New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The artist of country-electro music known as New Noland has released his debut full-length album, "Revival Core." The record is comprised of 14 original (very original) tracks for an approximate total playing time of one hour, making for a broad and comprehensive introduction to this remarkable recording artist. "Revival Core" is not just an introduction to Noland himself, though, but also to the new style of music he seems to have created. This newborn subgenre has no official name of its own, so the term 'country-electro' has been used, being the term Noland himself has coined to describe his unique style of music. While the striking hybrid nature of the music is enough to warrant attention from audiophiles, the genuine quality of its southern revival sound is sure to make Ned Noland's "Revival Core" a jukebox favorite on .mp3 players around the globe.
"Revival Core" uses digital instrumentation for drums and percussion and widely varied effects. Some tracks, like "Laser Show," use nightclub-style sounds to offset the traditional western flavor of Noland's music, while his drums sometimes sound live, other times more android and industrial. Meanwhile, his flawless live instrumentation includes acoustic guitars, electric guitars, slide guitars, banjos, accordions, and much more. His vocals are in the Hank Williams vein, tinged with revivalist chorales and lyrics inspired by bluegrass traditions.
His lyrical themes are not traditional, however, and "Revival Core" bears a great deal of humor. With cleverness and wit Mark Twain would very much approve of, Noland comments on how Cindy brought the devil with her to town, how post-apocalypic American survivors will hole up in Walmarts for shelter, and how he's going to leave the USA for amusing reasons anyone could sympathize with. He suggests in his bio that among other sorts, his music is likely to be popular with "[doomsday] preppers, survivalists, anti-gov. types, truckers, zombies, and Christians." His cover of "
Telephone" by Lady Gaga, also included on the album, absolutely closes the deal.
This is not to say that Noland's album is all goofiness, however. It is not. Songs like "Fall" are stunning in their emotional profundity, and tracks like "Pavement Princess" are pure musical power with funk and groove to spare. All of his lyrics are carefully, brilliantly penned, but many tracks such as "Goddamn Sake" have socially conscious and philosophical themes that are heart-attack serious, involving such topics as
Jim Jones and mass hysteria in general.
In short, "Revival Core" is a stop-everything-and-press-play-right-now record in every way. It makes for fantastic casual listening in the background, and is even better when listened to intently with nothing else going on.
"Revival Core" by Ned Noland is available online everywhere, and can be sampled in its entirety at his official website, nednoland.com.
The LP "Revival Core" is distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com) and is available at iTunes or www.top40-charts.com for convenient purchase and download.
