I cant say much about the artist here outside of the fact that he was involved in another project of his called The Robot Ate Me which I have heard of but not really heard. I cant even remember how I came across these recordings now that I think of it. Just something I stumbled across while wandering the never ending maze of the internet. I am referring to a release that is sold primarily as a collection of four 7” vinyl records packaged in fancy limited edition fashion and I would absolutely love to own the collection of records but at 50 dollars for the basic package its just a bit too rich for what I can pay. Why he chose to release it this way is sort of strange to me but I’m sure he had his reasons. I love the idea of limited vinyl releases and the special feeling you get holding this object full of music that only a hand full of other people in the world also hold but it’s not often they cost so much. Enough bitching, what about the music on these fancy little plastic discs?

The short of it is that I think its fantastic. Minimal, straightforward structures are a dime a dozen these days with the million other independent musicians out there trying to make their voice heard in this sort of subtle way but few really shine through the rest. Its why I started this blog here after all... It’s is a wonderful collection of songs where you will find the instrumentation sitting politely in the back of the mix while Ryland’s vocals sit up front and center pulling you into the songwriting with a subtle force that you hardly notice unless you pay attention. The often relatively short songs are split into four little collections of music, one on each of the records and numbered simply Seeds 1-4. I find myself gravitating towards the first disc and the fourth for reasons I cant fully explain, they just connected with me in ways that the other two did not do. I am a fan of simple, honest lyrics that walk along the border of coming across cheesy or over simplified and the lyrics here do a marvelous job of this and give you plenty of moments where you may find yourself nodding with a small smile thinking “yeah... I know what you mean” and its that simple connection that often feels good in this kind of music right?

The songs are available in a few different ways on his website which links to the site that sells them so I will keep things simple and send you there if you are interested in hearing or seeing more. Also, I have posted a video below as well featuring one of the songs and from what I gather, with the vinyl packages you get a collection of videos to watch as well which I wish I could see but so it goes.

Artist Site

Tags: Ryland Bouchard