Posted on: September 27, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

“There will be a time when I’ll be back one day”, a line from the opening track to “Good Things”, seems odd considering that soon after the album was released, Soundtracks was found dead in his apartment. Epic’s rich vocals look to be a mixture of Billy Bragg and Roger Daltrey; even if the album was slated to be released in 1997, Epic’s style of Spartanly-created music (doing much of the instrumentation on “Good Things” either eirself or with The Chamber Strings’ Kevin Junior) really don’t seem the worse for wear nearly a decade after they were created. The plodding nature of most the tracks on “Good Things” seem to be the perfect rendition of the banality of life; Epic’s tracks (specifically in “C’Mon Daddy”) really seem to be couched in real-life experience. The instrumentation that litters the tracks on “Good Thing” is another cause of celebration; in the aforementioned “C’Mon Daddy” the inclusion of a very instrumental style of double-harmony really puts the track into a realm all its own.

The ability of Epic to create tracks like the sub-minute instrumental track “Black Hole”, which has a very Wendy Carlos type of feel to it and make it work within the greater context of the album is an amazing feat. Bringing a Shawn Lennon meets Radiohead type of style for “Dedication”, Epic Soundtracks unintentionally makes an archaeological gem with this track, which would have originally released the same time as much of this same style of music. By releasing the album in 2005, one is given a very clear idea of what the general feeling was in 1997 and thus gain a minor viewpoint into Epic’s mind. “Maybe You’re Right” is a bold affront to the typical line of thought that the later relams of discs are necessarily weaker than their forebears; the longing-yet-happy style of vocals on the track are accentuated by a smoky, dreamy atmosphere. “Good Things” has a very coherent move to create an “elusive sound”, to quote Epic, and this skirts only slightly monotony in the sense that “Good Things Come To Those Who Wait” sounds a lot like “Maybe You’re Right”. The entire album has a good sound even if some of the later tracks have the tendency to blur into one another. There is no doubt that this album will be as influential in 2005 as if it would have been released in 1997, and one can only expect another generation of indie rockers to be weaned by Epic.

Top Tracks: C’Mon Daddy, Maybe You’re Right.

Rating: 6.5/10

Epic Soundtracks – Good Things / 2005 DBK / 14 Tracks / http://www.epicsoundtracks.com / Reviewed 29 April 2005

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