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Ok so, whereas The Foo once was a very large audiophile and a pretty geeked out audio engineer - the Foo also digs some wild and crazy adventures in lo-fi. And the sounds of Carissa Plumm (aka..HereIAmWorldTada), are just that. Wild, crazy and lo-fi. The wild part of her music is that she sticks to her guns through the songwriting process. Even though she lists some influences of note - her style remains unique and true to herself. The Foo would have to say one of the strongest aspects of her writing is her ability to churn out some good lyrics. Her words go from descriptive to conversational in one swift movement. So this So Cal girl sings about the sailors, the ocean and getting lucky. One second describing the scene and the next she is moving through a brief conversation with someone. The words are really easy to listen to with no fluff or extras. As if every line were carefully thought through and all the needless extras were tossed out.
Now since Foo always loves to comment about the audio, we must remind the readers that this is lo-fi. For one reason or another, Plum's recordings are void of anything considered high-tech; think old school Tascam or Fostex four track at best a Shure SM57. In the background, the rhythm section is almost completely done with a keyboard that closely resembles one of the older Casios. Overall, most of the parts are mixed with good proportions, It's a bit off in spots but, at this level of quality - it just ads to the romance.
Lastly, Foo must discuss Plumm's vocal abilities. For the most part her vocal skill is natural and she has a good handle on projection and delivery. Her tone can be punchy and almost shrill in spots, almost Yoko-esk (but, not those shrill noisy um..tunes). Foo feels there are just a few spots in these recordings that are just a bit off, sliding up to the tone instead of being sure about it. As a suggestion, Foo would suggest the old piano training tricks from his days in the dojo. 1)Sit at a piano, play the middle C - guess the the intervals - play them to see if you were right (this is usually made easier if you can remember a song like "here comes the bride" or "happy birthday". 2)have a friend play middle C and then another note, with your back turned, guess the second note/ name the interval. It's like sight reading, just do it for five minutes a day for a week or two.
All things aside, Plumm's music is catchy and fun - at moments it feels like she's actually trying to get the listener to sing along. If you're a songwriter, or you just like a good song, you probably won't mind the low-fi. As far as Foo in concerned - Foo just likes the fact that she's getting it on tape.
FooStats(out of 10):
Audio Quality: 4
Originality: 8
Spicey factor: 4
Chops: 6
Total: 22
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