DMS BASEMENT LIFE magazine (http://www.basement-life.com) DMS is the solo project / whirlwind of a one-man band created by the mind of Steve Lamos. The drummer and trumpeter is already quite a seasoned indie rock veteran, boasting stints in American Football, The Firebird Band, National Skyline, and even in the early incarnations of Braid, but his pedigree would never arouse suspicion that this project would come off sounding quite the way it does. Over six tracks of instrumental madness, Lamos wanders across similar landscapes as Ryan Rhaspys did on his early work in Euphone, while also incorporating an array of electronic noises that at times are oddly reminiscent of an up-beat video game soundtrack. His trumpet playing may be minimal over the course of the record, and it's not really an issue, as Lamos' strength lies in his impeccable jazz drumming. The live drum sound serves to add the real dose of originality to DMS' music and it makes a difference, as the brightly recorded percussion gives the album a realistic and frantic feel. Given Lamos' background, the unexpected new direction comes off as a personal labor of love, and the only real downfall of his expert performance comes in the albums penchant for repetition. Sure when he's on he's on, but Lamos tends to lag a bit too often during the record's slower more electronically tinged numbers. The CD-ROM inclusion of two live tracks is a nice touch, but overall DMS' music and background might be enough to bring a welcome new audience into an exciting instrumental round via Lamos' credibility from earlier projects. *The Den of Metal Arts" is # 9 on this week's soundtrack. (pd) Issue #7, January 2001 BUDDYHEAD (http://www.buddyhead.com) When indie rock kids try and do the brain dance thing, it usually fails miserably. Steven Lamos is DMS, he plays real drums on this for a good portion of time, which is really impressive, because he does a real fine job and showcases his skills big time. The programming is another story; there are the ups and the downs. Rhythmically, "AV015", is a really good record, but some of the choices of electronic instrumentation give me that irritating "Joan of Arc" feel. Like the creator of this is trying to be smarter than the listener, and guess what, unless your name is Richard D James or Tom Jenkenson, you aren't going to win that one. This has an Autechre feel to it, with a bit of Boards of Canada, and even Cylob. This is good. (Tom Apostolopoulos) DELUSIONS OF ADEQUACY (http://www.adequacy.net) Steve Lamos has played the drums for other bands for years, first with the touted indie rock band American Football and more recently with ex-Braid member Chris Broach in the Firebird Band. Now, with DMS, Lamos goes solo. There's something odd about the concept of a drummer doing a solo project. After all, percussion is supposed to be about rhythm and support, right? Well, Lamos proves that gifted drumming and a willingness to be experimental can craft something unique that stands all on its own. // Fans of intricate drumming, a combination of rock and jazz structures, will no doubt enjoy this release. But this isn't all about the drums. Lamos adds hefty doses of synthesizers throughout, sometimes layering multiple samples on each other and integrating odd loops. These fill out the sound perfectly and provide a base for Lamos to showcase his drumming abilities. Think the more intricate drumming of Pele incorporated with the more futuristic sounds of a band like Squarepusher or Aphex Twin, and throw in a little jazz, and you get just a sense of DMS' experimental sound. // The album starts deceptively quiet, with soft piano and trumpet sounding more like American Football's quieter stuff. It leads nicely into "Laughing With Me / At Me," and now the drums come in. With mechanized keyboards adding space-like melodies and background beats, the drums come in and out, very complex and powerful. It ends nicely with trumpet played on its own, a mournful sound. "Pitfall Harry Meets his Match" has a more quiet and contemplative side. The keyboard, at times, is quiet and sparse, while the drumming takes off overtop, intricate and complex. This one has a nice, flowing, almost otherworldly quality to it. "The Den of Metal Arts" is probably my favorite track. Starting off with a synthesized loop in the background and simple keyboard, the drums come in mixing perfectly with the mechanized beats and keyboard loops. This one is probably the most electronic sounding, and you'll be floored to realize that most of these beats are not computerized. The sound on "Shirts & Pants" is more synthetic, with the beats more repetitive and the keyboard featured, and this one takes on more of an experimental feel. But there are some neat almost techno moments here. And "SOS (My Tambourines are My Machines)" finishes this EP off with a much lighter sound. The beats come fast, and at times they almost have the feel of metal drums, which is an interesting touch. Trumpets even add a unique flare, sounding as they've been recorded and mixed here. Keyboards add a nice bass aspect to this interesting and accessible track. // The most intriguing quality of this release is the contrast between the organic and familiar drumming style with a futuristic combination of synthesizers and sampled loops and sounds. It's difficult to find a reference point for this style of experimental music, but certainly it will find a diverse audience. Lamos proves that, while he clearly has the drumming ability to help propel independent bands like American Football and Firebird Band into meeting their potential, he has quite a bit more to offer. Check out the CD also for a few multi-media tracks, showing Lamos playing the music in a live setting. (Jeff) Week of January 15, 2001 FRICTION MAGAZINE (http://frictionmagazine.com) This is some good stuff. What a man can do in his spare time with a 4-track and a casio. Steve Lamos is a hard working guy. When he’s not lending his drumming and trumpet skills to various outfits, he instructs the writer’s workshop at the University of Illinois while at the same time conducting his own stuff which is a cross between a low budget sci-fi soundtrack and synthesized performance art for the Podunk monkey hour. There is a method to his radness though and it takes form in quasical jazz shaking hands with electro, spawning a lasting buddy-hood for merry makers abroad. Some of this stuff would be good to play when you throw that haunted house dance party. Others are swell to add life as you take that tour of the local nuclear facility. All in all, hip shoe store music in Munich never had it so good. You can almost see Snake Pliskin running through darkened streets on this disc. Do we dance or do we start drilling? But it’s cool to take up welding just so you can wear those face masks. (MW) IMPACT PRESS (http://www.impactpress.com) Steve Lamos has played with bands like Firebird Band, American Football and Braid, but his side project DMS sounds nothing like any of them. It combines live drumming and trumpets, with all sorts of electronic effects and keyboards. "Pitfall Harry meets his Match" features an all-over-the-place drumming session comparable with Storm and Stress or Squarepusher's Music is Rotted One Note album. "SOS (my tambourines are my machines)" contains a steel drum sample very similar to Aphex Twin's "Donkey Rhubarb." Finally, its enhanced portion contains footage of him playing two songs in his bedroom, one of them unreleased.  All in all, this debut EP from DMS will sit well next to your collection of experimental electronica. LOST AT SEA online (http://www.lostatsea.net) SOh great, more electronica!  A couple of kids sitting in a room recording every three dissonant notes they come up with on the keyboard that mom and dad got them to the sound of some prerecorded drum beat.  Just the kind of originality I want to listen to.  That may have been a first thought but as you read the notes and find that almost all of the drum work is done on a real set and that some patches of the trumpet is a real trumpet.  Once you have the opportunity to see the footage on this cd and find that it is indeed one single person programming the keyboards, playing the trumpet, and playing the drums live, then you know it’s authentic, there is musicianship involved. // DMS is Steve Lamos on his day off and all to himself. He is known for work in bands such as the Firebird Band and American Football, and has fooled around with various other bands.  In DMS he has all the control since there is no one to take it from him so his musical roots show through brightly.  He thanks both Miles Davis for his jazz influence and Sly and the Family Stone for the funk in both drumming and trumpeting.  There is some hint of rock in most of the beats, though expertly hidden, and Aphex Twin is to thank for a lot of the electronic inspiration. // Lamos is not a hard hitting drummer but keeps such a steady energetic beat that one could almost believe that the keyboards couldn’t be so solid without him.  There are six regular audio tracks, and a low-fi video of two songs being performed for the camera.  As In a Silent Way begins and the trumpets come in  you feel as though it is sunrise and you are being awoken gently and comfortably by a 21st  century mechanized rooster.  In The Den of Metal Arts Lamos playfully duels with his programmed drums. His starts and stops are clean as digital.  In the very low-fi video you can see that he is so comfortable with these creations that he looks to be bored and so intimidated by the camera’s eye baring him to anyone watching that he is forced to pretend to concentrate.  This is one of the best mixtures of pure electronic and analog music I have ever heard. (JJ Hamon) Week of January 22, 2001 ACTION ATTACK HELICOPTER (http://www.actionattackhelicopter.com) DMS is the drummer from the Firebird Band, Steve Lamos. It's basically an instrumental, keyboard and drum machine driven six song EP. I remember when I saw the Firebird Band play in Chicago once. My friend and I thought Steve looked like somebody's uncle who had filled in to play drums for the band. "Hey Uncle Steve! Our drummer bailed on us at the last minute. Is there anyway you could play for us tonight?" "Well, I've got a jazz gig downtown at ten, but it shouldn't be a problem. Sure. Why not?" Anywho, I don't know much about this keyboard, instrumental shit that's been coming out nowadays. To me, it seems fairly strange that all of these people just happen to be doing bands and music projects that focus on techno/dance/house/ambient music at the same time as everyone else. Sure, a couple people could seriously be interested in all of this, but it just seems pretty weird to me. Nevertheless, I'll be honest and tell you that I don't get this style of music and try as I might, I don't really like it, either. Whatever happened to the "rock" in the indie rock world? I guess it's not cool anymore or something.  (Kurt) SPLENDID (http://www.splendidezine.com) If you're looking for an act that successfully melds classical jazz, and some dance elements into a nice swirl, DMS's new six-track set will please. Starting off with "In a Silent Way", he shows a possibly unconscious respect to Joe Jackson's later work. The programmed keyboards keep you in the field of pop while the trumpet, drums and utterly odd song structure keeps the mind on its toes. It's not as beautiful as the standouts from Night and Day 2, but it's easily among the best "indie jazz" I've heard. The disc's second song, "Laughing With Me/At Me", ends with some nice trumpet but is weighed down by the keyboards, which proceed at a fast, almost disorienting clip. A pretty girl could sing over it and maybe turn it into a nice dance video, but the pretty girl isn't present here. The song, in short, sucks -- but you are only tempted to laugh at DMS here. All the other tracks go from very good (like "The Den of Metal Arts", in which the keyboards are used to much greater effect) to astounding. My definite favorite is "Shirts and Pants", which is not only the funkiest tune in the set, but one of the most fascinating instrumental dance workouts I've heard. The CD has a lovely closer, too: "SOS (my tambourines are my machines)" employs the same jazzy mood used in "In a Silent Way", but it also incorporates a cheery new wave vibe into the mix. If you ever wondered what would happen if Miles Davis met A-Ha, DMS gives a strong and tasty clue. (TD) AVERSION (http://www.aversion.com) In some music fans’ heads, there’s alarms that go off at the mention of the terms "side project" and "instrumental." If so, there’s bound to be red lights flashing, klaxons blaring and prerecorded warning messages going off whenever DMS gets anywhere near a stereo. // The solo side project of Steve Lamos, of National Skyline and American Football fame, DMS takes on experimental electronic styles, that, unfortunately justify whatever backlash the dreaded solo instrumental moniker brings with it. Though Lamos brings his well honed sense of rhythm to this EP, its not enough to save DMS from falling into the realms of pure oddity. // Built from the ground up with live drumming and sequenced melodies, DMS follows in the footsteps of bands like Squarepusher or, unsurprisingly, some of the more digitized moments of National Skyline, though [it] relies more upon a weird test of normal conventions than down-and-dirty songwriting. // DMS doesn’t opt for the flat beats-and-goofy-noises formula of dance techno. With each of this album’s six songs, Lamos bends his tunes into shapes that, while never conforming to the traditional verse-chorus blueprint, grasps some of the depth of mainstream songwriting. The mixture of edgy sequenced melodies that work under a live trumpet and stop-start drumming ("Laughing With Me/At Me"), and the combination of hyperactive low ends and blatantly synthetic keyboards ("The Den of Metal Arts") give DMS some flash. INVISIBLE YOUTH (http://www.invisibileyouth.com) Upon first look, I expected this to be among the hordes of crap bands I get that look too cool for their own good and play the most torturous electronic emo garbage.  But at closer examination, I realized this would probably be pretty good since it's the solo project of Steven Lamos who has served as drummer for both The Firebird Band and American Football.  As could be expected from a percussion based musician, the songs are instrumental programmed electronic driven numbers with a heavy dose of jazz-like real drumming.  What develops is a uniquely high-tech, yet still grooving sound that is almost trance inducing.  Interesting to say the least. (Kevin Clark) KSPC - Claremont CA We love the DMS album here.  Last week it charted at number 12 in our top 35 charts. (Nick Smith - Music Director) KWVA - Eugene OR Hi.  We love the new DMS album.  I had the chance to see them last October at CMJ in New York.  It is currently charting on our top 30 @ #20.  Thanks so much. (Adam Newton, Music Director) WBUL - Tampa FL We are really impressed with the DMS record. (Joe D'Acunto - Music Director) KBOO - Portland OR Good record! It has been charting for us already: #3 & #4 RPM chart the last two weeks & an RPM add pick the week before that. (Brandon Lieberman - Music Director) BBTL - Vancouver WA I love the DMS record.  It will be a top ten record for us, debuting on next week's charts. (Wayne Storer - Music Director) KXLU - Los Angeles CA I really like the DMS album, and a few DJs have already commented to me that they, too, are enjoying the disc. We look forward to more great music from DMS in the future. Thank you. (Kyle Smalakis - Music Director) WCWM - Williamsburg VA We got it, and we added it to heavy rotation. It's funny that you mention the drummer, because to us it was sort of like the songs are sort of average and then the beat drops and it's like, wow. Like Add N to X but with skills. (Charlie Wilmoth - Music Director)