| Kelley Stoltz — Que Aura (Aug. 11th, 2017) |
Kelley Stoltz — Que Aura (Aug. 11th, 2017) 
♠•♠ San Francisco singer~songwriter and longtime purveyor of melodic, lo~fi indie pop.
Born: 1971 in Michigan
Location: San Francisco, California
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock, New Wave/Post~Punk Revival, Neo~Psychedelia
Album release: August 11th, 2017
Record Label: Castle Face
Duration: 43:21
Tracks:
01 I’m Here for Now 3:23
02 Tranquilo 3:57
03 Get Over 4:09
04 Feather Falling 3:45
05 No Pepper for the Dustman 3:44
06 Looking for a Spark 3:36
07 Same Pattern 5:19
08 For You 2:49
09 Possessor 4:19
10 Walking Against the Greenlight 4:00
11 Empty Kicks 4:20
℗© 2017 Castle Face
About:
♠•♠ Extra fine songwriter and longtime bedroom~pop auteur Kelley Stoltz delivers on the promise so many of his records slyly hint at. Que Aura is the platonic ideal of a Kelley Stoltz record, which is a very exciting thing indeed. Stoltz embraces his best synth~pop tendencies, with this incredibly self~assured set of tender tunes, combining in his own hangdog fashion both a disco~lit abandon and the attendant post~party sighs of dread and remorse.
♠•♠ Great songs come out of Stoltz at an alarming rate on any given day but this particular collection is some of his most effortlessly catchy stuff yet. Ennui under the disco lights suits him very well — there’s a hearty sip of Pulp~ian white Brit shimmy with a wink, a dash of Fleetwood Mac’s cynically professional late ‘70s sheen, and even a spritz or two of Echo and The Bunnymen, which should surprise no one who’s noticed Stoltz has been playing guitar with McCulloch and Company for the past year or so. This record cements Stoltz’s place in the power~pop pantheon where he belongs, right between Dwight Twilley and Martin Newell. Let the Hall of Fame know!
AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra; Score: ****
♠•♠ When Kelley Stoltz made the jump to Castle Face with his 2015 album, In Triangle Time, he got weird. Or maybe he already was. Either way, something about the way time and space coincided meant that Stoltz made the loosest, oddest record of his long, mostly buttoned~down career as a pop craftsman. He added synths, played around with structure, and made choices he may not have in the past. For his next album on the label, 2017’s Que Aura, Stoltz took another leap, this time a deeper dive into the sounds of his beloved ‘80s. Long an Echo & the Bunnymen fan to the point where he recorded his own version of Crocodiles, their debut album, Stoltz actually joined the Bunnymen as their touring second guitarist. This gig seems to have unleashed something within Stoltz, and along with his trademark ’60s~inspired shaggy pop, there are side trips into space rock, warped synth pop, epic Echo~y psych, and even some off~kilter disco. Through it all, Stoltz’s way with a hook means that no matter what sounds he dresses the songs in, they are always one sharp hook away from slicing up the speakers.
♠•♠ Slick, keyboard~heavy tracks (“Feather Falling”) and insistent synth~driven songs (“Same Pattern”) sound just as good as the jumpy rockers (“I’m Here for Now”) and oddball pop tunes (“Walking Against the Greenlight”), and even the total left turn, the slinky disco number (“Empty Kicks”) ends up sounding really good (and a little like the Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street”). Stoltz has always been a first~rate arranger and producer, but with his last couple records he really seems to have hit his stride. Que Aura is the richest, most diverse, and interesting~sounding album he’s done yet, with the songs to match. It might be easy to overlook someone who’s been making solid music for as long as Stoltz has, to maybe take him for granted a bit, but doing that would be a mistake and one would miss some truly fun, weird, and inspired modern pop.
Also:
By Ljubinko Zivkovic / Rating: 8
♠•♠ https://soundblab.com/reviews/albums/18924-kelley-stolz-que-aura
Website: http://www.kelleystoltz.com/
MySpace: https://myspace.com/kelleystoltz
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kelley-stoltz
Discography:
≡• The Past Was Faster (1999)
≡• Antique Glow (2001)
≡• Crockodials (Late 2001)
≡• Australian Tour LP (2003)
≡• The Sun Comes Through EP (2005, Sub Pop)
≡• Below The Branches (2006, Sub Pop)
≡• Circular Sounds (2008, Sub Pop)
≡• To Dreamers (2010, Sub Pop)
≡• Two Imaginary Girls 7” (2012, Les Disques Steak)
≡• Double Exposure (2013, Third Man Records)
≡• In Triangle Time LP (2015, Castle Face Records)
≡• 4 New Cuts EP (2015, Stroll On Records)
≡• The Scuzzy Inputs Of Willie Weird LP under the pseudonym “Willie Weird” (2015, Stroll On Records)
≡• Que Aura (2017)
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| Kelley Stoltz — Que Aura (Aug. 11th, 2017) |
Born: 1971 in Michigan
Location: San Francisco, California
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock, New Wave/Post~Punk Revival, Neo~Psychedelia
Album release: August 11th, 2017
Record Label: Castle Face
Duration: 43:21
Tracks:
01 I’m Here for Now 3:23
02 Tranquilo 3:57
03 Get Over 4:09
04 Feather Falling 3:45
05 No Pepper for the Dustman 3:44
06 Looking for a Spark 3:36
07 Same Pattern 5:19
08 For You 2:49
09 Possessor 4:19
10 Walking Against the Greenlight 4:00
11 Empty Kicks 4:20
℗© 2017 Castle Face
About:
♠•♠ Extra fine songwriter and longtime bedroom~pop auteur Kelley Stoltz delivers on the promise so many of his records slyly hint at. Que Aura is the platonic ideal of a Kelley Stoltz record, which is a very exciting thing indeed. Stoltz embraces his best synth~pop tendencies, with this incredibly self~assured set of tender tunes, combining in his own hangdog fashion both a disco~lit abandon and the attendant post~party sighs of dread and remorse.
♠•♠ Great songs come out of Stoltz at an alarming rate on any given day but this particular collection is some of his most effortlessly catchy stuff yet. Ennui under the disco lights suits him very well — there’s a hearty sip of Pulp~ian white Brit shimmy with a wink, a dash of Fleetwood Mac’s cynically professional late ‘70s sheen, and even a spritz or two of Echo and The Bunnymen, which should surprise no one who’s noticed Stoltz has been playing guitar with McCulloch and Company for the past year or so. This record cements Stoltz’s place in the power~pop pantheon where he belongs, right between Dwight Twilley and Martin Newell. Let the Hall of Fame know!
AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra; Score: ****
♠•♠ When Kelley Stoltz made the jump to Castle Face with his 2015 album, In Triangle Time, he got weird. Or maybe he already was. Either way, something about the way time and space coincided meant that Stoltz made the loosest, oddest record of his long, mostly buttoned~down career as a pop craftsman. He added synths, played around with structure, and made choices he may not have in the past. For his next album on the label, 2017’s Que Aura, Stoltz took another leap, this time a deeper dive into the sounds of his beloved ‘80s. Long an Echo & the Bunnymen fan to the point where he recorded his own version of Crocodiles, their debut album, Stoltz actually joined the Bunnymen as their touring second guitarist. This gig seems to have unleashed something within Stoltz, and along with his trademark ’60s~inspired shaggy pop, there are side trips into space rock, warped synth pop, epic Echo~y psych, and even some off~kilter disco. Through it all, Stoltz’s way with a hook means that no matter what sounds he dresses the songs in, they are always one sharp hook away from slicing up the speakers.
♠•♠ Slick, keyboard~heavy tracks (“Feather Falling”) and insistent synth~driven songs (“Same Pattern”) sound just as good as the jumpy rockers (“I’m Here for Now”) and oddball pop tunes (“Walking Against the Greenlight”), and even the total left turn, the slinky disco number (“Empty Kicks”) ends up sounding really good (and a little like the Grateful Dead’s “Shakedown Street”). Stoltz has always been a first~rate arranger and producer, but with his last couple records he really seems to have hit his stride. Que Aura is the richest, most diverse, and interesting~sounding album he’s done yet, with the songs to match. It might be easy to overlook someone who’s been making solid music for as long as Stoltz has, to maybe take him for granted a bit, but doing that would be a mistake and one would miss some truly fun, weird, and inspired modern pop.
Also:
By Ljubinko Zivkovic / Rating: 8
♠•♠ https://soundblab.com/reviews/albums/18924-kelley-stolz-que-aura
Website: http://www.kelleystoltz.com/
MySpace: https://myspace.com/kelleystoltz
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kelley-stoltz
Discography:
≡• The Past Was Faster (1999)
≡• Antique Glow (2001)
≡• Crockodials (Late 2001)
≡• Australian Tour LP (2003)
≡• The Sun Comes Through EP (2005, Sub Pop)
≡• Below The Branches (2006, Sub Pop)
≡• Circular Sounds (2008, Sub Pop)
≡• To Dreamers (2010, Sub Pop)
≡• Two Imaginary Girls 7” (2012, Les Disques Steak)
≡• Double Exposure (2013, Third Man Records)
≡• In Triangle Time LP (2015, Castle Face Records)
≡• 4 New Cuts EP (2015, Stroll On Records)
≡• The Scuzzy Inputs Of Willie Weird LP under the pseudonym “Willie Weird” (2015, Stroll On Records)
≡• Que Aura (2017)
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