Track Listing: Opening Theme, A Couple of Changes, Construct, Dream, Drive, Dwell, Intermission, Romantic, Warning Shot, Seek, This Dance, Spoil, Roll Credits.

Little Tin Box is nice mellow synth. Very acceptable for home or work listening. The concept behind the album, two in a series of three, is a movie soundtrack without the movie. The CD is meant to take you on a journey; one with a definite beginning, middle and end. And to further illustrate the theatrical, the lyrics are more prose than lyrical.

All the songs are a nice blend of synth and natural piano sound. The production is tight and polished. All in all, a nice little CD. My only critiques are with the male vocals, again another case of where if they were a little stronger and more often utilized, it would be nice. The vocalist, Kelly Sadler, has a nice clean voice with a decent soprano range that isn’t screechy. The vocals are personal, almost as if you’re hearing a bedtime story. Charles Sadler, writer and programmer, throws in tricky twists and changes that aren’t easy to keep up with and Kelly accomplishes with a consistent smooth sound.

Sadler says, according to an overview description, that this is the music narrative of the character, introduced in the first album Object-Subject, as she moves to take action after a period of self-reflection. To further emphasize the cinematic feel, there are instrumentals placed as opening and closing credits as well as an intermission piece.

I feel like sometimes Sadler might be holding back creatively as sometimes he’ll repeat a musical motif quite often in a song, staying safe. But this repetition is very slight and not obvious. All of the songs are distinct and flow nicely. At times, especially during “Romantic”, I am reminded of Aphex Twin a little bit but not enough to merit straight comparision. Little Tin Box definitely has a unique combination. I don’t often say that a musician should push the envalope because most push over the edge, but I really can’t wait to see how this work evolves in the next, and last installment. My favorite tracks are probably “Construct” and “Drive”. Something about them, and the entire CD really, just hits the right tone.

Overall, Little Tin Box is well crafted and a definite keeper. Charles Sadler is the writer, programmer and keyboardist. Kelly Sadler is the vocalist. For more information, please visit their Myspace page.

Track Listing: One Day in New York City, Delorian, Larsen, Salt, Recent, Quiver, Bittersweet, Sorrow, Pollen, Gun, Worry.

Attention Portishead fans... Atomica is for you. I hear not only the same jazz composition and break beats but also many of the same sounds. Unfortunately, I thought during several moments that this was actually Portishead but perhaps a side project. It’s not. This album is Atomica’s debut release.

The vocals are not Portishead. Ms. Lauren Cheatham tries to be Beth Gibbons but no one else can sing like her. She can sing, and on songs, like “Pollen”, when she’s not trying to sing like Ms. Gibbons she performs more than admirably. The lyrics are introspective and really paint a picture of not only what the singer is feeling but also of where she’s located. True to the album name, there is a lot of city imagery. There are plenty mentions of skyscrapers and the subway as well as ambient city sounds.

The CD is well produced and clean and I had no problem listening to it several times to get a feel for it. I like Everything but the Girl, Portishead, and Massive Attack which is why I like this CD. The composition of the songs and production of the album is on par with any of these. This is definitely a worthy addition to the collection. My favorite track is probably the first, “One Day in New York City”, which reminds me of a rainy day in Brooklyn.

Atomica is made up of Lauren Cheatham (vocals), Percy Travanov, and Wade Alin, and a whole list of contributing musicians. For more information, you can visit their website at www.theatomicaproject.com.

Track Listing: Eve-She, Red Tether, As Lost As You, Made Up My Mind, Around the Throat, What Remains, Tears and Tears, The Distance, Life-String, Back to Nowhere, You Chose To, Fixation on Symptoms, Hollow, My Mistake, This Feeling, Black Heart.

Either I’m forgiving or lately I’ve just been reviewing a lot of artists that are so close to being decent but just get lost along the way. Ethelscull’s release, Sentimentalia is like listening to music in a dream where sounds and vocals come and go and the entire thing just drones on and on without climax or regression. The overall effect, while not horrible, is something slightly disturbing. “You Chose To” is probably the best example of what makes me write this.

The composition of the songs is very simple and most build on a three note progression. This is fairly acceptable in modern music if the lyrics are standout enough to carry it. And I think for some reason I can’t put a finger on, that the lyrics are very important and meaningful on this CD. However, because of the garbled production and dampened levels it sounds like the vocalist, Amelia Peel, is singing in a foggy tunnel. And when I can hear it, often the singing and the music don’t quite mesh.

I did like track 8, “The Distance” which had a nice use of a broken glass sound and seemed a little clearer. But overall, this CD is just falls short and needs a little more production work and much, much clearer vocals.

Ethelscull is Amelia Peel, who writes both the music and the lyrics. For more information, please visit Ethelscull on Angelfire.

Track Listing: Birds, Goth Music is My First Love, Modus Opera Comique, The Chase, Dark Night, Function of the Malfunction, Gothic Nation, Piano, The Lonely Shore, Shadow Box, Spiral to Oblivion, Dead Flowers, Shinto, Behind the Wall, Death Dance, For the Love of India, Drowning, The Lord’s Prayer, The Funeral

I have no idea where to begin with this CD and it’s not because it’s bad. It’s actually very good but it’s a lot of different styles on one CD. With 19 tracks, it’s a commitment of listening attention.

The vocals are spoken word, actually like rap, which is ok because it works and is not something you hear a whole lot of in our scene. I always enjoy when anyone tries, with obvious forethought, to bring in something new to the usual EBM gothy and synth repertoires. But there aren’t vocals on every piece. I think, that instead of a release with a common idea or timeframe of composure, which always sort of links the tracks together even if they are different, this album reflects a vast amount of time. It’s almost like a retrospect of an entire body of work over a lifetime. The first time you listen to it, you are definitely surprised from one song to the next.

So to make life easier, I’ll describe a few songs I really liked. Track 7, “Gothic Nation” is a sweeping, ecclesiastical piece; very beautiful with a cinematic quality to it. The composition is layered and the vocals are chanted. It reminded me a bit of Enigma. Track 8, “Piano” is a simpler piece. The listener can hear in this song how the artist, Donovan Tate, composes his music. Clearly he is on par with not only many musicians in our scene but also with contemporary jazz and classical composers. Track 12, “Dead Flowers” is an industrial piece. Track 15 is African influenced. Track 16 is Indian influenced and track 18 sounds like a Baptist spiritual. Mr. Tate is all over the place which is quite fun to listen to.

Again, this is not a conventional CD and is sounds like it could be a compilation of many artists. Mr. Tate can easily adapt his performance and writing styles to anything he attempts. Although Dawn Chorus is the main work of Donovan Tate, he has been assisted on this album by DaRon “FTD” Franklin.