Ross Edman, aka: Datahowler is a Dallas, TX based designer of graphics and sound. Both outlets have found a way to blend into what has become a career of great accomplishment that's continuing to burst at the seams with his latest EP - The Crystal Gazers.
Taylor Prater and I are teaming up on this dual review to try and give our best descriptive take on this five part digital cosmic collection.
WATCHTOWERS [Mac] opens with a syncopated-bass pump drive that keeps the type of meter that only a drummer or dancer could fully appreciate.
Videogame computer love sounds could be a decent way to describe the amount of synth arrangement and effort put into this track.
Vocal features that range from ooohs/ahhhhs to full on scale flowing melody gives way to mad laughter around the 1:28 mark.I dare you to listen to this first track without a single head bounce.
WEIGHT OF DREAMS (Preface) [Mac] still fresh on my brain from catching a live performance at The Prophet Bar #DOMA2012 - Deep Ellum #shoutout!
Slanky guitar bends with slides mesh together with full chord rings that start to progress just after the tubular bell/chime intro.
Just lay back and groove in your own style to this smooth trippy slow jam.
"Weird" is the new awesome in this case and you no doubt can believe it or at least that's what it sounds like from the vocals "oh I, I believe".
CRYSTAL GAZERS [Taylor] "Crystal Gazers," the EP's title track, does well to live up to its role on the album and is another fine example of Datahowler's craftsmanship. It gives the album a fitting slow-down from the first two tracks and puts the listener in a sort of listless, pensive state that is more or less a dream world of stacked sound layers, each form fitted to the one before.
[Mac] Bass talk yes! Bass guitar walks that run straight into phaser induced funk. No lack of syncopation or great breaks in this title track.
HIDDEN KINGDOMS [Taylor] The track both serves as a pulse of new energy and a smooth transition into "Hidden Kingdoms," the next track that adds a vocal layer to build the listener back up into reality. The first three minutes are a steady combination of his signature electronic, rhythmic R&B pulses driving up to a quirkier ending, with an easy decrescendo into droning synthesizer, at last fading into the EP's lengthiest track, "Tunnel Vision."
TUNNEL VISION [Taylor] Initially we return to the smooth stasis of well-rounded synths underneath bursts of longing vocals, creating a path away from the heavier ending of the previous track and into a musical limbo-like state that carries until halfway through the 6-minute track. And throughout that path listeners should feel a longing for the culminating point of the track, where the space-like blips elongate and appear more frequently, straight into an innocent marimba-like melody. But it doesn't stop there, because the last minute of the track serves up a real treat as things get a little weirder, jarring the listener from their elusive reverie and ending off with an intriguing space-like finale.
Be sure to give "The Crystal Gazers" several listens and really pay attention to the detail the artist puts into each track, something very true to the music scene and artists of DFW who put their all into everything they create.
iTunes: The Crystal Gazers - EP
Amazon: The Crystal Gazers
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