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NPR

All Songs Considered

I Woke With Planets In My Face, the new album from Cincinnati-based chamber pop singer Peter Adams, is a gracefully executed tightrope walk between restrained intimacy and epic orchestrations. The songs push and pull against one another: they’re playful but foreboding, majestic but quirky, and always infectious.

The album opens with a beautifully cinematic instrumental piece that evokes fairy tale imagery with a childlike innocence. When Adams finally sings on the second track, “The Observatory,” his voice sounds like a more weathered version of Jeff Buckley, with richly layered instrumentation. Dark strings lurk under brightly strummed mandolins, melodica, electronic tones, and shaken percussion.

The music of Peter Adams has been compared to Neutral Milk Hotel and the Flaming Lips. But there’s far less guitar noise in his sound, and a stronger emphasis on traditional orchestral elements and digital textures. It’s a memorable and tastefully produced mix that begs for multiple listens.

Peter Adams recorded, performed, produced and mixed I Woke With Planets In My Face by himself. But for live performances he has help from Eli Maiman, Martin Diller, Andrea Lee, and David Lloyd.

Spin

Kari Wethington

With all the drama of an ethereal movie soundtrack, Adams’ songs brilliantly merge his classical training (he started playing the violin at age three) and the inevitable teen-punk backlash. On his latest, I Woke With Planets In My Face, out this spring, the hyperliterate Adams composes folksy pop tunes solo and translates them into full-band symphonies.

Magnet

Corey duBrowa

‘I have watched you all these years,’ said the Moon to me, ‘But when you are gone for good, I will still be here, on the other side,’” sings Peter Adams on the picture-perfect “Conversation With The Moon.” Delivered in an angelic, Jeff Buckley-like tone—pitched somewhere between the childlike reverie of a bedtime story and the faintly backlit clack-a-tap of a midnight blog entry—how does one begin to critique such a magically conceived line? I Woke With Planets In My Face is the second bedsit masterpiece from this DIY wunderkind with the classical-music background.

Comparing Adams’ music to others’ is a loser’s game; his flights of fancy aren’t as improvisational as Buckley’s or Syd Barrett’s (his compositions, such as the Eastern-stringed “Ziggurat,” are far too structured and precise), and his affection for the psychedelic chaos of Neutral Milk Hotel and the Flaming Lips is channeled through layers of orchestration rather than guitar feedback. It may seem a ridiculous overstatement, but perhaps the best analogue for Adams’ talent is someone like Paul McCartney circa Ram: a guy brave enough to celebrate both small pleasures and big melodies, splashing it all on the canvas without so much as a glance over his shoulder.

Magnet

Corey duBrowa

Most of us weren’t old enough to buy records back when Sgt. Pepper was first unleashed on an unsuspecting public, nor were we conscious of Hendrix when his backward-masked, brain-bending Are You Experienced? first visited itself upon the rock-starved masses. But – retrospectively, of course – we can dream up plenty of scenarios in which some kid hears this magic-mushroom music for the first time and, starry-eyed, decides right then and there to start a band and dedicate a life to music, no questions asked.

Not to saddle him with the weight of outsized expectations – Cincinnati’s Peter Adams is at too tender an age (merely 22 when his DIY debut, The Spiral Eyes, was recorded in his home studio in 2004) to be that kid either – but the same feelings of euphoria are instantly recognizable upon listening to his handiwork, which is no mean feat considering the sticks-and-stones nature of the album’s origins.

“I tried very hard to make the album sound . . . not professional or polished, but good enough so that people’s first reactions wouldn’t be, ‘Oh, it’s a home recording,’” says Adams. “I’m influenced by stuff like Neutral Milk Hotel: fantasy, dream-like, psychadelic things. I just wanted to make a record good enough so that people wouldn’t ignore it.”

Indeed, The Spiral Eyes (Subcircle) immediately commands attention as one of the finest debuts you’ll hear this year. Listening to Adams’ music for the first time is like viewing a classic-rock mosaic through kaleidoscope eyes. The album’s dozen tracks include moments of Radiohead’s exquisitely crafted chamber angst, Jeff Magnum’s chemically-altered, wide-eyed wonder, Jeff Buckley’s angelic introspection and the Flaming Lips’ finest flights of orchestral fancy.

At least insofar as his own life is concerned, Adams comes by his relationship with music honestly enough. His father is a professor at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music and encouraged Adams’ interest in music early on, enrolling him in violin lessons at age three.

“I was really lucky to have that kind of upbringing,” says Adams, connecting his training to the luminous string parts that bob in and out of his arrangements. “I didn’t necessarily enjoy it at the time; I had all the music theory, the practice, the playing in orchestras on the weekend and all that. But it made writing pop songs – at least, coming from the perspective of a classical tradition – very easy.”

As a student at Oberlin College, Adams taught himself guitar by playing along to old-school punk rock records. “Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, X-Ray Spex, Bad Brains.” he says. “In fact I owned the complete Dead Kennedys discography before I bought my first Beatles album.”

Herein lies the charm of what Adams sarcastically calls his “violin-soaked punk-rock folk”: His music is at once classically influenced and yet tethered to nothing but his own fevered imagination, bringing the bedsit-producer mindset out of the basement and into the bright light of day.”

Interview at Paradigm Journal

Paul Fuhr

In less than four years, Peter Adams has garnered the sort of acclaim typically reserved for a new Radiohead release, not to mention nabbing reviews likening him to Jeff Buckley and The Flaming Lips. Not bad for Cincinnati-based musician Adams who self-releases all of his “chamber pop” music through his website. From NPR to Spin magazine, the glowing reviews have all praised the textured, almost ethereal worlds Adams creates through his music. Sometimes sweeping and oftentimes subtle, Adams is always compelling. He’s a true artist who celebrates the broad strokes as well as the fine details.

First off, it’s worth saying that you’ve self-released all of your work and, in the process, garnered stellar reviews from NPR, Magnet, and CityBeat, among others. Did finding an audience and critical acclaim surprise you?

It was a very gradual process. While I’d love to tell you that The Spiral Eyes was my very first set of recordings and that the critical praise was always expected, the truth is a little different. I began making recordings of my songs towards the end of high school, first with friends and a 4-track and later completely solo with a software sequencer. I vividly remember calling my parents up to my room after my first successful attempt at making a passable song by playing all the parts myself. I even released an album of songs while still in high-school and sold them to my friends. Compared to what I do now, though, those early recordings were pretty bad. I think to some extent a big part of growing as an artist is to be unaware of how lacking your creations are so as not to lose heart and give up. When I did the recordings for The Spiral Eyes and started getting positive reviews from people who had never met me, it was a real confidence boost.

Do you prefer releasing your music directly to your fans?

Given the fact that I’ve never experienced any other method of distribution, I can’t really answer. My initial reaction to the thought of traditional big-label distribution is pretty negative though. I’m used to almost total creative control over not only what my music sounds like, but how it is presented and consumed. Giving up any of that would be a bitter pill to swallow.

You’ve embraced the “In Rainbows method” of having listeners pay what they want for your music. How has this worked out for you?

Very well. If nothing else, I’ve proved to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that people will pay what they think is an honest value for music even if presented with an option to get it for free (or in my case, 1 cent, as that’s the lowest amount PayPal allows). On the page where people can download my albums, I make it clear that the donation they choose has real consequences, that 100% of it goes to the artist and literally supports my ability to do what I do. When presented with those facts, people give around $5-6 on average. Certainly it’s less than the $8.99 I charge for a CD, but with the ease of “pay what you want” I’m likely gathering more than enough new listeners to offset the difference in profit.

Has your opinion of the recording industry changed since you’ve adopted this DIY approach to getting your music “out there”?

Yes. After The Spiral Eyes came out, I figured what needed to happen was for a label somewhere to hear the CD and sign me to a contract. I didn’t know exactly what a record contract would look like, or what it would entail, but I still had the idea that in order to “make it” you have to be on a traditional label. But over the next year or so as I worked on what would become I Woke With Planets In My Face, I came to the realization that I already had almost everything a label could offer, albeit on a smaller scale. I wrote the music. I performed it. I recorded. I mixed and mastered it. I arranged and laid out the artwork that a friend had produced. I used a private CD duplication company. I had worldwide distribution from my website and in stores like iTunes and Amazon. The only thing I was really missing was a presence in traditional brick and mortar record shops (aside those in Cincinnati which I could hand-deliver copies to) and a big budget to do marketing campaigns.

What is your personal creative process for crafting a song? How long does it take for a textured song like “Shoot the Moon” to come together?

I start with a rough idea of the song by coming up with a verse and chorus on my guitar. Then in most cases I dive right into recording even before the song is complete. As I lay down parts, new ideas emerge, and those get worked in. Oftentimes I’ll restart a recording four or five times before I hit upon the right arrangement and structure. In this way the recording process is actually integral to the writing process itself. Maybe its my own weakness as a composer, but I need to physically hear what something sounds like to understand if it works or not. There are some occasions where the ghost version I hear in my head turns out to be just what the recording needs, but in most cases things need to be tweaked.

How long have you been writing music?

In the way I write currently, I started around my senior year of high school. Earlier when I took piano lessons I would write silly little one-page pieces that I would play for my teacher.

How does the experiencing of performing live compare to the experience of recording in your studio?

They really couldn’t be more different. When I’m in my studio, I’m working in complete solitude and more or less lost in my own thoughts. I have a vague idea that sometime in the future an anonymous listener will hear what I’m doing, but during the recording it’s just me by myself. When I perform, I’m playing music with other musicians and also get the thrill of having a live audience react to the songs as they’re performed.

How prepared were you to start traveling across the country after the success of your first album? Remarkably, you’ve released a limited number of double-vinyl editions of I Woke With Planets In My Face. Many audiophiles prefer the sound of vinyl. Are you one of them, and do you still listen to music on vinyl?

I wish I was cool enough to say I was, but I don’t really listen to vinyl. I like the idea of it, of having a big physical object that’s more meaningful than an invisible collection of MP3s or a cheap little plastic jewel case, but I’ve never had the time or resources to really get into collecting records.

Are you involved with every step of the recording process? Do you ever collaborate with others and/or allow others in on the process?

Yes, I’m the only one playing on the recordings. Things might change in the future, but for now I do everything myself.

Much of the press about you has likened you to Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, and The Flaming Lips, among others. What bands, musicians, or artists inspire you?

Certainly Radiohead, The Flaming Lips (specifically The Soft Bulletin) and Neutral Milk Hotel (along with the other Elephant 6 bands) are big influences. Curiously though I’ve never really been a huge Jeff Buckley fan. I listen to a lot of modern/contemporary classical music. John Adams is a big influence, as are others in the Minimalist “big tent” like Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Terry Riley. I look to their compositions for inspiration on arrangements. Bartok’s string quartets are also a great well of inspiration for my string parts, even if I never approach anything on that level of complexity or musicianship. Bjork and Sigur Ros are always models to follow when searching for a wide, expansive soundscape, and in a similar way I look to certain Led Zeppelin recordings.

What are you currently working on?

I’m always busy writing and recording songs for the next release. I’ve toyed around with several ideas, like having a huge sprawling song that runs for an entire album, or releasing little “modules” of songs on my website before the entire album is done. I’m also busy playing shows with my band as we try to make it out of the Cincinnati area more frequently.

Are there any other creative avenues you’d like to explore?

I’d love to try my hand at film scoring down the line. I’m actually doing the music for a friend’s student film later in the spring, which I’m quite looking forward to. It will be a nice challenge to write strictly instrumental music. I really enjoyed writing the companion book for I Woke With Planets In My Face that comes in the Lunaphonic Omnibox, and I think I’ll do similar writing for all future releases. I’m also trying to get in the habit of writing on my website about things I’m interested in besides music, like philosophy, politics, and science.

TheRedAlert

Amber Henson

If you do, in fact, decide to buy Peter Adams’ debut album–which I would recommend–also get a beach chair and a portable CD player, and go sit out under the stars in a field and wait for the goose bumps. They’ll come soon.

Perhaps I’m just a sucker for a plucked violin and grandiose orchestration like you’ll hear on track five, “More Than You Know,” but this really is “lie back and be amazed by the world” music. The Spiral Eyes was recorded in his home studio in Cincinnati and Adams does everything: guitar, bass, drums, synths, strings, and sweet, lilting vocals. He’s like the Jack White of soft, feel-good music.

Despite his elaborately constructed arrangements, Adams says, “all the songs I wrote are childishly simple at their most basic,” which is very true. Nonetheless, it’s very good pop music in a somewhat Beatlesque vein. They’re the kind of songs you can hum along to after listening to them just a couple of times. But don’t worry, not all the songs will lull you into a peaceful sleep. Towards the end of the album, there are a couple of very rocking songs. Track 10, “Mister Grieves” (not to be confused with “Mr. Grieves” by the Pixies) has a Smash Mouth sound to it, but better. Finally, on the last song, Adams gives us a very strange dose of laughter, from all sorts of voices. It’s definitely the part of the album that would drive you out of the field and back into your house.

Sctas.com

“Pretty soon we’ll pave the stars. We can turn Mars into a parking lot.”

Rarely do I get this excited about an album. Peter Adams breathes new life into self-made music – or rather – he has created a new space entirely. Somewhere in between the endless capabilities of John Vanderslice and the mystic folklore of Patrick Wolf you would find Peter Adams. Did you hear what I said? Peter Adams breathes new life into self-made music – or rather – he has created a new space entirely.

An artist by degree, Adams is responsible for every note, sweep, beat and vocal that appears on the 12 compositions (one hidden before the first listed track) on his self-released LP The Spiral Eyes. For some reason that I have yet to find in moderate research this album is only now getting proper circulation in the press circuit, and it honestly deserves all the exposure it can get. (footnote¹: The Spiral Eyes was mostly done over the summer of 2004, and includes songs that had been written and recorded as much as 3 years earlier.)

Using the home recording program Sonar 3, Adams has sonically modified a one man project to honestly sound like a fully blossomed percussion & strings group. Now may be a good time to introduce the fact that Peter plays the violin (his music is tagged as “violin-soaked punk folk rock”² ) and has been doing so for nearly 20 years. Thanks due to Peter’s father, a music professor at (the) College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. Best of luck catching up with this young man.. . unless you’re Patrick Wolf (who is still a few years behind).

The Spiral Eyes holds so much hope for what musicians are capable of producing all alone, no swollen budget or suits to answer upon. It begins with more than a minute of multi-layered waves, fuzz & static before twinkling into “Cementalisque”, an opener that will lock your interest in and not let up for the entire record. Adams’ vocals brilliantly rise and fall atop this sonic blitzkrieg of strings, acoustic guitar and machined drums. Following that with “I evolve”, a track name that fits the skill of its maker to exact prime, you are allowed to view the more patterned songwriting of Adams. 4 minutes of superior guitar and voice, there is also an indistinct guitar buried deep in the belly of the song that begs for recognition. Lyrically Adams hints at the importance of love (“I evolve”), the Sun (“More Than You Know”, “Cementalisque”) and procrastination (“Spiraling”). The Spiral Eyes‘ one instrumental, “The Invention of Nuclear Power”, holds nothing back in its attempt to amaze you. Descriptives would do the track little benefit, but imagine if you will a set of electric guitars racing towards the Earth on a mission to destroy Halliburton. Along this downward travel, the 2 instruments compose & perform their own heroic anthem – that being “The Invention of Nuclear Power”.

I’ve kept you well longer than I should, and the year is very young – do seek out what will absolutely be one of my favorite albums for 2006. This in a year of Horses, Built to Spills and predicted Radiohead. The Spiral Eyes is unfathomablerrific – a term as unique as the product itself.

“As the waters rise to meet the trees, the sweetest breeze will wash over me. I’ll shoot the Moon and watch the sky fall.” – Shoot The Moon

IndieLaunchpad.com

I’ve said many times that a voice with a quirk goes a long way to catching my attention. This is certainly the case with Peter Adams. In addition to the voice there’s a wonderful multi layer of strings and drums, driving the first track “Cementalisque”, but it’s the combination that generates an almost relentlessly tempo. I think the only mistake on the album, is the minute of ambient noise at the beginning of the track. Think that should really have been a separate track in itself. Things take a U-turn with the next track “I Evolve”, showing a much lighter, more relaxed side. “The Disappeared” is probably one of my favorite tracks on the album, but it has some tough competition. That competition is the rest of the album.

What’s even more amazing about Peter Adams is that it’s just him. A Cincinnati boy, recording his own voice, violin, guitar et al. There’s such a spark of creativity, of sheer imagination, that the lofty comparison to the Beatles just has to be made. It also so easy to forget that what you are hearing is from one man. There’s also something that brings Peter Gabriel to mind and that’s not a comparison that’s made too glibly.

This album came out in 2004, so I’m hoping there’s something new coming soon, because my musical appetite has been whetted.

The CD also has a hidden track. Yes I know hidden tracks are nothing new, but they’re usually at the end of the album. For this CD, the hidden track is at the beginning. Yes, the hidden track is track 0, which doesn’t normally appear. Once at track 1, just push the rewind button and there it is. Well that’s the theory anyway, I tried it in my stereo, but it must have some kind of intelligence as it didn’t want to go back past track 1. There’s also a code printed on the inlay, that gains you access to further goodies on the website.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable album, that has some wonderful tracks and that spark of originality, which doesn’t come around too often.

Finally I like to give a mention to the album art work, done by Chris Simmons. I can’t put my finger on it, but it just works very well, with the tone of the album.

Conclusion : A wonderful gem of an album not just musically, but in the overall production. A great talent, with hopefully great things to come.

Obner.org

One word. Excellent.

This debut disc was released in December of 2004, earning the 22-year old a smattering of local nominations for songwriter of the year. I have had it in my possession for the last three months or so but never got around to listening to it until this week. Adams has since released no new recordings that I can find but is still performing (edit: coming to Nashville 7/13 – I am there). Listening to the disc, you get the impression that Adams plays all the instruments (edit: I find this to be true, after researching further) and the production is excellent. From start to finish, this album soars across sonic landscapes fashioned with multiple guitars, self-harmonizing, and string accompaniments. “I Evolve” and “When The Morning Dies” are excellent early tracks, while “More Than You Know” is a mid-album instrumental with Mogwai-like textures. I find this disc to be fascinating after two listens and an excellent addition to the 2004 releases that was likely overlooked at the time.

Reccomended for fans of Andrew Bird and David Garza.

Left Hip Magazine

Shannon Campbell

Peter Adams’ voice is like an alluring siren song; it draws your brain into his songs until you are lost there, with no way to get out. Spiral Eyes, is an extremely intense record, with sickly sweet music and the use of beautiful instruments such as violin, piano, synth, and guitar. The high register of his voice pricks the back of your neck with emotion.

“I Evolve” is one of my favorite songs on the album; it is cute and simple with violin and guitar playing alongside Peter’s voice. The melody is very beautiful with great use of tone and volume. It sounds like something I would want to listen to on a beautiful spring day with the boy of my dreams. Halfway though, the tone though changes from sweet and acoustic… there is an electric guitar solo that really ups the emotion and intensity of the song. The urgency and beauty in his voice by the end is fitting for the song and it carries on throughout the record. He has wonderful control over his vocal emotion and is excellent at portraying that through his voice.

“Spiraling” is another song that shows off Peter’s beautiful vocals as well as his instrumental talents. It is faster-paced and more plucky then some of his other songs. It also has a soft, smooth violin theme in the background, which just makes the song sound magical and soothing.

Peter Adam’s The Spiral Eyes is worth checking out if you are a fan of slower, more musical songs that would sooth you in the bath and make you feel good and tingly on the inside. Adams being the sole performer on the album, his musical talent is obvious. This is an album that you could listen to over and over again and every time find beauty and tranquility in the songs.

CityBeat

Mike Breen

There’s an age-old argument (all the more relevant these days) that the most genius musicians in the history of the world might be some guys or girls toiling away in some dingy basement somewhere, never to be “discovered.” Let’s hope that doesn’t happen to Peter Adams, a stunningly good singer/songwriter based in Cincinnati who recorded his latest, The Spiral Eyes, by his lonesome in his bedroom-cum-studio. The album is so rich and fully evolved, it’s nothing short of shocking that it was done DIY style. Adams’ songs are of the Orchestral/Indie Pop variety, built around delicious core melodies and augmented with a plethora of instruments and sounds (lots of string swells and violin) that give the album a neon sparkle.

Adams has a versatile vocal range, with his tingly falsetto ranking up there with Chris Martin of Coldplay or Matthew Caws of Nada Surf for pure thrill-factor. There’s no reason songs like “The Disappeared,” “More Than You Know” and the remarkable “Shoot The Moon” couldn’t be Modern Rock radio staples. And they may soon be — Eyes has gotten great response from college radio in recent months. The Spiral Eyes is hyper-catchy, but this isn’t frivolous Pop-lite stuff. Adams writes with the depth of an artist with twice his living experience, and his songs ring with a sense of timelessness that eludes most of the Indie Pop ilk. If I owned a label, I’d sign him immediately. Heck, someone should start a label just to sign him. Just think of the money you could save on the recording budget! Seek this out now.

The Fire Note

I Woke With Planets In My Face will be one of the more interesting singer / songwriter releases you will hear this year. Cincinnati native Peter Adams sophomore release is full of pop gems surrounded with lush and expansive atmospheric environments that work together making I Woke With Planets an album that was meant to be heard straight thru. It may be hard for some listeners to comply with in today’s age of the playlist, party shuffle and singles only types but in this case that sort of thinking does not make sense. The way Adams intertwines the instruments and lyrics in and out of the track transitions create seamless beginnings and ends.

This is the appeal of I Woke With Planets along with Adams soft melodic vocals. This combination helps the listener get lost in his music because several more epic tracks like the seven minute “Antarctica” take you through a full orchestrated spectrum of music with all of these elements rising to the top in different sections. I Woke With Planets In My Face is an album that can be listened through multiple times where something new can be discovered in every listen. Peter Adams successfully combines elements of World, orchestra and indie pop for one unique outing that gets better with every spin!

My Big Mouth Strikes Again

The songs on Cincinnati psych/folk genius Peter Adams’ self-released sophomore album are as epic and stratospherical as the title — I Woke With Planets In My Face. Each track is a majestic journey into soundscapes filled with the elegance and innocence of Andrew Bird, the drama and tension of Radiohead and the lo-fi/neo-psych sensibilities of Neutral Milk Hotel. This pay-what-you want release has rapidly made its way to the top of my short list for album of the year. A masterpiece.

Listen!Nashville.com

Michael Campbell

If DeVotchKa, Pinback, and the Beatles (during their Sergeant Pepper days) could somehow blend to form one band, Peter Adams and his ensemble would be the result. After two years of recording, Peter Adams has just released his second record entitled I Woke With Planets In My Face. Like his first record The Spiral Eyes, Adams recorded and performed the new record entirely by himself—a feat that cannot be fully appreciated until listening to the record.

I Woke With Planets In My Face is a strange and wonderful blend of Russian-esque violins, French accordion sounds, and even a touch of Middle Eastern that results in a fresh, unique sounding record. At times it has the feel of a movie soundtrack, but the record never lies stagnant in one genre long enough to be labeled as such. The album jumps intermittently from one style to the next but manages to keep a steady flow with no choppiness. Even the instruments used on the record are highly diverse, and vary from the more common guitar, drums, and keyboards, to the less common violin, accordion, and even the kazoo. The lyrics have a mystical vibe to them of far off places, which the music reverberates. One song on the album is actually devoted entirely to the poem written by Edgar Allen Poe titled “Annabel Lee.” The entire record is filled with many surprises, ups and downs, and clever musical arrangements.

CityBeat

Mike Breen

Three years ago, Cincinnati-based singer/songwriter/home recordist Peter Adams release The Spiral Eyes, a gorgeous collection of orchestral Indie Pop that gradually went on to grab international acclaim. Adams was featured prominently in Magnet magazine and he also scored a mention in Spin magazine more recently.

For Adams’ much-anticipated follow-up, I Woke With Planets In My Face, the songwriter keeps the home-recorded vibe alive and creates an even more sonic, textured bedroom masterpiece (though the production is anything but lo-fi, robust as anything recorded in an expensive studio). The new CD has been made available at peteradamsmusic.com as a name-your-price download (a la Radiohead’s In Rainbows), though hard copy versions of the disc will be available this Saturday at Adams show at Baba Budan’s in Clifton. (Hard copies can also be ordered through the Web site; in a few months, a deluxe Lunaphonic Omnibox version, with extra goodies, will be made available).

However one chooses to buy Planets, the music contained within is thrilling, insanely catchy and remarkably diverse. The most noticeable change from Adams’ last album is his effortless integration of World music sounds, something he incorporates without detracting from the strong songwriting core. Annabel Lee has a Gypsy feel (accordion and all), capturing what might happen if The Shins collaborated with Gogol Bordello, while the chimes and violin of Ghost in the Fen have an almost oriental flavor.

Middle Eastern and Eastern European influences creep in and out throughout the album, but this is no Graceland-esque excursion. Adams bread-and-butter is a mix of lushly orchestrated strings with lavish, engrossing melodies. Practically every track on the album is a thrill ride, as Adams breaks the Pop mold to allow the songs to breathe and wander. Calling Adams’ music orchestral isn’t just a reference to the layered strings he writes in a very symphonic way, making his tunes more accurately described as “compositions” or “scores” than just songs.

The album holds a hypnotic sway when taken as a whole, but even individual tracks mesmerize and pull the listener in. The glacial Antarctica is a spellbinding epic, Sigur Ros-esque in scope and grandeur, with a swelling chorus that will have your back-of-neck hairs standing at attention and saluting. Likewise, The Seventh Seal is a grand ballad that builds like a cresting wave that never crashes ashore, the high-ceilinged melodies hovering atop like gently rolling clouds.

I Woke With Planets In My Face is a sumptuous, luxuriant album, full of spine-tingly twists at every turn. It’s the kind of album you could listen to for a year and still discover new things. If his humble debut attracted ears like flies, then Planets is about to be swarmed with even more acclaim. When I reviewed The Spiral Eyes three years ago, I gave it an unprecedented grade of A+. Looks like we’ll have to come up with a new grading system just to accommodate this enthralling tour de force.

Culture Bully

Whenever I get a press release in the mail that describes a band as sounding like The Beatles or Radiohead I sigh to myself and consider not listening to the album. It seems like whenever rock musicians are asked to describe what they sound like, somehow one of those bands is mentioned almost every single time. If you play a guitar, you sound like the Beatles. If a keyboard: Radiohead. So, imagine my chagrin to receive Peter Adams’ album in the mail the other day, accompanied by a brief description citing Adams as sounding like both The Beatles and Radiohead. Don’t get me wrong, I love both bands. But in my experience when rock groups claim one or either as “defining their sound,” it usually isn’t the case.

And it certainly isn’t with Cincinnati’s Peter Adams.

While Adams’ I Woke With Planets In My Face could certainly cite both bands as influences, he doesn’t sound like either. What he does sound like, however, I happen to like a lot.

The album opens with “In the Great Green Room” a slow building instrumental track that starts off with some twinkling keyboards and violin before diving headlong into dirge territory with an eerily spooky accordion. The short introduction to the record almost sounds like it belongs in the soundtrack of a spacey fantasy movie – the kind of song during the opening credits of the film that seems innocuous but actually contains tiny elements that foreshadow the weird thrills to come.

The rest of I Woke is a journey around ghostly acoustic folk, dancing gypsy violin, and across the ivory (keyboard) keys with Adams as your guide. He’s a starry eyed whisperer who is as comfortable singing about astronomy as he is relationships. While his voice seems constantly affected with a sense of melancholy, in a Sufjan Stevens way he isn’t depressing to listen to. Probably the cheeriest track on the album is “Annabel Lee” an accordion and kazoo laced love song that actually ends quite badly (Annabel dies). The mood, however, is optimistic with Adams vowing heartily to “pierce the sun and speak the ancient tongues,” amongst other things. The meaning of his lyrics isn’t always immediately apparent, but like the lyrics of Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Magnum (another of Adams’ listed influences) they merit a deeper inspection.

“Ziggurat” is an interesting jam. It begins like an Eighties inspired synthesizer track and adds in some fluttering violin to guide the song through sonic peaks and valleys. At its most intense there is something almost demonic about the frantic sawing at the violins, but before it all goes over the top Adams’ reigns it all back in with a plaintive wail that turns the heat down. This dichotomy of turning it up and back down shows up time and again throughout the rest of the record. In one of the better tracks, “The Observatory” it almost sounds like Adams’ has a whole orchestra at his disposal and is guiding their enthusiasm along like a maestro, pulling it forth and sending it back with a wave of the hand. Even when the intensity is relatively staid, as it is in the shanty “Ghost in the Fen,” the complexity of the instrumentation is such that the listener never gets bored.

Adams is coming to the Twin Cities on November 7th to play at both St. Paul’s Turf Club as well as Minneapolis’s Clapperclaw Festival on the 8th. Attend the show if you want to hear something beautiful, something orchestral, and something with enough pop to taste sweet. But don’t come expecting The Beatles and Radiohead.

Babysue

More neat twinkly progressive soft pop from Peter Adams. This fellow made quite an impression on a lot of folks with his 2005 debut album (The Spiral Eyes). Cut from similar fabric, the humorously-titled I Woke With Planets In My Face is also bound to be very well received. Although many folks are likely to compare Adams’ music to Sufjan Stevens because both are creating music from similar hemispheres, in actuality the two artists are markedly different in many ways. The main similarities between the two are those wonderfully intricate arrangements and restrained vocals.

This twelve track album is a lot to take in. Clocking in at over 50 minutes, Adams presents strangely heady modern pop using both traditional and non-traditional instruments. His songs are smart and different…and yet ultimately warm and inviting. And Adams has a voice to die for. Richly rewarding tunes include “In the Great Green Room,” “Into the Mist,” “I Was Looking at the Ceiling, And Then I Saw the Sky,” and “The Seventh Seal.” This is somewhat of a modern classic…timeless in nature, dreamy and slightly surreal. (Rating: 5++++)

Hybird Magazine

Susan Frances

Peter Adams’ sophomore release, I Woke With Planets In My Face, is a garden of musical delights with pleasing, aphrodisiac-like esplanades, fantasy-shingled-folk, and chamber-pop psychedelics that caramelize into the symphony of world music factions seeded from a gamut of Russian-esque strings, Middle Eastern beats, Gypsy-encased accordion keys, and toy-like kazoos. The album’s synth-pop bling and avant bent shares a theatrical propensity to Leerone with fantasy-like patterns relatable to Sigur Ros’ spacey arias and glittery atmospherics. Adams’ album leaves everything in the hands of the listener’s imagination, displaying dazzling melodies and orchestral florals which morph into beautifully crafted molecules that spawn lush kaleidoscopic murals. The tracks have a flaccid sonorousness and flouncy gait that fascinates listeners, and holds them transfixed to the zigzagging movements and intricate jetties which are opulent and plentiful.

Adams masonry shows a broad range of creativity and melodic sensibilities which distinguish him from his peers, while also displaying a broad range of influences from such notable figures as Neutral Milk Hotel and Phillip Glass. Adams’ atmospherics bubble gently as they wind-up and release with a casual trot. The trickle of watery synth effects along “In The Great Green Room” are gingerly creped by the Gypsy-like accordion keys, which light up and fade delicately and allow the metallic sprigs to come alive. The gentle twists along “The Observatory” are buttoned by folksy bobbins which have a Say Hi-crackle, while the delightful sputter of dancing tambourines jangle with an infectious Gypsy-vaunt along “Conversation With The Moon.” The crystal-like shine of Peter Adams’ music is comparable to Phillip Glass as he rouches chamber-pop riffs along ambient-filled sound effects, like in “Ziggurat.” His stately melodies are vast stretches of blissful jaunts that amalgamate buoyant Gypsy-beats with folksy psychedelics, and form delightful murals for the listener. The orchestral waves ribboning across “I Was Looking At The Ceiling, And Then I Saw The Sky” have a spacey feel as they elevate and move with a rattle that resembles a twinkling constellation. The woeful mood in the strings of “Antarctica” segue into the vivacious lifts of “Ghost In The Fen” with fantasy-like effects and exotic strings intertwining and propping each other up. The chord movements flower and splash into each other with the playfulness of a child. The track “Annabel Lee” has a Gypsy-punk beat and clusters of country overtones that mingle affectionately with the merry kazoo, while the flaccid strings of “The Seventh Seal” gavel sprightly along the paths of ambient waterways and dewy drops of dulcet keyboards.

One could easily be convinced that these songs are the result of a gathering of elves, fairies, sprites, and pixies with the way the music gleams and sparkles. Adams calls his music “violin-soaked punk-rock folk” on his website, which sums up the album in a nutshell. The songs are a type of folk art that shows a culling of classical elements with folk music, and uses an innovative approach to infusing them with a fantasy-pop vibe and space-age atmospherics. The gully of dreamy-scapes and rollicking beats has a natural swirl that illuminates the music with a crystal-like shine that engulfs the listener in its mysticism. Adams made his debut with his critically acclaimed 2005 album The Spiral Eyes, and his second album I Woke With Planets In My Face is bound to continue his ascent. It is the type of album that causes you to pick up something new in the intricacies of the songs with each subsequent listen.

A&A

Peter Adams’s The Spiral Eyes is one of the greatest albums I’ve ever heard. I still listen to it weekly. A large part of its appeal for me is the unexpected grandeur of waves of orchestration laid over a strumming acoustic guitar. Adams is a master song craftsman, and he’s also got one of those unforgettable voices–flawed, and all the more wonderful for it.

Any new album had to be a letdown. I simply adore Eyes, and if Adams shifted even a bit from that I knew I’d be bummed. Well, there are a few obvious differences. For starters, the orchestration sounds a bit more electronic. It was largely electronic before, of course, but here he drops the curtain a bit. This adds a different texture to the songs, which makes me uneasy.

Good. An artist who simply repeats himself is doomed to obscurity. Adams’s incisive songwriting and willingness to wander out into space (there’s more than a little prog up his sleeve) are still present, but he’s loosened up the reins on his craft just a bit. That vaguely sloppy feel combined with the more obvious electronics brings the sound of this album back to earth, if only slightly.

I think the only reason I didn’t fall in love with this album immediately is because of my undying devotion to Eyes. Adams proves here that he’s anything but a one-hit wonder. His sense of the wonder of it all is what ties his work together, and he’s made another intimate masterpiece. Stunning.