Uvu-News

Make Some Time For Wasting


Jon Hain - Catalog

Brilliant vocals and production. This is vibrant, uplifting music. Katie's voice and songwriting are at the forefront. Her piano playing is simple but melodically powerful. The band keeps the energy simmering throughout. All in all, a great followup to Changing Faces.

This is a 'must have' for fans of great sounding pop music.

Dispatch


Jon Hain - Catalog

Two guys - Andre Perry (vox, keyboards) and John Lindenbaum (vox,guitar). Using a 12-string acoustic guitar and a couple of synthesizers, the duo blends angsty folk-rock lyrics with spacey keyboard textures. Their sound certainly recalls the acoustic stylings of Neutral Milk Hotel and the Mountain Goats as well as the synth-rock of Grandaddy and Earlimart.

"Hand-stitched with minimal percussion, a couple of guitars, sparse synth and brief moments of studio ambiance/texture... Dispatch is a phenomenal album.." -... [read more]

Ridin' With Chuck


Jon Hain - Catalog

The Midwesterners have pulled out all the stops on this one, 12 songs of dancin', drivin', and backyard barbequein' music that's a party from beginning to end!

Call it "Americana" if you need to put a handle on the music, because the songs are certainly steeped in American musical traditions. The Midwesterners have earned a reputation for rollicking, twangy performances, but on this latest album, they pull out all the stops, from the opening manifesto, Keep The Dance Floor Full, to the full-throttle closer, Keep Your Motor Oiled.... [read more]

Changing Faces


Jon Hain - Catalog

Katie Todd's debut album.

Katie Todd sets out to impress with a set of smoldering piano based rock songs anchored by her unique voice and powerful lyrics.

How can you go wrong with and album that opens with, "To deviate from the social standard..."

FOB


Jon Hain - Catalog

"...it's Geoffrey's vibraphone playing that impresses most and takes center stage here. While the vibes can sound tinny and bland in less skilled hands, Geoffrey coaxes rich, shimmering, expressive, and complex tones from his instrument aEU" whether in dreamy, mysterious meditations such as "Dollars to Doinas" and "Re-Designed for Further Suffering" or playing restless, angular tunes like "Fly, Giant Robot, Fly!" and the title track (of sorts), "Fob, Fobbing, Fobbed." It goes without saying that Mr. Brady at the vibraphone is clearly a... [read more]

Hypocriticool


Jon Hain - Catalog

Hypocriticool is a brilliant and never-predictable collection of songs that invites you to chill on a proverbial futon of sound offering a generous portion of beautiful, melodic imagery that tests your imagination and makes you want to crash Josh Cole's house party every night.

"While working on my brother's farm, I realized the industries of agriculture and music are the same in that they've grown too big," Cole says. "But when you're a farmer or musician on a small-scale, working household style, when it's all about your... [read more]

Company Town


Jon Hain - Catalog

"spaghetti western slavic mope chamber folk"

Tin can and twine romances in a color of rust with backdrops of long wind swept open roads framed by tangled barbed wire and naked telephone poles. The songs are of ashtray broken hearts and lansdscapes of beauty and sorrow borrowing harmonies from old eastern europe, the desert southwest and the sentiments of working class rust belt americana.

Subfiction


Jon Hain - Catalog

"Singer-guitarist Kari sets the tone with a weathered, raspy trill focused in the same way as Chan Marshall's is in Cat Power. But bleak images cry out for hope through Shane's fluid guitar melodies, and it all turns out to be quite wonderfully heart-wrenching and beautifully melancholy." The Onion

"The recording is noteworthy for the rich sound the duo achieve by weaving together two beautifully played acoustic guitars." The Isthmus

Makeshift Ego's first album features two interacting acoustic guitars, both with their own... [read more]