cloudcover - Memento (Full Album)

[Byrne]

My band, which is just my friend and I (we both play multiple instruments) recording some music. Our band is called cloudcover, and we have a complete album entitled "Memento" that I'm going to let you guys download for free if you want because I love you all.

We could be considered an alternative/indie rock band, but really our album covers many genres, from electronic (Love, Insomnia), to hard rock (Ignite), to prog (Let the Child Be), to folk (Memento). No, this is not simply a gimmick, as we were genuine in our songwriting when making this album and did not do this simply to say we "cover tons of genres" like Yo La Tengo or something.

Here's some official links:

The Last.fm page for our completed album:
www.last.fm/music/Cloudcover/Memento

My band's Sound Cloud with several of our songs in their complete form:
soundcloud.com/cloudcoverofficial

And a download link for the full album with info and the album cover included:
www.mediafire.com/?w03wjyya4pdt4d4

I promise I'm not trying to give anyone weird viruses or anything like that. I just genuinely love making music and I genuinely want opinions and critiques and for people to enjoy what we have spent over a year making.

Thanks in advance for anyone that spends any of their time giving us a chance!

[The Metal]

Just listened to Blue Hour, really enjoyed it. I'll report back with a more thorough opinion on your album when I've downloaded and played it.

[Byrne]

Aug 9, 2012 14:33:41 GMT -5 The Metal said:

Just listened to Blue Hour, really enjoyed it. I'll report back with a more thorough opinion on your album when I've downloaded and played it.

Awesome! Thanks man! Yeah, Blue Hour is certainly one of our better compositions. I'm glad you liked it!

[Byrne]

We got a professional review!

"It took quite a few weeks, maybe even months, for me to truly see what the indie group cloudcover were trying to accomplish with their debut album, ‘Memento.’ On the surface you have a debut studio album by two relatively accomplished and efficient musicians, trying to make their stamp in the indie community with refreshing and interesting music. But is there more? Beneath the meandering though polarizing guitar solos and oddly addictive vocal ramblings of the front man, was there a desire for more? Was the purpose just to send a quick message and hope people listen through tried-and-true marketing tactics? You know, be a big cool rock band kind of thing?

No. there was absolutely more. ‘Love and War,’ one of the most shining tracks on the album, did not exist to be just music. Of course, this sounds like pretentious mockery, but really, the song…

I was left confused and puzzled, and as I continued stretching my hands into other new bands and dipping my habits into ridiculously mainstream hip-hop for that weird weekend following that awkwardly ill-timed break-up, I felt disloyal. My mind kept returning to cloudcover and ‘Memento.’ I couldn’t shake the feeling that I didn’t get everything out of ‘Love, Insomnia’s mesmerizing backbeat. There was still a lot more to be discovered in the thick layering of ‘Ignite’ or the drum-driven and harmonizing that rides ‘Small Talk.’ Some weird albums are weird to be weird. I believe you know what that means. Yet some albums seem purposeful while also being weird. Like a Stephen King novel. Like 80’s synth-goth.

‘Iron Cobwebs’ sounds like an early Beatles b-side. Blasphemy? Maybe. But listen to the song, its eerie vocal effects leaving the vocalist distant, and the absolutely sizzling guitar solo that tickles and worms its way into your ear. It ain’t ‘Money’ or ‘Hard Day’s Night,’ but it sure accomplishes something.

‘Leaving the City’ opens with a calming piano lead, seeming to be taken right from a Coldplay power ballad. Yet when the vocals kick, it’s just a guy annoyed about leaving, growing up, and being what I can only assume is a man facing the realty of reality. It’s a far cry from a Coldplay single.

I get the impression that cloudcover are smarter than me. Their music is odd, but not odd odd. There is an absolute point- a point where the boys of cloudcover were debating what kind of music they needed to make, and if their pursuit of the greatest questions in life could be justified by recording an album so excellent yet so polarizing.

So I return to my initial qualms- what is ‘Memento?’ Sure, it’s a collection of quirky songs that remain oddly substantial. Sure, it’s an eclectic mix of off-rhythm dance songs, piano driven ballads, and folk numbers, all accentuated by a vocalist who finds more comfort in Morrissey and ‘The National’’s Matt Berninger than, like, hitting the right keys. But I feel like the group added subliminal messages- making me question things about the realities of adolescence- making me question my musical tastes and entertainment habits. And after all that time spent thinking about not listening to cloudcover and secretly wanting to, and questioning other musical pursuits, I gave up. There is only so much running one can do. You eventually have to accept that odd little thing that sticks out like a sore thumb- that questions things and remains polarizing and exciting- maybe that is you. Maybe it is exactly you."