Patrick Doval

Originally Posted at PsmythSongs.com November 27, 2009

Digging through my Myspace Friends’ Friends I found this recording/video artist named Parick Doval and instantly fell in love with his sound.  So much so that I went right to itunes and purchased his two collections: Deliverance and Fractured.  Very retro-eighties proto/pre/post - or whatever - goth, psychedelia ala early New Order, Cure, Siouxsie, etc.  His videos likewise possess that same naive early MTV quality - they dare to be artsy as opposed to the banal, unabashed lifestyle porn that most video ‘artists’ currently strive to embody.   

I especially appreciate his use of the bass as a musical instrument (rather than as a tool for irritating one’s neighbors at 3am - Uh oh, am I showing my age here?).

He’s unsigned, and his recordings are, as with most unsigned artists and their very limited budgets, a bit raw.  But I think that actually works in his favor, lending his music that uncluttered, underproduced sound that made bands such as Bauhaus and Joy Division so distinctive.  

Standout songs:

Ashes of Life:  Reminds me a lot of post-Joy Division-New Order (when they were still fresh and original).  Although Patrick’s vocals foil the comparison, being more dramatic and vibrant than Bernard Sumner’s deadpan monotone.  The video is also a lot of fun.  Can’t get the freakin’ song out of my head.

Don’t let me go:  Sounds like it could be a lost track from some early Cure album, say Seventeen Seconds or Pornography.  Extremely haunting and moodily melodic.  Another one I can’t stop thinking about.  

Many Faces: More aggressive and Industrial than the others.  Reminds me a bit of Gary Numan’s more recent work.  

Also:

Empty Road

Turbulence

Caged

OK, no matter how much I write here, it won’t do justice to Doval’s music.  I urge you to check him out.  Really great, compelling material.

For more info on Patrick you can visit these sites:

http://www.myspace.com/patrickdoval

http://www.reverbnation.com/patrickdoval

http://www.youtube.com/user/patrickdoval

All About... Myself

Originally Posted at PsmythSongs.com November 26, 2009

I couldn’t decide what to write about today - too many Thanksgiving festivities leaving little time for the countless hours of research this blog requires.  So, after much internal debate (most of which took place between the kitchen and my office during my first caffeinated beverage of the day) I decided to write about myself.  Shameless, I know, but I guess that’s the first thing you should know about me.

I have been composing and playing music since I first failed to learn the violin in the second grade.  A bit later I began playing guitar and found that more suited to my skills and attention span.  I wowed my junior high student body with a rendition of “Stairway to Heaven” while in the eighth grade.  I left such an impression that at my last high school reunion, when introducing myself to one of my fellow alums, he said “Oh yeah, you’re that guy who played ‘Stairway to Heaven.’”  

I spent most of high school in my bedroom, practicing.  I wrote a lot of songs, mostly with my friend Geoff, all of which I have since forgotten.  After high school I gave up on my dreams of musical stardom and tried a lot of other things instead.  I worked some odd jobs - some that were really odd - returned to college to study architecture, left without completing my degree, worked in interior and lighting design, went back to school and finished my degree, stayed in school and got a master’s, and then realized I was over-educated and unemployable.  So I retreated into my burgeoning home music studio and picked up where I left off in my teens, writing and recording songs.  Some folks, including my former songwriting partner, have commented that my music reminds them of proto-alternative music from the early ‘80s.  God, I hope I’ve grown artistically since then... 

So now I spend most of my time (literally) in my home studio writing and recording new material.  And I live in utter and unqualified bliss.  Well, I suppose I would have to qualify that by saying that I would be even more blissful if I could build a nice, solid fan base.  And then maybe get them to send me cash for my endless, if blissful, toils.  This is where you come in.  

As I have found, most people visiting my website go right for the blog.  Which is great.  I love writing, and if that turned into a full-time gig, I’d be almost as blissful as I would if the music thing worked out.  But seriously, there is other content here... so please check out the rest of my site.  I have lots of material - about three CDs worth - and can post more songs if that will entice you.  

So here’s where the really shameless part comes in - OK, probably not as shameless as Jan and Dean singing “Buy, Buy, Buy Our Album” during their come-back a few years ago (am I the only one who saw that commercial? [and really, that was more pitiful than shameless]) - since I don’t yet have anything ready to sell, I only ask that you keep visiting my site, check routinely for updates, and tell your friends, family, coworkers, gym partners, the people at the dog park and anybody else you might know -  even if it’s just to say hello - to check out my site, as well.

OK, that’s all I got.  Oh, and check out Jen Gloeckner’s Myspace page.  Very haunting and beautiful music.  I believe she has a self-produced CD coming out in February.

Peace, Love and Turkey...

S.

Brian Lambert

Originally Posted at PsmythSongs.com November 24, 2009


Brian Lambert is a musical iconoclast, boldly invoking the ghosts of distinct and revered genres, only to dash them against one another, where they refuse to comfortably cohere. The resulting synthesis is something like a mad shuttle ride down an unevenly lit mineshaft, descending through rocky strata of American musical history, terminating in an upside-down, inside-out wonderland where one might join Alice and the Hatter for afternoon tea. And it’s well worth the trip.

S P Smyth

I wrote the above at the request of LC Messinger of When Girls Collide, who is in the process of producing a CD for Brian Lambert. The quote pretty much describes my experience of Lambert’s music to date. Emerging as a unique voice from within the exuberant Austin music scene, Lambert began working with Messinger last year when “mistaken as a Jehovah witness, [he] knocked on the door of Crush M Records.” The synthesis between Lambert’s Americana and Messinger’s “KD Lang on acid in a barn yard full of loud animals” approach is quirky, odd and unsettling. Which, from me, is a ringing endorsement.

Initially, I wasn’t sure what to make of the sound. The first track I heard, a demo titled Spell for Happiness, was an eccentric, blues/folk tune - a stripped down acoustic guitar and vocal - that sounded as though it were pressed on vinyl and played back through an ancient Victrola. But it grew on me the more I played it. Which is true of each song I’ve heard since. As I write this I am listening to Brian’s latest posting at his Myspace page,“Didn’t Want You to Want Me.” Again he appeals to past musical styles - in this case late ‘60s Rock and Roll/Blues ala Hendrix and the Doors - but here Messinger’s production augments basic guitar, base, drum and vocal tracks with a melange of atonal electronica that confounds one’s ability to dismiss this as derivative or to pigeon-hole Lambert as retro-this or that.

Brian has a very strong, versatile voice. He describes himself on his Myspace page as “A cross between Bob Dylan, Jeff Buckley and David Byrne.” While this may be accurate, such comparisons are useful more as marketing soundbites than as a complete description of Lambert’s oeuvre. In truth, Brian has his own fluid and distinct vocal style, one that compliments his unique approach to musical de-&-re construction.

At this moment I do not have a solid release date for Lambert’s CD, but it is coming soon.  I will post updates as I receive them.

Note: Although I have a long-standing friendship with Messinger, I have never met nor even corresponded with Brian - despite me efforts to Friend him at Myspace.