"hawaiian steel guitar on top of a ukelele band with andrew sister's/dan hick's style retro female harmonized vocals throughout. well done. the record keeps the lazy, island feel going throughout. great dinner party music or hot summer activity music. excellent, considering i've never heard of these guys before. it does for hawaiian music what "pink martini" does for european lounge dinner music. pink martini is a better cd, but i'm quibbling."
A breath of fresh air
Michael Kienhofer | Sault Ste, Marie, MI United States | 07/03/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Just got this CD and it,s #1 on ny play list!!! This CD is full of Outstanding Vocals,Melodies,and outstanding Musicianship...
Great ole time sounds that sound Fresh,and new! Henry Bogdan on National Tricone RULES! Thanks guys for making music that you can enjoy listing to. Michael"
Spirited Away
Marco Polo "Bruce" | Brooklyn, New York | 07/04/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD is lotsa fun and way cool with excellent music. I first saw the Moonlighters at a teeny-tiny club in Brooklyn, then bought the CD. Although I worried the CD might not live up to the AMAZING QUALITY of the live perf, lo! The CD is AMAZING, too.
Be prepared for kicky tunes with Hawaiian slide guitar and tight female harmonies. (Oops - the harmonies are tight, not the women who sing them! In fact if you see the Moonlighters in concert you'll find all four performers PERKY and GROOVY.)
Some classic songs, like "42nd Street", have transitioned nicely to Hawaiian swing. Others are dark and funky. I play the CD so much it's driving my boyfriend crazy. "Enough with the slide guitar!" he rants. So now we just play it in the morning before work - it works better than coffee.
If you like snappy, energetic tunes with rather superb musicianship, this album has YOUR NAME written on. This is the kind of small, indie music product that puts the blockbuster industry to shame, shame, shame.
"
Dreamland!
L. | 03/18/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"THE MOONLIGHTERS have been a part of the New York City jazz and pop music scenes since they formed in 1998.
DREAMLAND, their first CD, was released in 2000 on their ONLIEST RECORDS label. It includes several compositions by BLISS BLOOD, including the title track "DREAMLAND", a fantasy about Coney Island in 1905 inspired by a book of old postcards of the majestic playland of yore; "ABANDONED BLUES", a vaudeville-style "classic" blues song in the style of Bessie Smith; "MYSTIFIED" which re-incarnates the Boswell Sisters' lilting harmonies, "Mink Carpet" a sexy song with surrealist lyrics, and the strange, gothic "BLUE & BLACK-EYED" which recounts a tale of a battered prostitute circa 1880, preparing to commit suicide, and "IT ISN'T GOODNIGHT YET", a lovely song about desiring that first kiss but not wanting it to be over.
The CD also contains many classic Hawaiian tunes, "Cafe Life", "Honolulu March", "Hula Blues", "Right On", "I Like You" featuring Henry Bogdan's excellent National Lap Steel guitar work, and some interesting 1920's chestnuts, such as the haunting "Infatuation" featuring Bliss Blood on saw, "You Let Me Down" the classic jazz standard popularized by Billie Holiday, "All My Life" (performed by Ella Fitzgerald) and a rousing version of "42nd Street" including a tap dancing solo!"