Sell Out Records - A Music Review Blog

A lot of people have talked about Christian music as a terrible thing. Lots of bands put together alternative rock and tagged a label of “alternative” onto it, and ended up creating subpar musical landscapes. Then there are bands that put together truly good albums but were plagued by the label. Falling Up released “Dawn Escapes” after putting out what I felt was an ok effort. Their previous record was muddied by sounds that seemed to be trying to be Linkin Park mixed with other Nu Metal bands but without the power. The record had some ok tracks, but it wasn’t until their second release that the band was able to create something grand, at least in my opinion. It didn’t start with the first track on “Dawn Escapes” however, as they seemed to be resting on their laurels. However, as the album progressed, holy crap, the band found a creative niche that was overlooked by music fans left, right, and in the middle. The piano entrance of “Exhibition” is your first signal that the band m...

After writing 17,000 words today, I wasn’t prepared to review a record, then “die:rot” hit the speakers, and my mood shifted. Bottoms latest release is a mix of electronic music, and pure exuberance. The opening track alone had me awake and alert, and into something quite new. The mix is solid, throwing together sound design that is definitely on par with some of the best electronic music I heard last year. However, where others seem to just throw in some random beats and underline them with signature time, Bottoms changes the formula. Within the first track alone you get several changes in terms of sound, design, and noise. The elements put together are layered, and flow to tell you a story that is quite impactful overall. If the first track doesn’t grab you up front, then the second and third tracks will change your mind. “Boring” and “Gasoline” take away the first track and create lavish new elements, while distributing the tropes of electronic music you’d come to expect. It’s d...

Not since I first heard the soundtrack to Mega Man 2 have I been so enthralled with electronic music. This year has been great for digital music, and I have been given a lot of options to listen to, and here is just another example of great music moving through the internet and other arenas. Bombs Dropping “Winter 2014” is a mix of electronic dub, club, or whatever you want to call it and it’s definitely a fine production. It starts heavy with “Fame”, before it starts dropping digital bombs, as it were. There’s a lot of bouncing on the record, but there’s steps that are going to take you out of the old techno raga and put you in touch with a new wave of digital creation. I love the tracking on “Cold Front” which feels like something right out of a video game from the PS3. It feels organic, and it has a strong electronic vibe that is definitely well worth your time. You’re going to be thrown back into the industrial era of rock music that made games like Quake so exciting. Don’t m...

As a music fan, I’ve heard a lot of guitar players in my day. I’ve seen a lot too, and every time I hear about another guitar player and their release, I roll my eyes. That wasn’t the case when I first heard about Xander Demos. I was completely blown away with the progressive sound and style of the guitar work and overall attention to the most finite of details on the latest release “Guitarcadia”. This is a heavy metal shredders dream, and it flies in the face of most guitar players today, as this is the type of stuff that should be played on rock radio. No offense to the reggae fans (which I am a fan of), but there’s no reason rock radio should be playing 3 or 4 reggae songs an hour when this is getting ignored. Xander Demos charges through every kind of guitar sound from melodic to extreme picking to just insane pieces of metal glory on “Guitarcadia” and it’s a blueprint for what you can do on electric guitar. Lead, rhythm, and other is all represented in some heavy shredding and...