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MoeTar: Entropy Of The Century
 The Bay Area's alternative crossover prog rockers MoeTar return with album number two, Entropy of the Century, which follows on from 2010's From These Small Seeds. A six piece, MoeTar is nevertheless the brainchild of singer extraordinaire Moorea Dickason (Moe) and bassist/songwriter/lyricist Tarik Ragab (Tar) the band draws on a broad range of influences that encompasses the pop-psychedelic sounds of The Beatles and takes in the avant-garde experimentation of XTC and Frank Zappa.
Musically it is all wildly inventive with mind bending chord progressions and ever shifting dynamics with an abundance of instrumental virtuosity and energy but it is Dickason's distinctive vocals that provide that little bit extra and at times are a breath of fresh air offering a real sense of melody to go alongside the often quirky backdrop. There are no big prog overblown epics here, most of the songs extend to little more than four minutes but MoeTar succeed in making sure that the end results are crammed full of different ideas and at times they are no less intense then sprawling twenty minute sagas. A very modern sounding band that has its roots in the past, Entropy of the Century looks set to propel MoeTar upwards to the next rung of the ladder and justifiably so.
Track List:-
1. Dystopian Fiction (2:01)
2. Entropy Of The Century (2:53)
3. Regression To The Mean (3:50)
4. Welcome To The Solar Flares (3:04)
5. Friday Night Dreams (4:06)
6. Letting Go Of Life (4:47)
7. We Machines (4:36)
8. Benefits (3:21)
9. Raze The Maze (2:38)
10. Confectioner's Curse (3:03)
11. Where The Truth Lies (4:49)
12. The Unknowable (6:26)
Added: October 11th 2014
Reviewer: Dean Pedley
Score: 
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2777
Language: english
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MoeTar: Entropy Of The Century
Posted by Jon Neudorf, SoT Staff Writer on 2014-10-11 10:00:49
My Score:
Defining the undefinable, that is exactly the problem faced when listening to the latest album from the Bay area band MoeTar. Entropy of the Century is the title of their sophomore effort, their debut From These Small Seeds came out in 2012.
The players are Moorea Dickason (vocals), Tarik Ragab (bass, vocals), Mathew Charles Heulitt (guitar), Matt Lebofsky (keyboards) and David M. Flores (drums). Guest musician Jonathan Herrera adds synthesizer on a number of tracks. As of now he is a full time band member.
As noted earlier this is a tough one to pigeonhole; progressive rock, art pop, or whatever one wants to call this, it certainly is a fusion of different genres and sounds. XTC seems to be a major influence but the band take that level of sophistication and increase it by a wide margin. Picking highlights is tough as there are a number of tracks that fit the bill. The album opens with "Dystopian Fiction" where a calm toy piano keyboard line quickly leads to the band's sophisticated arrangement defined by Dickason's amazing vocal performance. As in all these songs, the tempos and chord progressions are dynamic and tricky as hell. Next is the title track with its quirky pop flair and ultra-cool flourishes of guitar and keyboards. The highly complex "Regression Of The Mean" is a little more chaotic with neat keyboard and guitar lines played in unison and a ripping guitar solo that comes out of the shadows as quickly as it disappears. It is these unexpected surprises that makes this music so endearing. There are nine other tracks that are as equally rewarding.
In physics and chemistry, entropy is a measure of disorder and just as the title suggests there is a quirky bit of randomness here that is both playful and ultimately extremely satisfying. I have not heard many bands able to make complicated music as accessible as this. You owe your ears to give Entropy Of The Century a listen.
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MoeTar: Entropy Of The Century
Posted by Simon Bray, SoT Staff Writer on 2014-09-11 07:02:06
My Score: 
I'm glad that I tend not to read the promotional guff which accompanies review downloads as some of the following would have put me right off ever listening to Entropy Of The Century:
"Moorea is the next Adele."
"Wow! This song leveled me. Simply fantastic. Finally something fresh."
"I had to buy the album and hear the rest of this strange aural concoction."
"The singer's vocals are beautiful, strong, and easy on the ears."
"If you like modern progressive rock with a dose of experimentation, you will dig this."
I can't imagine anything worse than Adele (actually Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and others of their ilk are just as bland) and the mere mention of modern progressive rock tends to make me wary as quite a lot of what is currently lumped in with prog rock generally isn't overly progressive at all. Entropy Of The Century, however, most certainly is and whist much is made of the vocals by Moorea Dickason special mention must go to the rest of the band, Matt Lebofsky - keys • Matthew Heulitt - guitar • David M Flores - drums • Jonathan Herrera – keyboards as well as bassist Tarik Ragab who lay down a Zappa-esque background for Dickason's eccentric vocal musings. Generically this album is difficult to categorise other than good.
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