Tali Dear Parents

Numerous superlatives apply to the craft that the Dear Hunter's Casey Crescenzo has perfected on his ambitious six-part Acts series. On penultimate installment Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional, Crescenzo continues the epic story of the titular character (aka "The Boy") that ominously ended in Act IV with the protagonist at the mercy of the main antagonist, the Priest/Pimp. The narrative remains dense and there's a lot to unpack (multiple callbacks to early motifs and melodies abound), but ultimately, it's a rich experience for those willing to take the plunge. For outsiders, this may seem daunting, but fortunately, the music is as rewarding as the complex events layered within, with tastes of Sufjan Stevens, Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and Silverchair providing just a few reference points…

After building a reputation as being a concept-record mastermind and releasing four highly-realized conceptual works under The Dear Hunter name, frontman Casey Crescenzo has taken the path of the original 70’s proggers: he’s gone back to basics.
Comparisons aside, you’d be hard-pressed to find another recent album that sounds like Migrant. Although the record is mostly filled with shorter songs that do not share any particular thematic or conceptual space, the songs and arrangements themselves are still rich and unique. The end result is a fine and diverse record of standalone tracks that mostly work, but sometimes display growing pains from Crescenzo’s transformation from concept album maestro to songwriter…

While fans of The Dear Hunter have been waiting in anticipation for the prospective 'Act IV', Casey Crescenzo and the band sent something a little different our way, although equally as exciting; not one, but nine EPs released simultaneously. This project is called 'The Color Spectrum', and each of the EPs is a four song set that is meant to reflect whatever given mood each color evokes. It is granted that nine releases is a pretty difficult chunk to digest all at once, and especially considering that the EPs are currently only available on vinyl, it is a bit of an investment for someone that might only want for of a single album's experience. Luckily, The Dear Hunter did opt to release an album version of 'The Color Spectrum'; a selection of songs from each of the EPs that is meant to give a taste of what the project is all about…

Dear Mr Time were originally around at the dawn of the 1970s when, in line with many fascinating obscurities of this type, they recorded a sole album before imploding and disappearing in a tidal wave of public apathy. Like many of these curios, the album later became a sought-after collectors’ item on vinyl, fetching significant sums whenever it appeared.
The album is actually a conceptual piece telling the story of a man’s life from birth to death. Now, this wasn’t an original idea even then, but it is surprisingly well-executed, even now not appearing too dated. The influences are clear throughout: the album comes across as something of a cross between The Moody Blues and King Crimson’s first album…

Dear Mr Time were originally around at the dawn of the 1970s when, in line with many fascinating obscurities of this type, they recorded a sole album before imploding and disappearing in a tidal wave of public apathy. Like many of these curios, the album later became a sought-after collectors’ item on vinyl, fetching significant sums whenever it appeared.
The album is actually a conceptual piece telling the story of a man’s life from birth to death. Now, this wasn’t an original idea even then, but it is surprisingly well-executed, even now not appearing too dated. The influences are clear throughout: the album comes across as something of a cross between The Moody Blues and King Crimson’s first album…

The album takes the listener on a guided tour of the rings of the city serving as the setting for the story of the Indigo Child. As is evident by the track titles, each ring houses an increasingly well-off subculture with the center being the tower of the ruler. While the lyrics do an excellent job of highlighting the societal issues of each area (more on this later), the music doesn’t always follow suit. The album has a very unified musical theme, which is almost synth-rock and disco. While it helps the album have a more cohesive feel, it doesn’t necessarily always turn out well. For this reviewer, possibly the most glaring examples of this problem lie in “Ring 4 – Patrol” and “Ring 2 – Nature.” The former discusses the faction of the society used to enforce oppression on the population and the power-hungry officers who abuse their privileges, but having Casey nearly scream about police abuse over a funky beat doesn’t quite sound right. The latter similarly did not seem to fit with the theme of the lyrics (on top of the fact that I couldn’t actually understand the society within “Ring 2” and admittedly need to re-listen to it).