Promote This: Club Paradise, Patrick Galactic & Tom Eddy
Promote This is a long-running NadaMucho.com feature wherein we write about songs and videos by emerging and unsigned bands. Send submissions to @nadamucho with hash tag #PromoteThis. This installment includes UK producer Club Paradise, former Death By Stars front man Patrick Galactic and Tom Eddy, who is half of Northwest electronic act Beat Connection.
Club Paradise – Salvation
At first, with the beat and the bass, you might expect just another typical house song from Club Paradise’s “Salvation.” But the guitar saves the day—more or less. The vocals are okay, but a little weak for the style of the song. And the guitar “solo” later in the song totally falls flat, since it’s mostly single notes and sounds juvenile. Not to mention the weird, low “hey” starting half way through the song that, at first, sounded like an accidental burp during recording that they decided to keep. It’s a fun song that could have been tightened up a bit more. Oh, and be careful, Club Paradise: that catchy guitar in the beginning? Sounds an awful lot like a Lenny Kravitz song. – Adrienne Pollock
Patrick Galactic: Softly Burning Boy demos – “Dumb Luck,” “Don’t Make Me”
Tacoma’s Patrick Galactic strums his guitar plaintively, singing bluesy melodies that threaten to break into a heavy rock ballad. Thankfully, the song “Dumb Luck” stays right where it belongs – setting the stage for strong, mid-range vocals singing about hard times. Simple, slight delay on the left/right-channel, dual acoustic guitars and Patrick’s voice – no frills production that leaves the songs to do the heavy lifting. “Don’t Make Me” follows the same path, though a bit slower, a bit less interesting, and just 2 minutes long, as opposed to 5. Not great, but very good songs – a musician to watch. – Abe Beeson
Tom Eddy: single “Seeing Someone” b/w “Saturday Market”
Here’s a Seattle fella venturing beyond his work with the wonderful Beat Connection and winding up with 21st Century Paul Simon-esque exotic rhythms and guitar plinking with carefree storytelling, well-sung and joyful. This is music that puts a smile on your face, might even get you dancing the Folk Life boogie. “Seeing Someone” has a twisty, weekend-stroll tempo and a pleasant melody that stands up well to repeat listens. “Sunday Market” throws a 2-note cowbell rhythm in the mix of an appropriately relaxed vibe, deceptively casual – there’s some fantastic production/mixing here – lots happening, but all in the lazy groove. Definitely for a particular mood, brunch at home with the smells of coffee and bacon – that’ll do. – Abe Beeson