Oui Si Only You EPK review

Oui Si Only You is not nu metal, they don’t deserve any comparisons to Limp Bizkit, Korn, or any other late 90’s Q101 bands.  What they do sound like is a Sigur Ros inspired, less hardcore Linkin Park.  Ben Muniz’s flow sounds similar to Mike Shinoda’s – and on Shadow Riot, the effects on the vocals are almost a carbon copy of Mike’s on “Bleed it Out”.  Their guitars run the gamut from  acoustic to angsty, emo, distortion ridden punk to reverb laden Pink Floydish chords (Off to Stall).  They have no problem with politically driven lyrics, but in doing so, they are asking for comparisons to POD and Rage Against the Machine – in all fairness, Rage rocks much, much harder.  What OSOY lacks in all of their songs, and it may be a stylistic choice on their part, is a noticable hook in the tunes.  Aside from the sound, this is their major zag against the zig of typical rap rock.

http://www.myspace.com/ouisionlyyoumusic

Todd Kessler – Golden Bird

With music you know you’ve got something good within 20 seconds of hearing it. Todd Kessler’s song, “Golden Bird” has a Led Zepplin like melody at the beginning – really a classic rock sound with a simple arrangement: handclaps/piano/acoustic guitar and beautiful vocals. Honestly probably the best combination of voices I’ve heard in two months, Todd and Erika Brett (of “Empty Pockets”), come together in a collaboration of ages and present us with a gift in the form of music. Golden Bird is really a wonderfully done song they have perfected the phrase less is more – all the accents are right where they should be, and the mix is exactly right for this type of song. The vocals lay perfectly next to one another. It’s folk music at its finest, tells a lovely story using a woven in metaphor, allusions to flying, jumping and being free – Todd Kessler uses clichés to remind the audience of what they already know – he doesn’t haphazardly throw them into the lyrics because it’s the first thing that came to his mind. You can tell this is a well thought out recording and a well thought out collaboration between two fantastic artists. What would otherwise be a very boring guitar strum comes across as comforting when accompanied by the simple piano chords and small tinkering throughout. Their sound is one that is very very similar to one of my favorite acoustic bands, “The Weepies” and here my only wish is for a little more low-end. Possibly an upright bass, but me thinks an electric bass would work nicely here as well.

If you like folk music and dig on the Coffee House station on Sirius XM radio, then Todd Kessler is your cup o’ joe. Come see him play Golden Bird March 11th at Schuba’s on Belmont and Southport for a relaxing night of lovely music.

www.myspace.com/toddkessler