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It was in July of 1975 when Bob Dylan gave Lo-Fi music one of its biggest boosts with the release of The Basement Tapes. The music was real; it was raw and it was an artistic experience. It's been over thirty years and Lo-Fi has another boost coming. However, this time it's not Bob Dylan - this time it is Mike Wilson and Neutral Drop's latest release entitled Lost Love and Broken Dreams. So you long for some relief from today's world of slick and over-polished sounds? Mike Wilson and Neutral Drop have created precisely what you need - aural authenticity wrapped up in lucid and imaginative sound-scapes.
Lost Love and Broken Dream, - put simply - is "perfect imperfection." It follows on the heels of the success of Neutral Drop's two prior releases; the self titled Neutral Drop and Falling. Mike Wilson began his journey into the Lo-Fi sound with nothing more than a four-track recorder and a collection of late night recordings. For Wilson, the magic is blending genres of Industrial, Folk, and Rock into sound-scapes within the Lo-Fi paradigm. Wilson, who is the main songwriter on most of the tracks, has a knack for capturing creativity in ways most other artists wouldn't even dare attempt. He attributes some of this to pure stubbornness. Wilson says, "I have had more than a few times when people have told me you can't do such and such in a recording, only to come back a few days later and ask me how I did it!"
With ten new tracks, Lost Love and Broken Dreams draws a lot from the real life experiences of Wilson. The album reflects his interest in the Goth scene while growing up in Chicago, and is the reason for including cover songs such as Cure's "Cold" and Joy Division's "New Dawn Fades." For Wilson, these songs were almost a sound track from his past and they set the whole mood for the album. Influences from artists such as Pink Floyd, Beck and The Beatles are very apparent throughout the album. Wilson's gift of creating a sound-scapes and visual imagery is displayed perfectly with artistic poise in "Everyone is Sleeping." Still not convinced? Then cue the cover of "Suicide is Painless." So you need aural authenticity? You want to boost your Lo-Fi experience? Then you need Neutral Drop's perfect imperfection, moody introspection, and a copy of the new release of Lost Love and Broken Dreams!
- Indie Ezine
Discography
Neutral Drop - 2002
Falling - 2004
Lost Love And Broken Dreams - 2008
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Bio
Power pop meets old school goth and takes you on a magical mystery tour.
Leaving A Legacy For Future Generations
It’s the year 2027 and a young child has stumbled upon an old iPod in his grandmother’s attic. On the antiquated device, the child finds the Lo-Fi music and sound-scapes of a band called Neutral Drop. The tracks have been preserved forever in digital format, but they contain a style and sound he’s never quite experienced before. This music is different. The music is unedited, unpolished and it is “perfect imperfection.” It’s in this moment in time that the child’s musical life changes forever. It seems a true musical legacy has been left behind for another generation to discover! The young musician has suddenly discovered what music was, and it was meant to be – a real and raw artistic experience. Creating this sort of legacy is the goal of Mike Wilson and Neutral Drop. In fact, this “futuristic” look at a young child discovering musical treasure is very much the way Mike Wilson discovered music himself. As you will see, it was with a similar event like this that the very seeds of Neutral Drop were planted.
Windy City Beginnings: The Big Bang
Neutral Drop creator Mike Wilson was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois - “The Windy City.” On these winds came serendipity and chance musical encounters. Just as the child in our story above, it would be around age eight when Mike would happen upon old Beatles albums and discover another band’s legacy. It was discovering the sounds and styles on dusty old vinyl albums packed away in storage that sent Mike Wilson down the path toward a musical future. To this day, these “Windy City Beginnings” are the “Big Bang” that has led this talented songwriter and guitarist to create Neutral Drop!
Before Neutral Drop
Many things had to occur before Neutral Drop could be born. Mike had to develop as a musician, as a songwriter, and gain experience playing in bands. It was at the age of sixteen that Mike picked up the guitar as his instrument of choice. Without any formal training, he quickly became better not only at playing guitar, but also in his songwriting skills. It was in his teen years that Mike began working at record stores where he could feed his wide interest in musical masters of the past and his love of record collecting. Mike’s musical heroes were not just artists; he became interested in the techniques and history of recording itself! Wilson became enthralled with talents Les Paul and his work in multi-track recording, phasing, and delay effects. Also Mike studied the history and methods of recording processes starting with Edison himself.
After developing as a musician and as a songwriter, Mike still needed to get the experience of performing and playing with a band. This would happen in 1997 when Mike joined Haegers Bend. Haegers Bend had recently been started by his brother Paul and the band was already very successful in Chicago. Haegers Bend was a perfect fit for Mike and his guitar skills. However, as Mike continued to write music, it soon became apparent that some of his material wouldn’t fit into the Haegers Bend sound. This led to an epiphany for Mike and another project was born in 2000 – Neutral Drop.
The Birth of Neutral Drop
If there was a project that is all Mike Wilson, from start to finish, Neutral Drop is that project. Neutral Drop is a Lo-Fi project that began seven years ago after a series of late night recordings. Mike had written a large collection of songs that didn’t fit into the sounds and style of Haegers Bend. Mike realized that there should be life given to these songs, and what transpired was the first self-titled Neutral Drop album. After the success of that release, Mike followed with a second release, Falling. Both CDs were mainly instrumental and contained the eclectic mixture of Lo-Fi recordings of rock, folk, industrial, sound-scapes that define Neutral Drop’s sound. The albums yielded what Wilson’s goal was in the beginning; to create a moody, authentic and raw Lo-Fi experience. The latest release from Neutral Drop is Lost Love and Broken Dreams. It’s within this latest release that Wilson has added more lyrical content and vocals. This, the third CD since the birth of Neutral Drop, is perhaps the best example of the creative and artistic genius of Wilson. Exploring his own past, he captured his experiences within the Goth scene he had been into at the time - generating covers from such artists as The Cure and Joy Division. Neutral Drop and Lost Love and Broken Dreams define Mike Wilson and it is Wilson from the top down as he played, produced and composed the entire album.
What’s Next For Mike Wilson?
While Wilson continues to actively perform and work with Haegers Bend … there are more exciting things planned for this artist, husband and father. While he is the heart and soul of Neutral Drop at the present, he seeks band members that fit into the project’s style
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