UltraChorus - "Ultra-Def"

UltraChorus and Their Debut Album “Ultra-Def”

by: Marisa Whitaker

Chris Heidman and Jeff Lorentzen, the duo of UltraChorus, present us with their new album Ultra-Def. Chris produces the electro-pop rudiments and Jeff taps in with his R&B and Hip-Hop beats. This makes for an overall unique sound. It’s fresh and fun and UltraChorus knows how to deliver a great, foot-tappin’, head-bobbin’ album.

The pair began their music when they met at a recording studio they worked for and in their spare time they were able to write and play a few tracks together. One of the songs, “Margins” was actually an old creation of Chris’ that he dug up one day. He was never sure about how the song was going to turn out but Jeff took it up and after a couple tries showed it to Chris and thus, the song found a place onto Ultra-Def. “Words Kept Talking” actually started their quest to complete a full-length album along with their other favorites, “Taskforce” and “Happy and Sad.” Chris comments that the song, “Happy and Sad” is “real visual, the keyboards sound is so crazy and light and extreme all at the same time.” Which really is one of the dominating characteristics of all the UltraChorus music.

Going deeper into their musical style we find quite a wide variety of inspirations from other bands. Chris grew up loving the Velvet Underground and Pavement while Jeff had his R&B groups. Chris told me, “Maybe Hot Chip in the electro-indie sense, Phoenix in the pop factor, and a touch of Akon on the Production. It's all over the map!”

I feel like this mash of the genres can mostly be captured in the song, “Scarlet Eyes.” If you listen to this song you can hear a steady bomp, bomp, bomp, distinctive to hip-hop music and in one part of the song, there’s almost a rapping of words, where Jeff doesn’t exactly sing the words, it’s just said. However, throughout the whole song there’s that odd “monome” instrument Chris plays. He told me, “it's basically the nerdiest thing you have ever seen! It’s a lot of lights and rubber buttons and it's awesome.” If it makes those crazy cool electronic sounds, Chris, we’ll love you and your nerdy-ness.

“I love Hi Def Tv,” Chris begins, but Jeff explains “… I thought it was pretty appropriate... not only do we make ‘UltraChorus’,’ but we present in ‘Ultra-Def’." But apparently he (Chris) likes Hi-Def TV,” when I asked them the reason behind the title of the album and it truly is presented in “Ultra-Def.” People of all genre tastes can really relate to this compilation of kick-ass songs. I think UltraChorus is going to go far. With their fusion of indie, electronic and R&B, anyone can get into this music and everyone will!

I’m going to give Ultra-Chorus a 8.5 out of 10. Not because they didn’t to an A+ job, but only because I’d love to see more and until I do, I can’t necessarily rate any higher. More albums and more awesome-ness, please, Chris & Jeff!

Dot Dot Dot - "I" EP

Dot Dot Dot, a band out of Chicago, Illinois, presents us their EP “I.” With its electronic vibe combined with an almost 80’s style rock element, this band gives us something very new to digest. The band members, Adam Blair, Stephan Kohnke, Michael Bonowicz, Rose Ana Laguana and Little Lisa each come from various bands and musical backgrounds making this a diverse and deep group of artists.

Today, huge trends among many bands are mixing genres of music and Dot Dot Dot pulls this off brilliantly. My favorite song on “I,” hands-down, is “Let It Go.” It starts out very thrilling and full of energy with an exciting electric guitar making an entrance early on. This is common in the entire EP, even if they go for a slower style in a song, you can still follow their patterns and it creates a familiarity with the band that fans will enjoy.

The use of electro-pop styles like Duran Duran and Hellogoodbye with a powerful guitar similar to The Killers and Butch Walker makes Dot Dot Dot a lot of fun. Although, I’d only give them a 7 out of 10 because they mostly rely on their catchy choruses to get them by because initially some of the songs don’t grab me into them as much as I’d like. However, once I become familiar with a song, as I did theirs, I was able to enjoy each song from second 1 to the end.

Overall, Dot Dot Dot is a very cheering and engaging band. I was hooked from the first song and every song after that held my attention. I hope Dot Dot Dot will continue with their unique style because they appeal to a wide variety of music lovers. *thumbs up*

-Marisa

Jon Says I Should

So......
Blog #1. Numero Uno.
Jon says I should start one of these but I really don't have anything to report. Haha, however, it is a good idea because I want to be a Journalist. I'd like to write reviews on movies and CD's and media for the most part. I could start posting all my reviews for the CD's I receive through BearCast because I know the two I have done, haven't been posted... >_>
Oh, by-the-way, I do a lot of faces. I shall explain.

x_x
this means something along the lines of "fail" or "ugh."

>_>
the one I just used means that there's a bit of annoyance in my tone... sometimes more than a bit.

xD
"I'm silly."

=D
definitely "excited."

=]
Oh, something along the lines of "happy."

;]
everyone knows what a wink is.

;D
and this is an excited wink...

>_<
Hmm... kind of like a cringe.

& if I think of anymore, I'll let you know.

Haha, so that was "Marisa's Smilies 101"
Thank you. You have received your three credit hours & an A.
There will not be a test on this because you're all capable human beings.
Aaaaanyway, Jon is very excited about my first blog...
I think I'm going to have two more really quick in a row here because I'd like to get my CD reviews up online. I'm proud of them and they need to be posted.
Hurray for my first blog.