Ashley Reaks - Melancholia
http://www.ashleyreaks.com/

Artist, musician, and comedian Ashley Reaks is a man of many interests, and this comes across on his album Melancholia - an interesting blend of ominous musical backdrops over African and Indian influenced beats, with a bit of punk thrown in for good measure. Imagine Nine Inch Nails if a mellow Trent Reznor took interest in world rhythms.

To keep things from becoming dull, Reaks has included a few tracks that go in unexpected directions. There are three instrumental tracks on the album that all sound as if they are drawing from different genres respectively, but are still excellent nonetheless. There are also the songs which would have to be likened to spoken word. On these tracks, Reaks recites prose eloquently, if somewhat perplexingly, over mesmerizing grooves. Amongst these She Burns stands out with its Indian-style trills erupting between Reaks’ stanzas.

Melancholia is perfect for a person suffering from just that. Ashley Reaks has crafted an album of mellow, calming sounds, excluding I’ve Got Everything (That Nobody Wants), which blares during the middle as the most obvious example of his punk influences yet. If this album doesn’t spur some sort of positive emotion, then it probably wasn’t heard properly and deserves another listen.

Coren J. Cogdell