedly left-of-center and trippy. There is enough of that modern proggy element to keep it from landing anywhere near pure pop music. I dig the dropped back section later in the track, too. I also like the keyboard dominated section at the end of the number quite a bit.
