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2006/06/22 While listening to The Unperson with Kate Doblick, it quickly becomes apparent that the project was created from a wonderfully-experimental guitar approach which has naturally led itself to key shifts and uncommon melodies with a combination of absolute fearlessness and flowing musicality. Despite being outside of contemporary pop predictability and rationale, none of the musical areas these songs visit feel forced at all. In fact, the tonal blending and textures employed through layered guitar lines and arpeggiated rhythms coupled with darker-than-normal melodic choices give a perfect harmony to the songwriting approach as a whole. The album starts with “Refuge;†a simple guitar/vocal piece with a hypnotically-repetitive riff that offers an open sense of musical space, but doesn’t leave the listener wanting more arrangement like many electric guitar and vocal duos tend to do. Quickly after, the listener is jutted by an in-your-face alt-rock arrangement with a much more assertive Kate up front entitled “I Am Ill.†Listening through the album, you feel the song order comfortable, flowing and well-chosen with its seemingly calculated ups and downs. Personal favorites of mine were “Precious Bugsâ€, co-written by principal songcrafter Albert Visick and Vanessa Rijo; “Looney on the Ceiling;†and “Understatement,†a gently-flowing 6/8 shuffle that refuses to settle itself into the safe zone of any one key in particular. A hugely redeeming factor to this album is the front herself, Kate Doblick. Her vocal approach at times is reminiscent of The Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler on songs like “Looney . . †and “Queen’s Decade,†but with moments of more depth; both figuratively and literally. Hidden within, there are beautiful aesthetic contrasts between Kate’s voice and hauntingly-dark lines like “The pleasure of taking lives and subsisting upon them.†The Unperson definitely owns his feel well, in that there’s a steady flow from one song to the next and the project in and of itself has a oneness. The songs have the ability to stay with the listener long past the first listen and each one offers a new flavor from the last. One can only wonder with anticipation what will follow up this effort. -Greg Schmitt ========================= 2006/06/14 Hello, my name is The Unperson. I was born and grew up in a place that does not exist anymore. I have been living in New York City for the past 9 years, but very few people are aware of that fact. This is my first album, featuring myself as a songwriter / producer / guitarist, and Ron Thaler on drums, Paul Jenkins on bass, and the last but not least, Kate Doblick on vocals. Perhaps I am expected to list my influences and describe what my music sounds like, but I fear that this might give you a wrong impression. Instead, I would like to share this short but very flattering commentary from Pat Coast: "... it stimulates me into thinking about things in my past I had long forgotten about. Funny how sounds can trigger memories... Both times I listened to it it happened, but each time was a different set of experiences and memories brought to mind. That's quite a gift you have, even if you're unaware of it." I also asked my drummer Ron, who's been in the industry as a top session drummer for ages, how he would explain my album. "From my perspective, I would define your music as 'introspective Pop', music that 'has serenity and depth and seeks to bridge the ismus between emotion and experiential truth'" Well, out of the few that have listened to my album at the moment (the album hasn't gone public yet as I write this), two people said something that's very similar, so there; that has got to count for something. If you still would like to know, this album has been compared to the following (in alphabetical order): Cranberries, Crosby Stills and Nash, Nick Drake, Innocence Mission, Mazzy Star, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Low, Pink Floyd, Seal, The Smiths (Morrisey),The Sundays etc. Anyway, I hope that you'll like it. Thank you! Albert Visick aka The Unperson Check out the artist's website: http://coldleaf.net/ Track List: 1. Refuge 2. I am ill 3. Precious bugs 4. Looney on the ceiling 5. Memory hole 6. Queen's decade 7. Before the storm 8. Cheap plastic 9. Understatement 10. Safety breach Other Genres:
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