Choose My Music - The State Of Music Vol 3

Released: 29^th June 2012

Label: Choose My Music Records

The State Of Music is the ongoing project originally created by Dom Paczko, owner of Choose My Music Records. The project sees the people of Choose My Music scouring through all 50 states of the USA, through the unfathomable amount of independent artists, to select just one to represent their state in the label’s albums, titled The State Of Music Volumes. The profits garnered from purchasing these volumes (via iTunes for digital copies, or the Choose My Music website or the State Of Music website for physical copies) will be donated to a wonderful charity called Camden Calling, a charity that help out musicians and other creative people who are homeless or who are just generally down out of luck. Donate to the charity here.

So far two editions have been released this year, with the third dropping on June 29^th. This edition includes some acoustic songs which featured heavily on the previous edition, but with more chilled tracks and rock tunes featured too. Each new release turns out to be better than their predecessors and it’s certainly true with The State of Music Vol 3.

My standout tracks would be the opening song by We All Have Hooks For Hands called Changes. It’s a nice indie sounding tune that introduces the listener easily to the compilation, and it’s also just a really solid rock song. The Benningtons’ No Problem is a really nice acoustic number that flows really well and is instantly infectious with its chilled vocals and head bobbing rhythm. 

Tan Vampires’ Digital Rot is also a nice listen with it’s jagged instrumentation that’s performed softly enough to cause no harm, and it’s dragged out perfectly by the vocals and the final diddy to close it at the end was really sweet. L’anarchiste’s Iron is a massive 8 minutes 42 seconds and is definitely the most peaceful sounding track on the record, the “woooooooo” backing vocal that makes up the instrumentation is beautiful, the vocals are delicate and overall the track is just divine.

My favourite track overall from The State Of Music Vol 3 has got to be Worrier’s I Am The River. The drum intro is extremely infectious and gets the listeners head bobbing along immediately, and the guitar part that joins in is a real surprise but compliments it really well. It’s a quirky, creative track that certainly stands out from most and just becomes one of the most fun listens on the record.

The State Of Music Vol 3 is definitely the best in the collection so far. It has a really strong lineup and the songs they’ve included are brilliant. You can purchase it at the State of Music website, or on iTunes, or the Choose My Music website. It all goes towards Camden Calling which is a great charity, so if you want to make a direct donation to them then click HERE to go to their website.