It Came From ReverbNation #26 - Featuring Diselkopf, Elephant Listening Project, Chris Aguayo, By far & Beyond, The Zarrs, and Harmut Hillman Band
From April 4th to June 4th The
Ripple Effect ran a campaign on the excellent online music website ReverbNation
(www.reverbnation.com). This campaign allowed any artist or band
registered with ReverbNation to submit their music to The Ripple Effect for
possible review on the site and airplay on The Ripple Effect radio shows. When all was said and done we had received
4,799 submissions! Incredible! The purpose of this column is to highlight
those artists and bands whose musical submissions I accepted as being worthy of
consideration. While these are not
reviews per se, I’m going to provide a brief rundown of what to expect from
each artist/band, a sample when available, and a link to check out more on
their corresponding ReverbNation page.
Dieselkopf – Alright
let’s get this column started the right way, with some metal! This distortion drenched group out of Gavle,
Sweden aims to pull the heartstrings of anyone into the industrial metal
sound. Their submission reeked of White
Zombie, and it sounded fantastic! The
lyrical content about the corruptive force that is money didn’t hurt
either. Similar artists besides the
aforementioned White Zombie include Pitchshifter, Rammstein, and Ministry. Rock out people!
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/dieselkopf
Song Sample – Filthy Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v3MiqhSAXwE#!
Elephant Listening
Project – This San Francisco, CA quartet played a dirty trick on me. Their submission, along with the two other
songs you can listen to on their ReverbNation page, were labled demos. With that label attached I expected to hear
something rough around the edges. When
each of these songs sounded just as good as anything I’ve bought recently I was
rather shocked! Speaking of those three
songs, they each offer up some serious melodic rock with nice hooks that will
get stuck in your mind whether you like it or not. Oh, did I mention that the band is made up of
former members of Montrose, The Coup, The Mo’fessionals, and Chrome
Johnson? Well it is.
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/elephantlisteningproject
Song Sample – Recording Shennanigans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqPTTr86Nig
Chris Aguayo –
This gentleman from Coplay, PA plays rock music with progressive
flourishes. He plays everything you hear
on his recordings, and impressively the songs do not sound disjointed at
all. In fact, until I read that he
played everything himself I would have sworn it was a full band. Everything flows well and sounds great. Similar artists include Muse, The Beatles,
and U2.
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/chrisaguayo
Song Sample – Lost http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8oY1ZgFcr8
By Far &
Beyond – Being a child of the 1980s there are times when I find myself
missing the sound of new wave music and synth pop. Lucky for me there are artists like this
gentleman from Portsmouth, UK who clearly feel the same way. His submission was piano/synth driven rock at
its finest. Other songs I listened to
maintained the synth-heavy nature but added other musical influences to the mix
such as 90s alt rock. Similar artists
include Muse, Depeche Mode, and Anberlin.
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/byfarbeyond
Song Sample – Cut the Chord http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fLPIRLhSde4#!
The ZARRS – For
those of you looking for a current band with that classic rock/pop rock sound
this one is for you! This six member
band from London, UK sounds great and their music really backs up their claim
of being “ultra-accessible”. Similar
artists include Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Doors, and Kasabian.
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/thezarrs
Song Sample – Some People http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6aQLIjj5iUo#!
Hartmut Hillman
Band – Waveriders, you must check out this guy’s ReverbNation page to see
his photo. He looks incredibly intense,
as if he wants to dismember the photographer! Once you’ve seen the photo you can understand
why I thought I would be listening to some heavy metal. Thus when the music began and I heard this
Latin flavored jazz fusion number, my mind took a minute to connect the
dots. The bottom line is that this man
from Gross-Gerau, DE is one very talented bass player! If you need a fusion infusion in your life,
and you know you do, this is where to look!
Similar artists include Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, and Marcus Miller.
ReverbNation Page – http://www.reverbnation.com/hartmuthillmannband
Song Sample – Euphomism http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iVd9OFyYN4s
--Penfold
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