Sour Echoes of Past Glory(The Red Eye weekly:The Sitting Room Weekly Column)
by Anne Brown


Hello again, Gentle Readers, and welcome to The Sitting Room.

It is the nature of all things that what we know of beauty will eventually fade away. Paint fades, stone wears away from the wind and rain, and the most heavenly voices pass into memory.

This is the case now, for the recording studio Eternal Echoes. The studio passed from the ownership of Mr. Michael C'teau in early May of 2010 to new hands. Sadly, under the new ownership, the vaunted expertise and critical ear of Mr C'teau has not been present.

Recently, Eternal Echoes recorded a new project for local talent "The Jotun", a four piece band covered in our Octorber issue. The Red Eye's own musical critic, James Thorne, sat with me and discussed the band's newest LP "The Frozen Heart of Us"


James, thank you for coming to speak with us today.

"No problem, Anne."

So, remind us of The Jotun and tell us about this new Album.

"My pleasure, Anne. As you may remember from my earlier review. The Jotun is a punk/progressive group that has come out of the ozark/plains state scene just recently. We saw them at HorrorFest '09 here at Mary Magdalen hall, or what the locals call Magpie Hall. Their energy and vibrance on stage made them an instant crowd pleaser. Their sound was both fresh and reminiscent of past greats. And the contact they made with the crowd At first, I was thrilled at the idea that they would be cutting an LP, as we were told in February."

At first? Sounds like you changed your mind?

"Unfortunately, Anne, that is exactly the case. On my first listen, I knew something was wrong. A second review just reinforced my initial suspicions. The recordings just felt flat. And while any studio recording is going to be missing crucial elements of a live performance, I have never heard a disparity like I experienced in "Frozen Heart". While all the parts technically mesh perfectly, there's something missing in the mix, something raw that should define this bands recording efforts as well as it's live offerings."

"I hate to say it, but if I were a major label talent scout, I would not give Jotun's "The Frozen Heart of Us" a second listen, which is really a terrible shame."

But do you really think that this is the fault of the studio?

"Absolutely. Frozen Heart is the first outing after the new management took over. Comparing it to an album produced at Eternal Echoes previously, say Switch Hitter's "Concrete Crucifix", the differences in production quality and expertise are glaringly obvious."

"It's a shame, really, to see what was fast becoming Lamar's premier recording studio fall in quality so quickly."

Thank you, James, for your unflinching, if unfortunate, critique.

"Thank you for having me, Anne."

And thank you, Dear Readers, for joining us again,

here,
in the Sitting Room.