333maxwell - Dream Girl

Hear The Track Here

Doesn't seem possible that I've only known Chas Holman (aka 333maxwell) since 2007, it feels like he's been around a lot longer than that. Mind you, there is a reason for that. I consider myself a fairly prolific musician but this guy seems to be endless, and in an infinite number of musical varieties too. Out of the twenty or so tracks of his I have reviewed, covering a huge chunk of genre swapping, a large number ended up being Must Have's and that should give you an idea of the respect I hold him in. On a further point, during the time he has been around Soundclick, 333maxwell has also become an extremely active member of the forum community (especially in the Critics Corner) where he is doing sterling service. And that, believe it or not, isn't what most people are here for - more's the pity.

But don't get me started on that.

My children joke about how life was black and white when Daddy was young, and in many ways it was, but 333maxwell has come up with another one to torture me with. When I was young music only came from one speaker, and was recorded that way too. Stereo was an extreme rarity then and monaural (mono) was the norm. 'A mono mix of a little song in my head' we are informed is the subject of this track and - to be honest - it didn't bring back any awful memories. Not that I expected it too because a lot of the early mono stuff had its own special quality, but from a recording standpoint it was incredibly limiting.

Some of that can be glimpsed here and there throughout Dream Girl; a product of too much 'bouncing down' but - as with those early tracks - it doesn't detract from the whole. The song itself could have been lifted out of the back pocket of Sir Paul (I'm the cute one) McCartney in his more lachrymose periods. Speaking as someone who positively believes that the song Mull of Kintyre is the Spawn Of Satan, I didn't find Dream Girl as teeth-clenchingly twee as some of his Sir'ships output. For me, 333maxwell scores big in two areas; jazz and his tendency to mimic (almost eerily) several Beatles and on this track, he mixes them both with great skill. Of course, its mono and the problem I've mentioned early merely concerns the clutter at certain points and unnoticeable to most, who will just hear a song that sounds surprisingly like.....err.......you know.......that guy....

Period perfect pop rock. MUST HAVE for achievement.