Author Archives: quartertonality

About quartertonality

A graduate of the Masters program in Classical Guitar Performance as well as Music Theory/Composition at the State University of New York at Fredonia Adam is active as a performer, composer, educator and copyist. He is currently working on research concerning the guitar works of Leo Brouwer and Anton Webern, has recently completed a new edition of Webern's Op. 18 and is working as an assistant of a colleague that is researching works of Arnold Schoenberg. Adam is currently a PhD candidate in Music Theory at the University of Oregon. Formerly a member of the Ethos New Music Society which is responsible for the promotion of new music on the Fredonia Campus and elsewhere in Upstate New York (and beyond) through the production of student concerts of newly composed music, guest lecturers, symposia and concerts by new music ensembles like "eighth blackbird", "Auros" and "Continuum". I write reviews for groovemine.com as well as tympanogram.com. This site will collect everything that I write for those sites, as well as posts that are exclusive. Mostly reviews of albums and EPs of new independent music with sample songs and a few links to help you purchase the albums that are reviewed. Album reviews typically delve pretty deep and can range anywhere from 700 to 2,500 words depending on how much there really is to say about the album. I try to analyze the music in as many ways as I can before writing and typically will listen to anything that is reviewed at the very least 10 times before committing anything to writing. I'm a bit insane.

Album review: Wooden Shjips – “West”

Wooden Shjips’ drone of ultra fuzzed out guitars aligns them with the trend of retro sounding new-music that seems to have exploded in the past couple of years. They are taking the psychedelic/early hard-rock sound and very much running with … Continue reading

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Joel Plaskett – “Lying on a Beach”

Joel Plaskett is easily one of the best songwriters working today, but truly under (almost un-) appreciated in the United States. He’s a lanky Haligonian formerly of  Thrush Hermit that releases a fairly steady stream of albums under his name, … Continue reading

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Album review: White Hills – “H-p1″

Heavy, unrelenting drones of guitar riffage that are spread out over an extended jam. That is how I would sum up the sound of White Hills’ “H-p1″ in one sentence. It isn’t totally fair to sum things up in one … Continue reading

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Hurricane Bells finishing new album

Hurricane Bells has released a fantastic full length and and equally fantastic EP in the past couple of years. The latest release, “Tides and Tales”, will be released through Steve Schiltz’s own Invisible Brigades imprint. I’ll let him do the … Continue reading

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EP review: Andrew Lindsay and the Coat Hooks – “The Whittling” EP

(Originally appeared on Tympanogram here.) I normally tend towards more spastic, bombastic, or otherwise -astic music, while I let the quieter stuff just pass me by. It’s not that I fail to hear the beauty of slower, more languid material, … Continue reading

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EP review: Duplodeck

(Originally appeared on Tympanogram here) It’s not too often that we get indie music out of Brazil. Well, not just indie, but music in general. Except for the Tropicalia movement and, more recently, CSS, it’s difficult to pin down a … Continue reading

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Races – “Big Broom” 7″

(Originally appeared on Tympanogram here.) The A-side of the new 7? from Races, “Big Broom” is quite the introduction. I was instantly gripped by the stunningly expansive sound. They manage to capture something that would normally take a band several … Continue reading

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EP review: TV Torso – “Status Quo Vadis” EP

(Originally appeared on Tympanogram here)   Have you ever had one of those “Ah HA!” moments when listening to a band? No, I’m not talking about Norweigan one hit wonders and official musical group of the 1996 Winter Olympics in … Continue reading

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Album review: Priestbird – “Beachcombers”

Priestbird is the new moniker of former instrumental indie-prog outfit Tarantula A.D. It seems that tensions within the band came to a breaking point such that they didn’t feel they would be able to continue making music together. They split … Continue reading

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Songs: Ohia – “Almost was Good Enough”

It’s been hard doin’ anything, the winter’s stuck around so long I kept tryin’ anyhow, and I’m still tryin’ now, just to keep workin’. I remember when it didn’t used to be so hard, it used to be impossible A … Continue reading

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