Snow Machine

Snow Machine Artist: Snow Machine
Label: Daemon Records
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 767691905129
EAN: 0767691905129
ASIN: B0007KTBF8


Release Date: 2005-03-08

Snow Machine


Related Categories:

General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
Pop Rock Pop Rock
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music

Tracks:

  1. Birmingham
  2. Camel Lights
  3. Marlboro Man
  4. Summer Snow
  5. Paper Bird
  6. Old Tin Rood
  7. Feature Film
  8. Traffic Light
  9. Wrecking Ball

Similar Items:

  1. Kissed
  2. Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
  3. Let's Get Out of This Country
  4. Illinois

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars McElroy at her best.......2005-11-10

This is Three Finger Cowboy and Nineteen Forty-Five's Katherine McElroy's latest project. It's really Mclroy at her best. Unlike her role as a bandmember in Nineteen Forty-Five, McElroy is front and center of Snow Machine. She did all of the writing, lead vocals, and played most of the instruments.

Her lyrics, while somewhat depressing, are insightful. Some of the songs are about the love/hate relationship she has for her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Others are about past relationships. The music is poppy enough to draw you in, but sophisticated enough that it's not futile.

Joining McElroy are some of Birmingham's finest. Her husband/Nineteen Forty-Five frontman, Hunter Manasco plays some really rad guitar here. And Les Nuby, from Verbena, joins her in the studio for a few tracks.

It's a shame that someone as talented as McElroy doesn't have more national exposure. Hopefully the Snow Machine word will spread.

5 out of 5 stars Something New.......2005-09-17

I'm finding more and more bands that are really solid and have so far gained little exposure. This is one of them. And this album is very good. What's interesting is that there is a lot that is unique here, and yet the songs themselves are strongly pop-based. Listening to them is very similar to Stars, where the songs are very catchy, but there's a lot more when you scratch underneath the surface. Indie-pop based, that will probably appeal to the Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, Jon Brion, KCRW crowd. But, it's a good crowd to appeal to. Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars Shovel it up.......2005-05-01

Katherine McElroy is one of those good singers who remains under the radar, after stints in bands like 1945 and Three Finger Cowboy. Now she has a new band, with most instruments and songs played by herself. And a new album: Snow Machine's self-titled debut.

Don't expect Pixie-ish rock, though. This time, McElroy goes for a softer, poppier sound. It starts off with a peppy pop tune, with McElroy's piano playing in the foreground. "The cityscape/Is a yellow haze/and it hasn't rained in days/the girl's coat/is on a chair/I might as well leave it there," she sings in a deceptively perky manner.

The piano pop sound continues throughout the album, but we also get some more rockin' guitar numbers, which cascade and spill all over "Camellights." But be forewarned: the music is an oxymoron. The melodies are perky, pretty and cute, while the lyrics are surprisingly dark and even depressing at times. "Your eyes are tired/you're not the boy I knew/Birmingham is slowly killing you..."

McElroy doesn't play all the instruments herself... just most of them. She's the heart of it, with her piano, drums, bass, guitar, mandolin and "tinkly things," to quote the official band bio. Okay, whatever those are. The result is crisp, cold, sweet, mildly catchy piano pop that fits in well with McElroy's sweet, birdlike vocals -- which, despite being a fan of 1945, I hadn't been able to hear at their best before.

But Snow Machine has a small web of musicians from other not-as-well-known-as-they-deserve bands: Hunter Manasco, 1945's vocalist and McElroy's bandmate, also chips in with some guitarwork; there's guitarist Lester Nuby III from Verbena, and another former bandmate, Craig Ceravolo, who plays bass. They add a feeling of musical diversity to these quirky little tunes.

Music Album:

  1. Radio Gold ~ Various Artists
  2. Smashing the Serene ~ Rachael Sage
  3. Del Amitri ~ Del Amitri
  4. Zero Gravity ~ Laika & The Cosmonauts
  5. Free in the Streets ~ A.R.E. Weapons
  6. The Punk Singles Collection: 1977-1980 ~ 999
  7. Giving Up the Ghost ~ Windsor for the Derby
  8. Supertones Are Go! ~ Supertones
  9. Young Girl/Incredible ~ Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
  10. The Casanovas ~ The Casanovas

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Making Spirits Bright: A Smooth Jazz Christmas ~ Various Artists

Oscar Peterson for Lovers ~ Oscar Peterson

The Owls' Hoot! ~ New Orleans Owls

Hard Again ~ Muddy Waters

California Concerts, Vol. 2 ~ Gerry Mulligan

Midnight in Manhattan ~ Roberta (Trio) Piket

Oriental Obsession ~ Various Artists

The Lion ~ Youssou N'Dour

Couvivendo, Pt. 1 ~ Antonacci Biagio

Canzoni a Manovella ~ Vinicio Capossela