EER-MUSIC.com HOME PAGE
Eric Alexandrakis - "Here Comes the Snow!" (Y&T Music)
Yet another Christmas album from the enigmatic Eric Alexandrakis. The opening
title track starts with some country-ish violins, but mainly has that quirky
pop sensibility of his other songs. As the violins show, Alexandrakis is
varying his sonic palette a little more. Note the female backing vocals,
accordian, and mandolin. All in all, a thoroughly delightful Christmas love
song.
Next up is "The Theme From the Motion Picture Stealing Christmas" which shows
that Alexandrakis might have a future as a soundtrack composer. The beginning
is total John Williams' "Home Alone," but Eric adds some signature touches
(like accordian), making this a wonderful, varied overture for any Christmas
occasion.
Lastly, there's a "Karoake Mix" of Alexandrakis's previously released "All I
Want for Christmas." It's another Christmas-pop (if that's a genre) masterpiece
and fun to sing along with for those of us who already know the song.
I don't really know why Eric Alexandrakis keeps releasing these curious, short
Christmas-themed albums, but they're always a delight for me, and hopefully
others will soon discover his quirky, charming music.
-Adam Murphree
Eric Alexandrakis (Y&T Music) [2001-ish?]
And here we have yet another mysterious, apparently untitled album from
do-it-all whiz kid Eric Alexandrakis. This disc features five songs, two
composed by Eric and three which are apparently covers of songs I've never
heard. Alexandrakis's own compositions come first, and display a typical
goofy charm and intelligence. "Open Heart Surgery," the first, uses a
multitude of heavily distorted instruments (including purposefully distorting
vocals) delivery an actually beautiful and catchy pop melody. It's an odd
combination, but that seems to be the point, and Alexandrakis pulls it off
quite well. The next song is a rather nice song in the purely pretty camp,
with only a few odd synth noises suggesting weirdness.
The first cover, Pascal Obispo's "Ou Et Avec Qui Tu M'Aimes" begins with
an odd, almost exotic organ part and Alexandrakis singing in French. As he
moves to the chorus, I suddenly realize that this is a really gorgeous song.
The processed vocals are still present, but the beauty of the song comes out
most of the time (there's also a super-heavy middle section). The fourth
song, Phillip Roebuck's "Little King," presents a more folk-like sound, with
some lovely falsetto vocals. Eric ends with Darren Hayman's "I Love Only You"
- a more uptempo hard rocker featured heavily processed EVERYTHING. Eighties
rock of such type is the best reference point, except imagine it played
through a rack of effects.
Eric Alexandrakis has put out another quirky album, all right. While
being extremely accessible, nothing else seems to sound much like these
bizarre little EPs he issues. Check them out. ~Job Dharma Murphree~
Eric Alexandrakis: I.V. Catatonia (CD, 71:15); Y&T Music, 4, 1999
E-mail: Angelpop72@aol.com
Cyberhome: http://www.sonicsmoke.com/ericalexandrakis.html
10 words or less: Psychedelic pop concept album by one-man band
Elaboration: The main sounds that are heard throughout this album are
the strumming of a processed electric guitar and Eric's voice. The concept
revolves around a period in Eric's life when he was hospitalized with Hodgkin's
disease. For me the album has an overall feel of what Syd Barrett might
have done if he had started in our post-New Wave era. I'm also reminded of
the more Popish-sounding songs from Porcupine Tree as I listen to this work.
The piece is laden with sound effects and there is some use of Bass Guitar
but no Drums to speak of and very little Keyboards. If this description
hasn't scared you off yet then I would imagine that you might appreciate
this album. ~ L. Perez
Eric Alexandrakis, (a different kind of Christmas album)
Well... this is certainly a different kind of Christmas album.
Alexandrakis's untitled album (EP? Maxi-Single?) features four rather unique
Christmas anthems. Eric (I'll try to avoid typing the last name again) did
literally everything on this disc, unless you count one of the pieces of
artwork on it. The music features a liberal use of samples and electronic
modification, as well as keyboards and vocals. The production is quite good
as these types of loner efforts go, although some instruments and voices
occasionally sound undermixed.
A song-by-song breakdown:
"All I Want For Christmas is You" - Beginning with some electronic sfx,
Eric breaks into a laid-back electro-drum groove before his vocals take over.
The vocals are quite good and confident, and modified in various ways in such
a manner that his humour (what's this about mind-control?) isn't initially
apparent. The song features a wonderful, sing-along type chorus complete with
sleighbells, continually building until the oddly powerful final refrain.
"Christmas on the Moon" - More delicate, complete with celeste-like
keyboards, this song is a good contrast and an equal to its predecessor. The
lyrics seem to be more overtly goofy, but the vocals are extremely quiet
initially, so it's hard to determined if he really is, for example, talking
about vampires.
"Santa Claus is Dead" - simply put, one of the funniest song's I've ever
heard in a long time. While the production isn't quite as good on this track,
the song is so hilarious any deficiencies are moot points. Chronicling the
mysterious demise of St. Nick, the song twists and turns and finally ends up
at a conclusion so ridiculous and silly I had to laugh aloud the first time
I've heard it. Worth the price of admission alone.
"Christmas Shopping Can be Stressful" - This is a disturbing sound
collage that, while rather interesting, feels somewhat out of place on an
otherwise lighthearted album.
Although not incredible musically, Alexandrakis's Christmas album is
simply too much fun to not have a hearty recommendation. ~Jon Dharma Murphree
GO BACK
RETURN TO:
To purchase this recording and get more info, soundclips, etc.
CLICK ON ARTIST'S NAME ABOVE
OR . . .
Please visit my BUY IT E.E.R. NOW INDEX PAGE
OR...
Please try my brand spankin' new EER and AMAZON.com QUIK-LINKs
buyer's guide to recommended music.
OR ...
go to my LINKS page and find the vendors' section.
Happy hunting!