MusicTalks
12/08/08, 11:00 AM
Represent! - The Dive Right In EP
Record Label: None
Release Date: May 12, 2008
This has been quite a year for many things musical. We finally got the twenty-year overdue record from Guns N' Roses. The Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana became, with brut force, common household names. Digital music sales are up while overall music sales continue to slide. Cher and Celine Dion stopped touring – I think. But, more than anything, I will probably remember 2008 as the year of the vocoder. Seriously, it seems like there wasn’t much music made this year without the use of one of these machines. Okay, I joke. Kind of. What used to be something that was sampled here and there has become something that entire albums are made up of. Kanye West went emo with his lyrics and synthy with his use of the vocoder & auto-tune for his latest album. T-Pain has had the most number one singles and appeared on some seventy-plus songs over the last year – all with the use of a vocoder. With the emergence of the million of three word bands in the pop/punk/party/dance/electro scene, the use of the vocoder has multiplied exponentially. So, it doesn’t surprise me that Represent! (made up of one person, Jared Kocka) released the vocoder-dominated The Dive Right In EP.
The usage of vocoder is a tricky business, but for the select few, it has paid off. And while Kanye’s album, 808s & Heartbreak, sold some 450,000 copies in the first week, the reception to the album has been mixed, to say the least. While a vocoder (and auto-tune) sounds cool on a record, it can also be used to mask the fact that someone can’t sing. So, it’s tricky knowing when to use it and when not to, especially if you have a good singing voice. Such is the case with Represent!. Jared Kocka does have a nice, melodic tone to his voice, but when masked with a vocoder, who knows? To his detriment, and despite the genre of music he makes, I feel that the vocoder didn’t pay off.
The EP starts with a cover of Phantom Planet's “California.” This is, by far, the best track on the album. It helps that I think that Seth Cohen was one of the funniest characters on television and I loved "The O.C.," but the song’s beats and use of the vocoder are top notch. The next two songs (also covers) “Love In This Club” - originally by Usher - and “When You Look Me In The Eyes” - originally by (gulp) the Jonas Brothers - are what you would expect to hear when they are transformed into a pop/synth/electro/vocoder sound. I never liked the Jonas Brothers’ song so hearing it covered didn’t make me like it any more this time around. The Usher cover is average, but it does have a nice bottom beat in it. After the three covers, the EP loses all steam and completely runs together. The problem with dance/electro music is that it will all start to sound very similar, if not carefully constructed. Despite it’s simple (and, at times, cheeky lyrics) the last song, “Fresh Won’t Define,” is a strictly acoustic song and showcases Kocka’s pleasant vocals. There isn’t much substance to the EP, so I feel as if it is rather empty when all is said and done. With that said, I had no desire to listen to the EP again, except for maybe Kocka's reworking of “California,” which only makes me want to watch "The O.C." again.
a vocoder, a synthesizer, a cover of “California,” and a little taste of acoustic vocals
myspace.com/represent952 (http://www.myspace.com/represent952)
Record Label: None
Release Date: May 12, 2008
This has been quite a year for many things musical. We finally got the twenty-year overdue record from Guns N' Roses. The Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana became, with brut force, common household names. Digital music sales are up while overall music sales continue to slide. Cher and Celine Dion stopped touring – I think. But, more than anything, I will probably remember 2008 as the year of the vocoder. Seriously, it seems like there wasn’t much music made this year without the use of one of these machines. Okay, I joke. Kind of. What used to be something that was sampled here and there has become something that entire albums are made up of. Kanye West went emo with his lyrics and synthy with his use of the vocoder & auto-tune for his latest album. T-Pain has had the most number one singles and appeared on some seventy-plus songs over the last year – all with the use of a vocoder. With the emergence of the million of three word bands in the pop/punk/party/dance/electro scene, the use of the vocoder has multiplied exponentially. So, it doesn’t surprise me that Represent! (made up of one person, Jared Kocka) released the vocoder-dominated The Dive Right In EP.
The usage of vocoder is a tricky business, but for the select few, it has paid off. And while Kanye’s album, 808s & Heartbreak, sold some 450,000 copies in the first week, the reception to the album has been mixed, to say the least. While a vocoder (and auto-tune) sounds cool on a record, it can also be used to mask the fact that someone can’t sing. So, it’s tricky knowing when to use it and when not to, especially if you have a good singing voice. Such is the case with Represent!. Jared Kocka does have a nice, melodic tone to his voice, but when masked with a vocoder, who knows? To his detriment, and despite the genre of music he makes, I feel that the vocoder didn’t pay off.
The EP starts with a cover of Phantom Planet's “California.” This is, by far, the best track on the album. It helps that I think that Seth Cohen was one of the funniest characters on television and I loved "The O.C.," but the song’s beats and use of the vocoder are top notch. The next two songs (also covers) “Love In This Club” - originally by Usher - and “When You Look Me In The Eyes” - originally by (gulp) the Jonas Brothers - are what you would expect to hear when they are transformed into a pop/synth/electro/vocoder sound. I never liked the Jonas Brothers’ song so hearing it covered didn’t make me like it any more this time around. The Usher cover is average, but it does have a nice bottom beat in it. After the three covers, the EP loses all steam and completely runs together. The problem with dance/electro music is that it will all start to sound very similar, if not carefully constructed. Despite it’s simple (and, at times, cheeky lyrics) the last song, “Fresh Won’t Define,” is a strictly acoustic song and showcases Kocka’s pleasant vocals. There isn’t much substance to the EP, so I feel as if it is rather empty when all is said and done. With that said, I had no desire to listen to the EP again, except for maybe Kocka's reworking of “California,” which only makes me want to watch "The O.C." again.
a vocoder, a synthesizer, a cover of “California,” and a little taste of acoustic vocals
myspace.com/represent952 (http://www.myspace.com/represent952)