Customer Reviews

In Streams

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The great Hum are gone, but Matt Talbott's Centaur are just as cool and exciting. The song "Life Begins" starts "In Streams" in a hopeful manner, and gives the album a questlike feel. Talbott's normally placid vocals are pitched higher, suggesting changes are afoot in his musical repertoire. "This is where my life begins," sings Talbott in a state of tranquil happiness; "This is how I want it to end," he adds, making for a touching, heartfelt beginning.

Actually, Centaur don't diverge THAT much from the classic Hum sound; you can tell this record is Talbott's baby, and the sound is all his own. These eight songs stretch out in a natural, sometimes pleasant, sometimes all-out rocking fashion. The sounds from "In Streams" are in no hurry to get anywhere. Mixed with Talbott's mellow, poetic lyrics, and his overall sense of tunefulness, "In Streams" is a real gem. Somehow the loud/soft/loud dynamic that Talbott records never gets old. "The Same Place" boasts speaker-blistering guitar fuzz, while the boxy drums are reminiscent of the old Hum sound heard on You'd Prefer an Astronaut. The tremendous "Strangers on 5" wanders serenely around with soft vocals and abstract lyrics: Everything relaxed, including the surprising organ melody that subtly pipes in, when, slowly, seven minutes into the song, big, fuzzy guitars come crashing in to liven up the atmosphere and eventually fade out the song. "Placencia" has a minor pop sound, vaguely last heard on Talbott's final Hum record, Downward Is Heavenward, as well as great guitar work. Similarly, "Thimbles" is Hum reincarnated. For an all-out rock barrage, however, "Fields" can't be beat. Its riff is sheer sonic force, vintage '90s guitar rock and roll. Live, this song must be awesome. Once more, Talbott sounds great on vocals.

The title track closes the album with a similar, albeit much slower, fuzz-guitar flourish, and a cool, high-pitched '80s synth sound. From soft to hard, hard to soft, plus a very philosophical lyrical outlook, the song "In Streams" allows the entire album to come together -- and end -- perfectly. When the song slows down, its guitar melody is similar, I swear to God, to Def Leppard's 1987 power ballad "Hysteria" from Hysteria. The song -- and thus the album -- ends on a long, eerie synth sound.

"In Streams" is mostly a mood album, best heard at once, each song flowing into the next. Centaur is a unique band, hopefully a band that will stay together and record for a while, in the absence of Hum.

Hum fans should enjoy Centaur. It is less punchy or poppy than Hum in that there are no hooks or refrains, which I think is a good thing. The songs have an ambient kind of groove. The thick fuzz of guitar riffs creep along appropriately with singer Matt Talbot's echoing reverberated vocals. His voice seems sad and lonesome. If you enjoy HUM, Matt's previous band, you should enjoy this, although CENTAUR is clearly a band of their own. This music is somewhat more mellow. Most of the drumming is less frantic and basically more straightforward and Matt never belts out any of of his strained screams and hollers which always make me feel good. But this will clearly be my pick for a dreary rainy day or if I want to fall asleep w/ my headphones on.

First thing first, this is Centaur and not HUM. The comparisons will never end though. For all you HUM fans, the album, "In Streams" should remind you of HUM's "Downward is Heavenward." But again I say that Centaur is not HUM. They are although just as great! "In Streams" is a collection of 8 songs that blend into a magnificent album. The album emphasises Mr. Talbott's singing ability more than his other endeavors. His voice shines through, sometimes the layers of distortion and other times only echoing in front of hardly anything. Don't get me wrong, the distorted guitars are here and here with power, a signature of Mr. Talbott. By far, this is the best album I purchased in the year 2002. My favorites song out of the entire album would be, if I had to choose, "The Same Place." There is just something about a quiet intro and then a wall of sound from the glorious drums, terrific bass and roaring guitars. That says nothing about the phenomenal and eerie lyrics . "In Streams" was and still is the best cd I purchased last year. I believe that my glowing review still does not do it justice. A great album by a trio of great musicians.

this is one of the best records of all time. Definetely in my top ten. I bought this when it came out figuing it would be similar to Hum, and in a lot of way it is, but it really transcends what Hum was doing and expounds upon it. Matt Talbot has simplified his approach, the songs are very hypnotic and repetitive and for the most part are comprised of only one or two riffs. he repeats these over and over for maximum crushing effect, and of course there is a gloriuous and haunting sadness to his voice. this record moves me every time i listen to it, and it has inspired me more than almost anything else in the last ten years. this record is sure to be criminally underrated and i think the bad reviews here are way off base. this is NOT HUM 2.0, this is Matt Talbot crafting something gorgeous and personal. plus-it's heavy as hell. the guitar5s are destroying angels of sound.

since my teens my favorite album has always been "you'd prefer an astronaut" by HUM. after listening to "in streams" by CENTAUR, i have to say that this album takes top honor. although CENTAUR is fronted by the former lead singer of HUM, the band is a somewhat different animal. there are HUM influences by the way of layering of guitars and a couple other aspects. major improvements are clearer vocals and lyrics...HUM had a thing about girls and science. CENTAUR is more focused on just life in general. the music itself is a little more diverse as well. overall i think both bands are (were) great. HUM pioneered some great music and had their own unique sound in the 90's, CENTAUR distilled that sound and made improvements to it in the 2000's. A must buy for any HUM fan!

In short, if you loved Hum, you'll ALMOST love this. The songs take the atmospheric best of Hum, but the lyrics fall way short of the standard that Talbott set with Hum (perhaps the emotional nature of the subject matter left Matt less expressive...the album is about his dead son). Great music, even if the songs tend to go on about a minute longer than they probably should.
All in all, a great release and highly recommended for all Hum fans.

It used to be so easy to find new bands to like. All I had to do was listen to my favorite classic rock radio station, which slowly but surely would introduce new bands who fit within the classic rock genre. Since that time, though, one way or another, I've managed to discover "post-classic" rock bands most who have received little, if any radio play: The Cure/The Church/The Psychedelic Furs/The Jesus and Mary Chain/New Order/Echo and the Bunnymen/The Smashing Pumpkins/The Stone Roses in the 80's; The Charlatans/the Inspiral Carpets/Catherine Wheel/Ride/My Bloody Valentine/The Verve/Ned's Atomic Dustbin in the 90's; Cold Play/Radiohead/Voyager One/Bethany Curve/The Raveonettes/South in the 00's.

The main way I find new bands these days is to see what other fans of the above bands enjoy by searching on sites like Amazon and I-Tunes. Based on a recent search, I was led to, and purchased, three albums: "Fantastic Planet," by Failure, "Downward is Heavenward" by Hum, and "In Streams" by Centaur. Of course, the creative force behind both Hum and Centaur was Matt Talbott (I say "was" because Hum broke up around 2000, and Centaur has only one album, whic was released in 2002). While I could see where fans who favor a harder edge might prefer the albums by Failure and Hum, my favorite out of the three, by a fairly wide margin, is "In Streams" by Centaur.

There's something very compelling to me about Centaur's melodic thrumming style. The first track, "Life Begins," starts the album off with a pop oriented yet very satisfying track. "Wait for the Sun" while a little corny, sort of reminds me of Led Zeppelin's "All of my Love;" whereas the last part of the probably-too-long "The Same Place," reminds me of a harder version of the last part of Yes' "Starship Trooper." "Strangers on 5" perfectly creates a meditative mood with its strange lyrics and background chatter. Although "Placencia" is probably the weakest track on "In Streams", Centaur saves the best for last. While "Thimbles" could probably have been a really good Smashing Pumpkins song, the band steps it up with the superb driving "Fields," the best song on the album, in my opinion (reminding me of two superb songs: The Verve's "The Sun The Sea," and Spirits' "When I Touch You"). The closer is another excellent track, which to me is reminiscent of The Cure. I'm not sure why the song has to go on so long (over 13 minutes), but Talbott successfully creates tension with contemplative tranquility throughout.

I'm happy to have discovered this band, but remain puzzled as to why there's not a subsequent album, or even two or three. Perhaps Matt Talbott has something else up his sleeve.

See my review on Hum's You'd Prefer An Astronaut - one of the all time greats. Hum is one of the all-time greats. I really like this Centaur album. It took a little longer to like it than it did Hum - not as dense, but just as melodic - actually more melodic - Hum Light. My favorite is track 4 - Strangers On 5. Try the album - just don't expect Hum. But it's still Matt Talbot, it's still melodic, it's still the feel of Hum - just toned down a little.

thats how i fell when i listen to this record.

the songs are minimal at best. they are played tightly and slow.
its amazing how these guys take 3 chord progressions and turn them into 15 minute songs.

to me this is one of those albums you put in and forget its on because the songs just suck you into their lonelyness.

to the Hum fans out there all i can say is be prepared for some slow jams without distortion. yeah there are the rockers on this record like 'the same place, 'thimbles' umong others but done is such a way that the fact its heavy and rocking is only secondary.

this is a great cd without a doubt. Matt Talbott is a fantastic song writer and he is really doing us music fans a service by showing us that music can be weird and different without being unlistenable.

I wish the rest of you actually got HUM, because you would know how much they meant to the people who got them. Not to knock anyone who would read this cause if you did'nt care you would not be reading this, but if you love HUM than you have to love this cd. So classic it makes me sick. Shut up and turn it up, whatever you want cause it is a peice of something that will never be again and I will take Centaur. If you ever seen HUM live anywhere than you have an ounce of humanity or something that draws you to them, and no matter what you think< HUM will always be there. Listen to The Same Place really loud and if you love HUM then you love Centaur!