ONOFFON

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The ONOFFON SSP of the Day is from a gentleman in Germany - an artist that goes by the name Harmonic Obsession -ONOFFON - Various tracksReviewed by Thomas Wolff, GermanyRating: 10.00 "This stuff is UNIQUE! Nice'n direct sounding recording, discriminating performance. This music can hardly be organized to genre-drawers. Listen to "SHADOWGLASS" and...yes the groove/changes come in smooth(-Jazz) always. But the music is far away from what most Smooth Jazz listeners rate for. Too intelligent arrangements and composition, too much focus on sound and expression, too big the readiness for risks (Guitar solo), too outstanding the musicians skills. And "YOUR MIND" as Acid Jazz? Imagine a King Crimson merger with Manhattan Transfer, conducted by the eldered Frank Zappa. Don't get me wrong. Here's nothing to criticize. I am happy to be hit by pure excitement!"Thanks to Thomas for this amazing review - I've always loved the phrase, "King Crimson merger with Manhattan Transfer, conducted by the eldered Frank Zappa" - what an honorable analogy...

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Great Britain brings us today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day - Eleusis Progressive Rock PagesONOFFON - Surrender NowReviewed by Keith Marshall"ONOFFON are essentially a three-piece, bass, drums and guitar, with the guitarist handling the vocals and the bass player doubling up on keyboards, based in California. This CD is an entirely independent release by the band, and has good sound quality as well as showing a diverse range of styles, mostly blues and jazz-influenced, although the overall combination is at least as well suited to the progressive stage as anywhere else. Since each track exhibits a slightly different style from the previous, it's actually quite difficult to review. The overall feel, if there is one, brings to mind a rather unholy combination of Sting and Jeff Healey, with a definite laid-back West Coast feel built in. It's a bit too blues-influenced for me, as a whole - as with Cream I could never quite get to grips with the really deep blues stuff, yet I liked a lot of their material - it's a similar case here. Your Reality is a case in point - it is very definitely a blues song, with overblown blues vocals and a repetitive lyric to match, but it has a darker edge and an unusual arrangement which make it a bit more interesting to me. The title track, however, is much more jazzy and harder to pin down. Inside My Soul is a soft, simple ballad, with the emphasis on an electric piano riff - probably the least progressive track here, but not too much out of place. Please Baby Please wouldn't be too far out of place on a John Lee Hooker album! Letter Received is similarly blues-inspired. The two longer tracks at the end both start off with 4 or 5 minutes before building into proper songs - the former is a quiet guitar ballad which is quite nice, while the latter is more discordant, atmospheric and original, building into something the Ozric Tentacles might have turned out, then becoming more progressive. The tracks I haven't mentioned yet are probably the best - The Gift Must Always Move is a nice instrumental jazz improvisation, very subtle and quiet but always moving forward, building nicely at the end with some very understated lead guitar, again in a Steve Hillage/Ozric Tentacles style. Rock Garden is the one track which melds most of their styles into a progressive whole. In summary, I'm still not quite sure what to make of this album. The musicians are undoubtedly talented, and some of the songs are really good, but I have a very low tolerance for blues I'm afraid, so the Jeff Healey-style vocals really put me off certain tracks. When they get away from that they have a nice, gentle, jazz-inspired progressive style which could really develop into something given time. The Hillage/Ozrics style is yet another string to their bow, which might bear some development."Thanks very much to Keith for taking the time to really get into what we're trying to do. Very interesting viewpoints and more comparisons - Sting, Jeff Healy, Ozric Tentacles - interesting...

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ONOFFON's SSP of the Day comes from a wonderful artist from Florida, Preston Parker and his lovely lady, Sunshine -ONOFFON - "Weekend in Montreal"/"Please Baby Please"Reviewed by Preston Parker"ONOFFON - Mardi Gras seems to be the popular favorite and for good reason, but I must say that Weekend in Montreal is our favorite. That horn, my gosh, not just technically right on, but such emotion is conveyed. So many different song styles combined into one piece... I just don't have words to express how much we like this song and how much you should listen to it! From quiet and melodic to wildly frenetic and back again and again and again. Quite a trip. All the work on ONOFFON's page has the same gorgeous musical, technical and emotive quality, but this one stands out to me from the rest. A totally different song Please Baby Please makes me smile. Quite a bass line and fun small percussion. Vocals fit the mood perfectly. Great harmonies and a hooky chorus. A perfect example of how each of ONOFFON's pieces is totally different from the last, making listening a real adventure. You don't know what you're going to hear next, but you know it'll be the best of the best."Our thanks to Pres and Sunshine for such wonderful words - we truly appreciate the compliments...

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Another Indie Review Zine provides today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day -The Indie ZoneONOFFON - Surrender NowReviewed by Dave Magnuson "One thing is for sure about ONOFFON... The music style is definitely hard to classify. This trio combines to create a jazzy, funky, jam band. With the help of several supporting musicians, Don Lake, Von Babasin and Dave Goode have compiled a collection of intricate and diverse songs. I particularly enjoyed some of the really soulful harmonica and sax sections that really compliment the sound of the band. Songs range in style from jazzy lounge songs to rock ballads, to a smooth shuffle or wild groove. What I really liked about this album is the length of some of the songs. Some well written jams - the album clocks in at just under 70 minutes for 11 tracks, so you can imagine how long some of the cuts are. If you're ever in the Studio City California area, be sure to look up ONOFFON, this very talented and professional sounding band will most definitely put on a good show."Thanks to Dave for another excellent review...

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Well - as ONOFFON's SSP of the Day for April Fool's Day, I thought I'd do something a little different. Not all the reviews we've received are excellent (duh?!), so I thought I'd post a dissenting opinion. Funny how, even though this starts out slamming us - it still reads like a pretty darn good review. Happy April Fool's everyone -GeekstarONOFFON - Surrender NowReviewed by Nathan Levi"Well, well, well. I get to do two reviews this month!! One on a good CD and one on ONOFFON's new release called "Surrender Now." No please, don't hurt me, I surrender.Haven't heard of this band? I haven't either. From reading the information on the CD cover, they're from California. So, that shows that Geekstar is getting some attention outside of Colorado Springs and I'd like to thank the band for thinking of us. But, to be honest, I think a contemporary blues magazine or even a classic rock mag would be a better place to get this disc reviewed. One thing I have to hand to these guys is that they have incredible talent. They're awesome on the guitars and seem to be musically ambidextrous with all of the other sounds like the keyboard and harmonica, not to mention the sax which is becoming rare in today's music. The guys' voices are also superb but the female backup vocals could use some work. They should sound a little more integrated into the lead vocals and complement the lead vocals, not compete with them. I feel like Craig Kilborn of the Daily Show, "It's time for 3 Questions." 1. What's my favorite song? Well, that's a tough question since I didn't really like any of them but I'd have to say that "Please Baby Please" is my fav. I think I heard it in a movie or something. Yeah, I think I did. The scene involved a chocolate lab, a rainy day in New York, a small cafe, hot coffee, and some scrambled eggs after a night of drinking and a new found love for an ex-girlfriend after a fight. Go figure. "Please Baby Please" has some cool knee slapping sounds and simple yet cool acoustic guitar riffs. It makes you wanna shake your head from side to side. 2. What does the CD sound like? Hell, I really don't know. This CD seems to deal with odd topics like codependency and other mid-life crisis topics. I don't usually listen to the "lite rock" or "easy listening" genre of music so I don't really have a basis for comparison. My dad who is 41 liked it though and overall he has surprisingly good taste in music. 3. Does the CD sound like a local recording? Well, I'm not up on the local status of this band but I'm assuming they are local otherwise they wouldn't have sent the CD to us. The recording sounds great. You'd never know it was local. The guys obviously spent time making sure everything was perfect before it was put on CD. I've actually been impressed with the sound quality on all of the local CD's I've heard. It must take work making everything sound good especially on what I'm assuming to be slightly inferior equipment. Let's face it, local studios aren't gonna be as nice as say Sony or something. Well, ONOFFON's CD "Surrender Now" isn't the best CD I've ever heard but it's certainly not the worst. As I'm sure you've all guessed, I'm not a huge fan of this genre of music and you can see that I don't know too much about it by reading this mediocre review. But please, don't let this dissuade you from at least listening to this CD. The guys of ONOFFON: Don Lake, Von Babasin, and Dave Goode, have talent and definitely deserve at least five minutes of your time. There's no information on the CD about how to contact the band so your best bet would be to get in touch with Craig Decker and he'll hook you up with what you need to know. ONOFFON's "Surrender Now" makes me want to keep fighting and hear the next one before I surrender."Alright Nathan's Dad!!!! Nathan didn't like us, but he says we have incredible talent and superb voices - and that visual on Please Baby Please is one of the best we've ever received. I think the jury is still out on this one...

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ONOFFON's SSP of the Day is a very interesting view of the blend of musicality and commerciality in our music - after all, you can't alienate the listener, can you?ONOFFON - "Mardi Gras"Reviewed by Manfred, producer "Hi there! L.A. based ONOFFON deliver a mixture of Salsa, Latin and Jazz of superior quality that I have ever heard in this genre. Excellent musicians and outstanding arrangements make ONOFFON an exceptional Act to who it's fun to listen and dance. While showing impressing craft and being a consummate master of it - the soloists as well as the rhythm group - ONOFFON never let the listener get lost in complicated sound or composition structures as to what the musical description may easily lead one's opinion in the first place. ONOFFON understand perfectly how to combine superb musicality with simple-sounding music. And that is definitely what makes ONOFFON exceptional." - ManfredAs an artist - you try to find that balance between artistic satisfaction and commercial appeal - it's a difficult balance to achieve and not an opinion shared by a lot of listeners of our music - sincere thanks to Manfred for hearing that quality in us...

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Today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day comes from a gentleman who ran a group of radio stations within the Mp3.com community -ONOFFON - Various tracksReviewed by MR LOCUST "An incredible blend of jazz rock and soul, Onoffon portray's a blend of music in an original and modern way that brings them to the frontline in the future of music. They have firmly made there presence felt through out the mp3.com artist community and in many other artist communities as well, and in fact have made an impressionable mark on my personal musical favorites in an overall of all levels and styles of music. They display a unique blend of jazz rock that is totally unique diversified and modified to fit the modern music era , pure ingenius, and is one of my favorite bands as an all around fan of various styles of music. All should give a listen , and i am sure you will not be dissatisfied in what you hear. simply they ROCK !!!!!!!"Thanks to Mr Locust for his look into the future of music and how we might effect it...

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A respected jazz artist from Kansas City gives us today's ONOFFON SSP of the Day -"Weekend in Montreal" by ONOFFONReviewed by Chris Burnett "Veteran online group, ONOFFON brings a nice brand of jazz fusion online. The recorded composition which is subject of review here is actually arranged in epic fashion with dramatic introductions, theme, development and interlude. The music is performed by excellent musicians and recorded in a studio. Tenor saxophone carries much of the melodic and improvisational load here. The support provided by a dynamic and sensitive rhythm section of guitar, bass and drums provides an adventurous backdrop to this song. Listening to this selection by ONOFFON just may bring back musical recollections of such cutting edge groups like: Flim and the BBs; and even, "keyboardless" Return To Forever when Joe Farrell was on sax. If you like jazz fusion grounded in the foundation, check out ONOFFON."WOW!!!! Anytime anyone mentions a group like Return to Forever, even as a remote comparison, I am completely honored. I certainly appreciate Chris' contribution to our archival history on the internet...

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The ONOFFON SSP of the Day is from an actual print magazine called Art Rock, a Scandinavian Progressive Rock magazine - our review appears on a page next to a review of King Crimson - cool!Art Rock MagazineONOFFON - Surrender NowReviewed by Mattias Noren"ONOFFON ar en mycket spannande amerikansk trio som spelar nagon form av jazzig omvaxlande progressiv rock. Gruppen bestar av Don Lake (gitarr, sang och munspel), Von Babasin (bas och sang), samt Dave Goode (trummor).Musiken ar mycket omvaxlande och intressant. Rejalt jazz/bluessvang i latar som "Surrender Now" och "I Don't Give No" vaxlas med smekande laidback i "Inside My Soul" och "The Gift Must Always Move".De tva avslutande sparen, "If A Thief Were I" och "Remember Only" pa 11 respektive 12 minuter, ar de klart mest progressiva sparen pa platten och de hor ocksa till mina favoriter. Framforallt den sistnamda av dessa visar vilka kvaliteter bandet har att gora god progressiv musik.En mycket trevig bekantskap och jag ser fram emot bandets nya album som redan ar langt framskridet i utvecklingsprocessen."Unlike the previous foreign language reviews we received, I actually have a translation for this one -"ONOFFON is a very interesting three piece band that plays some kind of jazzy progressive music. The bandmembers are Don Lake (guitar, voice and harmonica), Von Babasin (bass and voice) and Dave Goode (Drums).The music styles change alot and does never get boring. There are some jazz/bluesinfluences in songs like "Surrender Now" and "I Don't Give No". And there are some really soft and wonderful laidback in "Inside My Soul" and "The Gift Must Always Move".The two last tracks "If A Thief Were I" and "Remember Only" on 11 and 12 minutes are definitely the most progressive on this album, and they are also my favourites. Especially "Remember Only" shows that this band really has a lot of qualities in doing progressive rock.A very nice debut and I'm really looking forward to hear the bands second CD that is being recorded right now."Thank you Mattias for a wonderful review and magazine...

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ONOFFON's SSP of the Day is from another print magazine - this time it's from The Music Connection -The Music ConnectionDemo CritiquesONOFFON - Your Mind"Arty with a huge, capital A. Onoffon's disc is a challenging, hit-and-miss mixture of funk, bebop, and lounge-pop, glued together by Don Lake's straightforward vocals, as on the opener, "Your Mind". This is not a CD for everybody, certainly, but there is a high level of musicianship here that, combined with dynamic, unpredictable material, makes for an entertaining listening experience. Some of us felt that this kind of thing - especially the instrumentals - would perfectly complement a quirky, independent film project."We'd certainly like to thank The Music Connection for their views of our music - interesting that we have managed to put our music into a dozen film and video projects already, with more in the works...