{"id":9021,"date":"2015-02-19T09:00:02","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T14:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/home\/?p=9021"},"modified":"2015-02-23T11:46:28","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T16:46:28","slug":"album-reviews-luna-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/album-reviews-luna-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Reviews: Luna Park, Undertow, and Is Love A Fairy Tale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"10945783_814271991953155_8116713810568396553_o\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Review – Matthias Sturm:\u00a0Luna Park<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rating: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a nice return to Matthias Sturm\u2019s voice in Luna Park<\/em>. After first hearing his debut album Blood and Thunder<\/em> (2012), his new venture is a bit edgier. Still, something about his voice stays with you throughout the day. It has this veil of comfort like a kindhearted tale. It\u2019s easy to fall under his sweet spell.<\/p>\n

The East German born, France based artist starts out with \u201c1947 (Pandora Out of the Box).\u201d Right away his vocals mixed with a stunning music bed capture an imaginative world. The mindset and aloof feeling continues in \u201cAll Beauty Must Die.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \u201cAll Beauty Must Die,\u201d Sturm\u2019s vocals are surpassed only slightly by a surly guitar bridge. The segment is both fascinating and sensual.\u00a0As he sings the lyrics \u201ccrazy man,\u201d you get swept into a space somewhere between John Lennon and Bad October.<\/p>\n

As \u201cMirror, Mirror\u201d and \u201cGitan\u201d come and go, these tracks showcase Sturm\u2019s intricate prose albeit drowsy music beds. In \u201cKingdom (Built on Sand)\u201d and \u201cIf The Devil Comes\u201d his recipe is consistent and he channels a bit more Moby and rock into his Bohemian world.<\/p>\n

Sturm\u2019s tracks on Luna Park surely enlighten the audio world; he evokes profound images and stretches the imagination, and the guy can rhyme.<\/p>\n

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Get Pulled Into Elisa Lovelie & The Device\u2019s Undertow<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rating: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a listener, what surprised me the most about the NYC based \u201cpop rockers\u201d Elisa Lovelie & The Device is not their heavier tunes, <\/span>but the folk-acoustic saturated tracks in the debut EP Undertow<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFire & Icicles\u201d is one of the two most Pat Benatar sounding tracks of the lot. The beginning electronic guitar pluck is a bit like The Police\u2019s \u201cEvery Breath You Take\u201d with this lush string and roaring guitar riffs on its bookends.\u00a0 Lovelie\u2019s voice is heavy with passion and strong with rock credo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI Don\u2019t Need You\u201d is the second of the two Benatar flavored songs. Right out of the gate the throbbing base and crunchy guitar chords elevate the intensity. While these rockier tracks might not carry the listener into a far off world of lyrical wonderment, they certainly hold attention. For music lovers wanting stretching prose and to be transported into a breezy, reflective state, keep listening to the second part of Undertow<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTry\u201d is like a slow dance between the audience and the artist. A mesmerizing string orchestration takes the lead, and the listener is lost in Lovelie\u2019s vocal embrace. Her voice sighs out loud like a beautiful flower, while at times she flutters through notes like a butterfly. This track is rich with folk thread,<\/span> but sewn stronger in the country quilt.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake Up Your Mind\u201d begins with a majestic, stirring Spanish guitar. The strings gallop and transcend the listener into this sultry salsa flare. Lovelie\u2019s vocals taunt and tango alongside the robust music bed. This song transports into a world of dance and spinning sensation.\u00a0 The chorus is contagious; the subtle backing vocals eerily whisper, but it is the guitar that takes center stage.<\/p>\n

Much like \u201cMake Up Your Mind,\u201d the engaging \u201cWhen the Tide Goes Down\u201d makes one feel like the waves of acoustic guitar and sweet, finely polished vocals are drowning the listener. The lyrics are wound like ribbon, unraveling in such flare and deep emotion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Tide Goes Down\u201d has a bit of a stronger punch than \u201cMake Up Your Mind,\u201d but I don\u2019t feel like this could fall into a rock category. In their official bio, Elisa Lovelie & The Device draw some comparison to The Pierces, and I think this track falls into that vein. Like The Pierces\u2019 singers, something wicked stirs in Lovelie\u2019s vocals on this track, something dark.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlack and Blue\u201d and \u201cBad Boy Blues\u201d round out the Undertow<\/em>. These are both strong tracks, but overall, after a few spins, \u201cMake Up Your Mind\u201d and \u201cWhen the Tide Goes Down\u201d stood out the most. That acoustic guitar and lyrical tapestry won me over!<\/p>\n

\"AOEDE-FINAL-ILAFT-COVER\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Aoede’s\u00a0Is Love a Fairy Tale<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rating: B+\u2028<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember the days when an audio book involved flipping the vinyl to side two when both the pages and narration prompted you to change to side B? The moment when an actual voice connected to the drawing in the book?<\/p>\n

Taking cue from the magic of imagination and getting lost in a story, Aoede\u2019s Is Love a Fairy Tale<\/em> captures the innocence and dream world so easily forgotten. Aoede\u2019s mesmerizing, almost ethereal vocals transport the listener to a simpler time. While this children\u2019s album has greater appeal to tweens, the message is still fun and engaging for all ages.<\/p>\n

In \u201cIs Love a Fairy Tale (Part 1),\u201d the mixed voices answering \u201cWhat is love?\u201d fused with cheerful music is somewhat of a chore (as an adult) to get used to. The narration soon carries a peculiar weight; it is impossible not to drift away and let the imagination take its course.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Love a Fairy Tale (Part 1)\u201d has this wah-uh-o chorus that sets an upbeat tone for the entire record. \u201cWonderhaven Mythical Zoo\u201d (track two), feels like the story is getting into its groove.<\/p>\n

As a listener, you feel like this combination of story telling and sweeping orchestration paints such a vibrant setting. By the time \u201cDays Like This\u201d (track 12) comes around,\u00a0a more pop, wall of sound emerges. This song is a bit like The Pierces\u2019 and has this cheeky, sassy hook to it.<\/p>\n

In listening to Aoede, I felt like she\u2019s a cross between Fiest and Fiona Apple. Her voice has this rhythmic jaunt to it. \u201cWonderhaven Wonderpark\u201d teaches us to take the good with the bad. The sweet, sticky ice cream she talks about is as sweet as the guitar riff.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerfect Day\u201d is bright and cheery and really kept me clapping along. As she sings, \u201cI feel so alive,\u201d the listener feels alive too.<\/p>\n

Note to listeners, it\u2019s easier to listen to this entire album from top to bottom, don\u2019t listen to each track one at a time. If your iTunes is like mine, it might skip to another track. Maybe I\u2019m just in need of more narration as to how to really listen.<\/p>\n

This entire album surprised me\u00a0and really just put me in a great mood. I like what Aoede did with the questions so many of us ask every day.<\/p>\n

\n

Melissa Kucirek is based in Omaha, Neb. (USA). Besides a relentless thirst for all things 80s (still a proud vinyl listener!), she enjoys curling, bocce, and her family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a nice return to Matthias Sturm\u2019s voice in Luna Park. After first hearing his debut album Blood and Thunder (2012), his new venture is a bit edgier. Still, something about his voice stays with you throughout the day. It has this veil of comfort like a kindhearted tale. It\u2019s easy to fall under his sweet spell.<\/p>\n

READ MORE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001002,"featured_media":9025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[221,4,217,220],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9021"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9021"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9037,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9021\/revisions\/9037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}