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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Review: Ask For Joy - Life In A Coma


Ask For Joy - Life In A Coma
2009, Infinitely Recursive Records


Aaron Rossetto is the one-man-band behind Austin, Texas' Ask For Joy, making ambient Pop in the vein of My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized and even The Cocteau Twins. Rossetto started with a four track recorder as his high school graduation present and has since put out three EPs. The latest, 2009's Life In A Coma features some of his most accessible compositions to date, wrapped around the poetry of Sara Teasdale.

Life In A Come opens with Here She Comes, a gentle Pop/Rock tune that's inoffensive but is steeped in way too much reverb to sound right. Listening to the song is like listening to a band playing from deep inside a building; the sound is so muffled it becomes difficult to enjoy. Aaron Rossetto's vocal lines become partially lost in the ambient sound. The same thing happens on Summercrush, a meandering tune that suffers from lack of energy. My Deepest Ocean finds Ask For Joy coming out its shell and opening up its sound more than the highly produced moments of ambience that have come thus far. Pull My String returns, however, to the somnolent playground Rossetto seems to prefer. The Sacrifice and Glory Glory follow in much the same path, although Glory, Glory does get very slightly more energetic.

Life In A Coma may be appropriately titled after all. The album is so slow and drawn out it's hard to follow. Add to this production levels that practically envelope the vocal line in instrumentation and the end result is a tough listen. Fans of ambient and shoegaze rock may take to Ask For Joy quite well, however.

Rating: 2 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Ask For Joy at http://www.askforjoy.com/. You can purchase Life In A Coma as either a CD or download at CDBaby.com.

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