dcallen - Once Upon Another Time

Hear The Track Here

David C. Allen, to give him the fully monty, knows a trick or two. dcallen's long involvement with Soundclick is evident by the amount of review references he throws up if I do a search on him. Although he's certainly been LESS active on Soundclick, he has been around elsewhere, and has even delivered a couple of musical suprises along the way. Although I've always liked his solo style from the very first track, the tracks that stand out for me just lately have both been collaborations. So it is kinda nice to get to hear some newer stuff from the man himself.

Posted just at the end of August, this is still smoking it's so new. I'm not such a big fan of his more mellow work but I do find this guys ideas interesting and his sound and production knowledge keeps up its end too. Kinda weird then that Once Upon a Time has that 'showroom demo' feel about it that many keyboard manufacturers use to demonstrate their wares. Of course, in the hands of an old master like dcallen, the usual cheesiness is squeezed out by his ability to string a decent track together.

It has to be said though - for this reviewer - I thought the sounds used were well on the cheey side, and now Dave is going to tell me he made every sound himself. Sorry, mate, but it doesn't sound like that. Nonetheless it will please his SC fans no end to hear something new even if its decidedly retro in feel. Even so, if you live with it a while, you might find it grows somewhat on you, it certainly did with me. Whether I'll get to keep it is dependent on whether I can eradicate the memories of its inherent cheesiness.

Strong, layered instrumental but merely an interlude for this artist.