Articles tagged with: Artist Profile
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Memory Tapes Grouping every new artist who uniquely attempts to challenge the confines of modern music as “experimental” is an oversimplified approach. If artists never took the time to experiment with what has been laid out before them, there would be no modern music as we know it. We would all find ourselves unrhythmically beating rocks with sticks (which, ironically, is what a lot of experimental music sounds like). Fortunately, the music of Memory Tapes (a.k.a. Dayve Hawk, Memory Cassette, and Weird Tapes) encompasses a certain kind of familiarity while still being highly experimental. Acting as a seasoned musical connoisseur by artfully selecting only the best qualities of musical influences, he successfully blends numerous styles and instrumentations into an expertly choreographed composition. He can take a mellow, semi-ambient, droning tonal groove, blend in a fuzzy, rock-synth melody, and finish off the composition with a haunting piano solo without letting one instrument stand out over the other. Most of his songs are fairly chilled, electro-indie jams which, coupled with his angelic falsetto lyricism, create an ambiance suitable for a night’s cure of insomnia. However, just when you think Memory Tapes is only suitable for an emo cutting party, the song jumps in with a driving, pop-techno dance beat that is contradictory to the mellow feeling but works to an astonishing degree. It’s music that would be found on the top of the list if they ever decide to rescore the soundtrack to Trainspotting. In spite of his musical proliferation, Dayve Hawk, the man behind Memory Tapes, is as unique a character as his music is eclectic. He spends nearly all of his time in New Jersey where he splits his days between recording music and playing the part of a good father to his four-year-old daughter. He never drives a car and doesn’t own a phone, which, in this day and age, is equivalent to claiming that one breathes through osmosis. Hawk is, for lack of a better word, reclusive to the point where he rarely makes public appearances. Although he is currently planning a U.S. tour in 2010, he would much rather spend his time in the studio creating even more musical masterpieces. After listening to his music, could anyone be so stupid as to selfishly deprive him of the opportunity to continue blessing our lives with Memory Tapes? I think not. Discography: Seek Magic (2009) Bicycle (2009, single) |
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“Our music isn’t that serious. All of the bands I looked up to growing up weren’t serious, either. They would have serious lyrics and silly music or serious music and silly lyrics. Music should be about having a good time.” -Phil Shaheen, Tijuana Panthers California is the home of sunny weather, Hollywood phonies, celebrity politicians, and breast implants numbering two for every one female. However, every one of these characteristics can be transplanted to any region of the country willing to lower its standards. There is one Golden State feature that is strictly held as a California staple, no matter how justified one feels toward redefining the location-identifying label. That is the sweet, echo-y sounds of surf rock. Holding it down in this much underappreciated musical genre are the Tijuana Panthers. Hailing from the coastal buffer between the glitzy-glam of Los Angeles and the soccer-mom Gestapo of Orange County, the shores Long Beach might seam like an unsatisfactory locale for surf music due to its lack of waves, to the breakwater built many years ago, and to the toxicity of water-waste runoff from the many communities adjacent to the Los Angeles River. In spite of the lack of adequate surf, the Panthers are determined to deliver the necessary dose of beach-flavored music that provides the perfect accompaniment to any party, with or without sand. The three members of the group, guitarist Chad “the Wiggly Man” Wachtel, drummer Phil “the Sippy Cup” Shaheen, and bassist Dan “Insert Silly Moniker” Michcoff, take inspiration from surf and garage music from the 1960s that was more than abundant in the sprawling So-Cal area. They also draw from punk bands such as the Dead Milkmen, glam rocker David Bowie, and even the work of Sade, although Dan and Phil point out that this is mainly a closed-door obsession of Chad’s. For the most part, the songs are written by Chad and tend to either reflect past memories of junior-high experiences (“Red Headed Girl”) or the disturbed musings that go through his head as he works the graveyard shift in an all-night diner (“Creature”). Although written mainly by Chad, the vocals are spread out through all three members, leaving certain tunes open for a hard-rocking drum solo, super-fuzz guitar whawl, or harmonizing backing vocals. The Tijuana Panthers get their name from a neighbor of Shaheen’s whose house burned down. The only thing left in the rubble was a broken panther figurine acquired from Mexico and a recurring story about a Tijuana knife-fight. The band has generated a definitively loyal following which has given birth to several homegrown, live performance videos and a few low-budget, DIY music videos featuring close friends of the band as either directors or actors (I’m talking about you, Ryan Evans; Billings Paint represent!). No matter what the weatherman says, listening to the Tijuana Panthers will put the warmth of the California sun on your frost-flecked skin. Break out the flip-flops and the SPF, brah! Discography: Tijuana EP (2008) Girls Gone Wild/Creature 7” (2009) Red Headed Girl/Crew Cut 7” (Coming Soon) |
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After a long, sleep-deprived week, I was readying myself last night for a well-deserved night’s rest before another day of journalistic prosperity here at the joonbug offices. I predicated my slumber with the positive, reinforcing words of Henry Rollins’ spoken word performances; a new personal obsession which, I feel, brings hope and assurance to my often bleak view of everyday life. As my eyes began to involuntarily close, I decided to close-out my session of “youtube-ery” with a video from the site’s side-bar suggestions, namely, a musical performance. I saw the name of a performer I was unfamiliar with and thought, “Why not?” as I clicked on the less-than encumbered thumbnail. In a clip from the former hardcore-singer’s talk-show on cable’s IFC, I saw an exceptionally overweight, middle-aged man in sweat-pants and what looked like a hand-Sharpied t-shirt timidly fist-strumming mangled chords on an acoustic guitar. When he opened his mouth, his nasal, slightly off-key voice began singing a song of love by way of poetic despair that made the world around me float away until all that was left was the music pouring from my computer speakers and my heart that was breaking with each word the man spoke. I replayed the song over and over again, mesmerized at the aural magnetism of the song despite its apparent simplicity. Hours and hours later, early into the morning, I found myself lying on my bed, unable to get to sleep, weeping uncontrollably at the beauty of Daniel Johnston’s music. Now I sit in front of this computer, tearing up as I type, trying to conjure up the right combination of words to describe Johnston’s brilliance. It simply cannot be put into words. It would be like trying to describe a sunset to someone who had spent their whole life blind. Surely, it is something that you have to experience in order to fully comprehend. Much is the difficulty of casually describing the life of this highly influential musical genius. He was raised in a devoted Christian household in West Virginia and was regularly chastised for his darkly foreboding illustrations and general aversion toward social “norms.” He traveled through Texas as a carnival worker, eventually settling in Austin amidst the emerging local scene of the early 1980s, and made a name for himself handing out hand-made, lo-fi home recordings of his original music on cassettes dubbed on a Sanyo boombox. When MTV sent a crew of videographers to Austin to cover the emerging music scene for the “Cutting Edge” series, Johnston was nowhere on the list of artists they intended to film; yet, he somehow found his way into various social gatherings filmed for the series and the project found this odd character as a central figure for the show. He continued to self-record his own music on cassette and hand them out to his friends. In spite of his growing reputation as a musical wonder and gaining praise from popular artists across the U.S., Johnston began to exhibit signs of emotional and mental distress. Always considered by people who knew him as an “odd-duck,” he gradually digressed into a manic depressive state, often convinced that the devil was actively trying to ruin his life. He eventually began to violently act-out as a result of his delusional state and was admitted into several mental institutions on multiple occasions. Although his popularity grew exponentially when Nirvana band-leader Kurt Cobain was seen at the 1992 MTV Music Awards and subsequent photo-ops wearing a shirt with Johnston’s frog-lien cover art for his “Hi, How Are You?” cassette, Johnston was locked away in one of his many residencies at a mental hospital. Johnston’s music and art continued to be passed around among musicians and fans alike. His songs have been covered by the Dead Milkmen, Yo La Tengo, the Velvet Underground, and the recently released Where the Wild Things Are movie features a cover of his song “Worried Shoes” by Karen O. Two of his songs, “Casper” and “Casper the Friendly Ghost,” were featured in the controversial film Kids, and Target issued a commercial using the Johnston tune “Speeding Motorcycle.” His life was also the subject of a 2006 independent documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, which has gone on to receive many prestigious awards. Above all, the life of Daniel Johnston mimics the tragic beauty that accompanies his music. The relationship between his life and music is often likened to that of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, who also suffered similar bouts of mental instability. Johnston is regarded as an “American original” along the paths of artists like bluesman Robert Johnson, country legend Hank Williams, and surpassing the folk iconoclast Bob Dylan. When future history books are laid-out, Daniel Johnston will have a chapter along side the likes of Socrates, Shakespeare, Mozart, or Einstein: true geniuses of humanity. Discography: Songs of Pain (cassette, 1981) |
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Lotus The five members of Lotus have all been making music both separately and together for quite some time. Originally formed in 1999 at Goshen College in Indiana, the group of musically gifted individuals collaborated their collective influences into the reinterpretation of a jam-band, likening themselves to the works of Phish and the Grateful Dead. After recruiting percussionist Chuck Morris in 2001, they shifted their focus from funky, jam-session grooves into an eclectic, instrumental focus that drew upon influences from downtempo electronica groups from the mid-nineties. Lotus has quickly harvested a profound cult following for their live performances, which typically involved elaborate lighting set-ups and many themed performances, most recently a David Bowie themed Halloween show where each member dressed up in a different Bowie-era costume and performed covers of “Fame,” “Under Pressure,” and “Space Oddity” among others. In the past few years, the group has expanded their “word-of-mouth” cult following through the use of social networking sites where fans on the band’s facebook page have the recurring opportunity to win tickets to upcoming shows. Lotus has also shown their appreciation for their ever-widening fanbase by allowing fans of their West coast concerts the opportunity to set their own price for concert tickets. The group will be finishing up the year with an auspicious New Year’s Eve show at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA, playing with electronica superstars MSTRKRFT.
In spite of their resemblance to bands like Phish and the Grateful Dead, critical attempts to pigeon-hole a band like Lotus with a moniker such as “jam-band” would be like labeling Salvador Dali as a Sunday cartoonist. Sure, the basic elements are all there, but there is so much more that goes into the overall picture that labeling will only be a disservice. The musical influences and styles that mesh together on Lotus albums are impossible to break into individual factions. Each track maintains a traditional rock core, but also feeds off of elements of hip-hop, indie, dub-reggae, and electro, sometimes all in the same song. With several albums under their hats, including three live albums and a critically acclaimed techno remix album, Lotus has released a dual EP follow-up of their highly successful Hammerstrike album. Oil on Glass and Feather on Wood effectively show the versatility of the group through tracks that, for various reasons, found themselves cut from Hammerstrike. Oil on Glass is a meld of funky tracks that takes a serious impact on making you tap your toes and bob your head while Feather on Wood creates a warm aura of intelligent, well-orchestrated sounds. The duality of these two EP’s illustrates the effectiveness of instrumental music as an entity unto itself and provides an accurate soundtrack to the reality of everyday life. Discography: Vibes (2002) Live Tour Compilation Germination (2002) Live Nomad (2004) Strength of Weak Ties (2006) Escaping Sargasso Sea (2007) Live Copy/Paste/Repeat (2007) Remixes Hammerstrike (2008) Oil on Glass/Feather on Wood (2009) EPs |
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Nashville’s own Dan Hagen and Michael Inge have written a viral treat that will inspire you and let you know that “If Love Ruled The World, What A Better Place It Would Be“. Dan Hagen on guitar, Michael Inge vocals. |
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DJ P During his early years, Danny J. Phillips, or DJ P, has been either championed or run-out of clubs in Missouri and other parts of the bread-basket states due to his creativity and talent of “blending” unlikely musical styles. His notoriety as a turntablist grew into mass public appeal when he won the Midwest Regional DMC DJ Championships in 1999 and was invited to perform at the national tournament in San Francisco. Amidst the performances of expert scratchers, beat-jugglers, and cross-fader flickers, DJ P performed with his own unique style of mixing cross-genre tracks, such as dropping Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More” over a hip-hop breakbeat while waving his finger at the other contestants. He followed with a rendition of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” leading into a mix of Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is” over the classic Newcleus track “Jam on It”, again, pointing to the other contestants when Hornsby sang, “get a job.” To top off his performance, P jumped in front of the turntables to show off his b-boy upbringing by break dancing during the remaining seconds of his performance. He was the only DJ out of the entire tournament to receive a standing ovation. DJ P’s unique style of “blending,” which has recently come to be known as “mash-ups,” has resulted in a slew of musical combinations that are too numerous to mention. His mixing creativity caught the attention of famed mash-up specialist DJ Z-Trip, who worked with P on the critically acclaimed Uneasy Listening Vol. 1. The album mixed songs from Madonna, The Who, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Star Wars, and included one of DJ P’s most recognized mixes of Pharcyde’s “She Keeps on Passing Me By” with Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield” instrumental track. The album was released in 2000 with only 1000 copies made, but it quickly found notoriety with rumors that it was featured on constant rotation on Kid Rock’s tour bus, numerous vinyl bootlegs in England, and the title as one of Rolling Stone’s “Top Musical Moments” of 2002, two years after it was released. On top of releasing several subsequent mash-up albums, including several Halloween-themed Hell on Wheels volumes, DJ P has had the privilege of touring with alternative rock bands Garage and Lit during MTV’s College Invasion Tour of 1999 and performing with 311 during their 2003 summer tour. He has also shared the stage with Snoop Dogg, Beastie Boys, Rahzel, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Ice-T, Green Day, Sugar Hill Gang, Cher, and Cindy Lauper among many others. Most recently, he has taken up to position of resident DJ at Club Moon in the Playboy Club at the Palms Casino and Resort in Las Vegas. He is also the feature of a documentary on his life, For Promotional Use Only: The DJ P Story, which documents his unique DJ styling, his struggles to find a place in the hip-hop community, and his dissatisfaction with Top 40 club goers’ fickle nature regarding music exploration. Discography: Manipulated Trax 1995 Out of Control 1998 The Story and Song of Hell on Wheels, Voume 1 1998 Uneasy Listening Volume 1 (With DJ Z-Trip) 2000 What’s for Dessert 2000 Azzholez and Elbowz Gangsta Mix Volume 1 2000 The Story and Song of Hell on Wheels, Voume 2 2003 Suck My Mixx 2005 Lost Mixtapes Vol. 1 2006 Moodswings 2006 Dee J Pee’s Big Adventure 2008 |
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/* Style Definitions */
Harper Simon “The long playing album is not just ten songs Simon, Simon . . . where have you seen that name before? It’s from the Harper was first showcased on Sesame Street in 1976, singing “Bingo” He went to college in Boston where he studied music. He then moved to London Harper’s debut album was released on October 13, 2009, and was rated 3.5 out Harper is more about crafting a perfect album that flows properly, rather However, he had a lot of help making the album. A full array of producers If you ask me, all this help was worthwhile. The tracks are beautiful. He opens Harper calls it an “arc,” and I definitely could hear it, understand it, and Discography:
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Artist: Soulwax Genre: Alternative Rock, Electro, Dance Punk Ever wonder where the mashup camp from? Well keep wondering, cause like punk music, someone will always come along and claim they started it long before Malcolm McLaren put it in a storefront window for all of London’s teenagers to gobble up. Since the genre hasn’t any aesthetic attached to it, not one that can be worn at least, it may never receive the heated debate that saw liberty spikes and studded belts battered and befallen all the way to your nearest strip mall. Just as well, because Belgium’s Flying Dewaele Brothers didn’t invent mashups, or remixes- not that it really matters whether or not they did when they’re this prolific at it. Helped along by the fact that they’re the sons of well known Belgian sixties DJ Zaki, and in turn, having grown up surrounded by thousands of records, brothers David and Stephen perform behind the turntables as 2manyDJ’s, a name that comes from one of the song titles off their second LP, Much Against Everyone’s Advice, an album released under yet another moniker found in the album title of their most well known work- As Heard On Radio Soulwax Pt. 2. Radio Soulwax finds Dolly Parton alongside Royksopp, and The Stooges alongside Salt N Pepa. Originally using the samples of 187 different artists, the CD only features 114, with the remainder either missing sources or not having legal clearance. The Dewaele Brothers don’t just spend their days playing Frankenstein with other recordings. In addition to an arsenal of remixes, the two have released several studio albums under the Soulwax moniker, among them, 2004’s Any Minute Now. I first discovered them through the single “E-Talking,” a video that goes through the alphabet via illicit substances abused in a nightclub. A line from the song, “Part of the Weekend Never Dies,” is also the name of a tour documentary of which the brothers are the subjects and directors along with Saam Farahmand. The latest recording is a compilation called Most of the Remixes (an album title truncated from the original 545 characters,) featuring sounds from fellow electro cohorts Justice, Ladytron, and Tiga. Lost yet? It’s fine- you only have to go through a fraction of their catalog to see that The Flying Dewaele Brothers/2manyDJs/Soulwax have (perhaps earlier than most, thanks in part to dear old dad) tangled together an interesting web of mashups, remixes, original music, and band names. Discography (as Soulwax) Leave the Story Untold (1996) Much Against Everyone’s Advice (1998) Any Minute Now (2004) Nite Versions (2005) Most of the Remixes (2008) Discography (As 2manyDJs) As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 (2002) |
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Battles I first encountered Battles while watching Mind Field, the latest skateboarding video from Alien Workshop. I was mesmerized by the quiet intensity of their song, “Atlas,” and how it complimented the raw talent and artful expression of professional skateboarder, Arto Saari. It also left a lasting impression as he fell some 20 feet down a set of stairs landing, literally, onto his face. Nevertheless, I had to learn more about this unique group. Battles has been experimenting with music since 2003 when four like-minded musicians decided to create something unique from their collective experiences as members of various bands. Their line-up accentuates their versatilities as musicians. Band leader, Tyondai Braxton, son of the avant-garde composer Anthony Braxton, plays guitars, keyboards, and creates live voice samples. Ian Williams, formerly of Don Caballero, plays guitars and keyboards. Dave Konopka, formerly of Lynx, plays guitars, bass, and provides additional live effects. Rounding out the four-piece line-up is John Stanier on the drums, which might seem like a minimal contribution to the band when compared to the other members until one learns that he used to provide the drums for the alternative-metal band, Helmet. Stanier’s association with the prog-metal band is said to have an integral influence on rock drummers since Helmet’s first album. Even though Battles has been making music for some time, they have only released a handful of EP’s along with one full-length album, Mirrored. They’ve spent the majority of their time together touring various countries including a highly-successful tour of Japan. In the few records that they have released their music definitely falls into the “experimental” category, however, they differentiate themselves from the more eccentric artists of their genre by diverting the attention away from the samples and unique vocalizations and maintaining the focus on the traditional rock instruments, the guitars and drums. Stanier’s ability to deliver a hard-driving drum beat almost eliminates the “experimental” label to bring them into a full fledged rock sound. If you are a fan of experimental music and find yourself too young for Frank Zappa and too old for Animal Collective, Battles might be just what you’re looking for. Just remember to avoid lip-slide hang-ups like Arto’s to keep your meal-ticket in check. Discography: EP C (2004) EP B EP (2004) EP EP C/B EP (2006) Tonto+ (2007) EP Mirrored (2007) |
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Artist: Vitalic Genres: Techno, Electro After Guy Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter changed the face of French House music, nay, dance music as a whole, but before compatriots Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay served as the second coming, there was one man–Pascal Arbez, who took the styles from each, and merged them into a ferocious electro beast. That beast is Vitalic. Arbez is no flash-in-the-pan Francophone wonder; he’s been producing tracks since way back when his countrymen dropped Homework. Under the aliases Dima and Huster Pornstar (the latter leading one to believe his obscurity on this side of the Atlantic must’ve been purely intentional,) Arbez was widely heard on European dance floors thanks in large part to his 2001 Poney EP, which brought him within the ranks of the International Deejay Gigolos. No, they’re not a seedy adult entertainment outfit; they’re only Germany’s most successful electronic record label, boasting artists like Miss Kittin, The Hacker, Tiga, and Fischerspooner. Off of the strength of Poney, Arbez would eventually put together and release his full length debut album, 2005’s OK Cowboy, which coincidentally is the same year he would remix Daft Punk’s “Technologic.” OK Cowboy starts off like a child’s nightmare about clowns come to life with “Polkamatic.” “Poney Part 1” follows, then there’s “My Friend Dario.” If there were ever a song that exemplified all the metalheads who somehow found their way from distorted guitars on 11 and blood curdling screams on 12, to a far more reserved jockey in front of the ones and twos, Dario is that song. “La Rock 01” comes right after, incase you missed the point I just made about Dario. My personal favorite, “The Past,” feels as if it could’ve come last on the album, but suits itself at number six just as well. If you played Cross ‘till your iPod battery had to be replaced, OK Cowboy is the record you should’ve bought two years prior. Discography Poney EP (2001) OK Cowboy (2005) V Live (2007) Flashmob (2009)
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Mayer Hawthorne “I think Mayer is the only artist in the history of the label that I’ve signed after hearing only two songs. Sometimes, you just know it’s the right thing to do.” -Peanut Butter Wolf When Mayer Hawthorne was introduced to Stones Throw records label head Peanut Butter Wolf, the veteran hip-hop producer couldn’t understand what this clean-cut, white boy from Ann Arbor, Michigan, was trying to sell him. The demo songs that Hawthorne played for the label head sounded like something from a smoky, noir-erotic film from the late 60s. Wolf recalls, “I asked him if they were old songs that he did re-edits of – I couldn’t believe they were new songs and that he played all the instruments.” Hawthorne derives his musical inspiration from driving with his father and tuning the radio to the soul and jazz stations that encompass the rich musical history that originated in Detroit. He took comfort in the soft, yet powerful, sounds of Isaac Hayes, Leroy Hutson, Mike Terry, and Barry White, but found his greatest influence in the music of Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield, and the songwriting of Holland-Dozier-Holland, one of the greatest songwriting teams in popular music. Creating truly original sounds within a long-established genre is no easy task, and Mayer Hawthorne has brought a remarkably contemporary feel to “retro” musical style. His passionate lyrics about love and life are sung with enough emotion to make you want to simultaneously throw your hands up to the sky in empowering exaltation and also curl into the fetal position while crying your woes away. The music accompanying the vocals is exquisitely performed and makes one wonder, as Wolf had, if these are tracks from the genre’s heyday or something completely original, which they are. Not only is Hawthorne a master at his craft, but he is also a master at performing songs from other genres in his unique soul-style. For proof of this claim, check out this short artist bio followed by a live cover of MIA’s “Paper Planes” performed at the Barrelhouse in San Francisco. Discography: Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out/When I Said Goodbye 7″ single (2008) Maybe So, Maybe No/I Wish It Would Rain 12″ single (2009) A Few Tracks CD Promo (2009) A Strange Arrangement CD/LP (2009) |
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Artist: La Roux Debate their role as a legitimate forecaster of the next big thing if you must, but so far, the BBC’s Sound of 2009 features several acts that have made quite a name for themselves. Then again, that could be overstated; there must be some folk out there besides the Amish who still haven’t heard of Lady GaGa and Kid Cudi. Lesser known, but no less entertaining, is the British band La Roux, comprised of producer Ben Langmaid and fronted by twenty-one year old Eleanor “Elly” Jackson. The 80s revival in music may have started a while back, but La Roux are taking it full speed ahead- acid wash jeans and Molly Ringwald homages in tow. While most synthpop bands make a point to be cold and detached, Jackson makes no secret of being a hotheaded, bleeding heart standout where current lovers and exes alike aren’t safe. The video for their first single “Quicksand” is teeming with an 80s vibe- Timothy Dalton era James Bond meets Sonny and Rico in South Beach for a Martini and a few lethal choke holds on some ornery perps. The latest single “Bulletproof,” which has reached number one on the charts in their native UK, finds Jackson channeling her inner Annie Oakley behind driving chiptune rhythms and even a little autotune to spice. One can’t tell for sure how long the synthpop movement, and the trends of the decade in which it originally calls home, will last before fizzling out to bass-heavy breakbeats and Hammer Pants. However, if given no more than the year in which they’ve been under the spotlight, La Roux are, as the name of their lead track suggests “In for the Kill.” Their self titled debut is out now on Cherry Tree. Discography: |
