2005 Indie Albums i Was Just...Forgot About.

Thaelo
"The Adeen EP"
Self-released
Genres: indie rock, rock
2005

ailing from seattle wa, thaelo consists of two guitars, bass, drums and vocals. with the release of the adeen ep, thaelo delivers a barrage of melodic soundscapes entwined with quiet guitars, feedback, and airplanes. with only 5 songs, the adeen ep lands on a full length track by running over 30 minutes, yielding an unapologetic wall of sound. formed in the fall of 99, brent finch (drums), darcy hudelson (vocals/gtr), bobby Lewis (gtr), and chris ford (bass) literally met each other in passing. together for just over a year, thaelo recorded over 2 full discs of material that buried itself into what would later become a turning point for the band. a series of ridiculous events (playing a major label showcase on a pallet in front of a bunch of cows), naiveté of comic proportions, and the departure of bassist chris ford brought the band to an end in early 2001.

17 months and 2,000 miles later, bobby discovered the forgotten discs while sorting through a box of recordings. saddened by the obvious, a phone call was made to seattle. in august of 2002, brent flew to texas, bobby quit both of his jobs, and darcy went on a secret vacation from her secret job. the trio reunited for an impromptu recording session resulting in sleep deprivation, mass burrito consumption, and 8 songs. days later, brent returned to seattle, darcy returned to her job at, and bobby started working for a helmet-haired evil doer.

12 months, 2,000 miles, and one barista god later, the band reformed with jeremy summer on bass guitar. within close proximity to both the space needle and darcy's boyfriend, the new line up converged with a second chance determination at heart. a communal sigh of relief resulting from the opportunity to play once again substantiated a series of aural reflections via the manufacture of the adeen. in other words, the band turned up their amps louder than ever and dove headfirst into the dangerous world of flying drumstick shards and sonic eruptions.

unified by a love for each other and the music, thaelo’s art of rock isn’t typical in music today. if there is a message in the music, it is to be found in the viewpoint that humanoids are ego parasitic and are responsible for any lack of hope in this world. the band calls bullshit on today’s music industry, and snubs the hypocritical elite who are self-crowned with the non-individualistic notion of indie cred.

it is time for a musical revolution. (Description By The Label)

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Dracula-ZombieUSA
Self-titled Album
Serious Business Records
Genres: dance punk, indie rock
2005

DraculaZombieUSA are four nice young people. Will Schachterle sings and uses a laptop to kick out unique skitters and breaks. Travis Harrison plays drums with the mercilessness of a methamphetamined puma. Versatile Andy Ross plays bass, guitar, and sings. And Danielle Pickett helps out with the vocals and the getting-down. At drum and bass tempos (Aphex Twin, Lightning Bolt, Death From Above 1979), they play psychedelic party jams (Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, Talking Heads) with fancy and fetching lyrics. They sing about space travel, the frustrations of fecklessness, and leading a colony of bears against a gang of medieval monsters. At their hyper live shows, our heroes are out to get everyone shaking it. Ask for some moon-walking- Will will bring it. (Description By The Label)

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HBoyracer
"Insults and Insights" EP
Kittridge Records
Genres: indie pop, lo-fi
Kittridge Records
2005

The more recordings boyracer releases, the more i understand how someone could become an obsessive boyracer collector, hunting down every song and recording no matter how obscure (every last cassette, lathe cut 7", split EP and compilation track). the more i hear, the more I want to hear, and that's especially the case with insults and insights, a firecracker disguised as an ep. by 'firecracker' i don't mean to suggest merely that the ep showcases the band's ability to run full steam ahead through noisy, ragged pop songs like the punk superstars that they are. they do that, certainly, but insults and insights also displays the diversity of their talents, their melodic sense and emotional breadth. lead racer stewart anderson is brilliant at channeling not just indignation and rebellion, but also a bittersweet feeling of longing. the ep's shining moment – indeed, one of the best songs i've heard all year – manages to tap into all of these strengths. "the sadness in you" begins with an open-hearted line, "there's a sadness in you that may never leave…", but before that even there's a snazzy guitar part that's central to the song's infectious melodic shuffle. the song overall marries its catchy hooks to a generally uplifting sentiment, encouragement to a sad someone. "the second fiddle"'s center of gravity is a bit less optimistic, containing a lot of anguish and heartbreak, which comes out both as impassioned pleas over acoustic guitar and as electric cries and screeches. In their own, beautifully messy way, boyracer are jacks-of-all-trades, using whatever tool it takes, be it melody or feedback, to fill a song with raw, genuine feeling.
(Review By erasingclouds.com)

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Charlie Schmidt
"Xanthe Terra"
Strange Attractors Audio House
Genres: American Primitive guitar, acoustic folk, instrumental folk
Strange Attractors
2005

Charlie Schmidt was a contemporary of his friend and mentor, the late John Fahey, and his own personal universe collided with the master of the acoustic steel string in a very interesting and bemusing manner. Schmidt befriended Fahey as a young man, after meeting him backstage at a performance in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1981. Ever the iconoclast, Fahey vigorously encouraged Schmidt to follow his own musical path and discover his own voice. It came to pass, in the early 1990's, that Fahey was requested to re-record his second album Vol. II: Death Chants, Breakdowns and Military Waltzes for re-release. As a ruse, Fahey had Schmidt record all of the songs ostensibly as Fahey himself! In order to be compensated, four new "bonus" tracks were included, which happened to be Charlie Schmidt originals. The project was shelved; fast-forward to 2004, three years after Fahey's death, and the release of The Best of Fahey Vol. II on Fantasy. Included were three titles billed as previously unreleased, newly uncovered Fahey gems. Lo and behold these are actually Schmidt's performances, and one of the pieces is a Schmidt composition that Fahey admired ("Hyattsville Anti-Inertia Dance"). Bewildering to be sure, but the point is clear: Charlie Schmidt is a fantastic talent of the steel string guitar, and the time is nigh for the world to hear and experience this very well-kept secret.

Long in the making, Charlie Schmidt's debut Xanthe Terra is finally seeing the light of day, and it is a stunner; melancholic musings and gorgeous melodies are offered like midnight prayers through ringing and singing wood and steel. Technique for Schmidt is always at the service of feeling, and the pieces on Xanthe Terra are awash in a raw depth of emotion, shuddering to the very core of the music. Like the scorched desert-like landscape of Mars referenced in the album title, images of vast empty expanses and regions sucked dry of humanity weep from Schmidt's guitar. From the delicate, somber melodies of opener "Salem Journeys", past a particularly rollicking version of Fahey's "Dance of the Inhabitants of the Palace of King Philip XIV of Spain" and onwards, closing with the introspective subtlety of "Hymn", American folk styles brush up with classical guitar and "deltadelica" to form compositionally rich and radiant acoustic dramaturgy.

Following firmly in the American Primitive footsteps of John Fahey, Peter Lang, and Robbie Basho, Xanthe Terra is glorious guitar soli, an important new work to the new acoustic movement. (Description By The Label)

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