Sacred Places

"Exhibition of Sound" CDEP

self-released

Genre: hip-hop pop, "indie electro-soul"

July 22 2008

For "indie electro-soul," this is pretty soulless. The five songs (excluding a ‘radio edit' and two ten-second interludes) on Exhibition of Sound are hip-hop laced pop songs led by compatible male and female vocals. The instrumentation consists of simplistic beats and synthesizers, and the resulting music is catchy enough, although the whole affair sounds bizarrely outdated. The main single on Exhibition of Sound is "Forever Baby," which sounds like a basement rendition of a nineties R&B hit - an okay melody saves it from being a complete mess, but the emotionless vocals, flat production, and unnecessarily long outro make it difficult to take seriously. The synth-jazz of "You Shine" results in the album's obvious high point; the instrumentation is of the airy "lounge music" variety, and if the vocals were more polished this would make a good fit on a chillout compilation alongside Thievery Corporation and Kruder & Dorfmeister. As it is, Sacred Places could use work. These songs show melodic skill but are in desperate need of polish. Until the kinks are worked out, I can't see this making any waves.

Sacred Places' myspace

58%

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 8 tracks, distributed by CD Baby, released 2007]