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02/28/05 - San Diego Reader Review Response Printed in the "Letters" Section Deaf Critic
I've often found Ms. Montgomery's CD reviews unnecessarily harsh to local musicians. That said, I am sure she gets a lot of horribly recorded homespun crap to sift through. And of course, reviews are, by definition, subject to the tastes of the writer. So considering that, I had previously put my skepticism of her critical talents aside. But Mary missed the mark on this one. (Note to editor: please resist the urge to use this alliteration as the header to this letter. No need to resort to such clichéd journalism.) The problem here is, the mere act of publishing a critic's opinion gives it an air of credibility. This is no longer a random opinion; it is "professional" insight esteemed enough to be worthy of print. Unfortunately, in this case, it's also dead wrong. Atom Orr's Asterisk was my hands-down favorite record of 2004. After eagerly awaiting major-label releases by the likes of P.J. Harvey, Mike Watt, and Björk (all of which, while artistically adventurous, were ultimately disappointing), I was pleasantly surprised to find the best recording of the year was released by a local artist. Expertly engineered, Asterisk is reminiscent of Beck in its blending of organic and looped sounds. Filled with pop hooks woven through fantastic arrangements, Christopher Hoffee's singing voice is strong and rich supported by great songs such as "Smoke Machines," "Little Birds," "F*cked Up" (hey, there's that asterisk the CD title refers to), and "Vinyl Fingertips," all of which I would much rather hear pouring from my radio than the schlock being spoon-fed to us by corporate radio. Of course, that's just my opinion. But it balances out the words of a tone-deaf critic. And if printed, these words will carry a weight beyond that of my meager voice ranting in the living room and assume immediate credibility. Right? Right? But hey, don't believe me. Buy the album and decide for
yourself.
08/04/04 - Komakina Magazine (Rome)
Asterisk -
Italian Version~
Atom Orr Ë un cowboy che richiama sonoritý rock anni 7o (Got the
green), mixati con una sana regolare attitudine indie
targata usa. Chitarre fuzz distorte mischiate con
piacevoli riff acustici suonati forti e veloci. E naturalmente ci scappano un
paio di buone ballads (F*cked up, Little Birds), con tanto di godibili yeah yeah
della voce, rancida e arrogante, piazzata proprio lÏ di
fronte a Te, se ascolti il tutto con le cuffie. Si tratta di un certo
Christopher Hoffee, sua Ë la one-man band, - e proviene da un altro
gruppo indie rock locale, - a quanto leggo, di nome Fivecrown.
Sembra che questo side-project sia la scusa buona per dar
sfogo alla sperimentazione e altre chimiche a Lui nuove.
Suoni digitali e batterie fuse con armonie melodiche, a volte anche facilmente
accostabili a un'area mainstream (Shovel, Seventy). E quando pensi che sai giý
cosa
09/15/03 - Cristy - Score! Music Magazine
Admittedly some of these lyrics are so abstract theyíre almost comical, but Christopher Hoffee utilizes words much like painters employ hue and photographers take advantage of shadow - to create an indelible impression. I found myself drawn into the dusky black and white, shades of grey, over-exposed, washed out colors of his big-screen image, the 8 mm frames clicking through the antiquated projector with desperation. A beautiful example of an ambiance album, itís no surprise these songs are being licensed for film scores. Iím still not sure what all the ìGreen Cornî refrain means though.
07/24/03 - Mary Montgomery - San Diego Reader
Noir -
No longer a "chrysalis in doubt," Christopher Hoffee, a.k.a. Atom Orr, has emerged from the radio-friendly pop/rock cocoon of his previous album Wake, with the abstract sounds of Noir.
With Noir, Hoffee parts with much of his mass-accessible rock ditties by mixing both electric and acoustic into something a little more darker and more dangerous. On this album, Hoffee' s vocal abilities are fully explored against the backdrop of bare acoustics on top of ethereal harmonies. From the indie pop of "Atom Age of Monsters" to the driving power chords of "Chrysalis in Doubt," each track is daring in its own right. In the alternative rock/electronica ballad "Blue Fairy Syndrome," Hoffee sings, "White Brilliant light/ long white fingers touch my face. Clarity's lost. There's no erasing me...horrifically wonderful/ and acrid wish. Things won't ever be the same. White brilliant light, 'til the stars sputter out. Don't tarry." Death and night fill the album, but Hoffee approaches both without guile, giving credit to intrepid musings that have otherwise been dismissed.
Wake and Noir appear to be the Jekyll and Hyde of Mr. Hoffee' s persona. The diversity is impressive, but Noir is the more uncharted, and therefore more interesting. Hyde, in the this case, is the seducer. Listeners, if for nothing else, must give Hoffee credit for innovation. One wonders what he will come up with next. Divinity?
07/17/03 - Mary Montgomery - San Diego Reader
Wake -
Christopher Hoffee, former lead singer/guitarist of alternative rock Fivecrown, has gone solo with current music project Atom Orr, releasing two albums simultaneously, Wake and Noir. The first album Wake, is similar to Hoffee' s previous work with Fivecrown, though this is probably because each of his former band mates makes an appearance. Hoffee calls the tracks on Wake "pock" - a personal word used to classify his version of pop rock. The 11 songs all have soaring guitar riffs and catchy melodies set to medium tempos. Every track retains standard alt-rock stability with a radio-friendly backdrop - strong vocals, heavy guitars, solid drumming, and some wicked melody lines holding it all together. Nothing stands out as unique or even slightly risky, and most tracks, although riddled with lyrical intricacies, could be easily dismissed as pabulum for any alternative rock radio station.
The highlight of the album is "Happy Accidents", a straight alt-rock ballad softened by a pop chorus. In it Hoffee sings, "Can't seem to shrug off the patron saint of disinformation." Hoffee has substance behind his music. Wake will definitely appeal because of these components, but when Hoffee emerges from his alt-rock safety zone with Noir, things get interesting. More next week.
Why Two is Better than One: Atom Orr, Wake and Noir
04/09/03 - Nella Pregoski - Rockcrit
Speaking of crap-agories, these two albums most surely wont fit into the same one. For the sake of the categorically restricted, Hoffee calls the tunes on Wake "pock," yet another word to classify what is basically pop rock. In other words, Wake's songs use medium to snappy tempos, heavy and hooky distorted guitar riffs, verse-to-chorus song-structures, catchy melodies, quietly whispered to thrashing loud dynamics. There's really nothing on Wake that jumps out as defiantly unique or bravely risky. As the press bio says: "every song you could hear on the radio." This is true. Marsha, Queen of Diamonds is a good example of Hoffee' s radio friendly songwriting. Mildly moody and pretty guitars lie beneath a vocal melody that fails to challenge notions of what pop rock can be, and the chorus stalls on some Beatlesque chords, drawing the woman's name and diamond reference together into a full nod toward the Fab Four's tribute to LSD. And the lyrics lean toward narcotic surrealism as well ("crystalline flow, she's six sheets to the wind"). It's getting harder each year to swallow songs sung by men about some "she" out there with a personality that, by virtue of the song's description, we can only assume is a bit of a pain in the ass. Lucy alluded our tripping bug-men without loosing their respect, but Marsha's allusive nature ("a swift love") seems only to inspire disdain in the narrator ("she wears lipstick like bugs on a windshield, everything to wear, but no where to go"). Pretty radio friendly. The rest of the tunes on Wake all hold up nicely within this radio friendly framework. Really good singing, nicely recorded guitars, damn solid drumming, some fine bass lines sitting beneath it all. It all works. But damn it all, this is a new era, a new millennium, a new season! So, thank the man who invented Fritos that Hoffee recorded Noir alongside Wake. First of all, let me espouse a theory I have: people become that which they do, shaping themselves by actions, literally molding themselves by merely participating in this or that act. Go to jail, you'll be acting like a prisoner in no time. Win a million dollars, you'll be acting like a millionaire damn soon. Write rock songs that could all be heard on the radio...well, you get it. But when "every song could be heard in a movie" something else happens. I love it when something else happens. On Noir, Hoffee has entirely shed the pronoun 'she' that littered Wake. There's just no room for such banal pronouns on a non-pock record. Here we hear Hoffee' s vocal talents showcased properly as he moans and groans and wavers on aimlessly about "snow." Or the brilliant Green Green Corn in which he invites the far more intimate pronoun "you" to "lie in the green grass and dead leaves, and we'll let the bugs crawl on our skin." Life (green grass), death (dead leaves), and the intermediaries between life and death (bugs, whose turds I assume are helping the cycle of life keep swinging) inspire an earnest "let me in, let me inÖ" from Hoffee. No giant riffs here folks, just some acoustics behind haunting harmonies. I'm thinking a collaboration between REM and The Butthole Surfers might sound like this, and very likely no better. The rest of the songs manage not to wash into each other. A Theremin appears on Atom Age of Monsters; arpeggiated synths over acoustic guitars on an unlisted track 11 actually work without sounding 80's retro; Blue Fairly Syndrome (track 1) and Lake (track 5) share an identical panning electronica sonic element reminiscent of an Atari game [yeah yeah, I know it's an indie-rock clichÈ to mention vintage video games]; the gently swinging tremolo on the guitars of Deadly Nightshade. Getting the picture? There's something else going on here, something risky, daring, and downright pretty. Back to my theory: we are what we do. A close look at these two records is really interesting, right down to the choice of pronouns. The simultaneous release of these two albums forces the question of how much a genre imposes its norms on an artist? Willie Nelson wrote about Native American rights on one record, and he was immediately shoved out of the country bins and into the folk bins. He broke the code lyrically, so off he goes. Want to write a country record?--then get your lyrics off the reservation. Think of my own clichÈs that crop up just because I'm writing rockcrit: measuring innovation, looking for something else, saying Hoffee sounds like two other bands combined. I can barely help myself. One wonders how conscious Hoffee was of the rules of genres as he wrote these records. I bet he didn't count pronouns. I applaud Hoffee for releasing two very different records simultaneously. If I had only heard the radio friendly Wake, I'd have bagged Hoffee up with the rest of the rockers and gone on my way. Noir leaps up and says, "hold on, there's more." The sad part, though, is that I'd have to guess he's still more likely to strike gold with Wake than with Noir. And this is years after Radiohead. Damn industry. ________________________________________________________
"Halogen" from "Wake" and "Seventy" from "Asterisk" has been added to the CRN Across Australia Show!
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