Customer Reviews

Tracking Sounds Alone

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

 

 

if you like hum or shiner or have any good taste in music whatsoever, you'll buy this album, and you'll love it, or else you don't deserve to have it.

Catchy, brilliant songs from beginning to end.

Just like other reviewers said, if you like HUM or Shiner, you'll love this album. It is apparently hard to find...which is a shame because I couldn't imagine going a day without listening to at least a couple of tracks. You can spend $35+ on the cd itself, or go to eMusic and download it. Get it!

BUY THIS C.D. RIGHT NOW.... it's nostalgic, harmonious, beautiful, and ugly all wrapped up in a tiny little c.d. case

If you are like me, you wish Hum had made about 10 more CDs before breaking up. Castor is a band in the similar vein as Hum, similar guitar sound, sudden tempo changes and walls of sound. In fact one member of Castor is in Centuar with Matt Talbot from Hum. I really like this Cd but i will not say its the best CD ever. What you hear in the 30 second samples are pretty much the entire song in most cases. Its a bit repetetive but the mood they create and the guitar sound is incredible, i don't mind hearing the same thing for a minute, but some people might. Dont expect Hum's crazy textures or dynamic shifts. There are amazing tempo changes on this album- you never see them coming! So if you like Shiner and Hum, you will like this.

Years ago, I was in a band that played a few shows with a popular band at the time called Braid. Castor came along as their support and after I saw them the first time, they were the highlight of the next two days. I eagerly anticipated the repeat expeience of seeing these amazing musicians play a catchy, complex set of music that was mostly from their first cd on the Mud label.

When Tracking Sounds Alone was released, It was worlds heavier and way more layed but at the core of it was the same band. It was a giant leap foward for them. I'm sad that they're gone.

Members went on to more marginal acts like National Skyline and Year of the Rabbit.

This is a dangerous album for automobile operators. Just be warned: if you listen to this CD in the car, you're easily going to top off around 95mph and not even realize it. I thought I was going the speed limit when track 4 started, and I ended up actually traveling back in time.

Having said that, this is an excellent album. It can be repetitive at times, as they'll sometimes take a four measure phrase and play it for the first minute of the song, but the phrases they decide to repeat are almost uniformly brilliant.

Their sound isn't for everyone, but the band is so obscure that you're probably in good company if you made it this far. Fans of HUM in particular can find a lot to like here.

I was very disappointed when HUM stopped making new albums in the late nineties, so I've been looking for various substitutes to fill the HUM gap since then. This is the closest I've come to filling that void. Castor might even have more to offer than both Glifted and Centaur (Tim Lash and Matt Talbot's new bands, respectively) for the casual HUM seeker.

Comparisons aside, Tracking Sounds Alone has great merit all by itself, and it makes a perfect addition to anyone's Illinois-sound music library.

Listen to "Five Hours Later" for the greatest 25 second opener you're going to hear for the next ten years.

This release is pretty good. I bought this CD due to the fact that SHINER's ALLEN EPLEY appears on one of the tracks background vocaling. All and all a crisp, melodic, and original rock record with a mellow outlook. Some of the tunes really stand out with mood setting ability and some can be overlooked after a few listens, however, overall CASTOR's short run as a band was decent and this disc sits nicely in any good collection of alternative rock.

Guitars like Hum but tempos and structure all f***ed up...wicked album. "Trackstar" is an amazing track, along with "The Halo Befriends Me" and "Stay Lo". Too bad these boys called it quits.

I don't quite understand all the positive reviews of this album. Their first self titled CD was great- a nice mix of C-Clamp and Braid. This however, wants so badly to sound like Shiner it ruins the whole thing. The songs aren't as well written as the first album and the singer has clearly spent weeks in the studio tracking his vocals again and again in order to sound like Allen Epley. Trouble is, he's not as good a singer and whilst he manages to pull it off on some tracks, others like 'The Halo Befriends Me' are practically unlistenable. The guitars lumpen and vocals never quite hitting the right note. That said, there are some good tracks but the whole thing is so patchy it doesn't stand up to repeated listens. A shame.

Just buy this cd, and don't ask any questions.
You'll thank me.
This is by far one of the best cd's I own.
From start to finish its simply amazing.
Tempo changes galore, nice guitar work, and great vocals.
This Cd rules.