Search - Tyde :: Once

A wonderful CD

beechwoodpark | Chicago, IL | 04/27/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is warm, melodic, and beautiful. With epic songs in the vein of Spiritualized combined with the warmth of the Byrds, this CD is a must-own. All of the songs are high-quality; there is no filler here. Do yourself a favor and buy it!"

Country Psych-folk from whence it began: Southern California

sunsuperman | Pittsburgh, PA United States | 11/29/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Tyde is pretty much Darren Rademaker's show, formerly the front man for Further--a noisy, lower-fi Sebadoh by way of the Beach Boys type San Diego band from the mid nineties--and brother of The Beachwood Spark's Brent Rademaker, who appears on Once with three fourths of his band. Pianist/keyboardist Ann Do and guitarist Benjamin Knight round out the cast. Darren Rademaker even goes so far as to state in the scant liner notes that the band "coloured" in his songs, so it seems obvious that he brought lyrics, melodies and the skeletal chords that mapped out each song to the table before the band played note one. There is enough psychedelic ambience however to show the band used wide brush strokes to colour in Rademaker's singularly West-Coast vision. There is a preconceived notion that this band will sound like Beachwood deux, and when you drop the needle on All My Bastard Children-well let's just say that notion isn't exactly destroyed. Opening with trippy organ pumps, and phasing into the ever present pedal steel, the song conjures up images of a smacked out Sixties LA, or some evil Ventura County bikers, not the blissed out hippies we're used to hearing about. New Confessions launches into new territory, as Rademaker somehow channels Elvis Costello circa the ill-advised and unfortunate Almost Blue, but it sounds so good. Of course Once borrows heavily from the late sixties sound of California: the Beach Boys, The Byrds, Love, and even the Doors (check out the albums finale), but North County Times sounds like the Velvet Underground in Loaded mode with a blast of T Rex. Improper sounds a great deal like a New York Dolls song, but of course much is lost in the translation, it does however complement North County Times well, for they are the only two really unrestrained songs on the whole album. The other songs are all mid to slow tempoed and slowly picked on an electric guitar rather than strummed, giving it a real loose and dreamy feel. Once is far from perfect, but it does what so few albums can do and that is get under your skin. So many albums that are good, you get into fast and tire of quickly. Then there are albums like this one that upon first listen you are thoroughly unimpressed but time has the tendency to wear you down, the many little beautiful things become starkly illuminated, and it turns out to be the album you've been searching for. It should be a no-brainer for the fans of the West Coast psych-sound, or the late sixties tripadelic Brit era of Donovan."

No more superficial...argh!!!

Ax | USA | 08/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Welp, this album is wonderful! Great album. Go buy this and buy Twice as well. Sure I can go on and on about how this band has that kickin' 60's West Coast Psych-Folk but there's a lot more depth to their music. These guys are one of the few bands that can take what they've learned and praised from the past & make it their own. It seems that this band knows how to deliver themselves w/o forced placement of certain arrangements. Compare this to the Flying Burrito Bros. and Gram Parsons and you will find differences in lyrical and musical arrangements (of course the tones and pitches are similar but what isn't these days?).
Oh and I must add to the Brooklyn reviewers (2002)and those that share his/her perception to grab this analogy: Pavement is to Echo & the Bunnymen as The Tyde is to The Flying Burrito Bros.
Let's face it. All music is derivative. It's what you do with the style of the predecessor and how you use it to deliver yourself. That's what The Tyde (and of course Beachwood Sparks) executed so well on this album and on Twice. These guys are up there with The Shins and Can and Daniel Johnston on my ranking list! It's too bad they don't receive the large amount of credit they deserve as they're routinely referred to other bands. Wow, I guess our musical perspectives have become very shallow as Britney Spears, The White Stripes, and The Strokes maintain their interruption of our musical minds with their showcase of clothing styles and haircuts. Thanks MTV!!!!!"