I’ve got no one to blame.

Sep 15, 2009 by Joshua    1 Comment     Posted under: music, music feature

It’s been a few weeks.

A lot has happened in that time: I’ve started my final year of college, gotten into a new quarter of classes, and kicked off the start of a new year for the student-run publication I help maintain.

Still, I feel I owe you (you being, in this case, whatever meager audience this blog may garner) some solid updating. Due in part to the craziness of the past few weeks and the growing reluctance I have for updating this blog, I will try to keep this update relatively short. So, I bring a music feature of an album I received for my birthday, The Epochs’ 2008 album The Epochs. Hold onto your computer chairs.

Image courtesy amazon.com.

Album: The Epochs

Artist: The Epochs

Genre: indie pop, jazz rock?

Sounds Like Maybe: man I don’t know

Gateway Track: “Mouths to Feed”

I had a hard time classifying the style of The Epochs’ self-titled album (not eponymous, I will never use the word “eponymous”, except in this little sub-rant in which I state my intent never to use it). Ignoring for a moment the differences between “pop” and “rock” except in the case of “pop rock”, I feel it is also necessary to mention the undertones of soul, jazz and, dare I say, bossa nova/house/synth pop/who knows? The keyboard influence comes out quite clearly, but it is often accompanied by a number of other instruments, not the least of which being violin and other strings.

Important to note, too, is the vocal style of the group. Two brothers, Hays and Ryan Halliday, lend their voices to the tracks, combining a solid delivery in the upper register with a more breathy mid-range, soothing voice. While I cannot identify which voice belongs to which brother, I can say with confidence that each has its qualities and faults, which come out in turn throughout the album.

The band is certainly trained well in its styles. Though they have a distinct sound, the different tracks have unique tones that are, for the most part, independent of each other. “Love Complete”, for instance, sounds a bit like early Phil Collins in the vocals, and the wonderful beat meshes well with the subtle use of strings. Alternatively, “Mister Fog” intentionally limps along with a mellow feel, prompted by the melancholy guitar, keyboard and voice. Much later in the album, The Epochs give their jazz and soul roots a shine with “Tug of War”, complete with a rather cabaret-esque chorus line toward the end. Listening to it, one cannot help but imagine a line of dancers in fishnet stockings kicking in unison with each downbeat as the singers strut about the stage.

At times, though, their sound can become repetitive. This feeling is compounded by the high-pitched vocals of the one brother, which, when combined with the repetition, can be rather grating on the eardrums. In “Picture of the Sun”, the line “sunlight all night long” is repeated nearly to the point of absurdity. Even more so, the brothers sing the title line of “Right On” over and over again, one wonders if they worry the listeners might not get the point. Still, it’s a shame, as many of these songs have really compelling concepts – “Picture of the Sun”, for instance, stems from the idea of taking a photograph of the sun and using it to light a darkened room, hence the repeated line. “Opposite Sides”, another song that suffers a bit from a lack of variation, plays around with the idea of love between two opposing forces on a battlefield.

Really, like many albums, the tracks of The Epochs can be rather hit or miss, with the hits being great. “Head in the Fire” starts out as a typically timid indie-rock number, but it is pushed along to fantastic melodies by the syrupy voice of the singer. The final track, “Giving Tree”, has a literally dreamy tone to it: The singer’s voice practically whispers at times, and various sounds subtly crop up briefly at the edges of the solid keyboard-and-drum beat before fading out just as softly as they emerged.

Below you will find a video for “Love Complete”. Doesn’t it remind you of Phil Collins? Maybe a little bit? See, I don’t think I’m crazy for thinking so. Anyway, also of note is “Giving Tree”, though the version heard in that video is slightly different from the version heard on the album. Still, the general idea is the same.

I’ve been meaning to get around to blogging about all the indie games I have been playing lately. I originally planned on making gameplay videos for each one, but I have run into some technical difficulties. Whatever the case, a few neat things are happening tomorrow, so I will most likely devote a few updates to those instead. As always, I’ll keep readers posted via Twitter and RSS, and I encourage anyone with any thoughts or questions to leave comments.

Also, so much for this being a shorter blog update.

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