Review:

on 2011-06-07 CharlesMartel Said:

Part of the great thing about the digital age and "teh interwebs" is that you get to hear good music which few elsewhere will have even heard of. No matter how good or bad your music is; how professional or amateurish to recording; how sublime or banal the lyrics; how competent the performance, people will upload it onto a website and invite others to give their assessment. Many do, and almost all offer constructive comments, even if they are critical. But above all, a performer gets the chance to expose his or her music to a far wider audience, globally, than could possibly be expected under other circumstances.

It is therefore sometimes quite amazing that so few people, comparatively speaking, take advantage of this opportunity. Frankly, they do not know what they are missing out on. This goes for the freedom to download and listen to sounds offered by the artist direct, without having to go through the corrupting influence of record companies.

"Cultivator" is one such album. It has the feel of a demo about it. Its production is rough and ready, with none of the smoothing out of rough edges that bedevils so much music recorded now. This is music as it was meant to be heard, the way the artist intended it - original sound in an original recording. The rawness may not be to everyone's tastes but to those who regard such offerings with disdain, I would say this  everyone, no matter how professional their sound is now, every famous and polished act started out like this. Having said that, there are a few things which this, or future recordings, would benefit from. The mixing is not so good with everything seemingly recorded at the same volume.

The influences are clear, but not overpowering. Mix sixties R&B (thats true R&B not the pastiche that passes by that name now) with some stark electronic music and add a cranked up bass line and what you get is something with is both original and reassuringly familiar at the same time. The opener, "I Know You Know", probably the best track, typifies this. Yet the vocal only "Eat Her Tonight" shows a degree of confidence which many other artists starting up would do well to note. The instrumental "Rainbow of Tears" pushes the envelope in a different direction but has probably the most evenly flowing mix on the whole album and loses nothing by not having lyrics.

If there is a criticism it is that some of the lyrics could do with a little more consideration. Occasionally the stresses and rhymes are a bit forced and once or twice I detected some imagery which could have done with a little more thought and which came across as a little laboured as a result. The effect of this is magnified by the fact that the lyrics, due to the mixing, are almost always to the fore of the sound so anything less than spot-on delivery and wording stands out all too clearly.

In short, this is what you would expect. Good but not perfect and definitely a case of the unfinished article. Overall this is a good start by a young artist with some obvious talent. It will be interesting to see where Jesse takes it from here, particularly if he can gain access to some decent recording equipment and someone who knows his way around a mixing desk.
Rating: 6/10