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Thanks To Science Reviews
| “It probably won’t be long before you hear the work of singer-songwriter Jonathan Seet every time you turn on your TV, so completely does he evoke the pop-craft that has been accompanying most major television moments since The O.C. first introduced the idea that a series’ sound-track is almost as important as its story arc. The downside to this is that Seet’s melodies are almost insidiously catchy, leaving them trapped in your subconscious for days; the upside is that by playing his CD over again to rid yourself of this endless repeat, you can suddenly imbue your humdrum regular life with all the trappings of a Major Televised Drama. What could be more exciting than that?” |
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Michael Lawson, National Post
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Arousal Disasters Reviews
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| “Seet’s voice has the velvety smoothness of a lounge singer with guitars and melodies that sound like he stepped out of Manchester in ’89. Lush and erotic, plush and exotic, Arousal Disasters is one of my favourites. Period.” |
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Amanda Putz, Producer, CBC Newsworld PLAY
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| Let me begin by saying that Jonathan Seet has an incredible singing voice: pure, sweet, and capable of reaching seemingly impossible octaves. Indeed, comparisons to Jeff Buckley would not be amiss. However, this sophomore offering from the Toronto singer-songwriter is also a lushly baroque and brooding affair, like the modern score to an Erich von Stroheim film. Dark corners and demented lovers spill themselves across the lyrical landscape, bringing sharp edges to seemingly straightforward pop songs. Standout tracks include the melodramatic “Cyanide Tooth,” which sounds like collaboration between Douglas Sirk and The Hidden Cameras, and “14 Candles,” a hushed and trembling whisper of a song brought to life by guest vocalist Rachel Smith. All told, an interesting and quirky recording by a remarkable singer — perfect for those in the throes of romantic obsession. |
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Karyn Bonham, Broken Pencil
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| My first reaction upon hearing Jonathan Seet’s new album was to reflect on how “un-Canadian” his music sounds. While fellow Toronto musicians like Royal City and their Three-Gut compatriots have been hogging all the press with their lo-fi, intimate sounds, Seet has approached things from the opposite direction. His newest release, Arousal Disasters, is a lush and cinematic album filled with perfectly-formed pop symphonies. Far from a new face on the music scene, Seet has already garnered glowing reviews with his first album Melatonin, released in 2000. Seet’s voice soars to almost operatic levels, and often seems to float above his carefully crafted mid-tempo acoustic guitar and piano backdrops. His music brings to mind the best of British pop from the past few decades, and easy comparisons to artists like James and Travis abound. Many of his songs retain something of an 80s sensibility — not the “retro” novelty hits of that decade, but the kind of timeless, sophisticated pop that is in short supply these days. Seet especially shines on tracks like “Smoke,” where his voice is accompanied by only jazzy cymbals and a mellow baseline that leaves the song feeling almost a cappella. His lyrics are on par with his voice, which is as poetic and unabashedly emotional as his music, and occasionally clever as well. “You can’t complain you’re outclassed / when you’re drinking from a dirty glass,” he sings on “Dirty Glass,” a slow-building number that comes complete with a wonderful radio-ready chorus. Seet gives vocal duties to fellow Toronto artist Rachel Smith on the Bjork-like “14 Candles,” which shines as brightly as the rest of the songs on the album. A handful of other Toronto musicians also contributed to the disc. As an indie release, Arousal Disasters stands head and shoulders above most major-label albums. In an industry too often filled with misdirected hype, Seet is genuinely worthy of the heaping praise he’s received to date. Arousal Disasters should only serve to propel him farther into the spotlight. Original Link |
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Gary Smith, UmbrellaMusic.com
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| (Rated 4/5): Something about the unsettlingly creepy cabaret pop on Arousal Disasters, Jonathan Seet’s second disc, evokes Barbara Gowdy’s necrophilia love story We So Seldom Look On Love — all dripping wet and darkly gorgeous. Think luxuriant synth-orchestral pop ballads that are, paradoxically, both massive and claustrophobic in scope. Think Nick Cave, but not as tough, or Sarah Slean if she’d grown up listening to New Order. Seet’s voice is a breathy choirboy warble that sends him clambering to stand beside folks like Thom Yorke and Chris Martin, but there’s a more sinister edge. Seet sounds like the type who’d jump you in a back alley, but he’d only want to read you goth poetry. |
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Sarah Liss, Now Magazine
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| Indie Album of the Month — Seet is a Toronto-based singer/songwriter who previously turned heads with the release of his debut CD, Melatonin. He later composed what he calls “audio wallpaper” for an art exhibition entitled Vesuvius at a Toronto art gallery and scored a BravoFACT!-funded film called The School, which will be released this year. Now Seet is back with Arousal Disasters, his first album from No-distributed Aporia Records. He performed, produced and mixed most of the album himself, and the result is a layered, dense album, much of which sounds like the score of soundtrack to a film that hasn’t been made. A Bientot opens the album and is a largely instrumental, atmospheric number with a trip-hop beat. On ballads like Cyanide Tooth and the bittersweet Smoke, Seet’s echoey vocals sound very similar to Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, and much of the album has a very British sound to it. Track like Dirty Glass and the slower Light The Sky are good examples of accessible guitar-pop, while Echo is a dreamy space-pop ballad. Arousal Disasters is a gorgeous, ethereal pop album, and one of the first truly notable releases of the year. |
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Justin Anderson, Indie Update, Canadian Music Network
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| While it’s hard not to avoid Thom Yorke comparisions, Jonathan Seet is a Canadian that possesses quite a beautiful and unique voice. Arousal Disasters is his sophomore album, following his debut, Melatonin. This album has almost a cinematic feel to it and the production is lush and not overpowering. Sometimes when a singer is as strong as Seet, the producer tends to push it on top of the mix. On Arousal Disasters, it’s subdued a bit and blends in very nicely with the rest of the instrumentation. “Nasty Little Boys” is a great example of this technique. Female vocalist, Rachel Smith helps out on a few tracks and the best of these is “14 Candles” where she almost gets a Bjork sound to her voice happening. Give Arousal Disasters a couple of spins and you will fall in love with its ethereal qualities and its sheer beauty. Jonathan Seet has a diverse sound that changes with each song. With the right press on board, Seet should be able to become a very recognize figure in Canadian independent music. Original Link |
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MusicEmissions.com
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| (Rated 3.5/5): Local boy Seet showed allegiance to the Buckley/Yorke school of ethereal rock warbling on his debut, but he now seems more inspired by folks closer to home. His follow-up, Arousal Disasters, shares the same romantic, fanciful style as recordings by Hawksley Workman and Sarah Slean. Piano, guitar, strings and no-frills beats accompany Seet’s tales of obsessive encounters and sexual frustration, some ballads and some full-blown pop. Sometimes you get Moulin Rouge-esque cabaret chaos, but mostly it’s just creepy, what with the dead girls in lakes, vomit-soaked alleys and one too many euphemisms for female genitalia. Seet’s young voice still registers in the dramatic troubadour range, but he doesn’t sound desperate or dirty enough. Still, it’s an ambitious sophomore effort that mostly works. Perhaps a smoky club setting will amplify the arousal factor and turn this strong material into a passion play. |
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Liisa Ladouceur, Eye Magazine
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| It’s fitting that Toronto singer/songwriter Jonathan Seet is officially unveiling his second album with a Valentine’s Day set tomorrow at the Rivoli. Arousal Disasters, while tilting more toward lust than love, is sticky with primal appetite. “Cover me with you [sp] chocolate eyes so sweet,” he sings on “Cover Me.” Another song, “Smoke,” begins “She moves like warm molasses, drips sweetness your chin is covered/Can’t get her taste out of your mouth.” It gets a bit much at times. “I drained myself into your jet fuel tank/But it might as well have been a snow bank” does not improve with consideration. But the arrangements, ranging from simple acoustic guitar to sonic effects, are frequently captivating. |
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Vit Wagner, Toronto Star
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| (Rated 3.5/5): The songs on this album are well balanced and well recorded. Seet was the main vocalist for much of the album but tastefully broke it up with the use of two female vocalists on various tracks. This is not to say he has a bad voice, he has a good singing voice but it is nothing spectacular. Women can always sing better than men and this album proves that again. Some interesting vocal recording techniques were used here (at least I haven’t heard them) but the vocals weren’t manipulated electronically. At one point it sounds like Seet was singing in a box (he may have been), and other times I thought I could hear the space where the vocals were recorded. This didn’t really produce an echo as much as add depth to the song. I thought it was cool. All the instruments on the album were played quite well and production is top notch. I found some of the tracks moved too slowly and I was waiting for them to get to the point. All in all this is a solid album and a live club performance would be quite interesting for those who appreciate the singer/songwriter genre. |
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SeaHen, www.canadian-music.com (Wayback Archive)
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