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Cityzen.tv- The Culture + Industry Magazine Is Proud To Present:
Cityzen receives hundreds of submissions each month from talented musicians and bands wanting to get their music out to the masses. Many times, we find a lot of potential on sampler discs and EPs, but rarely have we afforded shorter format work the opportunity for exposure in the magazine. However, the EP is a wonderful tool, allowing young bands with a lot of potential the opportunity to release a snipet of their songs without having to fund an entire studio album. That got us thinking... In the piles of EP's we have laying around the office, there's got to be a lot of good, bad and ugly music. So we dusted off the EP shelf, and created a new forum for these short samplings. Welcome to Extended Play, Music To Your Ears- by Gabrielle Korn

Traditionally, Extended Play or EP, is the name given to vinyl records or CDs which are too long to be called singles but too short to qualify as albums. Typically an album has eight or more tracks (anywhere between 30-60 minutes), a single has one to three (5-15 minutes), and an EP four to eight (or around 15-35 minutes). Some artists, especially in the days of vinyl, have released full-length albums that could fit the definition of a modern-day EP. (See Yes's Close to the Edge and Prince's Dirty Mind as examples.) Conversely, there are EPs that are long enough to be albums (Dream Theater's A Change of Seasons for example, which is 57 minutes long; Estradasphere's The Silent Elk of Yesterday clocks in at 74 minutes, 54 seconds).- From Wikipedia


Monopoli
S/T EP
 Monopoli's self-titled EP sounds vaguely familiar. The acoustic introduction, the harmonizing male vocals, the gradual addition of smooth electric guitar and a steady drum beat - haven't I heard this before? That’s not to say that I don't enjoy Monopoli's alternative rock sound - it's just simply nothing new. I am surprised, however, that they remain unsigned. So many other bands that sound exactly like this not only have record deals, but are very well known. Maybe if the EP had been created by a mainstream band with a similar style, like Coldplay, it would have been a big hit. But, because Monopoli isn't already famous (or signed), they're going to have to come up with something more original to get noticed.


BonBomb
Sedated Nations Sampler
 BonBomb sounds like a cracked out version of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah mixed with the rhythm of The Bravery and the balls of Franz Ferdinand. The three song sampler is nothing short of gutsy: when singer Wilson commands "shut up and dance," you snap, “how fast?” The lyrics are sarcastic and cynical, spiced with the anti-pop sentiments of all true dance-punk rockers. Though having a sound that can be labeled is exactly what BonBomb seems to be fighting - it is also, of course, part of their image.


Serene Lakes
S/T EP

 I hate having to classify Serene Lakes as pop: a word so small in morpheme and so broad in implication can't possibly do Serene Lakes justice. But pop is exactly what it is - swirling, romantic, indie pop. This is the music to listen to on rainy days when you huddle underneath your flannel sheets and down blankets, thinking about all the places you'd rather be while making farfetched plans to get there. The falsetto vocals meld with the guitars almost too well; the lyrics end up taking a back seat to the clean, spiraling riffs and unruffled bass lines. The self-titled EP is incredibly mellow, and yet it is filled with dreamy energy. Listening to Serene Lakes is like finding new love because of an old heartache.


Some Action
EP
 Some Action's EP gives a hell of a lot more than just "some" action and does so in less than twelve and a half minutes. All five tracks on the EP are equally gritty, edgy, and rebellious- an angst-ridden attempt to show the music industry what happens when bad boy meets record studio. "The girl that's in my bed thinks she has the right to know me," snarls lead vocalist Ian Magee over distorted riffs and a thumping bass pedal, summing up their exaggerated attitude in one line. Some Action falls under the ever broadening headline of "rock is back" - though heavier and not as catchy as obvious influences like The Hives and The Vines.