Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Interesting organic beep-beep music. An updated Strange Advanced. Nicely produced.
Some dark wave electronics, real drums, and Marc Almond cabaret. Better than most. - HybridMagazine.com
Conjuring up the feeling of being curled up on a cool leather couch in a dim lounge, languidly sipping your favorite cocktail while eyeing the other patrons with a seemingly indifferent facade, Bluetoxin feels at once both deliciously sexy and detached.
Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, Bluetoxin's members are bent on tearing down the genre barriers. The gently rasping vocals of lead singer Tim Gregory are dreamy meanderings punctuated by the electronic ministrations of David Lingg (keyboardist) and precise guitar-work provided by Karl Hester and bassist Jason Blevins. Chris Zymanik completes the group, rounding out the band's sound with steadying drum rhythm.
The closest I came to pinning down the sound parents of Bluetoxin's groovy downtempo rock was taking Massive Attack's sound, kicking Horace Andy and Sinead O'Connor to the curb, grabbing Ed and Dean Roland from Collective Soul, and tying Trent Reznor down and making him pop a few Valium for vocals. Voila! You have something that sounds musically complex and daring, yet takes time to really seep into you via aural osmosis and give you pause for musical reflection.
"This is a War" introduces a chill feel with minimalist synth melodies that crash into aggravated electric guitar, where "Break" features simple percussive elements and haunting keyboard chords that set the mood for an emotional soliloquy. "Numbers" hits hard with its heavy guitarwork imbued with darkness and cleverly placed lyrics. Flawless electronic elements intermingle with the rough growl of rock guitar to make this album a welcome musical departure from mainstream rock.
On the flip side, there's no question as to why this band's debut release was titled Written in Code. Bluetoxin has a tendency to feel a bit disjointed -- with stilted, dreamy lyrics that are fraught with slippery meaning and some vocal melodies that scramble for a hook. Otherwise, this band is pure listening pleasure.
- Kelly Marshall - www.rocket-fuel.com
bluetoxin has appeared on the XM Unsigned "Radar Report" for July 2 and July 9. For more details, see the Radar Report at:
http://www.xmradio.com/pdf/radar07_05_04.pdf
- http://unsigned.xmradio.com
"Bluetoxin has at their disposal the most inexhaustible supply of paint on the palette with which to construct their aural landscape that I've ever been astounded by. Bluetoxin has so many tricks up their sleeves that I could observe the forty-five minutes encompassing the debut disc twice my standard tri-spin and still be encouraged by unforeseen soundbites."
-Stone Scruggs
Music Monthly - January 2005 - Music Monthly
"The compilation of music presented in the debut cd from the Baltimore based band "bluetoxin" intrigues this listener from track one. This is not mainstream (thank god!), this is not pop, this music is hard to place in any specific genre, much to the credit of Bluetoxin. If I were to categorize it I would say it is kind of a downbeat-trance-dark ambiance with lyrics sort of thing... "
- Jim Long
Phoenix Revolution - Phoenix Revolution
Discography
written in code (LP, released 2004)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
What is bluetoxin? Paradox. Apparent contradiction. It's in the name: organic calm inspired by cool solitude and countless antidepressants, flushed against a wasteland. The beautiful intrusion of nature and progress. But sandpaper on skin doesn't have to hurt; for bluetoxin, it's part of the sound.
bluetoxin blends experimentation with basic pulse. Drawing on their writing, performing, and producing turns in bands across the country, the members of bluetoxin (Tim Gregory, Karl Hester, Chris Szymanik, and Dave Lingg) brought their varied backgrounds and talents together in 2003 for the common goals of making music and blurring genre boundaries. But can the crunch and spit of neopunk rock guitars cozy up to Massive Attack-like grooves, set against a backdrop of drum-n-bass/electronica influences? That is what bluetoxin strives to find out.
Indeed, they continue to shake the cocktail with influences like Radiohead, the Pixies, Elbow, and Portishead. All while putting the mundane under the microscope to pick apart its extraordinary components. "This Is a War," the first track on their debut CD, written in code, focuses on an explosive obsession with entitlement and gratitude for small favors. And bluetoxin isn't afraid to point the contrarian's light in their own direction: "Zeros and Ones" laments society's overdependence on technology while "Numbers" celebrates the comfortable refuge some take in logic and pattern.
What is bluetoxin? The simple answer is that there is no simple answer. They are musicians who exploit the mercurial qualities of music and human nature.
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