I spend many an hour ferreting out
new music and artists to review.
Consequently I have an extensive in pile of CD's to listen to. I also
end up with music that I've just downloaded on a whim or recommendation
and in the in-box it sits until I feel like dipping in for something
different. Today was quite different. I found this album nestled
innocently on my hard drive, yet have no idea of how it got there. I'm
not for a moment going to blame aliens, but find it strange nonetheless.
At first glance this looks like any common or garden album. 9 tracks, with fairly different names from the norm, but nothing too unusual. However once I got a track by track listing, I found that the majority of tracks were over 6 minutes. The longest is a touch over 9 minutes. I immediately thought this was going to be an album to struggle through. I was wrong, oh so very wrong.
The album opens with the suitable weight, nigh on 7 and a half minute track "Smiling Perspective". It starts with some fairly ordinary drums and bass, but then slowly, the soft soothing synths come in and the whole track just comes alive. I could listen to this track over and over again for hours. Throughout the album there's a sci-fi, soundtrack sort of theme, but with a kind of dance underpinning. Again with music of this genre, it's an absolute joy to listen to through headphones. My favorite track on the album would have to be "Sliding Forward", with that delicious, almost hypnotic repetitiveness. Which when used intelligently like this, is simply fantastic. "Liquid Jazz" is, as the name indicates a mellow, electronic jazz fusion, which while sounding great, does feel kind of disjointed from the rest of the album. The last track on the album "Bars of Parmar", again has a distinctly different sound to the rest of the album, this time an almost ethnic feel, but it just flows beautifully.
Conclusion : An absolutely wonderful album and an amazing find. All the more amazing is that this album is freely available at no cost. Yes I said "NO COST".
calmscape.com
After receiving a mysterious looking package one day in my office with contents I only imagined to be either filled with Anthrax or emanated a slight ticking sound, I was relieved to find, in my piece of mail, an CD album Calmspace was kind enough to send for a review. The album was from General Fuzz called "Messy's Pace" and, due to the eager person that I am upon receiving something free of charge, I immediately popped the disc in my laptop and hit play. The feeling that I got from the first track (Smiling Perspective) was not exactly what one would call downtempo or chillout in general a few minutes in, but more of a melodic beat-heavy uptempo electronica sound that reminisces of Eddie Murphy sneaking around downtown in movies like Beverly Hills Cop.
The track set the tone for me, but tracks like "Unconscious Alliance" and "Leave No Trace" gave a strong urban vibe. The tracks "Sliding Forward" and "Liquid Jazz" gave of a soothing score where you could seriously just kick back and relax to. Anyone interested in songs from Lemon Jelly should check this one out.
The artist, James Kirsch or "JimmyK", hailing from Massachusetts, was educated in electronic music from a liberal arts school called Oberlin. He's been doing this for a few years and already with a few albums out with real catchy sounds. All in all a definite listen for those into upbeat electronica.
What you need . . .
Ooh, I'm really spoiling you this week: two doses of goodness in the form of electronic music. But while most of you will have heard of Daft Punk before, you're less likely to have had the pleasure of this particular man's music. And it really is a pleasure to listen to, believe you me.
Y'see, General Fuzz just so happens to be somebody who creates music for pure love of the form, and then releases it to the public for free. Gratis. Without charge. No strings. Every album he has released is available download on his website. Complete. They even come with album art to print out, should you so wish.
You'd be forgiven for thinking then, that his music can't be that good: forgiven, but very much mistaken. General Fuzz makes excellent music. Emotive, even thought-provoking. And it's a rare piece of non-vocal music that can make me think. His music spans a broad scope of downtempo electronic music - as he puts it "It's not so much dance music as music to zone out to. It's fairly hard to classify. I've tagged it as 'a lush down-tempo melodic approach to instrumental electronica'". Now if that sounds dull to you, take heart in the knowledge that once again you are very, very wrong.
His albums vary considerably in style, with the first (General Fuzz) being the most conciously electronic, and the latest (Messy's Place) flirting heavily with instrumental music and styles (observe, for example, the unsurprisingly jazzy track "Liquid Jazz"). But this information means nothing: you can't convey music in type (well, unless it's being converted into MIDI, but that's besides the point).
You need to experience music to understand it.
You need General Fuzz.
Live performance
General Fuzz has opened up for over 60 bands, including Elton John, Tea Leaf Green, Devo, Joan Jett, Berlin, and Magnetic Poets.At first glance this looks like any common or garden album. 9 tracks, with fairly different names from the norm, but nothing too unusual. However once I got a track by track listing, I found that the majority of tracks were over 6 minutes. The longest is a touch over 9 minutes. I immediately thought this was going to be an album to struggle through. I was wrong, oh so very wrong.
The album opens with the suitable weight, nigh on 7 and a half minute track "Smiling Perspective". It starts with some fairly ordinary drums and bass, but then slowly, the soft soothing synths come in and the whole track just comes alive. I could listen to this track over and over again for hours. Throughout the album there's a sci-fi, soundtrack sort of theme, but with a kind of dance underpinning. Again with music of this genre, it's an absolute joy to listen to through headphones. My favorite track on the album would have to be "Sliding Forward", with that delicious, almost hypnotic repetitiveness. Which when used intelligently like this, is simply fantastic. "Liquid Jazz" is, as the name indicates a mellow, electronic jazz fusion, which while sounding great, does feel kind of disjointed from the rest of the album. The last track on the album "Bars of Parmar", again has a distinctly different sound to the rest of the album, this time an almost ethnic feel, but it just flows beautifully.
Conclusion : An absolutely wonderful album and an amazing find. All the more amazing is that this album is freely available at no cost. Yes I said "NO COST".
calmscape.com
After receiving a mysterious looking package one day in my office with contents I only imagined to be either filled with Anthrax or emanated a slight ticking sound, I was relieved to find, in my piece of mail, an CD album Calmspace was kind enough to send for a review. The album was from General Fuzz called "Messy's Pace" and, due to the eager person that I am upon receiving something free of charge, I immediately popped the disc in my laptop and hit play. The feeling that I got from the first track (Smiling Perspective) was not exactly what one would call downtempo or chillout in general a few minutes in, but more of a melodic beat-heavy uptempo electronica sound that reminisces of Eddie Murphy sneaking around downtown in movies like Beverly Hills Cop.
The track set the tone for me, but tracks like "Unconscious Alliance" and "Leave No Trace" gave a strong urban vibe. The tracks "Sliding Forward" and "Liquid Jazz" gave of a soothing score where you could seriously just kick back and relax to. Anyone interested in songs from Lemon Jelly should check this one out.
The artist, James Kirsch or "JimmyK", hailing from Massachusetts, was educated in electronic music from a liberal arts school called Oberlin. He's been doing this for a few years and already with a few albums out with real catchy sounds. All in all a definite listen for those into upbeat electronica.
What you need . . .
Ooh, I'm really spoiling you this week: two doses of goodness in the form of electronic music. But while most of you will have heard of Daft Punk before, you're less likely to have had the pleasure of this particular man's music. And it really is a pleasure to listen to, believe you me.
Y'see, General Fuzz just so happens to be somebody who creates music for pure love of the form, and then releases it to the public for free. Gratis. Without charge. No strings. Every album he has released is available download on his website. Complete. They even come with album art to print out, should you so wish.
You'd be forgiven for thinking then, that his music can't be that good: forgiven, but very much mistaken. General Fuzz makes excellent music. Emotive, even thought-provoking. And it's a rare piece of non-vocal music that can make me think. His music spans a broad scope of downtempo electronic music - as he puts it "It's not so much dance music as music to zone out to. It's fairly hard to classify. I've tagged it as 'a lush down-tempo melodic approach to instrumental electronica'". Now if that sounds dull to you, take heart in the knowledge that once again you are very, very wrong.
His albums vary considerably in style, with the first (General Fuzz) being the most conciously electronic, and the latest (Messy's Place) flirting heavily with instrumental music and styles (observe, for example, the unsurprisingly jazzy track "Liquid Jazz"). But this information means nothing: you can't convey music in type (well, unless it's being converted into MIDI, but that's besides the point).
You need to experience music to understand it.
You need General Fuzz.
Live performance