DARRYL BLOOD

Displaying a pedigree that stretches through the best of the last thirty
years of singer-songwriters, former (and only) Tiltmaster member Darryl
Blood is all technique and melodic proficiency, his songs rich in economic
variants of warm welcoming piano pop and sad swaying balladry. As such, he'
s a classicist, layering the perfect pop of "Happy Today" in soaring horns,
twinkling xylophone, and a generous helping of piano bounce (something akin
to an out-take from the Zombies' Odyssey and Oracle sessions), his thin,
nasally voice adding an underdog charm to the arrangements. Most of the
release's eight tracks are of a far less optimistic nature, though, with the
sad melodica line of "True Hearts" and dark guitar solos of "Moral Lies"
forming the brokenhearted backbone of the album. One moment nodding to Beck
over the swampy psychedelic folk of "Stool Pigeon," the next with George
Harrison smirking through the stately slide guitar lines of "Unsettling
Sweet," Blood succeeds while skirting the edge of forming a distinct music
personality. At this point, he's still largely working from the shadows of
more notable talents, but he demonstrates ownership of enough of the raw
intangibles that experience and slightly more lavish recording budgets might
some day push him over the top, making This Isn't Goodbye likely just the
first hello for Darryl Blood. (Matt Fink - 9/16/03) - SKYSCRAPER #15

In 2001 I gave Swan Girth, the solo album of Darryl Blood AKA Tiltmaster a
positive review to say the least. He's now back with This Isn't Goodbye, an
almost equally spellbinding and melancholic affair, but this time under his real
name. In terms of atmosphere he's still in a similar place as when we last met
him, but this album is more optimistic and favors bolder arrangements over lo-fi
aesthetics. But what's more important is that Blood still lets us glance at his
innermost. It may be from afar but when Blood sings that his heart is true you
actually believe him and those that don't melt upon hearing the wonderfully
circling slide guitar lines and murmuring cello of the infectious mid-tempo
"Unsettling Sweet" don't share my affection for combined folk and indie pop.
The rest is not quite as irresistible although the trumpet-induced opener "Happy
Today" gets very close. But there are enough folk nuggets hidden under thin
cloths of pop and indie rock gestures to make this memorable for reasons way
beyond the album's rich instrumentation (guitar, cello, banjo, harmonica, piano,
bass, trumpet and drums. (By Mats Gustafsson - 7/31/03) - THE BROKEN FACE

Shedding the Tiltmaster moniker and broadening his scope, This Isn't Goodbye is Darryl Blood's first album released under his own name. Recorded just prior to moving to L.A. from Boston, Goodbye has a bright, expectant feel. Even during the more bummed-out moments, such as on "True Hearts," a song about being broke and in love, Blood's hopefulness shines through. On "Moral Lies" (a different version of a song from the last Tiltmaster album) -- despite a forlorn cello sawing away and the brooding chorus, "Don't you write me off" -- Blood seems genuinely excited by his feeling of abandonment. This irony of happy/sad is mirrored musically by the pairing of classic pop and folk traditions on nearly every track, and most obviously on "Stool Pigeon," which pits banjo against a harmonica riff straight from "Love Me Do." Indeed, this isn't goodbye: the album shares many of the strengths of the final Tiltmaster album, and there are no bold, self-conscious departures here, but This Isn't Goodbye is definite step forward in terms of focus and maturity. (Jason Nickey - 7/16/03) - ALL MUSIC GUIDE

Formerly known under the moniker Tiltmaster, singer/songwriter Darryl Blood has chosen to give his own name a chance for his second solo album. Recorded with a band consisting of Boston-area friends, Blood has put together a fine batch of songs that represent his taste in music. Crafting a style mixing pop, indie rock, folk and country, Blood is really coming into his own as a solid songwriter, in comparison to the work on his inferior yet still enjoyable past effort as Tiltmaster. This Isn’t Goodbye rarely misses its mark, consistently blending sweet harmonies and heartfelt words with all sorts of arrangements that feature banjo, piano, cello and harmonica. He hits strides that bring Wilco and a less dramatic Ryan Adams to mind, whilst able to create moments of pop that could rival Elliott Smith. At eight songs, it seems a bit of a lacklustre effort as a full-length album, but what is here stirs up enough contentment for the time being. (Cam Lindsay - 7/4/03) - EXCLAIM! MAGAZINE