Really beautiful, love the experimental stuff going on throughout with the vocal
author: Jonny Forbin
Love the instrumental of the first track at the end. I really like the epic feel of it, and how you go into spoken parts. Also, great beats/grooves and piano hooks throughout, "Out Of Nowhere" (first track) is a gorgeous song. Also really like track 3, awesome jazzy melodies, love that chromatic thing sung on that track. I totally hear a Zero 7/Sia influence throughout the CD, definitely a good thing!
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Eloquently put, extremely well recorded, remarkable craft.
author: M. Dilliott
Free Time struck me as being most like 2 EP's onto a single disc. The contents of this CD could easily be 2 versions of a limited release single that some bands seem to be into. Aside from that, Melissa's music is very beautiful, very well written. Specifically, the arrangements are approriate and well timed and layered, however not predictable or cliche'd. Her influences are detectable but not overt. It is obvious from listening to this CD that the recording and writing were very much in Melissa's hands, -the recording is really quite remarkable: the mix is well toned, even, neutral, and appropriately produced, but all of the instrumentation is captured to a remarkably true degree, -unlike a great number of other recordings who rely on production and studio manipulation to make their sound.
I greatly look forward to an album from Melissa Axel, and if it is written and arranged/produced anything like Free Time, I think we will hear work from this artist well into the future.
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Melissa Axel has a pretty voice and plays piano quite well.
author: Amy Lotsberg
The first five songs are vocals and piano, with some extras thrown in as well. The rest of the CD is some funky instrumental stuff that is part techno, part orchestra. It's nice background music. "Clave Moon" and "Aurora" have some especially funky sounds. "Clave Moon" in particular sounds like it ought to be used as a film score. "The Worth Of Things" is a really cool piece, probably the best one on the recording, in my opinion.
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Recommended: Melissa Axel's music is lovely and has a lot of substance.
author: Anna Maria Stjärnell, Ectophiles' Guide to Good Music
Melissa Axel has a sweet voice and an eclectic approach to songwriting. This ep has four vocal tracks that are all strong and six instrumentals. I prefer the tracks with words, but that's more a personal preference than any real criticism. Those songs are still intriguingly made. This is a wonderful record.
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