from Northeast Performer
| Described by the record label itself as "fifteen tracks of artsy-fartsy indie-rocky goodness," this compilation is exactly that. Rather than focus on one particular genre, Losing Blueprint has a roster that branches out and dabbles in several areas, and the best part is that the vast majority of these bands come from the northeast. Let's start with the real winners. First on that list is Vaguely Star Shaped, taking what could have been a generic "emo" song, grabbing some guitar and vocal effects from another world altogether, tossing in some beautifully spastic drum work, and creating something quite wonderful. The Nationale Blue contributes "Silver Alien Pyjama (Original Vyrsion)," mixing jazzy beats with Sabbath riffs and spacey effects, the two-movement version of which you can find on the band's recent A Different Kind Of Listening. The guitar work on Andrew Wagner's folky and intense "Palmetto Acres" is worthy of mention in itself, and the sheer intensity of Centralia's eerily creeping "Nestled In The Swiss Alps" pulls every emotion to the surface over the course of six minutes. Meanwhile, The Method And Result blend jerky beats, clever guitar tricks and lovely female vocals to make an interesting little pop song, even if it does stretch out for nearly six minutes, walking right up to the edge of wearing out its welcome, and then knowing enough to stop. Bands like Fiesel, Calumet-Hecla and Tristan de Cuhna come crashing at you with plenty of intensity, abrasiveness and breakneck rhythms, while Words For Snow dishes out a comfortable if not trance-inducing blend of moody rock and mellow jazz in the sprawling "My Uncle." It is difficult to find a single song on here that is desperately begging to be skipped over, which is more than a lot of label samplers can say. With a range of musical styles that remain somewhat connected, yet diverse enough to keep things from being redundant, The Luxury Sounds Of A Losing Blueprint provides a little bit of something for everyone. -- Eddie Fournier |
from Interstate Zine
| Independent labels planning on issuing compilations, please take note: "sounds" is plural here, indicating that Losing Blueprint Records hosts bands that don't all make the same kind of music. This might seem self-evident, but far too many indie labels fail to include the variety demonstrated on "The Luxury Sounds of the Losing Blueprint." Compilations have a hard time standing up to albums on the shelves at record stores. Albums have all kinds of things to offer -- thematic unity, focus and a full exploration of one artist or group's ideas. One of the few advantages compilations have is variety. Obviously, if all the songs on a compilation sound the same, most listeners would probably rather have a regular album. That being said, it's depressing how many indie compilations provide listeners with bands slavishly devoted to one narrow style of music. Today it's emo-pop ala Jimmy Eat World or New Found Glory -- tomorrow it could be anything, although my money is on electronic-beat indie modeled after Her Space Holiday and The Busy Signals. The Losing Blueprint Records, a young East Coast label, does a satisfactory job of avoiding this pitfall by including bands from various points of the indie map. Highlights include the innovative rhythms and softly insistent female vocals of The Method and Result, the pitch-perfect looming keyboard intro of Vaguely Star Shaped and the odd acoustics of Andrew Wagner. The best track on here is easily the horn-bristling PopCanon, whose song very cleverly references everyone from philosopher Willard Quine to rapper Will Smith. This compilation's only major weakness is an over-reliance on mathy, vocal-less indie rock. This style isn't bad by any means, but a third of the bands on this compilation are doing it, [ed: a fifth, actually] and it's pretty hard to make seven-minute songs without vocals or hooks memorable. [ed: In truth, only one song exceeds seven minutes, and it has vocals, though whether it has a hook is debatable.] The Losing Blueprint has clearly put some thought into their label and this compilation, and it's well worth the six bucks they're asking for it. Recommended. Rating: 8580/10,000 [ed: ???] |
from Splendid E-Zine
| As far as such samplers go, this one is pretty decent. All of the artists represented here are relatively obscure, and they all specialize in various forms of mathy, angular rock. Whether it's acoustic soloist Andrew Wagner or Tristan Da Cuhna's epic jangly post-punk, almost every act featured here employs wicked time changes and jagged song structures. Suprisingly, there's still a solid mix of sounds. A few bands are on the amateur side, and almost every contribution would benefit from better production, but most of the songs are good enough to at least warrant further investigation of the artists behind them. The Method And Result begin the compilation with the highly intriguing "I Will Not Demand What I'm Worth"; they mix a hyperactive drummer with well-defined female vocals, then undercut it all with a flowing groove. Fiesel offers another stellar cut, sounding like a Slint/Frodus train wreck, and Popcannon's rock-with-horns-that-isn't-ska-or-swing is superb -- they have a knack for seamless melodies. Vaguely Star Shaped and Score One For The Fat Kid offer their takes on the Midwestern emo sound, and achieve favorable results, while The Nationale Blue pays homage to Rush with a bass chord-driven instrumental number that melds modern math rock with more traditional rock stylings. At least half of the fifteen bands here will have at least some appeal to the average listener. That's as much as any compilation can hope. -- Phillip Buchan |
from Delusions of Adequacy
| This label, run by musician Andrew Wagner, seems to have an exceptionally diverse array of artists and musical styles. And that's especially evident on this 15-song compilation. There's no theme, no defining characteristic to make it flow. That might be a problem, as you're left wondering why it was put together. But the reason there is likely just to feature a diverse group of musicians, and that's what you have here. The Method and Result start with "I Will not Demand What I'm Worth," a low-key rhythm-focused pop song that floats along on restrained female vocals and calm beat. Vaguely Star Shaped dabble into the emo-rock category with "Waiting to Forget," performing a very tight track with some interestingly harmonized vocals. By contrast, after that nice start, Fiesel burst things up with a blast. "A Lot Can Happen in the Middle of Nowhere" is a frenzied burst of driving and slightly chaotic rock in almost five minutes. Then there's the discordant yet intriguing instrumental "Silver Alien Pyjamas" by The Nationale Blue that sounds startlingly like 80s prog-rock. Wagner picks up the acoustic guitar for "Palmetto Acres," a song of rapid notes and arpeggios, plus his unique vocal delivery. Popcanon's literate pop with horns has never impressed me, and "Make Reference," though catchy, is more of the same. Polaris Mine's "Getting Legal" is easily forgettable rock, although Words for Snow change things up with "My Uncle," an intriguing jazz-influenced instrumental with a nice flow but no real delivery, just all lead-up. "Crab" by Calumet-Hecla reminds me of a more melodic Arab on Radar, with shouted vocals providing a stark contrast to melodic guitars and powerful percussion. I'm guessing it's Wagner's voice I hear as one of the singers for Score One for the Fat Kid. "Paper Autogyro" is a kind of geek's approach to indie-rock, with a little math-rock and a lot of fun. It reminds me of another band Wagner was in, Idiot Savant Garde. Kind of jammy and funky, Notpictured's "Driftwood" is ultimately tame and rather dull, but Centralia do show more of a glimmer of originality for their darker-feeling instrumental, a mix of mellow guitars and intense riffs. Kind of grungy, Bird Gets the Smile go the more soaring, emo-rock direction with "Captain of One," a driving track that's comfortable in its genre although doesn't push the boundaries at all. The comp. finishes up with "It's Wednesday, Fuck You" by A Radio with Guts, a track that starts with a unique flair but never picks up in pace or initiative, instead content to be bare-bones strumming and subtle vocals. Tristan da Cuhna's "Stealth Nights Revisted" ends with an up-beat eight-minute opus, filled with driving guitars, in-your-face percussion, and discordant vocals half-sung and half-shouted. Odd yet interesting, it's a good choice for closer. In short, this is a nice sampling of Losing Blueprint's artists and a few other eclectic bands thrown in. Despite the varying styles, this album as a compilation doesn't pack much punch and doesn't go too far out on a limb. There's some good songs and some artists I'd definitely like to hear more from, but overall I'm left with a focus on a few of the artists and a bunch of filler. -- Jeff Marsh |
From Modern Fix
| This 15 track compilation loosely ranges from artsy The Sea and Cake style instrumentals, to precisely executed acoustic tracks, to the all encompassing indie rock outfits and their different takes on a rock band. Featured on this 12th release from the Losing Blueprint Records is the Method and Result, Vaguely Star Shaped, Fiesel, The Nationale Blue, Andrew Wagner, PopCanan, Polaris Mine, Words For Snow, Calumet-Hecla, Score One For the Fat Kid, Not Pictured, Centralia, bird gets the smile, A Radio With Guts, and Tristan de Cuhna. One of the better tracks on herr is Score One For the Fat Kid's "Paper Autogyro," a poppy progressive punk song. This track features three voices and a beautiful guitar riff. My favorite track is the Method and Result's "I will not demand what I'm worth," which is a great indie rock meets electronica song in the same class as Owen. For some reason I really like the female vocals on this track and how the song is about getting what you deserve. Another of the more notable tracks is "Silver alien pyjamas" by the Nationale Blue because of the major changes in tempo and exciting instrumental sounds reminiscent of Tortoise. This is a great compilation for someone looking for some underground band to get into. |
From NCA Empire
| It was almost a year ago now since I first heard of the Nationale Blue. I was handed a flyer for one of their shows by someone I believe was in the band, however it was a few hours away from me (in MA), so I didn't go not knowing any of the bands on the show. Now, here it is, almost a year later and the Nationale Blue has a song on this comp. I didn't know they were instrumental. Maybe they're not and only this song is. Either way, I listen to the Cancer Conspiracy too much lately to complain. Digging deeper into this comp., I find many bands I like. Music I am already familiar with such as Popcanon, Andrew Wagner and bird gets the smile., I like a lot of these bands who I have never heard before. A Radio With Guts has the instrumental "It's Wednesday, Fuck You". Polaris Mine seems like a band I know the name of for some reason, didn't they do the theme song to the Adventures of Pete and Pete? [ed: no, that was Polaris.] Either way, the song is upbeat and full of fast paced lyrics. It reminds me of what the Apex Theory would sound like had they been actually a good band and not some corporate created 311 clone. This comp. actually kicks off with the drum rolling sound ogthe Method and the Result. Fiesel provides some rock with mixed screams. Technically guitar fueled music backs Score One For the Fat Kid. Through these fifteen songs one thing remains perfectly clear: None of these songs sound like the other. Rather than hearing a comp. from, say, Vagrant, you can actually tell these bands apart as they have sounds that aren't even resembling of other bands. Plus, all of these bands are good. -- Josh Nacho |
from Punk Planet
| Fifteen original-sounding artists, including: Words For Snow, Notpictured, Fiesel, and the Method and Result. From light rock to arty farty music to some interesting stuff. This is a good look at the lighter, creative side of the indie-rock scene. -- Brian Czarnik |
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