Sell Out Records - A Music Review Blog

There’s a lot of great music out there online today, and if you take a little bit of time to seek them out, you’ll find greatness. One example comes from the band Hazy Dreams. The band has created an intriguing instrumental rock song that is going to absolutely send you to all new heights. Regardless of what genre you love most, you should listen to the finer points of "Living The Dream" by Hazy Dreams. Overall, the sound is crisp, the arrangement is interesting, and leads you through various soundscapes overall. This is the type of track you listen to once, and then starts to absolutely fill your dreams, your thoughts, and mind. It’s simple at first glance, but over time it starts to sprout wings, and you really get a feel for the nuances of the instruments. Often times, with instrumentals, they get repetitive and boring. But when you listen to "Living The Dream" by Hazy Dreams, the mold gets shattered. The guitar work, percussion, and follow through is wel...

Myke Clements The Thunder Quiet LP Excuse the terrible opening title, I didn’t know what else to lead in with. I guess I could’ve stated, “review”, but come I reserve that for unsolicited random thoughts on records that I have. Myke Clements shouted me out via my Scary Film Review twitter account, which I sometimes promote links for this page on. He’s a fan of Falling Up, and well he threw me a link, and now it’s time to talk about the record he’s put out, “The Thundering Quiet”. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I’ve never heard of Myke at all, and that’s a shame. I would’ve been trumpeting for him for a while now, but the good thing is that today, is the day we discuss his latest opus. This record is fascinating. It’s a record that feels like a movie score. There’s so many ethereal elements at play. When you start to break down the pieces, you are driven through a lot of different arenas. Close your eyes and you can even find yourself skateboarding through the streets, jumping t...

“Circle Round” sold me on Rasplyn’s release. “Scenes Through The Magic Eye” filled my office with music that seemed to drive me into a circle of artistry, I had been pining for all day. It hadn’t been a great day here at Sell Out Records HQ, but as soon as I started to pay more attention to Rasplyn’s release, I was drawn into a world of beauty, art, and magic. This compelling first track is an exciting introduction into a world of musical clarity that should not be ignored. On this release of 7 tracks, you get layered musical instrumentation, compelling and artistic vocals, with a “world music” vibe that is hard to narrow down. It’s not really “one” thing, as it is pure art. There’s bits and pieces from all sorts of sounds, instruments, and elements that are very much artistic in nature. From far off lands to symphony inspired notes, to beautiful landscapes of musical creativity, you’re really taken on a journey through time and space. “Priestess of the Goddess” for example, is a t...

I admit, I have been through the wringer lately. Traveling across the country, my car breaking down, and missing my sister’s wedding all happened in the last few days. I felt terrible, and another thing I forgot was to review Arjun’s latest release sooner. I’m kicking myself hard right now because this is an album that should’ve been up and reviewed a lot sooner. All that aside, Arjun’s latest record “Core” blew me away within 30 seconds. The first song “Rocks” is perhaps one of the most solid instrumental songs I’ve heard in a long time. I love instrumental rock music, but this is on par with some of the best ever played. It’s well conceptualized it’s perfectly played, and brings together a certain jazz quality through every change of sound design. It rocks hard, but it does so with such a precise and exclusively unique manner. It goes from rock, metal, jazz, and even a bit of reggae bass, all without leaving you hanging, and it’s a perfect start to what I call a perfect record. Y...

From the moment you first hear the sound that comes through on this hip hop mix, you will be floored. There’s an organic element to this that is just exciting to hear. Once you turn it up, you will be floored by the execution and production values that are layered throughout this release. The cuts and pieces are sewn together in a very interesting manner, leaving nothing to the imagination. It’s the kind of mix that you would expect to hear on the radio, if they still played good music. From the moment you first turn on “Street Weight”, you get a feeling for an iconic, and impressive unifying hip hop mix. But it isn’t until you get to “Hey, Don’t Miss Out!” that you pick up on something that makes this classic. It’s a classic mix, and around the 1:00 minute mark you start to bounce a bit. I can already see myself using these tracks to skateboard through my streets with as they have a good mix to them and lays out emotional connections through the bass, keys, and organic material th...

Matt Simon is a guitar player that should be incredibly famous. He should be shredding with the likes of Slash right now. I haven’t heard a record come out with this type of precision guitar work in a long time. I listen to a lot of rock music, but nothing compares to the components that are found with the release of “The Scepticle Testicle” . This is a shining recording of pure guitar genius. I truly believe that if this record came out in the 1980s, Simon would be on top of the rock world, because he puts on a clinic of musical categorization. With a lot of guitar records, you end up getting just one style, but Matt Simon’s genius goes through all different styles of music here. He plays on metal, jazz, funk, and fusion. With serious attention to the elements, you are going to get a ton of great instrumental sounds here. I have to stress the fact that this is a full band recording, and not just a dude playing guitar in his living room. The production value is very high, and the i...

Close your eyes and turn on the music that Thomas Brunkard has created, and you are going to be completely blown away. The opening of “1967” gives you a visualization of classic cinema, with guitarwork that is airy and poignant. From there, you are treated to a cinema-scale of sounds that are just incredible. Upon listening, you will be moving through time and space, literature, cinema, history, and so much more. The transitions are nice, differentiating each soundscape with a new presence. I could easily put some of these songs into my favorite books. For instance “Chain Gang Blues” immediately gave me that same feeling I received when I read “Deadwood” by Pete Dexter. It’s this transformative relationship that you get form the music to the thoughts you have in your mind that really make this a compelling listen. Brunkard is not satisfied with giving the audience just 1 genre, or one example of work, he pulls everything out of the instrument room and makes it stunning, beautiful...