Every day press releases including new music show up in my email inbox. Each is listened to and perused for two things: that it music worth sharing and that it is tied to the local scene here in Chicago. Today, I listened to and perused Los Angeles based Maston. Maston fits both this criteria and the added bonus that he is playing a show in Chicago Friday, March 22nd at the Empty Bottle.
Maston is signed to Trouble in Mind Records, an independent label formed in 2009 and based in Chicago. His latest release “Shadows” is music that is pure and intertwines brass, harp, woodwinds, organs and piano mix with “haunting melodies and eerie guitar lines.” Maston plays each instrument on the album himself with the exception of the harp. “Shadows” was recorded naturally through true analog gear and without artificial studio created sounds; a rarity in these technologically driven recording times. This is music you can see. His video for “Messages” is described as:
A traveler with not much time lost in a desert experiencing a nuclear winter. Messages sounds as though the music was scored to the film, rather than the traditional form of album production. Background vocals howl as the man in the tyvek suit presses on in the storm. The alignment of film and score are in balance and it culminates with a jangly send-off as the man tosses his receiver to the ground and loses hope.
The album works as a whole and Frank Maston has a unique understanding and appreciation of the historical musical tradition of 1960’s Los Angeles. Think albums of the Haight-Ashbury, Sunset Strip bands. Maston’s official Facebook page lists artists like Burt Bacharach, Ennio Morricone, Phil Spector, and The Beatles as a few of his influences. His music is epic movie soundtrack like and is a definite fit for a story told by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and even the late, great Stanley Kubrik.
For more information about Trouble in Mind Records and the music of Maston, visit one of these official sites:
Trouble In Mind Records: www.troubleinmindrecs.com/bands/maston.html
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mastonmusic
Sound Cloud: www.soundcloud.com/maston
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