Review from Leicester Bangs (http://www.leicesterbangs.co.uk/may10-28.html): Alex Wroten is something of an all-rounder. His talents stretch far and wide, incorporating composition, radio, filmmaking and web design. His musical CV includes jazz, progressive, avant garde and soundtrack work, and if you care to log into his website (link below) you can access over 75 hours of assorted material. Alex Wroten is still a young man. By the time he’s finished they may have to invent a new online platform just for him. They’ll call it the wroternet. Probably. Not Necessarily Like This is, as far as I can ascertain, Wroten’s first solo album since 2002’s Cold & Flu. Experimental as it is, it’s freshness and willingness to make a bold artistic statement, gives the impression of a re-birth. It feels like a debut record, a genuine statement of intent, which nods respectfully to the past, most noticeably the progressive art-rock of early 1970’s Britain, whilst integrating contemporary technology and themes. It flits between outbursts of jerky melody and spiky layered drones, whilst Wroten’s treated voice brings another level of otherworldliness to the proceedings. Overall, it’s a thoroughly rewarding experience, best represented by the album’s two longest pieces “Anno Domini Hyperactive Disorder” and the 20 minute “Alpha but Omega”. I suggest you head over to Wroten’s MySpace page to check them out, pronto! ======================================================================================== Review from IndieMusicReview.NET (http://www.indiemusicreview.net/?p=84): Some people just like more of the same. They’re comfortable with it. It’s what they know. They even think they like it. (When what they really like is not having to be confronted with anything different from what they already know.) Luckily for us, Alex Wroten is not one of these people. His new album Not Necessarily Like This is a breath of fresh air. His sound textures (music is something less complex) are a welcome break from what can be the pablum - singing, percussion, guitars, keyboards - of formulated contemporary music. The electronic sounds and rhythms on this album were made by Wroten on synthesizers, vintage keyboards, drums, guitars, and with some human voice (electronically treated). It immediately reminded me of Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine’s sound on Soleil cherche futur. Further, it suggests elements of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, without the vocals; of early Pink Floyd’s Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast from their album Atom Heart Mother; and of some of the hallucinogenic material on Led Zepplin’s third album. The only track on the album to which I took a dislike (and a strong dislike in that) was the sixth song double talk in which a modified human voice - though “robotized” - can be heard speaking quite understandable English. Why Wroten added this verbiage to a perfectly innocent sound texture is hard to understand. In any case, if you’re tired of mainline mush, give your hearing faculty a break and listen to Not Necessarily Like This. You won’t be bored. ======================================================================================== Album Description: Everything got thrown in the pot during the creation of this album, the first of Alex's solo albums since 2002's <i>Turkey's Revenge</i>. Fifteen-year-old cassette tape experiments, drum machines, gamelan, synthesizers, Suzuki Omnichord, Dubreq Stylophone, and every stringed instrument Alex could get his hands on. It was recorded sporadically from June 2009 through February 2010 in Alex's bedrooms in South Carolina and New Hampshire. Highlights include the 20-minute suite "Alpha but Omega," the 10-minute fusion piece "Anno Domini Hyperactive Disorder," the near dance-like (yet hardly danceable!) "Rockets," and "Double Talk," which itself features guest appearances from George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, and Sarah Palin. Although mostly instrumental, the 62-minute album includes three vocally oriented songs:"The Birthday Party," "Rockets," and "Double Talk." Fans of 1970s progressive rock won't want to miss this, especially fans of fusion styles and rock in opposition.