Skip to main content

Air Traffic Controller - NORDO (Update: Short Review & Full Album Stream)

Air Traffic Controller is back with their second record NORDO - it is out now!

Nordo cover

Track list
1

Hurry Hurry

2

If You Build It

3

You Know Me

4

Pick Me Up

5

The Work

6

Blame

7

Any Way

8

Magic

9

Ready Or Not

10

Different

11

A Minute To Think

12

Thinking Of You

Let's go back in time: In November 2011 Air Traffic Controller raised 12.000 US$ on kickstarter.com for their second album NORDO. And I missed it. Damn.

Further back in time: Singer-songwriter Dave Munro, a real-life air traffic controller serving in the US Navy had written and recorded 4-track demos during his deployment.
He returned to his hometown Boston and founded the band ... Air Traffic Controller.
One of his demos reached singer-songwriter and producer Bleu. Everything fell into place resulting in a collective work on NORDO.

Now a few words about the songs: The upbeat, stomping playful Hurry Hurry - the first single from Nordo - opens the album and leads to the compelling If You Build It.
The floating Pick Me Up is predestined for a radio single. It's catchy like hell.
Already after my first listen to Blame I thought "this is one epic ballad" - the one ballad that can make a band famous all around the globe.
Any Way and Ready Or Not are melodic gems.
A Minute To Think is ... a minute to think. Yes, it's one minute of silence.
It's followed by the closing song Thinkin' Of You, which starts quiet and passes on to a playful finale.

I was a bit worried, NORDO could be one of these records you buy because of two or three songs that are really good, and at the moment you listen to the whole record you immediately get sobered. Then there's a phase of "Well, they might all be good but I have to listen more often". Finally you recognize they are not and the record finds its place in the shelf between all the other records and will be forgotten. And you'll hardly play it again because of your disappointment of the whole thing. Nordo is fortunately not this kind of record. Every song has its right to be part of it. There is on filler song. Great work ATC!

Highlights: Hurry Hurry, If You Build It, Pick Me Up, Blame, Ready Or Not

You can stream four songs from it at soundcloud:

The a full album stream can also be found at relix.com:

One more thing: I'll repeat myself here but NORDO produced by the one and only Bleu!
Preorder it at Newburycomics.com - with an autographed booklet!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jason Falkner - Biography & Discography

There is this kind of musician who is writing, releasing records and performing his own music for more than two decades - but misses the aim that is chart success? The one who creates stunning music and don't get any recognition by public, but by his loyal fans? One of them is Jason Falkner . To sum it up: he may be one of the most underrated musicians of the last two decades. What a pity! Falkner started his musical career with a band called The Three O'Clock but soon he joined a new band of his former bandmate (Roger Joseph Manning Jr.) - Jellyfish . After the success of the first record ( Bellybutton ) he left the band and said he'll be never again a band member again (where he was clearly wrong). His solo career started in 1996 with Presents Author Unknown , followed with the fabulous Can You Still Feel? . I recommend to listen to Can You Still Feel? from start to finish - there's no filler song, no low point. 2001 was a good year for loyal fan...

Ivy - Say You Will (from the new record "Traces Of You")

 

Rooney - Kids After Sunset (The Lost Album): Interview with Taylor Locke & Ned Brower (Bandmates from Rooney)

Bandmates Taylor Locke and Ned Brower took the time to talk about a special chapter in the history of Rooney : the "lost" second album, Kids After Sunset ! I reached out to both of them separately and asked if they could answer a few questions - check it out below. Over the past 20 years, aplenty songs from this album surfaced online and were shared through blogs, fans, and social media. These were mostly demos or low-quality recordings, but in 2024, a seemingly final version of the album appeared on the internet! Kids After Sunset - cover art concept PPS:   Around 2004, Rooney recorded a significant number of songs for their intended second album,  Kids After Sunset - at least twenty-five tracks, as far as I know. The plan was for most of these songs to be included on the album. However, it is said that the record label rejected nearly all of them, claiming they didn’t like any of the tracks, and instructed the band to start from scratch with a completely new album. I...