Project Description
EVEN
‘Satin Returns’
(album review)
Reviewer – Benjamin Smith
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Satin Returns, the 7th studio recording by Melbourne based three piece act EVEN continues the band’s tradition of making impossibly catchy psychedelic pop.
As is the bands wont, the tracks switch between 90’s sounding Brit-pop and jangling, sixties-sounding British invasion sound. Sometimes it sounds like straight forward power-pop but with a likeable Australian twist. Always its a combination of fuzz-guitar and dreamy vocals
They are one of a very few acts whose sound has remained consistent without sounding dated or becoming stale as the rest of the music world changed around it. The fact that it sounds unusual, maybe even a little out of place, is an indictment upon a lot of what passes contemporary quality control, especially in the current indie market. Its ironic that it takes a 25 year old band to drag something so fresh sounding to the table.
The high point of the album is probably its closer, the nine and a half minute ‘Return to Startdust’ which sounds like something Floyd would have done at the height of their powers, think Comfortable Numb maybe but with less suicidal undertones. Its powerful and even a little unsettling whilst maintaining the blissful hues the rest of the record establishes in the ten tracks that come before it.
Music like this is great for listening to alone and without interference; allowing it to wash over you and envelop you is the way to have it speak to you. Eventually though, it needs a collective experience. With any luck there will be a tour announced soon enough and the songs will get a chance to breathe and expand and speak to audiences as a shared experience. Til then, hit the lights and hit repeat.
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The Street Press Years (1994 – 2003)
It all started for EVEN in 1994 when Ashley Naylor and Matthew Cotter, former band mates from The Swarm, teamed up with Wally Kempton from The Meanies.
The band’s first release was the ‘In Stereo’ EP, released in 1995 on Rubber Records, and featured the track ’24 Hour Cynic’ which received extensive airplay on community radio. This was followed up by another EP in 1995, ‘Ten to Forty Six’, featuring the live favourite ‘Stupid Dream’.
In 1996, EVEN released its widely anticipated debut album ‘Less Is More’. The album was critically acclaimed and received an ARIA nomination for Best Independent Release. EVEN was named Rolling Stone Hot Band of the Year. ‘Less Is More’ was also recognised by The Age EG Top 50 Australian Albums of All Time in 2008, coming in at #36, wedged between Rose Tattoo and AC/DC. The album featured three singles, ‘Don’t Wait’, ‘Peaches and Cream’and ‘Stop and Go Man’. ‘Less Is More’ is the only EVEN album to be originally released on vinyl.
In 1997, EVEN released the ‘One Side Not’ EP, named as a counterpoint to the Genesis album ‘Three Sides Live’. This release features notable live favourites ‘I Have Nothing’ and ‘Mayfair Laundry Bus’.
EVEN’s second album, ‘Come Again’, was producd by American producer Tony Lash (Dandy Warhols) and released in 1998. It featured the singles ‘No Surprises’, ‘Sunshine Comes’ and arguably EVEN’s most recognisable song ‘Black Umbrella’. The first CD release of this album included a limited edition bonus disc containing b-sides and other rarities.
EVEN’s third album, ‘A Different High’, was released in June 2001, and will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2011. It features the singles ‘Shining Star’ and ‘Electric Light’, as well as the 7″ vinyl-only release ‘Rock and Roll Save My Life’. The album concludes with one of EVEN’s most popular and majestic live tracks ‘We Are the Purple Nazz’. It is arguably EVEN’s most complete album and is sure to be considered a classically underappreciated album in years to come.
A compilation entitled ‘The Street Press Years’ summarised the band’s earlier releases, and is a great introduction to the band for new fans, with an added bonus for the band’s loyal followers in the form of an exclusive previously unreleased track ‘Time To See’.
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Chapters 4 and 5
In 2004, EVEN released its ‘difficult’ fourth studio album ‘Free Kicks’, which was recorded during numerous sessions in Melbourne and the UK. It was also the only EVEN album not released on the Rubber Records label, released under the band’s own label El Reno Records.
EVEN’s eponymously-titled fifth studio album ‘EVEN’ was released in 2008, produced by Wayne Connolly and EVEN. Two singles were released from this album, ‘Rainbows’ and ‘I Am the Light’ both as limited edition 7′ vinyl singles.
Two limited edition CD singles in 2009, ‘Temperamental Flower’ and ‘Back To Life’ gave EVEN fans a taste of what to expect on ‘In Another Time’ . In 2010, EVEN celebrated sixteen significant years together with a series of special shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
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Chapter 6 – In Another Time
In 2012, EVEN delivered ‘In Another Time’, which many EVEN enthusiasts have described as the band’s finest hour.
Enjoy this site, engage and become part of the EVEN community.
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Follow EVEN
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AMNPLIFY – DB
My nickname is “The Amnplifier”. Why? Because around here my focus is on being a conduit for providing greater outcomes that people come here for. My day to day “work” is living in the moment, and I love helping others concentrate on finding their connection to themselves through their experiences.
Why start a music environment? The truth is I love music, I love writing, and I love life. I work with musicians every day, and I feel certain that I will be until they put me in the ground. I have been managing people in businesses of some sort for over thirty five years so along the way I have developed some “wisdom” from my regular and constant “observations”.
Amnplify your experience. That is what we want you to do here, and if you want to let me know why you do, or don’t, shoot me a message on Facebook.
Hope you enjoy yourself here and find something that hits you somewhere.
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