Review Vault – Electric Axe Mob, Interceiving, Boo Jays, Dorkwind, Halo Stereo

Electric Axe Mob – Accidental Intention (Self-Released, 2010)
When an album starts out with something that sounds as bad as “606 Ring”, its hard to have high expectations for whatever will happen next. “Ring” sounds like something that could’ve been thrown together by any kid with a computer and a copy of Soundforge. Adding insult to the injury is the fact that its over 6 minutes long.
Further listening, however, reals that its not all that bad – “Intention” is a set of 13 tracks that bring together samples of all kinds, piano interludes and random electronic sounds. While its not terribly melodic (save for piano tracks), its compensated by the fact that some of sample combinations are fairly amusing and work well together.
The problem is that its hard to tell if this should be called an album, because at this point it just sounds more like a number of disconnected tracks tied together by piano interludes.  With some editing and more work, this could definitely become more than just a collection of random sounds, but as it stands it appears to be a bunch of sound experiments with no specific shape or direction to them.
Download the album here.
Interceiving – S/T (Self-Released, 2009)
Fairly complex  instrumental rock music from Montreal, which reminds me somewhat of what Jaga Jazzist are doing. 6 tracks on the album are chock-full of intricate electronic effects and funky rhythms. Nicely done, indeed.
You can preview the entire album here.
Further Points of Interest: MySpace / Last.FM
Boo Jays – Happy Halloween (Astrodorque, 2010)
A bastard child of B-52’s, surf and psychedelic rock (and, according to press release, Nirvana – although I can hardly hear their influence on this record), Boo Jays are a Portland, OR quintet that sound like they got hold of time machine (or, alternatively, got stuck in the 60s).
Interesting stuff for sure, but I’m not really fond of monotone vocals that appear in a couple of tracks.  Other than that, its quite fun and refreshing little record. Oh, and check out the video for “Creppy Crawlin'” since its very well done.
Download 7″ here.
Further Points of Interest: MySpace
Dorkwind – Live AIDS (Self-Released, 2010)
A duo from New Zealand that sound a lot like more chaotic version of Lightning Bolt – fairly heavy and noisy with any hints of melody crushed by bass and drums, but its quite powerful nonetheless. There’s also a lot of sci-fi/space types of effects in the background and they do add a bit of flavor to those live tracks.
Download the album here.
Further Points of Interest: MySpace
Halo Stereo – The Invisible War (Self-Released, 2008)
I’ll admit that I first I had no idea what to think of those guys, as my first impression was that they sounded like any other rock band out there. Further investigation, however, revealed that HS definitely have an ear for a melody and vocals in their songs blend extremely well with the music, so there’s quite a potential in there.
Further Points of Interest: MySpace