Neon Brown - Fiber From leakedalbums.com by Robert Mc Namara Who got the Funk? Two white boys from Seattle got the Funk. Daz right Soul Brotha's, two skinny a** white boys gone done and made a Jazz-Funk record. But it's good sh*t anyway. Many, many instruments, some even home-made are utilised on this soulful, atmospheric and deeply interesting album. You cant dance to it, you cant sing along and you cant even imagine what was going through these lads heads when they composed this weird brew of modern everyday jamming music which is very musically and mindfully perverted. Nice stuff. The Brothers Woods are a strange sort. Normally I wouldn't be seen dead near an extended jam. I like my three minute pop records and while I appreciate George Clinton for all his efforts I like my Stevie and Marvin to remain simple and sweet. This though is a record that you can put on again and again and you don't have to even think about it. You can whip up something for dinner or read the daily's with this running in the background. Inoffensive and not demanding your attention I do recommend that you put this in your discman and travel to work or wherever with this on. To me its travelling music. Imagine sitting on a train looking at all the houses, towns and cities you pass through and you wonder who lives in them, what their like, what kind of relationships they have and what kind of a job they do and if their happy. For me this kind of music has always been the soundtrack to that. With pop records or rock records your always engaged in something about the song. The Riff, the hook, the lyrics, the bass-line, something, your engaged and the outside world doesn't matter. Its not like you cant hear Neon Brown or your ignoring them but the music allows you to transcend the mode of listening and lets you think. The music merely provides the soundtrack for your thoughts. If would be wrong of me to compare any of these tracks or list their attributes because they are all equally moody and irrelevant to trend or tag. However standout tracks are 'Any day Traffic' and 'J12 Interlude'. A fine collection of Jazz-Funk-experimental like songs with a lot more to offer you than that. ***************** Neon Brown - Seattle, WA Fiber - CD Review By Patrick Ferris Somewhere in the vast sea of music lies a realm between electronica and rock where brilliant musicians use technology as a way to enhance their instrumental limitations while constantly challenging the boundaries of electronic music. In Seattle's underground fusion scene, Neon Brown has emerged as a musician's band. Founded by brothers Andrew and Adrian Wood, Neon Brown's first release, Fiber, combines experimental funk and jazz, odd time signatures, multi-tracking and looping techniques to create a concept fusion album of thirteen original tracks. Clean and refined while simultaneously unpredictable and exciting Fiber is a CD that is best listened to with headphones to catch all of the nuances. The Wood brothers have develop their sound by pushing limits of technology...Combining traditional and electric instruments to create funky, psychedelic and haunting melodies while using small subtleties to create tension within the song. Andrew's two-handed approach on his nine-string touch-guitar and Adrian's exploration into electro-mechanical sound effects and percussive melody provide loads of rich polymetric texture. ***************** Neon Brown was the surprise of the night. Where did these guys come from??? Did someone tell me they are brothers?? They play killer original songs on instruments they made, including a variation of a Chapman Stick and a homemade drum set that sounds fantastic. Two guys making enough sound to fill every corner of the room; they have great vocal harmonies, sly & twisted grooves and are definitely on a path to success...musicianship balanced with a respect for the song and the aural landscape...you gotta see Neon Brown first chance you get. - James Whiton (From a mailer after playing a show with Neon Brown.) ***************** ...jam-band musicians are pretty uninteresting people, by and large...Seattle brothers Adrian and Andrew Woods, aka Neon Brown, aren't like that. Sure, their first full-length CD falls into a few Phish traps - uncalled-for guitar effects that recall Queensryche, lines like "hijacking his lucidity" and tacked-on freakouts that have ">>|" written all over them. But they keep their music on enough of a leash to make it palatable. Primarily, that's because they often follow loops... By and large, they're syncopated ones, which gives the Woodses license to explore 7/4 time on "Tippin' the Fridge" without losing anyone. They're not afraid of pop, either, as evidenced by the funky "Blue Fiber" and "Get Round." All in all, it's a big knot of sound, but you don't need a fork to untie it. - The Bellingham Herald (From the Bellingham Herald. 2003) ***************** Their live show incorporates in-the-moment intuitive communication, also sampling and looping effects - smooth and sometimes alarming. I hear a nice comintogetha of 70s prog timing intricacies, 90s jamstyle improvisations, solid and round electric guitar tones well applied...and the overall tenor of ?Fiber? is humid and pregnant. The songs do not resemble each other, but the tone and mood are consistent - the disc feels like a Work, not just a collection of bits - points for an excellent tapestry of mood. - Five Philpin (For PIRATEMUSIC.TV. 2003)