just a visitor

For the past couple of days, I've been listening to music from Ellis Hadlock's newest CD, Just a Visitor. I'll say up front that my listening preferences often have very little to do with my songwriting style. I don't think it's healthy to like my own work too much, and if I listen too much to other artists who have a similar sound to mine, I tend to get either jealous or annoyed. That, my friends, is human frailty. So that explains why I like to listen to other types of music in my recreational time.

Anyway, back to Ellis. He is a great guy and a great musician. Some of his songs sound like they belong on soundtracks. Some sound like they belong on Echoes from Public Radio International. I suppose people file him under Electronic Ambient, Light Rock, World, New Age, or one of those other titles that doesn't mean anything. I suppose if I were to file him in a category, I'd just put him under Instrumental Miscellaneous and leave it at that. Every piece has a different charater, most of them telling some kind of story.

Just a Visitor is full of well-conceived soundscapes. I was surprised at the changes in my mood and stress level as I listened to each track. As a musician, I liked the various synth effects combined with some live instrumentals. As a listener, I liked that it didn't require me to be a musician to enjoy it. There is something just likeable about this music.

I suppose that the best review I can give is this: Hadlock's Just a Visitor helped me forget about my pressing deadlines for a few minutes. That's saying something.

You can check it out at http://cdbaby.com/cd/ellishadlock5