Memory Lane
When I was a younger, much angrier boy, my favorite band was Thursday.
Most know Thursday for their seminal classic, Full Collapse. They ushered in a new era of post-hardcore: the emergence of truly emotional content set to the backdrop of heavy, hard, and groovy instruments. They hailed from New Jersey, where they continue to play shows and record music.
The best show memory I have in my existence was a few years ago, when my sister and best friend at the time took a road trip up to New Jersey. Now, if you see Thursday live, you know they never, EVER, disappoint. It just doesn’t happen. However, getting to see them in their home state…
Well, that’s something else entirely.
The road trip was pretty brutal. We stayed overnight in a hotel that slept like crap. I had no sleep the night before either, working full time in retail and keeping the hours I did. I was tired. When we left, I drove the entire way home overnight. I don’t remember much of that either.
It was worth it. Thursday played an amazing show. It was one of those great shows that you can barely remember because you were so in the moment. They ended with Jet Black New Year, my favorite song of theirs from an EP that few but the most devoted Thursday fans really knew about. They did this with confetti raining around our heads.
People that appreciate Thursday for what they did knew how much they put into each and every note they played. These guys, to put it plainly, had seen some @$*!. No doubt about it.
Tuesday is normally reserved in the industry for new music. They do it because that’s tradition, not because it really holds any artistic merit. In the spirit of blues, I’m making today Throwback Tuesday. I may not do it all the time, but I will most of the time as I see fit. Here’s a taste of their live show:
They never really got a lot of attention back then from the non-post hardcore crowd, so finding decent footage of shows around 2006 is difficult. This is important to understand, especially considering Youtube didn’t exist, and digital cameras were still 3.0 megapixels if you were lucky. Considering how fast technology has grown, it isn’t surprising to find that people tend to have such short memories about how hard an artist had to struggle to get themselves out there, so they could practice what they love.
Finally, I end with an actual music video. This will always remind me of a Hurricane. Look up the date the album War All The Time was released, and then look up meteorological phenomena during that period. I’ll give you a hint. It came out in September.
Namaste.
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Verbal & The Kickdrums
If you haven’t heard of The Kickdrums, spend a day checking out their stuff. When it comes to beats, you’ll be nodding your head all day long.
The track features Verbal’s vocals, and has an excellent guitar-laced interlude at the end.
New(er) Artist Quick Look – Cloudkicker
I’m continuing to explore Bandcamp, and wow, the sky really is the limit to what you can discover on this service. So, in a continual tweaking of my approach to writing for this blog, I’ll go ahead and start filling in with small posts introducing new artists I personally find intriguing, and stick with one full length album review a week (for now).
Today’s new artist is actually one guy, but you’d be surprised to know that from hearing the tracks. Cloudkicker is Ben Sharp, an artist based out of Columbus, Ohio. The music of Cloudkicker is very groovy, syncopated, technical, and atmospheric experimental metal. There are never any lyrics; Ben focuses on pure mood with each track. In researching Cloudkicker, I find a lot of references to bands like Meshuggah as immediate influences.
Let me sidebar and share my opinion on genre classifications. I think for the sake of making it easier to sort out and develop emerging sounds, the genre labels developed throughout the centuries have been a necessary evil. However, I believe we have reached a point, especially this far into Internet culture, where we can stop directly linking one artist to another in a futile attempt to classify.
As I’ve said repeatedly, music is the language of emotion. The best music is made in the moment, free from expectations. Sounds can be carefully crafted, and there’s nothing wrong with having a vision or wearing your influences on your sleeve. However, the fact that I can flip to one website and instantly hear, for free and in its entirety, the music of an artist I’ve never seen tour and whom my friends have never heard of, means that I don’t have to worry about or even consider where one artist or another in particular is coming from. I can appreciate the music for what it is and allow that to speak to wherever I am personally and emotionally. It creates a unique dialogue, again, free of expectation.
The short of it: don’t expect me to spend too much time trying to dig up comparisons. I’d rather just listen.
Check out Cloudkicker. It’s great ambient music to just lose yourself in, and, despite the odd tunings and angular time signatures, is still very relaxing. I’d attribute this to Ben’s patience in building songs over time and maintaining a steady groove throughout each track. As usual, you can get his music at a name your own price model on his Bandcamp page. The following cut is from his February 2010 release, A New Heavenly Body, and is entitled “A Hymn to the Projectile”.
Headphones, please.
Album Review: Jar-e, “Blood of the Summer”
Beginning now, Jesse and I will be trying a bit of a twist on the format. I’ll be focusing on full-length album reviews, while he focuses on the short form video posts, with the occasional bit of poetry thrown in. I don’t do rating systems (too subjective), so I’ll be giving more of an analysis with my own impressions of what I think of the album in question. Of course, I’ll post as I see fit if I find something worth sharing, but a bit of focus never hurt anyone. So, here we go.
My first review would probably be my favorite album of the year so far. I hadn’t known of Jar-e before a good friend introduced me, but I’ve been hooked on this album like you wouldn’t believe. Jar-e has a great set of pipes on him. He can cover the lows with authority and his falsetto could make the cocktail dress fly off of a waitress.
The songs themselves run the gamut between pop, soul, jazz, and pretty much anything else Jar-e sees fit to throw in. The instrumentals are well played, with a lightness and sense of groove that makes repeated listens much easier on the brain. Plus, anyone that can throw in a jazz saxophone solo over pop structures and harmonies is grade A in my book.
As far as lyrical content, Jar-e has a clear voice and relatable, emotional content that blends well with the moods and emotions of the other instruments. To me, the record tells the story of unrequited love, backwards. I’m sure anyone else can throw in their own meanings, but it’s not too hard to hear that the man is in love.
Check out his Bandcamp page to stream the whole album or purchase it directly from him. You can pick your own price after fifty cents, but I’d recommend floating him a few more dollars than that. Better yet, pick up the highest quality version you can, get a set of great headphones, and lose yourself. If you don’t find yourself singing along after one listen, I’ll be very surprised.
Avey Tare – “Lucky 1”
I’m always skeptical when a member of a well established institution breaks off to do something solo. I shouldn’t have doubted Avey Tare.
Down There is a fantastic collection of songs that feels like a direct extension of the Animal Collective sounds we’ve come to know and love.
The kicker off of this album is the closing track, Lucky 1. Something about the vocal arrangement here, coupled with the drone like noises, is both captive and haunting.
Fly off from harder days
Today feel like the lucky one
Die in a bed of shade today you like the lucky one
There have been days you feel sooo saaad.
Our Lady of Perpetual Tone 