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Non-Prog CD Reviews

Colvin

Nightmare

Review by Gary Hill

This set is intended to be dark. I think it mostly succeeds in that quest. The music is electronic. The songs seem to skirt the fertile ground between hip hop and modern pop. If you don't have leanings toward either of those musical styles, I'm not sure that you'll enjoy this. I like it all quite a bit. Colvin shows a lot of promise as an artist. I'd like to see what he does next.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2018  Volume 1 at  garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2018.

Track by Track Review
Nightmare
The electronic elements on the backdrop of this bring some weird textures to the piece. There are rapped vocals at the start. When it starts into the singing the vocals are a bit processed, but not to the point of annoyance. This is catchy and pretty cool. It's definitely based in hip hop sounds, but has some other intriguing elements at play. The song proper has more rhythmic elements and pop sounds than the opening section did. There are lyrical references to the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. There is a slight musical nod to the Halloween soundtrack on the closing section.
No Way
A clapped percussive element is at the heart of this. The music here is mellower and more textural. The vocals are more based in traditional hip hop.
Find Somebody
The groove on this is cool. The electronic textures lend a bit of an otherworldly sound to this. It's a more mainstream pop meets hip hop cut. It's also one of the most effective pieces here.
Fade Away
I really like the instrumental introduction on this. The cut has an almost electronic prog vibe in terms of the keyboard sounds. The percussive elements and vocals (many of which seem to be processed samples) bring it more into the hip hop zone. This is one of the highlights of the set. It just works really well.
NightLight
The electronic elements that start this bring a trippy, spacey element to it. The cut works out from there in a wash of rather space oriented music. The vocals come over the top is some nice waves of melodic texture. They are a bit more processed than I prefer, but it's not really over the top. As intriguing as this track is, I think the "now move" section goes on a bit too long.
No Life
There are some particularly dramatic sections here. This is one of the strongest cuts here. That makes it a great ending number.
  
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