Trademark Experience "Too Strange To Live, Too Rare To Die" LP

Review of Trademark Experience "Too Strange To Live, Too Rare To Die" LP
By L. White

With catchy beats and synthesized rhythm, Trademark Experience offers a great dance club album with Too Strange To Live, Too Rare To Die. The first of three studio albums by solo artist Thomas Mulherin that offers elements of funk, pop, hip-hop and a splattering of many other genres of music including some disco vibes.

On the second track "Ecstacy" Trademark Experience brings things more to current styles of R&B dance hits. A basic beat and rhythm with some added synthesized touches lets Thomas put the focus more on his great vocal abilities. Very well produced by Jim Conway with aptly placed breaks and hooks. The song is very catchy and would definitely be an instant dance club hit.

On the sixth track "Psychedelic", Mulherin's main lyrics has a sound that reminds you of Digital Underground somewhat, but with more of a dance feel. With background vocals in the chorus by KTA adding a nice touch. A perfect track to play at any house party, that also would be a hit at hip-hop clubs. Still having the synthesized rhythm behind it, Trademark stays true to his core of sound.

The seventh track "Can't Get You Out of My Head" is reminiscent of Rick James music, but with Gap Band vocals. Mixing early funk with some R&B and soul genres. A nice touch fusing older 70's sounding rhythm with 80's and 90's vocals. The opening synthesizer is a little basic and not too original, but when the beat and lyrics kick in the track takes it's shape and gets you on your feet ready to dance.

The ninth track on the LP "Losing My Mind" offers more of an electronic dance groove to it. The rap parts halfway through the track have a little bit of an out of place feel to it, with the rhyme being softly sung, which somewhat fits in line with the overall feel of the track, but just has the element of feeling out of place a bit. The vocals and rhythm seem to be more behind the beat rather than even or over it.

The tenth track "Co-Star" adds in a more 90's fuse of Hip-Hop and R&B feel, but still keeps the dance feel to it. Mulherin gives more range to his voice on this track with heartfelt feeling and conviction. Great pitch at all the right spots with the added spoken word type of hip-hop rhyming, yet staying in line with the groove of the music.

On the sixth track "Psychedelic", Mulherin's main lyrics has a sound that reminds you of Digital Underground somewhat, but with more of a dance feel. With background vocals in the chorus by KTA adding a nice touch. A perfect track to play at any house party, that also would be a hit at hip-hop clubs. Still having the synthesized rhythm behind it, Trademark stays true to his core of sound.

With the final track "Reach For The Sky", Trademark showcases his rhyming skills throughout the track. With a soft but quick flow, Mulherin doesn't overpower the music wih his lyrics, yet stays tight with the flow of music. Perfect pitch and production values went into this track and it shines in his delivery and flow. Clearly the best of the hip-hop tracks Trademark offers on this multi-genre LP.

Overall Too Strange To Live, Too Rare To Die is very enjoyable. Mainly seen as a dance offering, this LP delivers on so many different levels. With a few minor touch-ups on just one or two tracks, the album as a whole could be released as an instant classic. Bringing forth many different types of dance with several different genres represented, Trademark has fused some old classic styles with modern day vibes. The seventh track is set apart with it's old funk style that doesn't really reappear on the album again. Which would have been nice to hear a little bit more of, but Too Strange To Live, Too Rare To Die still delivers a very nice sound and groove to it. Sure to have Trademark Experience on the map for many years to come.

Special thanks to

Justin Sane of R.S.M Promotions

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