Dark Drums

Dark Drums

Track Listings

1. Dance Naked [Club 69 Acapella] - Aaron Carl

2. Froggyz Congaz [Romatl's Deep Mix] - Steve Lawler

3. Future - Halo Varga

4. Beach [Al Coco Grande Dub]

5. Only Human

6. I Know You Like It [Raw Fuzz Mix] - Pascal Vegas

7. Earthless [Jan Driver Mix]

8. Torque

9. Make Shape

10. House Muzique [Jan Driver Remix] - Celvin Rotane

11. Mood Change - Sander Kleinenberg

12. Driven by Dreams Outro

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Disco House. Mixed by Steve Lawler, Resident DJ at Home.

Dark Drums,Steve Lawler,Tide,Club/Dance,Dance Music,Electronica,Nu Breaks,Pop,Progressive Trance

Laughing Stock
Average customer rating:

The album comes very close to the band's amazing live shows.

Laughing Stock
Laughing Stock
Manufacturer: Dept. of Ways & Means
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Alternative Pop | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Snow Borne Sorrow

ASIN: B00000IBK9
Release Date: 1999-02-01

Tracks:

*!0
White
Waking World
Driving Days
Soul Hurt
Heffalump
Hole
Glow
I'm
Fence
Moth

Album Description

Low-end grooves and open spaces, best served after three in the morning....

Customer Reviews:

The album comes very close to the band's amazing live shows........1999-08-13

This band is one of San Francisco's best kept treasures. As much as we hate to share them, they are bound for greatness and with CMJ reviews, I suspect that they will be on a plane to SXSW soon.

Average customer rating:

The Vocals Are What Hinder This Album
Just Buy This Album...
emotional roller coaster
Not everyone can throw trumpets into a mix...
dark, sexy, and tribal!!!

Dark Drums, Vol. 2
Steve Lawler
Manufacturer: Bliss Productions
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

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Tribal/Underground: The Progressive and Dark Side of House Music
Viva
Tribal Seduction
Foundations
Ibiza '06

ASIN: B00005LVXJ
Release Date: 2001-07-24

Tracks:

Intro: Lawlers Drums/Dance Naked - Aaron Carl
The Chief Warning - The Frost Project
The Darwins Theory - Borgo Manero
Shake - Jair
Everybody - Frankie Carbone
Shaka - Sharam J & Nick K
You Drive Me Crazy - Java & Jan
Sound Of The Floor - Menace
The Gathering/Praying - Jaimy & Kenny D Present PMS/The Path Presents
When I Fall In Love 2001 - UBQ featuring Felica Washington
U Need It - Peter Bailey
I'll Be Your Friend/Moonraker - Robert Owens/Foremost Poets

Customer Reviews:

The Vocals Are What Hinder This Album.......2007-07-08

This is the first volume of Dark Drums that I've listened to. I am tracking down a lot of Steve Lawler's older releases as I love the genre of electronica that he tends to play. Picking up where Danny Tenaglia left off. Tribal House (albeit, Lawler likes the darker tones).

I was excited when I first listened to this album as the first couple of tracks were exactly what I was hoping the whole set would sound like. Unfortunately, Lawler chose to mix mostly tracks with vocals. I have no problem with vocals, but with Tribal House they can't be so overly dominating that they even drown out the all-essential drums (it is Dark Drums after all, right?)! This occurs for the majority of the remaining tracks. Couple this with the vocals' lyrics frequently being cheesy, and album becomes much less enjoyable for this reviewer despite its excellent tribal drum loops.

3.5/5 stars

Just Buy This Album..........2007-06-28

...forget the negative comments... Do you like DARK PROGRESSIVE TRIBAL HOUSE? Then, this CD is for you. Steve Lawler is by far the BEST DJ in this realm of house music. Other Lawler CD's to consider: Dark Drums Vol. 1 - Lights Out 1 - Lights Out 2 - Lights Out 3 - GU 3 NuBreed: Steve Lawler - Viva - Homelands - Home

...anticipating the return of "Lights Out (4)"

emotional roller coaster.......2006-03-29

I bought this off of amazon and the first listen was downright terrible so i put it up and did not touch it for a month, i just wrote it off as another cd i wish i could have listened to before i bought it. A month went by and same result.

One day i was messin' 'round with my cd tables and i was listening to some funky azz breaks and i decided to mix some house on top of it so i picked this one to add another layer of funkieness because i remembered this to be drum heavy........and......oh......my....God!!!!! I discovered the hidden treasure that i call this cd. I dont know what it was the breaks with it or what but it just 'clicked'. This cd is noww in my heavy rotation and it is like 4-5 years old. If you dont like this after a few listens just put it away and forget about it for a month or so and try picking it up in a diferent mindset.

I am 'VERY' picky and i now call this purchase a success. It is not quite as Dark and the title would suggest, it has some.....
....dare i say 'fun' moments.

Not everyone can throw trumpets into a mix..........2004-10-20

...and have it sound so good.

I had a copy of this CD for a long time and tried several times to listen to it. With nothing but drums for the first few minutes I never listened beyond. Comfortable with some other DJs, this sounded dull. After a while, I was looking for something new and put this on during a long drive. Oh my...

The drums that open the mix are there to get you into the groove. It builds and builds and reels you in. Right around thirteen minutes or so in Mr. Lawler drops a wicked bass line and the party begins. From this point on, he drops in more and more, tossing in some vocals here, some sound effects here, finally ending with some trumpets, all with some funky drumming that isn't that monotonous 98 BPM that carries many mixes (and gives you a headache after a while).

I don't know much about the styles and all the various kinds of electronica that purists seem to get off on, I just know what sounds good. And this sounds gooood. I hesitate at the fifth star because it just didn't have that something that makes me go wild for a mix. But it's almost there. Not being able to see any of these DJs live in the heart of the Midwest in the U.S., CDs and such are all we get. I'm hunting down his other stuff as we speak.

A good break from the hodgepodge of mixes out there.

dark, sexy, and tribal!!!.......2004-02-09

Dark and tribal trance/techno like only Steve Lawler can deliver!! A solid cd with great bass and driving beats that keep you interested. Often you see artists have a few good songs but can't be consistent, not Lawler. He consistently brings only the best. Deep dark flow without flaw. Also other great Lawler cds "Nubreed" and lights out vol.1. If you like tribal sound and "DARK" beats grab this cd!!!

Average customer rating:

Pram returns in top form

Dark Island
Pram
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000094Q3X
Release Date: 2003-04-08

Tracks:

Track of the Cat
Penny Arcade
Pawnbroker
Paper Hats
Peepshow
Sirocco
Archivist
Goodbye
Leeward
Distant Islands

Customer Reviews:

Pram returns in top form.......2003-06-02

Fans of Pram are unlikely to suffer disappointment upon hearing 'Dark Island.' It is more low-key than releases of the mid-90's, although there are some tracks that continue with the retro spy sound of Somniloquy's 'Way of the Mongoose'-- they're even similarly titled. There are also plenty of dreamy melodic tracks with haunting lyrics. All in all, 'Dark Island' isn't as quirky or avant garde as their earlier songs, but the tracks here are consistently satisfying. It's good to see that this low-profile group can consistently turn out rewarding music that is true to form without being predictable or dull. A standout release in the group's ten-year history. More, please.

Average customer rating:

Explore America, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: Naxos American
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000094Q1W
Release Date: 2003-05-20

Tracks:

Copland: Appalachian Spring (Excerpt) - Paul Gambill
Cadman: From The Land Of The Sky-Blue Water Op.45, No.1 - Bergonzi String Quartet
Carpenter: Adventures In A Perambulator: The Hurdy Gurdy - New Symphony Orchestra Of Ukraine
Rorem: Nightingale - Ned Rorem
Barber: Violin Concerto: Presto - Marin Alsop
Gloria Coates: String Quartet No. 1: Protestation Quartet - Kreutzer Quartet
Hovhaness: Cello Concerto: Allegro - Seattle Symphony
Ives: Symphony No. 3: Old Folks Gatherin' - Northern Sinfonia
McKay: Americanistic Etude - William Bolcom
Berlin: Alexander's Ragtime Band - The Chestnut Brass Company
Grofe: Hollywood Suite: Production Number - Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Bernstein: West Side Story: Tonight - Kenneth Schermerhorn
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Torke: Rapture: Drums And Woods - Marin Alsop
Sousa: The National Game - Keith Brion

The Revenge of Hamish & Other Choral Works

Average customer rating:

An Absolute Must.
Simply Superb

The Revenge of Hamish & Other Choral Works

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000UJL6Y
Release Date: 2003-11-25

Tracks:

Song for the Rainy Season (Elizabeth Bishop)
The Ballad of Don and Dan (Ian Frazier)
Oh, Think Not I Am Faithful to a Vow! (Edna St. Vincent Millay)
I Expect You from the North (John Berryman)
Green, Green, and Green Again (Conrad Aiken)
i have found what you are like (e.e. cummings)
June Light (Richard Wilbur)
A Wood (Richard Wilbur)
Collect Pond (Thomas McClelland)
Wolf Moon (Mary Oliver)
Dark Clouds Bring Waters (John Bunyan)
The Revenge of the Hamish (Sidney Lanier)
In That Part of the Young Year (Dante Alighieri)
Good Speaking - A Benediction Song

Album Description

"The Revenge of Hamish," new choral works by William McClelland, has received high praise from critic Donald Rosenberg in July, 2004's "Gramophone" Magazine: "Vivid music, vividly sung . . . The music ranges far and wide, embracing everything from Scottish folklorism and pop to many-layered, traditional a cappella writing. Whatever the style, the composer finds lucid and evocative solutions to the poems, all in English, which are set with such skill that it is almost possible to forgo the texts in the booklet . . . The William Appling Singers & Orchestra perform each piece with keen attention to words, blend and phrasing, and the instrumentalists are exceptional advocates for McClelland's appealingly direct manner of expression." Equally enthusiastic is William Zagorski, who writes in the January-February, 2005, issue of "Fanfare" Magazine: "McClelland is fully at home in a multiplicity of styles , and we are treated to a wide range of them on this release--from the tonally ambivalent parallel harmonies of 'Song for the Rainy Season,' the pop-inflections of 'The Ballad of Don and Dan,' the rarefied hymnody (sometimes jazz inflected) of the 'Five Sonnets for Men's Voices' and the ecologically inspired 'Collect Pond,' the symphonic grandeur of 'A Wood,' the offhand counterpoint of 'Wolf Moon,' to the ethnically Scottish flavors of 'The Revenge of Hamish.' Withal, a distinctively American composer's voice emerges, and it is both an imaginative and compelling one . . . Some of this program is a capella. Other numbers offer diverse instrumentations that deftly underscore the subtexts of the poems. In all cases, that point where language ends and music begins is magically blurred. The choral work is excellent and the instrumentalists play with both exactitude and enthusiasm, revealing a composer who is more than worthy of our attentions."

Customer Reviews:

An Absolute Must........2005-03-03

I could not agree more with the other comments about this recording. I also heard several pieces played recently on NPR and was amazed at their beauty and passion. This is a composer that deserves to be heard by a very wide audience. McClelland's skill in setting texts is truly remarkable, and his selection of poetry is flawless. The performances and the recording are both on a very, very high level. Anyone lover of serious and intelligent yet accessible music should definitely get this.

Simply Superb.......2005-02-12

There was a very good review for this recording in "Fanfare" magazine and it sounded quite interesting. The review didn't do it justice. Some of the pieces here are among the finest choral works I have heard. The texts McClelland uses are mostly American, and the music, while in varying styles, has a pure American voice running through it. This composer understands a beautiful, strong melody without ever resorting to triteness or cliches. In the piece set to a poem by Elizabeth Bishop, "Song for the Rainy Season," he seems to completely capture the description and atmosphere of the text's tropical setting, and the writing for the piano as well as the chorus demonstrates the work of a composer of consummate skill. The love sonnets written for male voices are, in a word, heartrending. The texts are perfection and the musical settings enhance each one, giving you a profound insight into the words. Isn't this, in large part, what choral music is supposed to do? Here is one composer who understands this, a composer who isn't writing just to show off his skills, but is really looking for something much deeper. It's just such intelligent and moving music, music that I keep coming back to. I'm so glad I took a chance on this one.

I couldn't find any other recordings by McClelland, but on the basis of this single CD, he takes his place among the ranks of our most interesting contemporary composers.

Average customer rating:

Yawn...........

Kindling E.P.
The Slow Signal Fade
Manufacturer: Stroll Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Steady

ASIN: B0007RSCOC
Release Date: 2003-06-15

Tracks:

100 Thieves
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Pull You In
Willing

Product Description

Tracks... 1) 100 Thieves 2) Song About A Pessimist 3) Voices In The Airport 4) Pull You In 5) Willing

Customer Reviews:

Yawn..................2005-11-25

Not bad as much as just plain weak. Flanged guitars and reverb ala early Cure paired with weak female vocals singing lyrics that sound like they were written by a community college art student trying too hard to be profound. Track down an old Strange Boutique album or Slowdive CD instead if you like this formula.

Average customer rating:

Burning Thread
Incus
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ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Release Date: 2003-10-28

Tracks:

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Average customer rating:

SEE THEM, HEAR THEM THEN YOU'LL KNOW!!!!!
Pleasant folk-pop
no sophomore slump!
Alluring medoly lines and amazing vocals.
Music that you feel...

Unarmed Against the Dark
Feathermerchants
Manufacturer: Innocent
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Last Man on Earth
Feathermerchants

ASIN: B00009LHX8
Release Date: 2003-07-08

Tracks:

All The Way Home
9th Ward
Dan
Temporary
Farmers Night Out
Brooklyn Ferry
Daffodils
Sitting Henry
Reptile Mind
Heartbreak Beat

Customer Reviews:

SEE THEM, HEAR THEM THEN YOU'LL KNOW!!!!!.......2006-06-26

I LOVE THE FEATHERMERCHANTS. AM A BIG FAN OF SHANNON. MOVE OVER NORA JONES.....

LOVE THE SEXINESS OF THE MUSIC.

IF YOU ARE MELLOW, THIS IS FOR YOU!

Pleasant folk-pop.......2004-03-27

Feathermerchants' latest album is one of those pleasant indie albums that you won't really remember too vividly afterwards. With nice vocals, passable songs and a backdrop of indie-folk-pop, "Unarmed Against the Dark" is an enjoyable but unexceptional listen.

Starting off with the soft "All The Way Home," the Feathermerchants blend together downtempo folky songs (the pensive "9th Ward," the downbeat "Dan" and "Reptile Mind") with vaguely poppy tunes (catchy "Daffodils"). From time to time they break out of the folk-pop mold with the vaguely gothic ballads (prayerlike "Ursuline") and a few dashes of country.

"Unarmed Against the Dark" is a nice album. Not a great album, but a nice one. It mixes a few genres and tosses in some poetry, sung with sweet vocals and with some decent background accompaniment. Except for the lead singer, there isn't anything that really stands out about Feathermerchants -- it's all okay, but not great.

The biggest musical weakness of "Unarmed" is that most of the songs sound more or less the same. The tunes are somewhat different, but they're almost all downtempo arrangements of guitar and percussion, with a dash of bass and bouzouki. For that matter, the guitar and drums aren't that original-sounding; they're capable, but not really noticeable for anything too good.

Shannon Kennedy's voice is the strongest part of Feathermerchants: assured, melodious and capable of holding up through every song. Those songs themselves tend to be quite evocative and poetic. At times the poetry stumbles in a big way ("I've come to talk before your nails get too long..."), and becomes too repetitive (the pointless "Temporary like a..." lines). But the lyrical sweetness of "Dan" and "Heartbreak Beat" make up for those.

Feathermerchants' "Unarmed Against the Dark" isn't terribly varied or unusual, but is worth a listen if pop-folk is your thing. It lacks in texture, but is still a pretty listen.

no sophomore slump!.......2003-11-19

I got the chance to see Feathermerchants live a few years ago and I've been a fan ever since. Their music is refreshing, and their live show is awesome.
The new CD is no disappointment, I was amazed from the first listen. Be sure to give it a listen, it's like nothing else you've heard, and their sound is unique compared to what is out there currently. Two thumbs up!

Alluring medoly lines and amazing vocals........2003-09-23

A great new sound with neat bass lines and an awesome female vocalist. My favorite is "Daffodils" - great lyrics! I saw them once in Hartford Connecticut and they are a captivating live performance. One can't be disappointed!

Music that you feel..........2003-09-23

Wow, if you have any shred of emotion in you, you have to listen to this cd... this is not music that you hear-this is music that you feel. How do you define this music? Complex in thought & style - simple in heart. Between the lyrics, variety of instruments and a beautiful voice, there is always something new to hear. I first got this cd because it sounded like something different and new, and amazingly, it has grown to be so much more. The unique sound brought me in, the lyrics capture me...