Ohio Sessions, October to December : The Town Monster

Ohio Sessions, October to December by The Town Monster

The Town Monster : Ohio Sessions, October to December.
Sounds like synth pop walking down a dark alley.

Ohio Sessions (October EP)
By now the boys seemed to have hit their stride, and they released this EP ahead of schedule so people could have it for Halloween, appropriately. It is commonly, mistakenly referred to as "The Halloween EP". These are the darkest songs in the collection, filled with lyrics about ghosts, possessed dolls, skeletons and witches and put to a soundtrack of smashed pianos, theremins, screaming, layers of shrieking guitars, thunderous drum machines crammed in the middle of real drums, and more screaming. This was the only EP the band recorded "live" in the studio, which even most non-musicians realize isn't very common nowadays. Although there are overdubs, it is apparent that it was recorded quickly and furiously. They can barely contain their energy, and it is most obvious at moments like the end of "Paper Boats, Paper Ghosts", which would almost sound like Black Sabbath if they weren't tripping over each other in their mania, or the climactic buildup toward the end of "B1G WH00P1N' 5K3L3T0N5 (I'm Not Guilty Anymore)" when all the disparate pieces finally come together in a lovely, relieving crescendo to let you know the nightmare is over.

Ohio Sessions (November EP)
It is the general consensus that the November EP left a lot of newcomers wondering if this was the still the same band from last month. Leaving all the neon lights and loud noises behind, they retreated back to pianos and banjos and released one of their most accomplished (and again one of their most understated) albums. With the exception of "The Glow" and its incessant drum machine, 90's guitar and Bjork-esque bells, these songs are gentler, more thoughtful, and more emotional. "The Coward" is one of their most mature works and proves there's some really good musicians buried under all those electronics. At this point, they sound like a band completely devoted to challenging themselves, and to constantly evolving.

Ohio Sessions (December EP)
When The Town Monster saw the finish line for this project, they knew they had to end it with a bang, and so they did...but not before they released a 25-minute animated Christmas special (yes, of course it's a musical!) in which they suffer the toils of being a local rock band, join a superhero group called The Shadow League of Rock and Roll Defenders of the World, and battle a dragon (of course). The December EP is a much more serious affair and is probably the best of the bunch. Yes, this is the same band it was twelve months ago, but their recordings became significantly more refined over that course of time, as did their songwriting, and it is a fascinating journey. After the sweeping eleven minute epic that is merely titled "(/)", the listener is left with what we now realize was the missing second half of "Ohio", the first song from the January EP. It is a touching moment as Photos starts listing off the things that "will always make his heart explode", and those things turn out to be a lot of the things he's been singing about all along. These twelve albums are not without the occasional misstep; indeed, many times it is the sound of a band trying something new and they don't have sure footing. You also get the feeling that, sometimes, they had a lot more work they wanted to do, but it was the end of the month, and it was time to move on. But it is this scrapbook quality that makes the Ohio Sessions a far more successful documentary of a band than a film could hope to be. As far as I'm aware, The Town Monster are the only artists that have done a project like this, and something magical was captured here. If every band worked this hard and took this many chances, the world would be a pretty different place.

Songs:

1. Miscommunication
2. Paper Boats Paper Ghosts
3. Black Roses
4. BIG WHOOPIN' 5K3L3TON5 (I'm not guilty anymore)
5. The Coward
6. The Glow
7. The Ghost The Ghost The Ghost The Ghost (It's Time To Let You Go)
8. The Sea and The Storm
9. No Rest For the Wicked
10. The Willow Grove (Ft Fort Wilson Riot)
11. I Will Break the Circle
12. Ohio (Part Two)

Listen to: the entire album.

License Sounds like synth pop walking down a dark alley by The Town Monster for your project.
Play the music of The Town Monster in your restaurant or store.

Release date: 10/07/2013
The Town Monster lives in Ohio USA

Tagged as: Alt Rock, Rock, Prog Rock

Recommended albums:

Romantic Dinner Classical Compilation by Magnatune Compilation: the best music from Magnatune
Blues for all Occasions by Alan Marchand: Toe Teasin' Jazz Tunes For All Occasions
The Black Dragon by Canconier: Medieval music from the 12th to the 15th centuries
Pfff by Brigitte Meuwsen: positive vibe electro pop
JS Bach on Guitar and Ukulele by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
Vol 1 - Well Tempered Clavier Book 2 'Flat Keys' by Katherine Roberts Perl: Bach on the harpsichord - poetic and expressive
Sonic Graffiti by Ben Rusch: Unique to the power of twenty-two (so far...)
A Celebration of Robert Burns by Shira Kammen: early folk and celtic music.
La Domna Ditz - Songs of the Trobairitz by Rossignol: spare and lyrical medieval troubadour songs
Christmas Guitar by Jeff Wahl: acoustic new age and jazz guitar.
Traces by Jesus in Japan: a reflective voice in a noisy world
The Lost Mode by The Lost Mode: medieval music meets living modal music traditions
Fairest Isle by Wildcat Viols: viola da gamba girls gone wild!!
Sabbath Day's Journey by Lydia McCauley: intriguing piano compositions with dynamic accompaniment
Essential Scarlatti by Colin Booth: solo harpsichord music
In thy Dormition thou didst not forsake the World, (O Theotokos) by Putinki Church Choir: clear calm voices of spiritual music
Passions and Fantasies for Solo Piano by Joel Bruce Wallach: magical, heart inspiring music
Scarlatti on Guitar and Ukulele by Daniel Estrem: colorful classical guitar
Bach Cantatas by The Sarasa Ensemble: Lively, bright Baroque
Corrette - Le Phenix - Les Delices de la Solitude by Musica Franca: buoyant Baroque bassoon

Downloads:

MP3: High quality MP3 variable-bit-rate files. Most people download these: they are audiophile files that play everywhere.
ALAC: Perfect quality Apple Lossless format files. If you use iTunes or an iPod, get these. They're an exact audio copy of the original CD, and include the CD artwork and artist info. This is the same format as High Definition audio provided by the iTunes store.
AAC: High quality Apple Audio Codec files. If you use iTunes or an iPod, these files sound great and include CD art and artist info. This is the standard format provided by the iTunes music store.
WAV: Perfect quality WAV files. This format works everywhere, and is an exact audio copy of the original CD. It sounds fantastic. Album art and artist info is unfortunately not possible with this format.
FLAC Perfect quality open source FLAC files. This is an open source audio format. It is an exact copy of the original CD, and includes CD artwork and artist info. Works great on Linux, VLC and many audio players based on open source.
OGG: High quality open source OGG files. This is an open source audio format. It is a compressed (smaller file size) version of the original CD, and includes CD artwork and artist info. Works great on Linux, VLC and many audio players based on open source.
128k: Medium quality 128K MP3 files. These are medium audio quality MP3 files that will work on every device. The audio quality is good enough for most uses. These files are intended for cases where you want to conserve disk space.