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With brick and mortar record stores on the brink of extinction, the pressure to fit musicians into a neat little store category of Pop, Rock, Hip Hop and Country is lessening with each new album. That’s good news for BC native Shawn Hook, whose album Cosmonaut and the Girl straddles musical boundaries to create Hook’s own breed of pop music.

It’s no surprise that Hook created his major label debut with the help of producer Jon Levine, whose work with The Philosopher Kings helped the band to create some of the most unique sounding pop singles of the 90s. Armed with over seventy tracks for the disc, Hook and Levine parred Cosmonaut and The Girl down to ten stand out tracks that showcase Hook’s strengths in songwriting, composition and blending electronic effects with his classical background in piano and brass instruments.

Like all genres, pop music often falls victim to a saturation of disposable and forgettable singles. Thankfully, there are albums like Hook’s Cosmonaut and The Girl, comprised of musical experimentations that not only work, but deliver the promise of an artist who shows enough talent and self-awareness to make it in the cutthroat music industry.

Best Tracks: Two Hearts Set On Fire, Planet Earth, So Close\

Rating: 8 Cosmonauts out of 10

Listen to Shawn Hook’s album Cosmonaut and The Girl in First Spins now.

Tags: first spins, Shawn Hook

Posted on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 at 3:16 pm by Allison and is filed under Celebrities & Pop Culture, first spins, MuchRadar, Music & Videos.

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