steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
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info opinion

Tom Rowan

"Aoi Cho / Blue Butterfly" CD single

self-released

Genre: pop, hip-hop

June 2008

Many artists will waste their efforts on a full album, spreading their talent around and thus increasing the risk of filler songs making the cut. Tom Rowan, however, has a different philosophy, and has instead focused all of his attention on one song. Hence we get the "Aoi Cho / Blue Butterfly" single, which is two versions of one song, although the differences between them are negligible - even their durations are identical. We start off with a sample of Japanese women talking and then move straight into Spanish Santana-style guitars and hip-hop vocals - the combination is distinctly reminiscent of Scapegoat Wax. The comparison is nailed in deeper by the unintentionally goofy rapping by El Greco. Overall, this is a decent bit of songwriting and production, though the tacky cover art and derivative nature of the song's "sound" take away from the experience.

tom rowan's myspace

62%

Fun Fact: This record's CD Baby profile is a goldmine of awful promotional blabber. A particularly hearty mouthful reads: "A melodic soulful and heart felt style that eases the challenges that the heart endures"

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 2 tracks, 10min, distributed by CD Baby, released 2007]