1..Perpetrator & Instigator online magazine by Dick Metcalf Zzaj Tony Stoufer - ONE SWELL FOOP: One of the joys of doing this magazine over the last decade (or so) has been the discovery (through my contacts in the D.I.Y./HOMEMADE music scene) of talent others haven't heard yet... so that I'm, like, in CONTACT before the "movement" arrives. Guys my age are often mired in biz-nezz muck to th' level that they don't even realize there ARE exciting new talents out there. Well, Tony Stoufer is one of THOSE, people! Title track is a KICKER, electronic swirling, beat-centric rawkin' that'll have you tappin' yer' fingers AND yer' toesie-wosies! This is HEALTHY electronic music, draws immediate comparisons (for me) to my long-time musical partner Harlan Mark Vale. Tony has an intimate knowledge of various rhythmic structures, clearly expressed in nods to various genres, but these original toonz' are ALL his. Though there are ballad sequences, his playing is HIGH ENERGY all the way through. Many of the tracks are danceable, as well, but equally suitable to just kick back & listen to. Didn't spot a bit of drony stuff. If you enjoy music that comes from a soul at ease with itself, you'll followup on my recommendation - this is MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Contact at Absolute Obscurity, 1616 Brandee Lane, Santa Rosa, CA 95403, on the WWW at AbsluteObscurity.com or via e-mail to ptfinch@juno.com Rotcod Zza 2. In Music we trust online zine by Sonya Brown One Swell Foop is the electronic cd just released by Tony Stoufer. This is certainly not a style of music that I normally listen to; but I found it an agreeable variation from my normal listening traditions with its well thought out combinations. One Swell Foop is a contemporary work, and it lends itself well to creating a soothing listening ambience. Especially the more ethereal tracks such as "Artifacts", my favorite track on this CD. Tony states, "I hope music like this can be looked at like a stand alone piece of art. Like a painter who works on the painting until it's done, then moves on." A lack of vocals often makes me think "background music"; however I found One Swell Foop to be a modernistic piece of work that is different from the commonplace, and well put together. Real audio samples of One Swell Foop are available at AmazingCDs.com, Peoplesound.com TheOrchard.com, Cdnow.com and Amazon.com. 3.Mental -online reviews TONY STOUFER * ONE SWELL FOOP (ABSOLUTE OBSCURITY) 53 US stations are currently giving TONY's songs on this ambient friendly noise release airplay. That can only mean this CD has something special that makes it a winner worth some attention. Some of TONY's influences are: TODD RUNDGREN, THOMAS DOLBY and ULTRA MARINE. Several music listeners have told TONY his music sounds like WILLIAM ORBIT material, and he agrees, though he made his music before discovering that particular artist. What is this guy 4 . Starvox Online magazine by Mike Ventarola The cover art and title should tip listeners right off that this work is anything but formulaic or predictable. Stoufer combines some rather unique electronic panorama’s that borrows from a multitude of genres in order to create rather avant garde hybrids. Classifying the work as purely electronic would surely be a disservice since the work is electronic but it is so much more. "One Swell Foop" is a play on the expression one fell swoop naturally, and creates a landscape that is equal parts of jazz, dance, psychedelic and a myriad of others as well. The opening track is only a foreplay of the twist and turns the artist intends us to experience. the pulse beat of multifarious genres. Many of the titles were given new spellings to subtly emphasize that the body of work within the confines of the CD are anything but traditional. Many of the tracks would work as dance tunes, yet the stunning thing is you can also just sit and listen to it. Tony Stoufer is in the same company as Deep Forest in many ways, and fans of that artist should really give his work a sampling. The songs are all convoluted to the point of creating new genres that eschew classification. Stoufer’s work would fit well on so many types of radio stations from jazz, dance, electronic, R & B, world beat, and new age without ever being classified as any one of those. That diversity alone stands as a testament to the creative muse which inspires the artist to make music that no one has done before or since. 5. Spyderbytes online zine by David J Updyke Tony Stoufer: One Swell Foop (absolute obscurity - 1999) (8.2) Warm, sweet analog electronics are lovingly layered and impeccably arranged into light-yet-dense mixes which are heavy in a distinctively '70's vibe without actually going full-blown retro. With tropicana percussion tapping a steamy tattoo. Particals of Light swings into a cheesy lounge groove (and don't get me wrong... cheese can be good, as evidenced here). Hazy guitar sounds drift across Nudie Suit which picks up a strutting bassline that could have been lifted from a 1977 stag film. Sustaining a cool progressive build-up, The Magnificent Catastrophy (6:17) mines the same semi-funky territories and is similarly somehow-antiseptic, as all-synthetic music can sometimes be. More subdued, though powered by breaking beats, Artifacts detours into semi-tribal areas with wispy flute strands and a drippy rhythm. Smooth-yet-drummy No Direct Sun radiates at a leisurely pace with rippling guitar, blippy keyboarding and light piano explorations. The most experimental track is the closing piece, Politician's Love Song (2:18) in which distorted, muffled voices