TYLER KAMEN

Well, it's that time of year when things become a little more festive, and a tad bit scarier. Halloween is just one of those holidays that you cannot help but love. It is a holiday that I think is on par with Christmas in terms of greatness. It is a holiday you gotta take into effect, and so it'd come as no surprise that there would be Halloween- themed albums that'd come out this time of year. Most of them have some horror theme, but for me, Halloween is more than just horror, scares, or spooky nonsense. Halloween is also a very cheesy time of year, with dumb spooky horror monsters all about. So I figured to reflect the goofiness by reviewing an equally goofy album, that being a concept album by solo multi-instrumentalist Tyler Kamen, The Tale of Moon Hollow, and Other Ghost Stories.

The album starts with a song that fits for an introduction to what we get into, and that is The Tale of Moon Hollow. It is meant to effectively introduce the listener to the vibes of what this album has to offer, and by doing so they create a very good opener. It sounds like a mix between Phideaux and Eloy, with some space rock influence mixed with more poppy instrumentation, giving the listener this haunting yet tranquil energy. Not only that but Tyler's singing is very good, not as good as say Peter Gabriel or Jon Anderson (I mean who is?) but Tyler is consistently good in his pitches so listening to him is very enjoyable. I love how this song starts and ends, because it is quick to the point but takes its time to establish itself in my mind. It is a very effective Halloween-themed prog song that I love.

Funny enough the rest of the album takes stabs from other rock genres, not just progressive rock, which makes sense because a lot of horror movies had soundtracks with songs with varying genres, which I honestly dig. Stone Man has this fun 80s hard rock sound to it, similar to that of AC/DC or KISS. Unlike those bands, I do not get any cringe from listening to this song because it evokes that 80s Halloween horror movie feeling. This would play in an opening scene where a guy and his girlfriend are driving while listening to this song on their tape machine, but then soon crash and get killed by the evil serial killer. It has that perfect balance of cheesiness and good music that I cannot help but see as a plus.

This whole Halloween theme carries on with the rest of the songs but in different ways, such as with Waning Gibbous. The organ work here is the most recognizable element, featuring this almost child-like innocence, almost like it's some soundtrack for a kid's trick-or-treating adventures. Not only that, but the drumming having this very polyrhythmic sound just adds to the privacy Tyler provides in the music, making this extremely effective seasonal song.

Honestly, this album seems to just be doing a lot of highs for me, especially within The Doppelganger. This song is so fun, having this very Spock's Beard style of retro progressive rock mixed in with the more juvenile hard rock sound from Stone Man makes this song one of my favorites off here. I love the guitar sounds here, they just have this very fun and rich energy that sets the bar a tiny bit higher for this album. I think this song is most enjoyable when you get pumped up for what the album has to offer, and this album does reward you for being in the Halloween spirit.

Things do stay consistently good within Crooked Staircase. It goes towards a more atmospheric progressive rock, taking some slight notes from Steven Wilson's music from say Blackfield, but tweaking it to be festive. I love the emphasis on the atmosphere here, having this fun yet still cryptic energy surrounding it. I guess if the album cover was a song, this is what it'd sound like. It is fun, bright, and colorful, but contains a lot of passages that may sound a bit more dead than usual. Not only that it is the longest song here, being nearly 5 minutes long, which is a little strange since this is a progressive rock album, but Prog is still Prog no matter the lengths.

I guess my point on length follows Piper's Comet, which so happens to be the shortest song, only 55 seconds long. It is the only song on here where I didn't like it, well not liking is a strong way of saying it, how about I go with not adding it to my playlist instead? It is a fairly fine folksy tune, but it is too short to grab my attention. I think that is the album's biggest flaw. I think this album would benefit from some longer songs or even a long length of music. To me, 34 minutes, while not a bad run time, seems a bit too short in my opinion, and I think if they made Piper's Comet 1 or 2 minutes long instead of a measly 55 seconds could make this already really good experience even better it could make this a masterpiece.

Though, if you wanted a spooky folk song that Piper's Comet teased you with, Carolina Shade may do the trick. It has a more acoustic feel, with an emphasis on the acoustic guitar, though it does transition from an acoustic to an electric guitar the more the song goes on, so not fully folk, but I guess you could call it something similar to that of the music Jethro Tull makes with a folk feel, but still incorporates harder rock signatures. Fret not though because this song is still really good, with a lot of great riffs and instrumentation that I am impressed with, since this is all created by one guy, kinda like Tame Impala, but unlike Tame Impala who makes very generic psychedelic rock music, Tyler knows his footing and tries to exceed past his limits by making different styles of music to make his sound be both varied, and progressive.

Same Old Song does also show a variety of moods Tyler can put out, not solely sticking to cheesy Halloween- themed progressive rock but instead allowing himself to create different varieties of rock music. This more rock and roll movement where people would bring out their lighters and wave them around really resonates with me for some reason. This song and Closer To The Heart by Rush are prime examples of that type of music, where the melody is slow but still has an optimistic step to it. I may be a progressive rock nerd but I cannot help but like a good candlelight melody.

I always have a favorite song from any album I review (even the poopy ones) and this goes for this one as well. It's gotta be The Haunting of Mildred Tuttle, with just this very beautiful space rock energy pouring out of every pour, but still keeping up with the creepy sounds and vibes from the songs prior. I cannot stress enough how good this song's atmospheric tensions are. How the song weaves around these ideas Tyler had when he made this album, and how it plays into the magic while also creating its own let this be one of my favorite songs to come from this album, if not the best song from here.

I also really like A Ghost in Bethlehem too. It is a little shorter, but it still really gets the job done. It reminds me a lot of the early Porcupine Tree, which I think is a great way to divide the two feelings for Halloween, the mystery and the cheesiness. This balance between the two sides is very greatly captured on this record.

The last song of Dime a Dozen with an 80s-styled hard rock song like Stone Man, and like Stone Man it does that style of music well without making me cringe. The album began with cheese and ended with cheese.

I love this album, while it may be a bit too short it is still consistently good. I highly advise listening to this for your Halloween night, because it is one of those albums in which the varying styles found here work to the album's benefit, creating something best reserved for those spooky seasons. A frighteningly cheesy album.