Tasso | MySpace

Tasso – Gower
Los Angeles, CA
Produced by Cat Tasso
Engineered & mixed by Manny Nieto at Manny Nieto Studio
Mastered by Mark Chalecki at Little Red Book Mastering

Tasso’s debut EP, Gower, marks frontwoman Cat Tasso’s departure from her previous band, the May Fire. The Chilean guitarist and vocalist, now based in L.A., presents a polished rock EP with the assistance of studio engineer Manny Nieto, known for his work with the Breeders and Darker My Love. Teamed with drummer Franky Martinez, the duo effectively creates a large atmosphere of sound. The result is a collection of controlled freneticism, a display of raw and emotive rock anthems.

Gower opens with Tasso’s robust single, “Don’t Love Me (I Never Will).” Her conversational lyrics work well with the thrashing instrumentation, indicative of the track’s rebellious tone. The song’s steady, pounding rhythm appropriately mimics a beating heart as Tasso sings about a relationship where love is absent. On “Shine,” Tasso introduces vocal harmonies, adding an additional layer of depth from their previous track. Guitar and drums dance around one another in a form reminiscent of the White Stripes or Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It’s unapologetically rock – rough and ready. The passion and fury from the drums, in both Tasso’s recorded work and live performances, can be easily heard on this track. Martinez offers a hard-hitting quality that reverberates with a tight timbre. “Wish I Could Stay” offers a strikingly gentle transition from Tasso’s previous tracks. As the title suggests, the song fits the tone of a lullaby, a bittersweet and quiet conclusion to an otherwise ruckus night. The EP concludes with “Gloomy Days,” a track that exhibits both the volatility and slow shuffle of a stormy day. Solemn vocals sweep across syncopated beats in the verse, leading to a saturated and very harmonic chorus. It’s a haunting end to a heartfelt audio journey.

As a multi-textural expression of emotion, songs often become simplified and more conciseduring the developmental career of an artist. This is evident on Gower, as Tasso’s long experience rocking from clubs to stereos across multiple Americas has led her to create music as raw and chaotically refined as life itself. (self-released)

- Keane Li (more…)

http://www.performermag.com
http://www.myspace.com/westcoastperformer

Two mentions and listed on the front cover! Not too shabby for our debut in a nationally distributed magazine. Even better, our album appears next to our good friend, Mikie Lee Prasad, a great local musician who we both know and love. The amp review below even features Dangermaker, a band we’ve performed twice with already. The mentioned show was our most recent at San Francisco’s Grant & Green Saloon in North Beach. And yes, that’s a picture of me next to the amp :)

Download a digital copy of the magazine.

Disclaimer: Although I write for Performer Magazine, I had no influence over our album review and our inclusion in the gear review was by request of the National Editor to test the practical usability of the amps.

www.fleetingtrance.com
www.myspace.com/fleetingtrance

Fleeting Trance – 17
Produced by Manasseh Bernal & The Transient Society Of Dreamers & Believers
Engineered by Alex James Muscat & Dave Tweedie
Recorded by Alex James Muscat at West Lake Studio in Daly City, CA & Students On Meth at Expressions Center For New Media in Emeryville, CA
Mastered by Phil Void at West Lake Studio in Daly City, CA

The organic sound of strings, reeds and melodious harmonics lie deep within the heart of soulful Americana. Playing true to form, Oakland’s Fleeting Trance adds a set of seventeen fresh tracks to this timeless genre with the release of 17. Utilizing often off-kilter vocals with just the right amount of rasp, frontman, Manasseh injects rootsy angst over pristine instrumentation, where guitars jangle and keys shimmer at their highs.

What is perhaps most remarkable about 17 is the fact that it never gets tiresome. Fleeting Trance succeeds in crafting an album with absolutely no filler, where more is definitely better. A particularly outstanding number is “She’s Got Music.” It’s a lighthearted, horn-driven stroll of a song, with optimistic lyrics and uplifting melodies enough to inspire any listener to find cheer even for a second: “She’s got music in her soul / When it touch me, make me lose control / Life makes no sense at all but with some help I’m gonna watch love grow.”

“Four Leaf Clover” is a poignant track that erupts with a ticking momentum of steady intervals. This is appropriate as the lyrics are drenched with the concept of movement: “We’ve got rhythm, we’ve got rhyme / We’ve got nothing left but time.” Vocals burst with warm and jagged qualities reminiscent of Counting Crows.

The band displays its quiet side on “Crayon,” an ambient track painting a big and spacious scene despite it only containing two unique verses. It summarizes the qualities that make the band so effective: the creation of something large and meaningful with everyday situations presented with uncomplicated sounds and lyrics. It’s the culmination of many simple yet effective parts that makes Fleeting Trance’s 17 such a universal experience. (Last Stop Records)

- Keane Li (more…)

http://www.xuxufang.com
http://myspace.com/xuxufang

Xu Xu Fang – Seven Days Now
Produced and Engineered by Bobby Tamkin
Recorded by The Wrangler at The Sound Ranch in Culver City, CA
Mastered by JJ Golden at Golden Mastering

It requires no less than seven members to produce the broad soundscape exhibited by Xu Xu Fang’s latest EP, Seven Days Now. The Los Angeles psychedelic septet follows their successful previous release, The Mourning Son, with five ambitious and bold tracks that define the phrase, “larger than life.” The record already ranks high on several distribution sites and even includes a song featured in the hit show, Gossip Girl.

Seven Days Now opens with a cover of The Cure’s “Fascination Street.” Xu Xu Fang’s rendition contrasts the original by providing a grittier, more electronic take on the popular song, somehow managing to make an already spacious song more ambient. The next track, “Seven Days Now,” brings the EP down to its most comfortable mellow. Soft and gentle with wispy vocals harmonizing atop one another, the song serves as a refreshing aperitivo for the darker melodies on the following tracks. That the following, “Your Way,” found airplay on Gossip Girl comes as no surprise. Xu Xu Fang’s ability to create atmospheric melodies provides their songs with plenty of soundtrack-suitable material. “Your Way” is a strong, perfectly groovable track painting a glorious scene of clicks, chimes and beats.

The eleven-minute finale, “Where Is Everybody?” may very well be the most poignant track on the EP. It opens with the sound of cars moving, feet against pavement and a haunting hum draped over a series of airy effects. Bells ring against the sound of rain where unintelligible voices can be heard in the background. There’s an element of sadness and fear implemented into the otherwise portrayed simplicity and innocence of everyday street life. The culmination of these sounds leads directly into an exotic trip-hop session with a strong Middle Eastern flavor. This grand conclusion allows Xu Xu Fang’s Seven Days Now an exit that acts also as a doorway into their more robust universe. (CSSR)

- Keane Li (more…)

www.myspace.com/burbankinternational

Burbank International – City of Burbank
Recorded, Produced, Engineered and Mastered by H.A. Eugene at Audio Box Studios in San Francisco

Inspired by frontman, H.A. Eugene’s love of airports, Burbank International’s sound is as eclectic and multidimensional as an airport itself. With their debut album, City of Burbank, the San Francisco-based rock band manages to create something more than an album, rather they release an emotive and often humorous collection of unique experiences.

The album opens with two distinctly different tracks. “Now I’m Serious” combines ambient chimes on a low-key vibe, creating a compelling piece suitable for a movie soundtrack. In contrast, “Chicken Shoals” offers a much more upbeat and bouncy experience. The album takes an introspective turn on “Who’s That Girl?” an incredibly strong song with gritty vocals, keys and haunting strings weaving in and out through the background. The band’s tongue-in-cheek humor is evident on tracks like “Charlie Jerk that Yolk” and “Drinking On An Empty Stomach,” the latter utilizing a clever inclusion of censorship bleeps. On “Tenderloin,” Eugene pays homage to his home city with an intimate guitar and vocals track, a song stripped down to its most soulful essentials. But “Laudanum” may very well be the album’s most memorable song, and it serves as the height of the album’s expressiveness. Amidst steady guitars and a beautifully eerie repeating warble, industrialized beats enter with a rhythm often independent of the track, breaking free at times to create their own sense of identity. It’s musical liberation at its best, the defiance of standards within the confines of standards.

City of Burbank is an album almost impossible to tire from. With a unique combination of ambiance, dramatic musical voices and strong songwriting, Burbank International has created an effort capable of sustaining prolonged flight. (self-released)

www.myspace.com/burbankinternational

- Keane Li (more…)