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TAOS is Fbi Radio's Up for it Program's "Unsigned Artist of the Week"!

“TAOS is taking Sydney by storm with his alt-folk blends. Catch him playing songs from his lovely debut album Darkness & Light … revel in the acoustic indie of a shining up and comer while he’s still playing for free” Drum Media.

“A pop acoustic album with clear melodic lines fills your soul with an emotional resonance….eerie and haunting, yet warm and comforting…a warm, eclectic album good for relaxed introspective listening” Rated 80/100, Music Feeds Magazine

Songwriter guitarist TAOS has released his dynamic debut acoustic guitar based, solo album Darkness & Light. As the title may suggest, the album (dare it be called concept) explores various themes, from the darker side to the more uplifting, with a raw expression of emotions loosely telling the story of the dark descending spiral and the rise back up towards the light.

Featuring Adam Smith, bass; Chew, drums; Nicki Wells, guest vox; Rob Morten, keyboards, flute and sax and Kent Eastwood also keys, Darkness & Light has a lot more going on than just acoustic guitar and vocals.

What started off as a weekend demo, the album was recorded at Goose Studios with Pete Doherty and was mixed at Suburbia Studios with Simon Tonks and Goose Studios with Pete. Mastering is by Oscar Gaona at 301 Studios, Sydney.

Having successfully written, recorded, released and toured the east coast of Australia with several Sydney bands, including Turpentine, TAOS has now branched out in a tangentially different direction to record and perform his melodic acoustic material.

He has been successfully playing around Sydney in support of the album release as a solo act and with his band regularly being asked back by the venues for more!

Both solo and with the band TAOS will be performing his happening shows in support of the album and looking to travel it around the globe.

If you interested please have a listen on triple j unearthed for me, thanks!

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Album Review:TAOS - Darkness & Light. Label: Independent. Released: 2008. Reviewed by: Phillipa Marshall

The imagery that came to mind when listening to this album was the streaming sunlight in contrast to the dark pine trees in Mad Max 1 when Jessie is frantically running through the forest looking for Sprog.

A pop acoustic album with clear melodic lines fills your soul with an emotional resonance that gives to the old rock of the 60’s and 70’s, but with new production and a retro image. However this is not to be mistaken with the electro scene of MGMT, but closer to the yellow guitar sounds of The Who. The track ‘The Giver’ sounds like a cousin to Simon and Garfunkels’ Only Living Boy In New York.

Eerie and haunting, yet warm and comforting, Darkness and Light is raw and expressional, exploring movement of time and space through major and minor keys. Driving guitar and bass lines push us into the next track. Ambient rich timbres distance us from reality in contrast to the raw vocals that give the album an earthy human realism.

This album’s originality allows proposed known lyrics to take on a new life. For example, in the track ‘Beautiful’, lyrics ‘You are so beautiful, wish that you are mine’ in its positive pop delivery would be well received by anyone suffering from a crush. All in all: a warm, eclectic album good for a relaxed introspective listening, or as a comfort aide when breaking up with your boyfriend.

Rated: 80/100. Music Feeds Magazine.