• " ::thinkstandard:: is one Steve Molter. His newest release entitled �The Three Enemies� is based upon a poem by the same name written by poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894, pseudonym Ellen Alleyne). The CD spans the poems three stanzas �The Flesh�, �The World� and �The Devil�. It�s a largely ambient release relying heavily upon unique guitar work ranging from soothing melodies to a much more caustic droning. Unlike a lot of ambient/experimental recordings this never at any point seems redundant. New tones and melodies drift in and out effortlessly while painting audio interpretations of the religious conflicts the poem itself represents. Of the three stanzas �The Flesh� and �The Devil� are my favorites. They seem to work the best as a pair as �The Devil� references �The Flesh� well, recalling previous themes and altering the context. Overall a solid, well-produced piece of brooding soundscapes that manage to cross a diverse range of emotions without becoming overboard or too �cartoony�. Molter handles his sound designs well and casts them onto the platter with a delicate touch.
- Chvad SB, DarkSonus.com 4/5 stars
• " ::thinkstandard:: is the solo project of the exceedingly prolific Steve Molter (also to be found treading the planks with Beware Of Safety, Sleep Uniform, Le Sigh, and The Black Hand), and could be fairly descriptively summed up as: one man, one Telecaster Thinline, one Ebow, twenty effects pedals, and a definite penchant for field recordings and vocal samples. So far, so ambient, and indeed The Gavel�s Third Try certainly does not fail to live up to such expectations. Great swathes of sound roll through the speakers with the occasional glimpse of melody provided by keyboards atop the rest of the reverb-laden mix. Yet it would be unwise to be lulled into the lazy suspecting of predictability from this record.
All of the track names are two letters long, but I am unsure exactly what to make of this. If put together, they spell �IDGLRERA VYSTTH,� which could be a profound and insightful comment on the human condition, but is unfortunately lost on me if that is the case. �ID� and �RE� are the only ones you could get away with in a game of Scrabble, so I�m not sure I may glean any information from them as far as regards Molter�s preferred past-time, either. They are, however, an anagram of �hard gristly vet� and perhaps more interestingly also of �gavel�s third try.� This would seem too neat to be a spooky coincidence, but I can�t work out quite why Molter would have ordered them in such a manner. At any rate, this slight quirk very nicely serves my purpose of illustrating ::thinkstandard::�s tendency to distance himself ever-so-slightly from the rest of the pack.
The first track, �ID,� is comprised of a constantly repeating four-note melody atop a recording of what sounds to be a busy waiting room or similar, with intermittent washes of lush, effected guitar, and on the whole is a very enjoyable listen, if not exactly a groundbreaking one, particularly when the counterpoint to the four-note melody enters. The next two tracks continue in a similarly unobtrusive yet agreeable vein, with nothing particularly attention-grabbing other than the especially satisfying way in which the piano enters just as the clip of a newsreader�s voice comes to an end in �GL.�
The first shake-up comes in the fourth track, �RA,� where jarring piano stabs ensure that the listener is prevented from using this album to go to sleep to, and the second in the haunting strings which make an appearance in �ST.� The latter is the closest thing I would consider to a stand-out track, and has a wonderfully woeful and melancholic feel which offsets the samples of a woman saying the Hail Mary in an acutely satisfying manner. Both tracks, however, remove us somewhat from the comfort zone of what could otherwise have been an unspectacular ambient record, and instead turn it into a wholly engaging listen, albeit not one I would recommend hitting the hay to.
- Fred Bevan of The Silent Ballet
• "As much as we try to deny it, first impressions are important. Maybe you can�t judge a book by its cover, but you can judge how likely you are to give it a chance in the first place. ::thinkstandard:: is a band that could stand to make a better first impression. The packaging for The Three Enemies screams �emocore� to me. However, when I finally got past that and actually, you know, listened to the album I was pleasantly surprised with some quite enjoyable ambient music.
First of all, I have a confession to make. I like poppy music. I know; it is a tragic sin. As a result of my penchant for the catchy, I tend to stray away from the more subtle music. ::thinkstandard:: just might be contributing to a change in that philosophy, however. The music is emotional, moving and powerful without having dramatic crescendos and diminuendos.
The album interprets Christina Rossetti�s poem, also called The Three Enemies, which explores several Christian themes. The poem is divided into three parts entitled �The Flesh,� �The World,� and �The Devil,� and each track of the album is devoted to one part. �The Flesh� is a melancholic track, full of drifting and at times unsettling music. It ties in well with this portion of the poem. The first line of each stanza describes �thou� as in turn pale, sad, weary and footsore. Somehow, ::thinkstandard:: has made music that is all of these things.
The other two tracks on the album convey the themes found in Rossetti�s poem just as well. For an album that relies on slow developing ambience, it never feels particularly slow or boring. The soundscape changes enough to never become monotonous. All told, ::thinkstandard:: have done the seemingly impossible and led me to write a review that contains the phrase �enjoyable ambient music.� While certainly not the sort of thing to listen to at a party, this would be a good choice for an evening alone with your thoughts."
- AmpCamp.com
• "Thinkstandard come right out the box with an awesome new release on Skean Dhu recordings, chock full of ambient goodness, topped of with a healthy dollop of homebrewed processed guitaronica. This record comes with differing styles of attack, it lulls you to near-sleep with gentle softness, but just as quickly barrages you with white noise skree. Sampled voices and processed vocals add to the sonic soup being served up by one , Steve Molter, and his toybox of instruments. Favorite tracks for me, had to be �amy� and �the sun only comes out when it wants to� , both tracks are long by short attention span standards, clocking in at over 10 minutes each, but I did not lose interest in either one. This album is most certainly a must for a long roadtrip, with plenty of space for the music to stretch out. A new release is due later this year, according to the website (www.thinkstandard.com) to be released by Skean Dhu in the fall 2005."
- Matt.Champ of Chain D.L.K.
• "For Steve Molter, I would imagine that Thinkstandard is much like a vehicle for him, to purge and eradicate all his thoughts and emotions into an array of sounds, allowing listeners to feel at least some part of what he wishes to express. This isn't surprising, given that it is probably most musician's goal to achieve this in some form or another some time in their career. But for being his first officially released recording ever, Let Me Go, I Let You Go, and This Facade Ends Quietly Here Tonight succeeds with flying colors. Molter definitely didn't listen to the same three indie records growing up, that much is clear, as the album wades through numerous genres, while still finding some way to fit together, resulting in a beautiful, cohesive arrangement of notes, chords, and countless individual subtleties, making it all the more special and unique. Minimal and disparate, the first half of the album shifts constantly between lulling rhythmically concentrated sections, and blissful, droning repetition. This is sharply contrasted with the mood and styling of the latter segments, which focuses on mainly inelegant, dirty improvisations. Haunting and grainy, "Teen Law" basically sounds like Molter sat in his room, pressed record, and proceeded to play stirring, yet spontaneous music. The way in which the sounds (originating from his bedroom) is translated onto tape, sounds altogether natural and unaffected, the product sounding the way it was initially meant to be heard. I couldn't help but notice Thinkstandard's adeptness for combining improvised playing, with actual thought out melodies and layouts. It is likely due to this, that Let Me Go, I Let You Go... is so dissimilar to other records that either take improv or structure, yet never both at once. On some songs such as "Amy", the griminess of hiss and warble is sacrificed giving way for a more lush and rich effect. The aforementioned cut is the strongest of the record, and is perhaps the centerpiece, embodying many of the traits and trends throughout the rest of the album. Molter has managed to produce intimacy, and not distance between the music and his sentiments. It is something that feels familiar and safe, like a worn-in baseball glove, a place where I could settle into and be comfortable immediately. What I hear is what I get, and although this may be a problem for some, I'm breathing a sigh of relief from this artist's utter sincerity, and relishing the fresh air this recording has escorted in."
- Kevin Chong, formerly of brainwashed.com (Unfortunately, Kevin Chong was recently terminated from brainwashed.com due to plagiarizing. That sucks, because the editor of brainwashed.com cannnot verify his words and his review is obviously praising my first release. I'm opting to leave the review, though please be aware that it might be a load of crap.)
• "::thinkstandard:: crafts dense, dreary soundscapes that transcend traditional songwriting with their laconic field recording-esque swoon."
- Ryan Hoffer from Shut Eye Records
• "::thinkstandard:: - unconventional sounds
I really enjoy when I can get lost, engulfed, fall into a song. When music pours through my headphones like water and washes everything away. It can be like waves crashing down on you, leaving you motionless exposing our vulnerability, or even our mortality. Or it can roll like a gentle stream or a slow flowing river, who's waters are inviting and they make time stand still. You can just float around on a tube drinking cold beer all day not a worry in the world.
These images where painted in my mind by the music of Steve Molter. One of his songs had me feeling like I was in the middle of a Baz Lurman movie, yet another reminded me of Carlos Santana's Blues for Salvador album, another brought to mind the mystic sounds of Clannad. It's a lot to handle, I know but after every song I listened to I felt alive and wanted more. This is some great stuff, a lot more needs to be and I'm sure eventually will be written about this muse of ambiance, trance invoking music.
You can listen to and download 10 of his tracks here. When those 10 tracks leave you wanting more ::thinkstandard:: CD's can be purchased here. If you want more, your gonna have to wait, but not very long."
- JR from Planet of Sound
• "...the music of ::thinkstandard:: is an eclectic blend of instrumental and synthetic sounds that appears to mesh the styles of Sigur Ros, Mogwai, and Radiohead into slow-paced yet constantly evolving sound..."
- Tarek Al-Hamdouni from Skope Magazine
• "Music is a highly information charged medium. No matter how manipulated or adulterated, music always retains some nexus with reality. Thinkstandard’s music has an enormous power to influence. Because of this, Thinkstandard’s music is part of the political process. By political, I don’t mean party political, but the broader process of human interaction, the way one group of human beings influences, assists, controls, or dominates another. Like any other communication (or art), music can represent values that liberate and repress, illuminate or disguise, criticise or apologise. These values might be transmitted intentionally, unconsciously or by omission. What matters is what the work says when it is required to stand by itself. Steve Molter’s use of music is straight-forward, the moments are intense, the emotion limitless. The passion makes it all possible. The result: the escapist representation of a personal dream, always definite. A lot has been written about musical symbolism, some of it applies to his music. Steve Molter has a need to understand situations, moments and motives in order to aurally represent (or interpret) them in a manner that will be nothing but adequate for a given audience. Flexibility and craftsmanship are two of the most valuable assets of this musician. The universe which Thinkstandard succeeds in evoking is a universe where everything takes on meaning, mystery and a soul. It is difficult to analyse the effects obtained, but they are breathtaking and truly concern the re-integration of the magic of musical poetry in the world. We conceive of music as a true operation in magic. Steve Molter does not speak to the eyes, nor to the direct emotions of the soul, what he is trying to create is a certain psychological emotion where the most secret mainspring, of our heart will be laid bare. Steve’s ideas no longer remain in the vague land of untried formulas; they have become in his mind, viable entities and as such, worth struggling for. He seems to feel these emotions deeply and inexorably – they pulsated within him, giving him the fire and strength needed to push forward. His pieces build up a mood of dramatic expectancy, but there is no plot, just a continued conjuring up of imminent narrative potentialities that never condense about a storyline as such. Different sections are juxtaposed, the two merge indistinguishably as crescendos rise to a great barrage of emotion. In that context, too, the duality of subject and the process of its observation are intensified by the duality of the inner and the outer. The work is locked at one end into meaning of the mechanism itself, but that in no way diminishes the imminent analogy with a personal level of psychological disturbance. The mood of the work varies from one of separateness in the presence of warmth to an isolation that is intensely downbeat. The ability to invoke mood through the manipulation of the music is his most conspicuous talent."
- Fan review: Lorraine Williams from Melbourne, Australia
