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Press Reviews
MTSU SIDELINES
Recipe for success: Vinyl Soup
Vinyl Soup is an eclectic progressive rock band from Nashville, Tenn., that mixes diverse music genres like reggae, ska, blues, rock, salsa, rockabilly and jazz, creating unique song recipes everyone likes tasting.
As their name might imply, Nashville trio VINYL SOUP is a jam band with a penchant for the silly (though they seem to want to be a jazzier Phish instead of, say a more conventional Primus). Yet nonsensical tunes such as "Mr. Jello" and "Bugs in the Vent" are built on a better musical foundation than the titles might imply. And while some songs drift into the improvisational ether ("Lightsfuse," "In and Out of Touch"),
Memphis Playbook Chasing Yesterday :- Vinyl Soup from jambands.com
Vinyl Soup's Chasing Yesterday is filled wall-to-wall with playful wah-driven hippie funk. It's charming, fun music that's probably a whole of fun to make, and a whole lot of fun to listen to if you happen to wander into a bar and see them playing on a Saturday night. For some reason, though, I can't imagine accidentally seeing them. Maybe it's a regional thing, or maybe I just go to the wrong bars up here, but Vinyl Soup's music feels very nostalgic to me, reminiscent of a simpler time -- and not because the music is retro in its inclination, but maybe just because it's entirely straight-forward. There's no irony, and certainly no posing. Their inclusive in the sense that there's nothing foreboding nor off-putting about their music (the quality that first attracted me to jambands back in high school), but - at the same time - it's also sort of a turn-off. There's nothing particularly challenging about this music, either, nothing to sink one's teeth into. But it's fun. "Cold Jaded Jane" sounds like Phish's "Dog Stole Things," "Mr. Jello" is the kind of nonsensical whimsy that my ex-housemates used to rag on but so what? If enough people believe in it, whimsy is fucking awesome. Perhaps Vinyl Soup will achieve critical mass someday. Oblique Strategies sez: "Reverse." More info...
"Eclectic influences...sophisticated Jazz/Funk ideas...phrasing.. from Zappa To Donald Fagan..good playing all around lad. Live feel, arrangements are a plus Liquid guitar..smooth suitcase Rhodes... could this be called Medicine Man? ..i have a feeling this came out just as you intended it to.. have you tried local radio down there? it can't all be country in TN! first rate playing. keep gigging, writing.." TAXI - The World's Leading Independent A&R Company, Calabasas, CA
VINYL SOUP - Chasing Yesterday - Creek Slide Records - CSR-1001
"Nashville’s VINYL SOUP provides solid proof that jam rock is far from dead. You can hear a decided influence from Phish, but they interject their own feel into the music. The jazzy “Front Door,” the laid back funk groove of “Fog” and the sly muddy blues ballad “In and Out of Touch” prove that they use their influences primarily as roots to grow vines that yield their own tasty fruit. Great instrumental chops and soulful vocals help simmer this delicious soup." -Music Morsels
Mark Waterbury P.O. Box 2760 Acworth, GA 30102
VINYL SOUP "Chasing Yesterday
"Funking Groovy! This Nashville-based band adds all the elements of creative progressive rock with a smooth blend of blues to some top-of-the-hat lyrics. A few of the tunes are slightly redundant in the progression, but overall this band has great promise!"
by Rick Strader, Nashville Sun, March 2004
VINYL SOUP "Chasing Yesterday" CD 2003
The music: a very "musical", easy and smooth mixture of jazz, folk, blues, reggae, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, funk, latin and other things (ah! and also progressive rock). There are not brusque angles in the dull forms of their music in spite of all the impossible turns; rock music but with a tranquil rarity and a zappaesque humour. The only problem may be that precisely due to the fact that their music is so smooth and tending predominantly to calm, sometimes it can seem lineal (specially in the calmed passages), but I would say it only seems...
North American band, debut CD www.vinylsoup.com VINYL SOUP - Chasing Yesterday
Calm grooves, that is the best way I can describe this album. Though there is a lot going on throughout each song, the songs are laid back blending jazzy guitar riffs, psychedelic keyboard and a grooving rhythm section. This album is a solid effort. This band is someone you would expect to see in hip coffee shop or lounge putting out music groove to while searching for someone to dance with. The instrumentals flow, the vocals groove with the music. Yeah, I’m overusing the word groove in this, but that’s what this music is all about. It’s not funk, it’s not rock, it’s not jazz, it’s groove. Rating: B+
Written by Samuel Barker FUSION
VINYL SOUP is a forward thinking band which keeps you on your toes with thoughtful musical changes throughout their tunes. This progressive alternative jam band fuses styles of jazz, folk, blues, reggae, bluegrass, and classical music. The Nashville, TN trio has released their new CD CHASING YESTERDAY. Check them out and be pleasantly surprised. (Creek Slide Records - www.vinylsoup.com)
- Roland Stone
Accent On Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay, Florida
www.ampubs.com
VINYL SOUP – Chasing Yesterday Creek Slide Records By definition, jam bands tend to be unpredictable. This obviously has its pluses and minuses, as raw energy and enthusiasm can sound great on stage, and merely unprofessional in the studio. Criticism of this type dogged the Grateful Dead, particularly during the Arista years, and I’ve known Phish fans who merely shake their heads in sorrow at the mention of Billy Breathes and Rift. In other words, you never know what you are going to get with a band that describes itself, as Vinyl Soup does, as "a progressive alternative jam band that fuses styles of jazz, folk, blues, reggae, bluegrass, and classical music for a unique recipe of their own." I’m happy to report that bandmates Andrew Hooker (guitar, vox), Evan Brewer (Bass) and Paul Allen (Drums) have pulled it off pretty well on this album. The band is nimble and creative, and while the arrangements are very tight, they never feel sterile or academic. Almost every song suggests a different influence, from the early Dead-style psychedelia of "Cold Jaded Jane" to the Eddie Hazel-like guitar ballad "In and Out of Touch", although the one over-riding precursor is certainly Phish. Vinyl Soup likes to change key, tempo, arrangement, and style not only between songs, but throughout them. This is sometimes awkward, as in "Nozer Hozer," where they never seem to find a groove that they like, but also results in some fine turns in "Fog", "Lightfuse", and "Bugs in the Vent." Every song on the album is worth a listen, and Hooker’s guitar shines throughout. Based in Nashville, Vinyl Soup has yet to do much touring outside of their immediate environment. I for one will be checking their website (www.vinylsoup.com) on a regular basis, in the hopes that I can catch them live during this period of their development. Keep your eye on these guys; they have something here.
Review (c) 2004 by Dave Stevens. VINYL SOUP "Chasing Yesterday"
"Vinyl Soup... what more can be said than WOW! This group has somehow captured lightning in a bottle! This may beTHE regeneration of modern Jazz / Rock / Fusion that many have yearned for ... listen in, you will be awe struck by this display of awesome talent! ..." |
© 2004 VINYL SOUP. All songs publsihed by Mumbly Toe Music, BMI