The Carlos Ecos Band
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The Carlos Ecos Band

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The best kept secret in music

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"Brutal Honesty"

Brutal Honesty

by Snidely Whiplash



Carlos Ecos, Sixth Floor, & Ashes Of Eden

Alright boys and girlies, summer is winding up as we hit September. Now Snidely is definitely NOT a warm weather kind of guy, It makes me more irritable than usual, although then again so does Winter. HA! I guess I’m just bitchy in general! Well, enough about my hobbies, Let’s get this thing going.


Before we begin this month’s shred-fest, I want to jump up on my soap box for a minute. A lot of you guys are sending me full press kits now rather than just CDs wrapped in an envelope, and I really appreciate that kind of effort. I know you’re waiting for it, and here is the big BUT on the end of that compliment … When you send out press kits there are a few tips the Evil One needs you to understand. Put your names and contact information all over every single piece of your kits. It’ll help the person looking at it find you. I do this review column as a favor to my good friend Penny (Shameless plug number one for this month. HA!) because she asked me to help her help you guys fix the problems in the scene around here. In my regular day job, I get thousands of envelopes just like the ones you guys send me. Every single one that I receive is pulled apart and examined by SOMEONE … and when I say someone, I do NOT mean me in all cases. If they don’t have contact info on the CD itself, or even inside the jewel case, sometimes I have no idea who I’m looking at, and it goes in file 13. For those of you who haven’t ever worked in an office … file cabinets only have 12 drawers, thirteen would be a can! Now, I know my janitor is pretty nosy about the stuff I throw away, but I bet money he can’t give you a record deal, even if he does like your stuff! Put your info on everything! Even if it’s only a web address.

Alright, enough bitching, on to the dissection!

First up I get to rip up a band from Memphis:

Carlos Ecos
Demo


Carlos Ecos - Vocals & Guitars

Kelly McDonald - Bass

Brian “The Hitman” Aylor - Drums & Percussion




Before I begin THIS particular review, let me apologize to these guys. I received this CD for review quite a while ago and intended to include it last month, but I lost the entire kit. Sorry for making you guys wait. My desk gets quite messy. On the upside it wound up in a stack of people who I shop, and you guys ALMOST got signed by accident! HA!!

Alllllllrrrrrighty then! Here we have a band that has a very distinct Latin rock kind of feel that smacks of Santana. Love the music style, very cool … but there are some rough spots:

Packaging: F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys are KILLING ME WITH THIS! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, and in case I haven’t said it enough already …

NEVER!!!!

… put a plain white disc label over a CD with a brand name on it. GOD I HATE WHEN YOU GUYS DO THAT!!! It shows no interest in presenting yourself like a real band. I’m not going to go over this again. You guys are LUCKY you kick ass musically or I’d have thrown your CD out of the running! ‘Nuff said!

Production: (Okay … let me take a deep breath … ahhhhh … okay, let’s begin again.) This CD is produced very well. The guitars and percussion are layered in a grand fashion that showcases the talents of all three musicians on this CD. I almost didn’t listen to this CD at all, but I’m glad I decided to pass on throwing it out my window. Very good there guys.

Performance: Carlos has definitely got that Santana feel down pat. He uses the textures of his guitar to add emotion and a dance groove over the top of a thickly Latin rock sound. All of the players on this CD were very good. I liked the style of music, but as you guys should know by now … I don’t let my personal tastes cloud my reviews. At least I don’t think I do. On that note … you guys are going to have a very serious copyright problem. The second song … “Ola-ley” (Sorry I’m guessing at the title … and I’m a white guy, no habla espanol. Heh!) is a direct rip off of “The Way” by Fastball. I kid you not … almost down to the fills. Better not let too many people hear that one. I knew I liked that song a little too much.

Overall Impression: Make no mistake about it … other than the two HUGE problems I pointed out, these guys are a phenomenal group. Hey are almost a breath of fresh air from some of the stuff I get to see here in the local scene. I think the CD, and to be honest your whole press kit, needs to be completely repackaged and rethought. That one song needs to be changed so it isn’t a copy of the other, and please, please, please buy UNLOGOED CDs if you’re going to use cheap ones!

Grades:


Packaging: F+ (The only thing that kept you from an F- is that the picture was cool. Read my notes above, and get a jewel case booklet in there.)
Production: A+
Performance: C+ (That one song hung you, the rest of them were very cool though. I just can’t give you credits for someone else’s work. Sorry, my review, my rules.)
Overall Impression: C (Those few things you guys had wrong were WAY too big to help you recover. You‘re a good band, too bad you didn‘t put more effort into your package to prove it, it‘s dog eat dog in these offices … stand out and you will stand up.)




Thanks to all the bands for submitting stuff for me to jump on, rip with my teeth, and basically dump all over... HA!

Send all of your hate mail, death threats, and carry out orders
to: snidely@nashvillerockscene.com


Snidely




- Nashville Rock Scene


"Eclectic Electric from Carlos Ecos"

Hola Day -- The Carlos Ecos Band (Young Ave. Records): Recent participants in the Mid-South Grammy Showcase, the bluesy rock trio the Carlos Ecos Band show off an eclectic sound on their six-song debut EP. The anthemic "Sing" is a straightforward arena-sized rocker that evokes the best of '80s AOR. The bluesy stomp of "Everybody Wants" is spiked with wah-wah riffage and an aquatic Hendrixian solo. The nimble, Latin-tinged percussion and bracing, precise guitar work of the title track is a slice of salsa-rock worthy of Santana. The instrumental "A Lil' Sumpin' Sumpin'" is moody and jazzy. The more lyric- and vocal-driven "The Hardest Thing" is roots rock that skirts the edges of alt-country. And the closing "You're a Part of Me" is a head-bobbing blast of pure pop. Six songs, six distinctly different sounds. But the impressive thing is that each style works in concert with the other. The Carlos Ecos Band never sounds like a cover band playing dress-up one song at a time -- just an accomplished rock band with the chops to set sail in a lot of different directions.
Grade: B+
- The Memphis Flyer


"Grade A+"

Set the scene in Memphis: give a 15-year old kid a guitar, put him the company of some old blues masters and let nature take its course. Your best bet is that in a few years this kid is going to end up being a helluva guitar player. Cut to 1999, Austin, Texas - Carlos Ecos has grown into much more than predestined for that kid from Memphis. Whitebread's long-awaited CD, "Everybody Wants", showcases the very best of Ecos' guitar technique, vocal finesse and lyrical wisdom - it's all there. If you haven't ever seen Carlos and his band bringing the roof down, get out and see them now. - Austin Insite Magazine


Discography

2004 "Hola Day" The Carlos Ecos Band - Memphis Records

Lead Tracks:

"Hola Day"

"Everybody Wants"

"The Hardest Thing"

"Sing"

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

The Carlos Ecos Band was formed in 2003 to collectively produce “a new kind of music” that can be summed up in just one word: “Latin America”! It does more than describe the interesting blend of Latin music and Rock/Blues but spells out the emotion you’ll experience from their music. This interesting fusion of Latin and Blues music is created by front-man Carlos Ecos (vocalist & lead guitarist), Billy Little (bass guitarist), Pete Degloma (keyboards), and Brian Aylor (Drums - Percussion).

Carlos Ecos pools his energies from his rich Peruvian heritage and vast influence of where he grew up…Memphis, TN. As a child, he was fascinated by Memphis Music.

“My parents listened to Elvis, The Beatles, Swing and Latin music around the house. My dad would have parties and play a lot of Salsas and Brazilian music, so that’s where I was exposed to all these different Latin rhythms, styles, grooves and great music”.

“But when I heard B.B. King – “The Thrill is Gone” – that did it! His emotion, the way he’s crying out his vocals and answering with his guitar, that really an affect on me and gave me a direction. Also, Buddy Guy, Muddy, Howlin’ Wolf, who is from here, and Stevie Ray Vaughan were big influences”.

The Carlos Ecos Band is shattering musical and cultural borders, defining their own unique sound by combining elements of our history and our evolving society that continue to shape our musical landscape. They are pioneers of the latest hybrid/innovation. Blues/Rock/Latin.

Management - Nicci Osborne
The Baraka Group
Memphis, Tennessee
901.488.2101