THE MILK FACTORY

 Using anything from strings of dismantled pianos, a harp or a mouth organ to an acoustic guitar and found 
 sounds, Kealoha arranges his compositions with great care, building on the delicate aspect of his sound 
 sources to alter the mood of each track. All the way through, Kealoha applies gentle touches and delicate tones, 
 creating intricate sonic vignettes, all working independently from one another. The scope explored with this 
 album and the maturity with which Kealoha processes his compositions are rather impressive. Despite its great 
 diversity, a consistent theme emerges as the album progresses, and with it overall coherence. Small Talk Kills 
 Me goes well beyond most contemporary electronica to reach warm and welcoming sonic grounds while 
 remaining entirely experimental. With an undeniable taste for wonderfully stimulating sound assemblages, 
 Kealoha ensures this album remains consistent and stimulating all the way through. This is the very promising 
 debut album from a man with an extremely pertinent understanding of musical structures and a visionary 
 approach. 

 BOOMKAT

 What with Big Brother replacing the weather as Britain's stock subject for small-talk scenarios, it seems 
 Calika has decided enough is enough; declaring any more chat about Galloway dancing to Kraftwerk whilst 
 wearing a pink leotard will kill him. So there. Harking from Brighton and sounding nothing like The Go! Team/
 Wrong Music axis which seems to dominate his piers (get it?!), Calika (aka Simon Kealoha) has produced an 
 album of crisp'n'dry electronica that eschews loops in favour of electronically disrupting acoustic compositions 
 with all manner of fizzes, creases and filtered inputs. Tracks like 'Jolly Klit' and 'Kilter' allow waves of fuzz to 
 drift in and out on a tide of finely wrought beats and kinetic bass, whilst elsewhere 'Frown And Be Happy' 
 hiccups along with a structure that only makes sense from above and '(Exit)' indulges in some Prefuse beats 
 to charming effect. Incorporating field recordings and electronically soused vocals throughout adds another 
 layer to 'Small Talk Kills Me' that neatly reconciles the homespun image Calika projects with the laptop sphere 
 in which he inhabits. How's the weather?

 IGLOO MAG

 Calika's debut release, Small Talk Kills Me, isn't what I'd call background music. It's not music you can put on 
 and let become ambient, lulling sound. Small Talk... is an unexpected blend of sounds created by solo artist 
 Simon Kealoha. He explores territory that most electronic artists seem to shy away from; a marriage of acoustic
 and electronic. And as I was listening to it again while driving home one night, I realized that it could very well also
 be described as a missing soundtrack to Darren Aronofsky's film Pi.

 Like the multifaceted images that Pi presented, Small Talk... gives us layers of sound to sift through. A 
 contradiction of textures, from organic to sensual to almost sterile in precision; a contradiction that couldn't be 
 more agreeable. Each track blends individual pieces of noise, deliberately and carefully layered into sound with
 purpose. This isn't a random mishmash; rather, it leaves you wondering where the next sound will come from.

 When listened to with headphones, this release becomes an audio dose of Alka Seltzer, with its jerks and quirks
 and ping-ponging. Surprising backgrounds of abstract vocals and acoustic guitar give some tracks a fluid, lilting 
 momentum. Other tracks feature industrial, almost robotic chirping, or noise like disembodied keyboards that can
 be jarring, but that also create a curiosity for the ears.

 It took a few listens for me to settle in and appreciate the intelligence behind Calika's first release. Through the 
 business of the sounds and the unpredictability of each track's progression, I found that this is indeed not a CD 
 to put in the background. Rather, it is one to listen to intently, to discover each layer, to appreciate the textures 
 and to pay close attention to. Let's hope Calika continues to make music that follows its own rules. 

 SMALLFISH

 Calika is Simon Kealoha who recently collaborated with Seefeel's Mark Clifford on the wonderful 'Running Taper' 
 CD on Clifford's Polyfusia label. Having loved that piece of work it's really interesting listening to this as it puts into 
 perspective Kealoha's input into the collaborative effort. This is just absolutely chock full of superb electronic 
 music that clearly doesn't feel restricted in any way. He moves between classically melodic tracks and 
 considerably more out there pieces that use organic instrumentation as a starting point and turn into engagingly 
 oddball arrangements. When it gets beaty it really does have a lovely amount of oomph and there's obviously 
 been a great deal of time spent composing the album as a whole. If you enjoyed 'Running Taper' you must count
 this as a 'must-check' and even if you didn't this easily stands as one of the best releases this year. Superb 
 and highly recommended.

 ANGRY APE

 Small Talk Kills Me is the debut album from Calika, released on Audiobulb. Calika is Simon Kealoha, who has 
 previously worked with SeeFeels's Mark Clifford, and released material on Polyfusia. Small Talk Kills Me is a 
 well-accomplished album, calling to minds such established artists as B. Fleischmann, Boards of Canada and 
 the more electronic side of Mum. Subtle and unassuming cut and paste electronica is used to its maximum effect, 
 containing heaped beats and samples to create a wonderfully mature sound. Jolly Kclit uses ethereal vocals, 
 underneath the many layers of soft electronic clinks and muted deep beats. The album becomes familiar very 
 quickly, only adding to its charm and although complex in it's mixed up layers, is remarkably accessible. There 
 are no "stand out tracks" as such; Small Talk Kills Me is consistent without exception. 5/4 Swansong mesmerises 
 with hypnotising beats and miscellaneous found sounds, switching from organic to electronic, whilst Calm Laid 
 Down Her Head to Have a Nightmare deconstructs into a gigantic buzz of sonic waves.Calika is simply sublime, 
 and has barely left my cd player since I received it, shame on you who leave it undiscovered. 10/10.
 
 Jennifer Allan

 CHAIN DLK

 It took most unusual CD to prompt me into writing reviews again. It’s not that I haven’t heard a lot of good music 
 lately, just he opposite. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed in the past few months and my focus has become 
 somewhat skewed. Be that as it may, leave itto Audiobulb Records to release a CD so different and intriguing 
 that I can’t help but be impressed.Calika’s ‘small talk kills me’ is one of those rare recordings that stimulates right-
 brain activity in such a subtle way that you may hardly be aware of it ntil you’ve experienced repeated listenings. 

 On first impression, Calika’s music falls into the electronic glitch-n-paste category with a smattering of acoustic 
 guitar and sing-songy wordless vocal samples scattered here and there. As a background ound palette, there is 
 a feel of random activity over repeated patterns of disjunct melody. What’s really happening though, is that you’re 
 entering into a completely different audial world, where conventional structure is abandoned, giving way to a new 
 mode of xpression where an ever-changing, evolving tonal mood within the deepest realms of imagination.

 At times the music crosses into the realm of the psychedelic, and we get the first hint of what could almost be 
 considered a ‘jam’on track # 5, “We Slaves Nine 25”. Beyond that, abstract hallucinatory terrain is traversed and 
 you get the feeling that ou’re no longer in the concrete world as you know it. There are sonic elements that may 
 cause windows of memory to open and revealthings long forgotten. Perhaps one of the most dramatic shifts 
 occurs in track #9, “Calm Laid Her Head To Have A Nightmare” and the track title is most apropos. A placid melodic 
 repetition gradually gives way to a grumbling chordal drone that seems to go on for an uncomfortable period of 
 time, then suddenly stops- as if the listener has suddenly awoken from a bad dream. More abstract hallucinatory 
 terrain follows, and by this time, consciousness is stretched and bent in so many directions you’ll be hard-pressed 
 to get your bearings. It is almost like stepping into a funhouse of the mind, and after this carnival of acousma is 
 over, you’ll come out with an altogether new perspective, although you won’t be able be able to put your finger on 
 why. And even when it seems to be over, it’s still not over. A hidden (untitled) 15th track reels you back in lest 
 you forget the last 80 minutes you spent in wonderland.

Where most glitch-n-paste experimental music fails for me is in the lack of conceptual cohesion and too much 
 percussive bombardment with too little payoff. Definitely not the case here. Calika has assembled something 
 marvelous and special. If you’re a fan of Autechre, Boards Of Canada, Oval or Plaid you’ve just GOT to pick up 
 this CD. Available directly from Audiobulb in the UK, and probably at your electronic music specialty shop, 
 wherever you buy all the good stuff.

 GAZ-ETA

 Soulful electronica or folk meets electronica? Is this the future of this genre? Is electronic music getting a heart? 
 Simon Kealoha's debut "Small Talk Kills Me" is a perfect instance of a meeting point of electronica, lounge and 
 folk elements. An hour worth of what, you ask? Well, there are gentle hisses, lots of twangy guitars, soothing 
 synths and soft beats and loopy samples. What Simon is going for is the feel and the textured sound. Scratched
 -up records, elusive toned-down keyboards and machines that feel warm to the touch; Simon is definitely 
 exploring the tender side of the groove. This tender side is not to be confused with ambient music. Though it's 
 lounge and even lazy, it's definitely not background music. An abrasive hissing hidden track even makes its way 
 onto the record. What is truly amazing is the organic feel of every single track included. I'm talking about warmth 
 and a comfort level that can't really be put into words. Let's put it this way, the sounds are not simple 
 manipulations and experimental bits simply for experiment's sake. These are wordless pop songs from a land 
 inhabited by soft electronica, folk music and lounge. It's great to see how the siblings get along so well.

 BRAINWASHED

 Simon Kealoha's Calika project brings a fresh perspective to bedroom vibe electronica. Fractured and 
 reconstructed though it may be, Small Talk Kills Me is a record composed of songs more than experiments and 
 that's a welcome change of pace.

 While I enjoy some deconstructed instrumentalism on occasion, Calika drives home how the approach of beating 
 up and making up sounds can work in an emotionally relevant way when everything is put together with care. 
 Small Talk Kills Me is full of the kind of sonic detours and lapses into exploration that many artists make entire 
 records out of, but those excursions are always roped in by structures and melodies. Knowing the difference 
 between following a divergent path through a composition with a purpose and simply noodling is something that 
 a lot of artists working with this sort of sound set never manage. Luckily, Kealoha is able to balance his need to 
 experiment with his impulse to communicate here, and it pays off well.

 "Jolly Kclit" starts off with some glitchy rambling that made me wonder if this album was going to chase its tail for 
 an hour, but by the 35 second mark there's a stuttering beat, bass melody, and fragments of looped sound that 
 build nicely into an emotional chorus. Guitar punctuates the mix, but this hardly sounds like the live-recorded sort 
 of "folk music with a laptop" approach. I imagine that every sound that's been recorded here has been run through 
 the digital ringer to make it sit in Calika's kaleidoscopic mix of song and noise. 

 The album's quieter moments recall experiments in field recording, but they too maintain a melody that drives them 
 forward, keeping them from hanging around like so much wallpaper. "Quarter Smile" builds on some looped guitar 
 and backwards melodies and a simple electronic beat that creates a perfect mood. There's even a Joanna 
 Newsom reference in one of the song titles, which doesn't seem totally out of place even in a landscape of click-
 pop beats. 

 All of this reminds me of the album's title, Small Talk Kills Me, and as someone who resembles that title in every 
 way, I find in this record the kind of thing I'll put on when I'm at home alone, not really seeking out any company 
 other than a collection of comfortable songs. Small talk, like so many conventions of social interaction can deaden
 the spirit, and Kealoha realizes that being alone with your thoughts or a good record isn't necessarily isolationist 
 posturing. This record plays like a knowing tip of the cap to all of the other bedroom knob twiddlers and 6-string 
 strummers and bookish quiet types who'd just as soon interact via proxy than get together for drinks. We're all 
 out here, Calika, and we hear you just fine, we just may not be seeing you out at the pub any time soon.

 SANDMAN

 Small Talk Kills Me is the latest release on Sheffield-based record label Audiobulb. It is not one of those albums 
 that rushes out and bites you on the leg. It’s too subtle for that. A nip here and there perhaps but never threatening 
 to draw blood. It is wholly the work of Simon Kealoha, a bit of a music obsessive, who has previously collaborated 
 with Seefeel’s Mark Clifford. He keeps things fairly low-key throughout, combining gentle burbling electronics with 
 acoustic guitars. There is the occasional surprise, particularly the unexpected female vocal on standout track The 
 Deme Theatre. But it is a work that weedles its way into the psyche. Repeated listenings reveal the underlying 
 subtlety and depths.

 PHOSPHOR

 The UK label Audiobulb has already surprised us positively with an excellent compilation album entitled 
 Switches, released about two years ago. This album full of refined glitchy pearls reminding of Autechre, Apparat
 or Arovane, made clear which musical direction the label would be heading for. 

 Calika's new album is a logical step in the label's direction. Small talk kills me is an album full of tiny sounds and 
 refined sound particles. Acoustic elements have been put in digital settings. Most tracks consist of broken beats, 
 sometimes larded with returning African vocals and changing rhythm sections. The music consists of ultra short 
 building stones, so called sound snippets, which can be recognized as piano and guitar chords. These elementary 
 sounds create a high micro activity. But there are several exceptions; that is calm moments with filigrant guitars 
 and dreamy beats, for instance during the 7th and 9th song. 

 VITAL WEEKLY

 The man behind Calika is Simon Kealoha who is also half of Clifford/Kealoha, a collaboration he does with Mark 
 Clifford of Seefeel. 'Small Talk Kills Me' is his solo debut. Apparently he uses sounds derived from 'strings of 
 dismantled piano's, harps, mouth organs along with synthesizers and guitars, aswell as found sound and 
 distorted drum kits. Also somewhere it's says 'no gimmicks, no short cuts and no loops in this album', but the 
 latter sounds hard to believe. The music on the CD is quite interesting, combining various moods and textures, 
 ambient and rhythms alike, but in the end the bunch is too varied for my taste. It seems as if Calika couldn't make 
 up his mind as to what to do. The more ambient and glitchy experiments appealed to me more than the somewhat 
 more straight forward techno inspired musics. But in general this was quite a long album, with fourteen tracks 
 clocking in at over sixty minutes. Some more critical look at some of the material would have given us a more 
 consistent and a bit shorter of an album. (FdW)

 NERO

 Etichetta davvero interessante questa Audiobulb. Non fosse il fatto che abbia sede a Sheffield, a renderla 
 meritevole di attenzione è la qualità delle sue produzioni in bilico tra acustico e digitale, tra voci sinuose, 
 chitarre e boutade digitali, a farne un interessante laboratorio sperimentale. Questo disco in particolare, 
 rappresenta il manifesto perfetto dell’estetica sonora qui inseguita. Lavoro difficile ed in cui è facile perdersi, 
 Simon Kealoha aka Calika, non concede nulla all’ascoltatore e questo alle volte non è sempre un bene. Forse il 
 filo è più da ricercare nell’intera lunghezza dell’album che nelle singole tracce poichè queste mancano di una 
 qualsiasi struttura definita. Costruite senza l’ausilio di loop ma semplicemente maneggiando ogni possibile 
 materiale elettrico o acustico – pianoforti smontati, arpe, chitarre e sintetizzatori - i quattordici tasselli qui contenuti 
 sono piccoli bozzetti simili a tele non finite e lasciate lì come suggestioni per l’ascoltatore. Estrema cura formale 
 abbinata ad una voglia di lasciare strascichi emozionali che emerge forte in 5/4 Swansong piuttosto che nella 
 jam Calm Laid Her Head to Have a Nightmare. Dimensioni oniriche e subliminali contrapposte al rigore delle 
 strutture predefinite. Bello.

 ULTRASONICA

 Difficile interpretare questo cd. Ad un primo ascolto riusciamo a classificarlo ed inserirlo nella miriade di 
 produzioni Glitch, rischiando di dedicargli un solo ascolto e dimenticarlo, confonderlo con le simil-produzioni 
 ascoltate fin'ora. Ad un secondo e più attento ascolto, con la cartella stampa a portata di mano, riusciamo a 
 percepire il significato di questo lavoro. L'autore gioca con suoni acustici ed elettronici, campiona voci, corde 
 di pianoforti smembrati e l'immancabile chitarra. Drums distorte, piccoli fraseggi e migliaia di click's e pop's 
 sapientemente distribuiti. Il risultato è un album elettronico che devia verso melodie Indie, per poi ritornare 
 all'ambient colorato dai bit d'errore del suono Glitch.