BEC Recordings, Tooth & Nail Records, Plastiq Musiq.
Here’s some music for all you
Cheapskates… Only $1,99. Well, it wasn’t that cheap for me, since I had to
pay $8 for the compilation in the local store here in Holland. Nevermind, the
list of tracks on this album made me really curious. Besides the good-old Tooth
& Nail-bands like Plankeye, Joy Electric and Stavesacre there are tons of
un-known new acts featured on this compilation, so I couldn’t wait to put this
disc in my player. Most of the new acts are on BEC Recordings, Brandon Ebel’s
commercial record company, and I must say that it was really shocking to hear
styles that have never been heard before on a T&N-record.
The first song, Furthermore’s Daydream, really
disappointed me. I expected an old school rap-crew but this is more a
R&B/hip hop-product with weak raps and an annoying chorus. The next song,
from the Lost Dogs, is awesome. They are an old and experienced group and this
song really touched me. The disc continues with Ultrabeat, a commercial
Euro-dance product. They are not as bad as Raze or most of the European
dance-products but I think this music is just not destined for my ears… The
next three tracks are way better, especially the Starflyer 59-song is quite
beautiful, with a rare rhytm and a great guitar-part. Flight 180 is the name of
the restart of the swing/ska-band One Eighty. This girl-fronted swing-music is
good fun to hear, especially the piano-part is awesome, but somehow they don’t
manage to keep my attention.
The first Plastiq Musiq-act on this compilation
is delivered by Norway. It’s a good and quite danceable song in the tradition
of Joy Electric, yet more commercial. The variety of the songs is showed by the
choice of the next song, Sarah Masen’s "Mary". She’s a talented
singer-songwriter who reminds me sometimes of the Dutch singer Ilse De Lange.
Although I don’t like this kind of music, this song is quite catchy and her
voice makes it worth listening for the fans of female-vocalists.
The huge amount of BEC-recordings bands is
showed by the next three songs, which are all taken from BEC-albums. Joy Electric
appears with the great song "Lift up your hearts" from his 7th album in a row.
Ronnie’s songs are often misunderstood, but this song is an example of his
talent to write creative, danceable techno/pop-songs. What should I say about
Sup the Chemist? The dark west-coast rap of this beat-scientist combined with
the R&B backing vocals in the tradition of Blackstreet are better than
Furthermore, but I know a lot of Christian rap-artists who make better, more
inventive music, so I doubt whether these slow, relaxed beats are able to
satisfy the critical hip hop-fans. Even worse is the next song, which seems to
be a tribute to the praise-parts in the OC Supertones-gigs. Any Given Day is the
name of the band and I’ve heard better songs in my life, to be honest.
After this song the time is there for some Tooth
& Nail-bands to appear on this sampler. At first, Stavesacre shows its skills in writing brilliant rock-songs.
"Gold and Silver" is one of the most quiet
songs from their new "Speakeasy"-album and it’s so awesome to see how this band
is able to put so build up a song to a wonderful climax. It’s hard for the
listener to be placed back on earth with the funky disco-track from a new band
called the Company. It’s okay to put out bands in all different styles, but
this is just so bad, even for people who like this type of music. The only good
thing in this song seems to be the guitar-solo in the middle-part of the song.
The Juliana Theory brings back the good old T&N-quality on the album with a
song from their new album. I don’t know this album yet, but after hearing this
song I can’t wait to get it. This music is so great. I am not into this type
of music but somehow I want to hear this awesome song again and again.
The acoustic guitar in the couplet combined with
the catchy refrain and the simple but beautiful lyrics: the Juliana Theory
proofs to be the best guitar-driven rockband ever on T&N. Shorthanded’s
song "Agony & Ecstasy" is better than the song I heard on the
"Songs From The Penalty-Box"-compilation and shows the possibillities of this punkrock-band. The
influences of early punk-bands like the Clash are clear and this makes
Shorthanded an important new band for Tooth & Nail.
After this bunch of songs the time is there for
Fanmail (a surprising rock-song), House Of Wires (by far the best electronic
song on the album) and MG! The Visionary (the best rap-crew in the Christian
market?) to end this compilation. Past, present and future of Tooth
& Nail records, BEC Recordings and Plastiq Music are represented on this album.
You might like it or you might not, but for all the die-hard T&N-fans this
is a great opportunity to check out new acts on your favorite record-labels. And when you
guys don’t like the new bands you can give it to your little brother or
sister!
Karel
Smouter
for