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music Reviews
music Reviews
spaceking
“spaceking”
(12-track CD-R, DOW Studios, produced by Punchy, Ryan Michalski (vocals,
guitars), Damond Jiniya (vocals, percussion), RJ (percussion), Punchy (guitars,
vocals), 54:44)
Yeah, we, too, had a hard time believing that this was a Diet of Worms side
project. From bright bombast of the opening track “Hearts & Diamonds,” it was
obviously one of those Simple Minds/Psych Furs sorta phrases that set the mood
for that unmade John Hughes movie in our mind. Then we had to look at the stats
again. Is that Damond Jiniya singing, the new guy in Savatage? What’s going on
here? This ain’t your mother’s Diet of Worms!! (read that back to us…). Well, if
your lucky enough to score a copy of this before all the metal collectors scarf
this up, you’ll find singer/guitar stroker Ryan Michalski actually fronts this
loose aggregation of synth pop, techno lite, and ramshackled rock tunes patched
and puttered by DoW’s Punchy. The potential clash of Michalski’s pop tendencies
with Punchy’s industro-rampage never really materializes, of course, leaving
this somewhere leveled between the two, sounding a little like Beck fronting a
tour with Pigface. Some listeners may find this a puzzling combination,
especially with a scurvy techno rhythm pounding against a choir resounding its
ethereal “fxxx you” chorus during “Love You” here. A special “check this out”
postnote for those folks who dug A Certain Ratio. Very scattered brilliance.
(contact: www.mp3.com/timeflies)
Email thestate@gate.net - Focus Magazine or go to www.eatmag.com 687 Central Ave. - St. Pete, \
FL 33701 - 727-895-3045
Display Until Jan 10
OUTBURN #19 music Review pg94
SpaceKing - Are You Standing (RPM)
Rating:4 we have 4 of a 5 Rating
Rock Love Songs:Lead by the vision
And Voice of ryan "cosmonaught"Michalski,
SpaceKing blends punk,pop,and gothic rock
Into 12 energetic and emotional song on their
Strong debut. jeff Russell handles lead guiter,
While guests include members of Diet of Worms
And savatage.Highlights are the upbeat space anthem
Hearts & Diamonds,"the classic rock of the title track,
and the diverse and humorous "FA-q."
are you standing is dominated by song of love and romance,
Resulting in a likeble album which culminates in the dramatic ballad
"you Told me you love me"
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Spaceking
Are You Standing
I love this disc, but if pressed about it, I don't think I'd be able to articulate exactly why. A couple of guys with plenty of local industrial/goth/darkwave credentials got together with some friends and put out a full-length CD chock full of rudimentary, guitar-driven Goth-pop. And it rules. It probably doesn't, actually; most people would probably hate it. I don't care. A lot of Are You Standing just has this intangible, earnest quality that transcends its simple execution. The killer vibe is not omnipresent -- "ICU," for instance, falls way short. But "Space," "Special," "Read My Mind" and almost everything else strongly evoke a more innocent time, when you could fall in love at Club DNA on Kill The Keg Nite while Sisters of Mercy and Bauhaus played in the background.
best review ever !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ryan Cosmonaught "s/t" CD
0/10 - [RPM]*
What in the name of all things terrible is this fucking shit? Jesus,
this is /awful/. I have three questions: 1. Why was this recorded?, 2.
Why the fuck did any label release this?, and 3. Why in the name of hell
did you send /this/ to /me/ to review? No one could've possibly thought
I would like this, right? Seriously. Come on. This is a joke. It's
basically a solo project from Ryan Cosmonaught of Space King on vocals
and guitar with help from another member on drum machines and such, with
Jon Oliva (Savatage) and Chains (The Genitorturers/Crumbsuckers) helping
out on a few tracks. Why in the hell those guys would've wanted to be
credited on this thing is beyond me, though. The first track, "Do You
Love Me", is a semi acoustic pop piece of shit; "Ninth Moon" follows
sounding like a poppier poor man's Nirvana or something (complete with
keyboard string arrangements and weak lead melodies); then there are
some pseudo dark acoustic-y ballad type things, including "She Makes Me
Feel", which sounds like some shitty R.E.M. meets cock rock throwaway
ballad; "She a Girl" (What? "She /a/ Girl"? No "is", "was", "likes",
"hates", or any other verb?) is a straightforward pop song with a slow
tempo, keyboard handclaps and "baby" lyrics and all that shit… I'm
stunned, simply stunned. This is an absolutely awful CD. I'm floored by
how bad this is. I mean, the recording is pretty decent, shockingly
enough, definitely raw and demo-ish, but good. And the songwriting, I
suppose, is competent. But holy crap, these songs are fucking retarded.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not Mr. Extreme Brutality over here. Throw
on some Blink 182 or some silly radio emo, if it's a catchy song I'll
dig it, I don't care. But this shit is embarrassing. Painful. Fuck, I
don't even know how to describe the sheer amazement that the lameness of
these songs brings to me. The layout sucks, too. Inexcusably so. I
actually like some of the layering of imagery on the front cover, but
other than that the layout on this thing is atrocious. It's a semi
professional CD-R with a good level of print quality, but the layout is
just a mess. It's totally inconsistent as far as color scheme and
typefaces, there are logos slapped all over the place, the live
"snapshots" are weak as hell, the credits are written in such poor
phrasing that they make little sense… it's just a huge rush job that
comes off as totally lacking in attentiveness. But then, this entire CD
is just garbage, so fuck it, who cares? Give this guy a million bucks,
studio musicians, a hotshot producer, and maybe he'd churn out a hit or
two as a ghostwriter for some goofy Matchbox 20 band or some shit. But
this is one of the worst things I've ever had to review. I should've
done this guy a favor and pretended this never came in the mail. Oh
well, too late now.
*Running time - 39:45, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: each and every one is totally awful, I can't take it]*
RPM Recordings -
http://www.rpm-recordings.com
Ryan Cosmonaught
Ryan Cosmonaught
It's another project from the Tampa gang that brought you the likes of Diet of Worms, Dead Dark Slide and the killer SpaceKing. This time around, it's singer/guitarist/songwriter Ryan Cosmonaught's eponymous outing, which focuses on New Wave-inspired pop built equally on dancey beats, synths and all manner of guitars. Here, his lyrics and vocal performances are hit-and-miss (hey, every album with a song called "RockStar" is automatically suspect), and some mixes are questionable, but there are several eclectic tracks here where everything clicks. Check out the Pixies-esque "Ninth Moon"; the classic, power-popping "Movie"; the yearning guilty-pleasure ballad "I Can't Believe"; and the sunny-yet-melancholy "She's A Girl." (www.IndieRec.com) 3 1/2
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Dead Dark
Slide CorrectionIn last week's Music column, a principal of Bay area-based label Peephole Records was referred to as Heidi Peel; her legal name is actually Heidi Shaffer. Music Critic Scott Harrell can be reached at 813-248-8888 ext. 109, or at scott.harrell@weeklyplanet.com. www.weeklyplanet.com
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