Articles tagged with: Genre Rock
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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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Artist: Dungen I’m an American- I like my food fast, my women blonde, and my de-facto official language as English. Don’t get me wrong though- while I may not be able to speak for every one of my compatriots, I believe that everyone who comes here should be treated the same way as a native born. After all, we’re all at some point in history, immigrants to the land of the free, home of the Whopper. Save the occasional Spanish siren in my ears through one import or another, I was largely unwilling to listen to music that wasn’t sung in my language. Either I’m in good company, or you can chalk it up to the pervasive American market, which serves as the reasoning behind foreign language lyrics in popular music remaining in many respects obscure, lest they conform to the ears of Anglophones. After America and Britain, Sweden may be one of the largest exporters of pop music in the world. (Don’t make me break out my heinously off-key version of “Dancing Queen”). Thing is, their exported talent, from Abba to Peter Bjorn And John, all sing in English. Enter: Gustav Ejstes: the man behind psychedelic-rock revivalist group Dungen (translated to “The Grove”) and exit: the staunchest of the English-only listeners. I told myself I wouldn’t know chant from what psychedelic revival- good revival at that- should sound like, and I’d be even less familiar with Swedish folk. It was when I first saw the video for “Festival,” which is one of only two English words found in the tracklist for the album Ta Det Lungt, that I exclaimed- “Take It Easy? Wait a minute, I can’t even understand it- it’s totally ridiculous!” Spoken like a true monolingual knucklehead. A friend of mine from Gothenburg, whom I introduced to the music, envies the fact that I can listen to them without knowing a word of Swedish. It’s a different experience to appreciate music when you’re held back by the mystery of an unknown language. If the music’s especially good, it winds up not being restrictive at all. It is, in fact, quite liberating- perhaps like listening with the ears of an infant, before conditioning sets in & the little league baseball flags start to decorate your room. He then promptly corrected me in that it’s pronounced “Dune-gin” and not “Dungeon.” If you’re reading this, then it’s a safe bet that you have internet access, thereby readily giving you the opportunity to find an English translation of Ejstes’ lyrics if you’re so inclined. But really, why would you want to? Live? I had the privilege back in August, and where many a show I’ve been to lately ended in disappointment, I left that night stupefied at how much of a performance I witnessed. I saw a frontman who, in person, looked as shaggy as Houses of the Holy-era Robert Plant, and about as thin as Mick Jagger in his more illicit days. Ejstes sashayed, wiggled, and writhed manically on stage as he sang, played the guitar, piano, tambourine, flute, and fiddle, no joke.
Still unsure? Well drop it, and pick up the headphones, or preferably, a good stereo system so it can hit you hard enough that the ringing in your ears reverberates even longer than the three years it’s been since my very first listen. Dungen are in fact, not revivalists. They don’t have to be, nor do they have to sing in your language. Discography 5m9nhurq8c |
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Aqualung “Music can be an amazingly potent thing. When I sing into the microphone in the studio, I’m whispering my secrets in people’s ears. When it connects, it can be so powerful. It’s still a remarkable process to me.” The image of a pianist sitting in front of eighty-eight keys, fingering depressing songs in a smoke-filled lounge has become something of a dismal cliché. More often then not, the injection of emotion in the songs is unjustified and insistent upon itself. However, the music performed by British singer/songwriter Matt Hales, aka Aqualung, is unapologetic in its portrayal of emotion. When he starts twinkling the keys and singing a heart-heavy song about life’s ups and downs, you are left with the feeling that your reaction to the music doesn’t matter. It will still maintain its level of sorrow, joy, sadness, or whatever emotion is derived from the music, without your approval. This says more about the talent of the artist than the vulnerability of the listener. Aqualung has been writing music since he was four and won a music scholarship when he was sixteen. He composed a symphony entitled “Life Cycle” which was performed by a 60-piece orchestra and performed with British rock bands “Ruth” and “The 45’s” before breaking out and performing on his own. His solo career took off in 2002 when a demo for his song “Strange and Beautiful” was used in a Volkswagen commercial, and quickly climbed the UK pop charts. After achieving success in Britain, Aqualung gained notoriety in the US when his song “Brighter than Sunshine” was used in the movie A Lot Like Love. Other songs by Aqualung have been used on TV shows such as CSI: Miami, Gossip Girl, Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, The O.C., Cold Case, and also used in a series of Chrysler car commercials. His music is evocative of what happens when raw talent meets unquenchable emotional expression. There is a famous line in the Beatles tune, “Hey Jude,” that says, “Take a sad song and make it better.” Without question, this the feeling one gets while listening to Aqualung. Discography: Aqualung (2002) Still Life (2003) Strange and Beautiful (2005) Memory Man (2007) Words and Music (2008) |
