AERIA

I'd like to meet:

Serious music fans and discerning listeners... A tribe of like minded souls into supporting an organic, heart felt indie label & spreading the word about our fabulous, artistically authentic, and famously eclectic releases...

AGENCY - formerly known as Republic, imagine early U2 clashing with the Cure in the early 80's with a panoramic guitar smith and an evocative, rich, moody, introspective baritone voice leading the anthemic spiritual and social revolution...

RICK BARRY - among leading media pundits covering the NJ shore music scene, Rick Barry is considered the preeminent singer/songwriter on the rise. Upstage magazine calls Rick "the next Billy Bragg". Rick recently won the grand prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and appears regularly at legendary Asbury Park venues like the Saint and the Stone Pony..

COLIE BRICE - the Creative Entertainment Organizer (CEO) of AERIA is also the founder of Gemini, former lead singer for Phantom's Opera, guitarist for Brian Saint & the Sinners, former guitarist for Johnny Bennet, a producer of a gazillion songwriter demos for upcoming artists, and a prolific recording artist himself. Colie's solo work tends to be experimental and eclectic...

CANDYLAND RIOTS! - these Hollywood, California based artistes feature intimate yet epic tunes with equally compelling panoramic, lush sound scapes. Clearly inspired by the Flaming Lips, Elliot Smith, Guided by Voices, and Wilco among other dignitaries...

JAMES DALTON - a.k.a. "JPAT" is our resident traveling minstrel. He sings and plays music on guitar, harmonica and mandolin. He has been really lucky with this and gets to do it a lot and in lots of cool places to people with crazy accents.
JON FRANCIS - envision haunting vocals that sound eerily similar to Jeff Buckley and musical compositions reminiscent of John Cage fooling around with an orchestra of homemade musical intruments (have you heard a banjo played with a violin bow and delay pedals yet?) and musical idioms such as Americana, jazz, atonal expressionism, bluegrass, & folk among many, many others...

HESH INC., - "Ive played in all sorts of bands, including rock, blues, r&b, reggae, 1970s-era disco, cover/tribute acts, and my own original "soul-punk-rock-r&b" thing, in the New York-New Jersey-Philly corridor and in Israel. I just returned to my beloved Jersey Shore after a 2.5-year sojourn in LA, where I made some great friends, hung out with all sorts of funky musicians and other characters, worked on my latest CD and succeeded in getting one of my songs placed in an upcoming motion picture.

JUGGLING SUNS - originallly discovered by Johnny Z who also discovered Metallica and Warren Haynes, the Juggling Suns have shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen, been in feature films, the New York Times and performed at some of the greatest festivals of all time. Imagine the soft, sweet, old school hippie vibe of the Grateful Dead artfully fused with the musical virility and superhuman chops of Phish...

Music:

THE HESH INC. Soul in Exile II: Jersey Shore Baby

Purchase Jersey Shore Baby

JAMES DALTON butterflies and passerbys

Purchase butterflies and passerbys

AMSTERDAM THE SORE SCORE

Purchase the Sore Score

ST. CHRISTOPHER THE ART OF DREAMING

" St Christopher offers pop tunes that are radio friendly right out of the box like the bright and catchy "Find The Love" teasing forth a contagious mix of toe-tapping guitars and electronics. With a melodic blend of blues/jazz guitar, expertly laid out and softly delivered vocals, which, at times, breaks into a hip-hop flow of words. One of the most striking things about The Art of Dreaming and St Christopher is the quality of the guitar playing like on the near-perfect pop tune, “Again.” - Matt Rowe - MusicTap.net

“With the pop sensibility and addictive qualities of a group like Savage Garden, his songs show musical genius. If people give him a chance he could easily become this generation’s Todd Rundgren.” - John Book - MusicForAmerica.org

Purchase The Art of Dreaming

AGENCY AGENCY

Formerly known as Republic, AGENCY delivers the same impassioned themes and challenges as their forerunners have (U2).

AGENCY’s music is as expressive and urgent as their lyrical messages. The music is anthemic and has more than a snatch of U2 buried in its influences. That’s a very good thing. Without emulating the uniqueness of U2, Agency chooses to create their own decisive and forceful barrage of guitar, drums, and bass with late‘70s styled rock ‘n’ roll as the framework.

Purchase Agency's Self-Titled Debut

JUGGLING SUNS Tranzmutation

On this outing, their best live performance CD yet, the Suns have interlocked a handful of moments within their sets where traditional song structure catapults into inspirational, mind-expanding jam, and they've created a whole much, much greater than the sum of its parts. Everything that makes this band special and unique is here to behold in bright, impressionistic colors. Kudos to the person(s) who came up with the title Tranzmutation, as it's perfectly stated. The killer, funky rhythm section of Ken Kruise (bass) and Andrew Lenaghan (drums), along with underrated rhythm guitarist Tim Morris, create a solid, yet flexible foundation for Mark Diomede's lead guitar virtuosity and Gus Vigo's keyboard watercolors. The listener is treated to 40 plus minutes of continuous instrumental magic sandwiched (think the white, creamy center of an Oreo cookie) between rock-solid, concise songs, with a couple surprises thrown in for good measure.

Purchase Tranzmutation

RICK BARRY DECLARATION OF CODEPENDENCE

Rick recently won his third Asbury Park Music Award for "Best Acoustic Act" after returning home from a west coast tour. In March 2006 Rick's song "Courage for A Rainy Day" was awarded the Grand Prize in the John Lennon International Songwriting Competition and was subsequently featured as one of Neil Young's "Songs of the Times" ) His song "Graphic Narrative" placed 2nd making him the first singer/songwriter in the competitions history to compete against himself in the final round:)

In July, 2005 Gary Wien of Upstage Magazine dubbed Rick Barry "The Next Billy Bragg" and wrote "he's constantly changing, constantly evolving, and usually full of surprises. He's one of a kind......thank god.."

In July 2006 Jersey Todd from Sirius/PodShow.com said,"I've seen the future of rock & roll, and his name is Rick Barry."

Colie Brice of AERIA Records says, "Declaration of Codependence is an intimate, unadorned aural snapshot of Rick doing what he does best - singing and playing his ass kicking, thought provoking, heart wrenching, gut bucket songs. There is no bullshit on this recording, just genuine talent.."

To HEAR a FREE online podcast performance of Rick LIVE in the studio, visit LUNA MUSINGS

Purchase Declaration of Codependence

CANDYLAND RIOTS!

ORANGE SASH & THE PRESIDENT OF THE GALAXY

Lush artful & psychedelia influences and catchy-as-hell choruses and ORANGE SASH AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE GALAXY illustrates the ability to craft melodies that keep the listener guessing, while forcing them to hum along and sometimes daydream with every listen. With hits like, "You're Contemporary Art" the band stands up for the last remaining gentleman. In "Ice Jets" they build a winding, and ever-changing passionate masterpiece that comes to life in images of the internal human body and the need to save it. "Thora (or hope for the empire)" is an anthem declaration of adoration for a Muse. Candyland Riots! even tackle their own bi-polar tendencies, and assure us that at some point both sides have to come together to present a loving person underneath in "Our Molecules Have Finally Come Together". Maybe the most heart-warming song comes towards the end. "Sleep, No More!" is inspired by the sci-fi Invasion of the Body Snatchers and questions love over life.

Purchase Orange Sash & The President of the Galaxy

COLIE BRICE - CHAMELEON

A profoundly strange mix of rock, pop, techno and psychedelic music all performed by Brice, with "a little a help from his friends" on a couple of tracks. The Beatles quip comes not without reason - Brice sounds eerily like John Lennon, especially on the Beatles-esque "Only Love Is Real." Oh, not the 60's Beatles, the 70's Beatles...you know, The White Album, though this makes me think of "Across The Universe." Only much more acoustic and accented with sounds of nature. And one might say thematically like "All You Need Is Love." "Only Love..." is a psychedelic, spacey, mainly acoustic treat to start off the album (the song, in a truly acoustic setting, is reprised later on the album, where it comes across as more fragile, and not quite as assertive - no less good, though).
Further evidence of this Beatles homage can be found in "And He Loved Her" (cf "And I Love Her"), "Mystical Music Tour" (cf "Magical Mystery Tour"). Upon hearing "And He Loved Her," an instrumental, this connection is unmistakable as the familiar guitar riffs are borrowed and slowed down just a fraction. While I hate to overuse a word, the guitar shimmers here again, like rippling water fanning out from a dropped pebble...many pebbles in succession. While it's a "cop out" to review an album by telling you other things it sounds like, the guitar here reminds me also of a Billy Joel tune on The Bridge, played by Danny Kortchmar ("This Is The Time"). Joel also is a Beatles fan (or so I'm told), but I'm almost certain the connection is merely mine and not Brice's.
But "Mystical Music Tour" is more a tour through some familiar sounds of some very familiar band. There are part that hint at Rush, as there is a percussive tone like Peart used on "Passage To Bangkok." A few Hendrix-like guitar tones pop in briefly before they become more Pink Floyd-like (the darkness of The Wall is what I'm thinking of ... the intro to "Another Brick In The Wall"). The drums pick up on this and we get deep, echoing, haunting beats. And perhaps it's because of the title and because of the other Beatles homages, but there's a brief moment where at about five and half minutes in you almost expect to hear "Roll up! Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour..." But that goes, and it's back to Floyd, and specifically the intro to "Time" from Dark Side Of The Moon. Oh, I hear other bits and pieces that I can't quite pin down, though I'm left with the feeling that I should. There are some dramatic, very cinematic moments...oh, Laurence Of Arabia comes to mind, though I can't say from that specifically. Maybe The King And I. I see a large scale pageantry scene with a cast of thousands...the roar of the crowd comes in waves.
"Discovering Joy," which is the second track, is more akin to the Fourth World sonicscapes of Steve Roach. Here you'll find undulating synths providing a bed for rhythmic percussion with a Native American feel and piano interludes. It's sanguine. "Jubilant Front" is different again, with trumpeting synths !
"Relax" is different again being a rock-techno hybrid, where guitars shimmer, laying down notes along an Eastern scale, and a "Max Headroom"-like voice urges you to relax. I thought of Thomas Dolby while listening to this.. The most "typical" rocker is "Follow Your Dreams." I dare say form follows function here, as you might expect bright upbeat guitar with searing solos, driving percussion, dreamy and soaring vocals - very AOR. And yet, we prog fans might also think of Pendragon, Jadis, etc. True weirdness ensues with the very brief "Sampler Madness" which lasts less than a minute.
This varied release is a joy to listen to, it's well played, well composed, and not at all merely rehashes of familiar riffs. It's taking those riffs and making them something new, holding them up for examination, where they can be looked upon with new eyes...or, in this case, heard with new ears.

Purchase Chameleon

NEW MACHINE - NEW MACHINE

Merely mentioning this band's name evokes images for the mind and emotions for the heart. With their unparalleled ability to combine the influences of yesterday with their insight for tomorrow, these two artists have created a landscape of sound that is New Machine. Chaim Garcia and Bob Gilmartin have been able to capture a sound that is rarely ever achieved. Their aggressive, progressive style magically mixes power with passion, silence with rage, and melody with mayhem. With thought provoking lyrics that touch a vast array of topics, songs that venture uncharted territory, and three and four part vocal harmonies, New Machine is destined to join the great artists of the past
by forging their own niche in music history... A new machine for a new generation.

Purchase the New Machine

COLIE BRICE - NEW AGE BLUES

"Colie Brice is a multi-talented artist that has an appeal that will touch many and possibly anger others with his straightforward and real life lyrics (Evil Ways). On "New Age Blues" (1996) he lashes out in fury at those that are all talk and no action. I know one thing for sure¡¦he walks the talk. It comes forth in his music very strongly who he is and what he is about. Along the way he makes damned good music. "Empowerment" is a spaced out intro to a by and large diverse approach featuring his many musical talents found in each song thereafter. "Set It Free" is a great instrumental track where Brice lets the music do the talking; he truly sets it free. Another instrumental number "Why" is a haunting world music number that is a total departure from the entire album. He always stands ready to surprise and amaze with his across the board talents as a musician, writer, and producer. This is an above average production and it shows what an immense solo artist that Colie Brice. Colie is still an active musician and he works in public relations and marketing for Classic Records and for the fantastic new site TheMusic.com. His music is but one facet of his colorful and exciting life. If you like music that delves into experimental, rock, all out jams and thought provoking lyrics check out this CD." © Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck September 16, 2001

Purchase New Age Blues

PHANTOM'S OPERA - PHANTOM'S OPERA

New Jersey theatrical hard rock band PHANTOM'S OPERA have an exceedingly rich history. Keyboard player Jack Young having first founded the band with Alec John Such (BON JOVI) in 1969 at the age of 13! The original line-up of the band featured Alec John Such on bass and Tico Torres (BON JOVI) on drums. Dean Fasano was a former vocalist with the band before he joined MESSAGE (with Richie Sambora) and PROPHET (later replaced by Russel Arcara (ARCARA).

In 1989, along comes another young rocker from Sayreville named Colie Brice who invites Jack to join GEMINI - Colie's first band that was slugging it out on the NJ metal scene in the late 80's. Along with Brice, former GEMINI guitarist Eric Walz switched to bass, allowing guitar demon Michael Romeo (SYMPHONY X) room to shred, and NJ drum hero Bob Nelson room to pound on the group's debut album that been released in 36 different countries on four different labels to date. After Mike Romeo left to form SYMPHONY X, guitarist Karl Cochran (ACE FREHLEY's band, ARCARA) played on the group's sophomore releases entitle "So Long To Broadway". Then Bobby Gilmartin (MYSTERY BLOOM, NEW MACHINE) joined PHANTOM'S OPERA for the recording of their third album 'Following Dreams' - produced by Steve Evetts & mastered by GRAMMY winnner Joe Palmaccio. In 1998 Colie Brice and Bob Nelson left the group.

During March of 2003, after trying to replace Colie Brice for nearly five years PHANTOM'S OPERA announced their new vocalist as being Terry Brock, a singer of high repute citing credits with KANSAS, MICHAEL BOLTON and STRANGEWAYS. A new studio album, 'Act IV', was released in 2003 through Escape Music. Meantime members Bob Gilmartin and Dave Garcia recorded a debut album NEW MACHINE on a new label founded by Colie Brice called Aeria Records. Talk about drama...

Purchase Phantom's Opera

CHRIS CORLEY - SOMEONE TO LOVE

This release offers a breakdown of the tradition walls of current "Pop" music styles, a "hybrid" so to speak of his own style. His songs and production are fresh and unique! He has a way with his intimate, crooning vocal style making you feel like he's right in the room with you. He uses computer technology to create his songs. Chris' songwriting and song structures are very organic and melodic with a little psychedelia thrown in.

"I am terribly impressed with the spontaneity, unpredictability and looseness of his music. Chris is a happening player and songwriter with nice bluesy leads and smooth vibrato." -Guitarist Network Magazine

Chris' music is very contemporary yet has a classic song oriented thing going on as well. Colie Brice of Aeria Records says, "He's right on the curve of modern pop. His vocals, guitar work and production is flawless. Bottom line is great tunes married to a new sound!"

"Someone 2 Love" is a poptronic masterpiece that deftly forges great pop songwriting with innovative, electronic oriented production. The combination of lush, sparkling, and pure sound merged with artist/producer Chris Corley's smooth, soothing vocal tones is a healing, uplifting and supersonic tonic for the soul!

Purchase Someone to Love

MARK PRESCOTT - SPIRIT OF MIDNIGHT LOVE

Purchase The Spirit of Midnight Love

Movies:

Rick Barry - Courage for A Rainy Day - Live @ the Saint ..

Television:

Juggling Suns - Droplets - Live @ Club Deep ..

Books:

Candyland Riots! - You're Contemporary Art ..

Heroes:

AGENCY - Live @ Monmouth University ..