A self financed release comes out from the mind of a Seattle resident. This is his second release. Most self releases don't come with a Felix Da Housecat mix but this one does. What's the CD like…?

Aalacho – Electro (Aalacho Music)

Aalacho (pronounced “Ah-Lah-Koh”) is the brainchild of Nathan Scott, an artist based out of Seattle, Washington. This is his second album, his first album was well liked by some. This is self financed and released on his own label called Aalacho, which also contains a Felix Da Housecat mix. He has certainly set his sights high but does the music measure up to the standards?

Aalacho – Electro (Aalacho Music)

1.Pompeii
2.Lift
3.Ticket to Ride
4.I’ll Climb You
5.It’s not about love
6.Atomic Playboy
7.4 secs of sound (see track 7 below for information)
8.Pompeii (Felix da Housecat Mix)

1.Pompeii

The first track is Pompeii, which uses drums to get the song going. It is more dirty house than electro. The song is vocal driven, the lyrics from the CD cover show that Aalacho is very thoughtful with his lyrics but the vocal is just wrong. The vocal is sung in a low key way but the voice is just horrible, there is no two ways about it. The song was going so great then the vocal comes in and kills the entire song. Some riffs come in, with an electro type feel that is more 80’s influenced but they are not quite electro, they are synth pop. The breakdown is the only decent thing that I can take away from this song, the bassline drops out and you just hear a female chant, which is the only vocal on this entire album that I like. The drums come back in and the song resumes it’s direction and eventually the song fades out.

2.Lift

Song number two starts with some simplistic groovy beats and it has a hook that attempts to draw you in. A guitar that plays a riff comes in with some weird sound effects entering at the same time. This song works because it does not have a vocal that simply kills the song off. The song is wonderfully unique, it goes in a more synth pop direction than electro, more 80’s influence here. Some nice synths come in, reminds me more of the early techno days in the late 1980’s, such memories. The song chugs along, “Lift” is not a song that completely takes your breath away, it is a bit more subtle. The guitar is well used at times, it does not seem to take away from the track. The vocal sample that was created by Aalacho, tries to sound like an astronaut liftoff count where someone counts down from 9 to 1 then Lift Off, top marks for creativity. Lift continues in the same mould till the end, it shows that he has some promise.

3.Ticket To Ride

The lyrics here were originally done by John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney (he was not Sir back then) in 1964. That is the only hint of anything to do with great musicians. The track starts with some decent bass and a guitar riff comes in and plays a beautiful melody, apart from that, it goes quickly downhill. “Ticket to Ride” contains a grungy electrobeat here but the song is more pop electro than electro. Some poppy vocals come in and the vocals are not well done, they take away from the track. Poor John Lennon would be rolling over in his grave if he heard this. The track had so much promise with the great guitar solo but the vocal does not work well. I think Aalacho should have picked someone who had a great voice, this completely kills an old piece of music then stomps and spits all over it. Near the end of the track, you hear a voice trying to sound almost Michael Jackson circa 1984 at times and you scratch your head and wonder why.

4.I’ll Climb You

Yes, the title does give you sexual connotations but it is more about if love was a ladder, I’d climb you. That is the only thing that I can find half decent about this song, let’s face it, the song is just backwards. The vocal that the track starts off with, is utterly sung wrong and it turns your stomach, the lyrics are weird as well. I view that lyrics should expand on the song and the vocal should do the lyrics justice but this does neither. It uses some cheesy electro riffs and the vocals just compound the misery here. It has made me sick to my stomach to the point that I’m reaching for the Maalox. The artist’s vision was originally good but the vocal and the track itself, are just like throwing gasoline on fire, it compounds the problem. A lacklustre guitar riff comes in and out, this is adding more gasoline to the mix, that the fire has now become a raging inferno. It is rare that I wish a song to just completely stop but this was one of those times.

5.It’s Not About Love

“It’s not about love” continues the painful spiral into the dark abyss of pain and agony. The song is driven by the exact same guitar riff as track number three, where is the innovation or creativity? The song is more pop rock than electro, no track has really been electro so far, all of the stuff has flirted with some electro elements but nothing has really been electro, the tracks are more synth pop with a late 80’s type sound. The vocal, which is sung by Aalacho himself is just misdirected again, his voice is just completely wrong, it takes away from any positive achievement that he has achieved in his tracks. The song continues in this direction into self destruction, you want it to stop.

6.Atomic Playboy

Track number six is all about how some girl wants an atomic playboy. The song starts with an amateurish weird beat and then the awful vocal comes in, then some wailing guitar riffs come in. The vocal is like the others, just not well thought out, I think Aalacho should have drafted in someone who could sing and add some power to his music. The song continues in the same mould, by now the fire that was started a few songs ago, is a full blown fire alarm blaze, raging out of control. I’m trying to find something worthwhile about this song but I just cannot find anything. The song screams “Amateurish!” because the riffs sound like they were done in Reason. The song finally ends about 2 minutes later and as that happens I reach for the Tylenol bottle because my head hurts from this misguided album.

7.

Technically this is not a track, the CD inlay says nothing about it but the CD is eight tracks. The song has no name but it is 4 seconds of what sounds like a casino background. It is the best part of the album, well thought out and well done, this is innovation and this is forward thinking.

8.Pompeii (Felix Da Houscat Mix)

The album is coming to a close and it could not come sooner. It is weird that a self financed CD would bring in an A list DJ to remix a track. Electro is more up the alley of Felix Da Housecat (aka Felix Stallings). You hope that Felix can bring some measure of decency to an otherwise weak album. He starts off with some dark beats with a female vocal chant that comes in from the background. Some drums follow, these are done right but he uses the vocal, which takes away from the song. You can’t completely blame Felix Da Housecat here because he was not given much to work with but I’d like this more if he did a dub mix. Felix Da Housecat takes you on a darker journey but the song was weak to begin with, so poor Felix could not save it. This is the most electro song of the entire album and of course, it was done by Mr. Electro himself.

Conclusion:
I’m sure that this album had tremendous vision to begin with but the follow through was completely misguided. The album contains two decent songs, one was a non vocal and the other was a mix by Felix Da Housecat. You could excuse the amateurish sounds at times but when you are trying to do a vocal album and the vocals are weak, you wonder what is the point. If you are a diehard Felix Da Housecat fan, then buy this but if not, just leave this album alone, you will save yourself a major headache.

Out August 17th.2004