Pillow Talk "What We Should Have Said" (Animal Style Records)

[$4 to Download // https://pillowtalktn.bandcamp.com/album/what-we-should-have-said] 

"What We Should Have Said" begins with an instrumental song which is full of dreamy instrumental bliss and thundering bass.    The next four songs all have vocals and seem like traditional songs in that sense.    They at first reminded me of a cross between Blink 182 and The Beautiful Mistake, as I saw them as being somewhat post-rock, but I still couldn't quite put my finger on what this sounded like exactly.

I just knew that there was something in here that I was missing, that Pillow Talk had the sound of a band I had heard before but was simply overlooking for whatever reason.    And then as I played the name game it dawned on me.   I was drawn to The Early November for some reason, but this doesn't really sound like them but rather a band I saw play with them once-- Park.   Yeah, these songs pretty much sound like Park.   Is that good or bad?  I don't know, Park isn't making new music as far as I know and they could sound like something worse (like The Early November)

I enjoy how the song "Room" is about his bed being big enough for two, as it plays into that idea of the band name being Pillow Talk, but I'm not sure they're doing themselves any favors with the line "Everyone is the same and I am no exception".    While I agree with that on the whole of humanity too many other lazy writers will take it in reference to this music sounding like other music and they'll attribute it to a lack of originality. 

These aren't the worst five songs I've ever heard by a long shot and no matter how much I can hear Park coming through they're still not a complete clone of one of my all-time favorite bands.    Should Pillow Talk release a full length album one day (and I don't see why they wouldn't) I'd definitely be willing to listen to it as I feel that could be the push they need to really find their own sound and appear to me as something more than influences.

I overall just feel like Pillow Talk is a victim of circumstance.   Imagine you have a pet fish or something and when it's first born it's in a small fish bowl.   But as it grows, it needs a bigger fish bowl to accomedate it.   Well, I just feel like Pillow Talk has such a big and vast sound that five songs cannot do it justice and it needs to be spread out over maybe thirteen or fourteen songs to truly be appreciated.     Still, this isn't the worst EP I've ever heard and those maybe who don't share the same love/knowledge of Park as me will likely be blown away by it.  

Dreamghost "Everything Is Alright" (Shoeboxx Recordings)

[Name Your Price Download // https://shoeboxxrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-alright]

When I first got the email about a new release from Shoeboxx Recordings via Bandcamp I was hoping that it was going to be Dreamghost and though it is a digital only release I'll take what I can get from this amazing melody maker

These four songs should put you on an electric cloud between their piano and harp riffs that can only be pulled off in this manner by so many artists.    Basically, it's taking something special to do what is happening here without it sounding wrong and Dreamghost is doing just that.

As much as I was pleased with the Dreamghost cassette I reviewed before this I also enjoy these songs which you could be cliche about and say they put you on "Cloud 9", with their uplifting appeal, but I like to think of them more as being on some sort of bliss cloud and, yes, someone should totally make "bliss-cloud" a thing.

新しいコンピュータのOS 98 "新しいコンピュータのOS 98" (STC Records)

[$3 for Cassette // Edition of 8 // https://stcrecords.bandcamp.com/album/os-98]

The first song on here is a somewhat acoustic, dreamy, blissful serene number.   The second is a short interlude before the final two songs come on and have that 1980's/Miami Vice/Beverly Hills Cop feel mixed with New Kids on the Block.     This is very nice for what you should release on cassette and I would like to know more.    Everybody wants to rule the world, indeed.

On the last song it sounds specifically like something is about to go down in some movie from the late 1980's or early 1990's, maybe like Christian Slater's "Kuffs".    The description also says that the cassette comes with bonus tracks so I might have to consider buying this one.   I don't know, but I do want to hear more songs like this.

Lunivers "Happy Route"

[http://lunivers.bandcamp.com/]

In March of 2013 these four songs were released as a record, compact disc and digitally outside of the United States but on February 16th (which happens to be my sister's birthday) these songs will be released worldwide on record as an edition of 500.    So if you are into collecting records, then be on the look out for this one to come a bit closer to you than the previous release of it.

It's kind of funny though because these four songs have been sitting on Bandcamp for almost two years now and they have a record to go with them so it's not just some sort of free download hidden in the sea of digital reviews I might encounter, so why has it taken me this long to find Lunivers?     If this wasn't going to be released worldwide I doubt I'd ever hear of Lunivers (Okay, one day I inevitably would) and so I am happy it is getting that because I got to hear it.

These four songs are electro techno synth powered bliss that channel Ladytron and Polly Scattergood.   Lyrics like "the sun is made out of kisses" recall Polly Scattergood and this is just overall pleasant and melodic.    There are beats and laser screeches in the songs, but it can also be a little bit of Kimbra.      With audio clips in French, spliced up and served fresh, there are also greater moments when the singing can remind me of Corrine Bailey Rae.

The best way to undoubtedly describe this is an electronic madness and I love it.    As I jot down notes about these songs all I can think when reading them back is that this seems like it might be too in your face, too obnoxious.    The fact of the matter is though that despite the fact that this can be described with a certain bit of madness there is also a calm reserve to it and I really enjoy that mix.    Don't get me wrong, this is high energy but it is the perfect amount of it.