Jack Conte

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Jack Conte. He is a San Francisco native that has only been on the scene for about three years, but will stay in the limelight for much longer than fifteen minutes if he continues releasing EPs like he has in the past.

I first discovered Conte after finding “Lonely Ghost” on YouTube. I made the mistake of not watching the video the first time I listened through it, but thankfully glanced a peek after feeling hypnotized into listening to the song a second time. It was then that I discovered that he is a one-man band – something you don’t see very often. At one point he even uses a homemade method of voice distortion by singing into a tube and waving it vigorously in front of a microphone. He then proceeds to put the beat down on some organ pedals. It is clearly stated in the YouTube description that there are no hidden sounds: “If you hear it, at some point you (will) see it.” Also included in the video: an electric Wurlitzer and him releasing a can of confetti, played in reverse.

As an added bonus to the video, he includes a link towards the end that directs you to a separate, incredibly energetic lesson for the guitar tabs. Score!

Be sure to check out his site, which includes all mp3 and video links.

• Jack Conte’s Site
• YouTube Channel

Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun

While I can’t say I’ve been listening to Sigur Ros for ten years (I’m only 23, after all,) the anniversary of Agaetis Byrjun still holds a notable impact in my development of musical tastes. When I first heard this album, I was an impressionable 15-years old and only beginning to realize the breadth and depth of music at my digital fingertips (ah, a pun!)

It introduced me to a world of post-rock and soaring, dynamic soundscapes — and though I wasn’t necessarily unfamiliar with the latter, the Icelandic outfit took it to a logical extreme I hadn’t yet witnessed. This, I thought, was music that made me feel emotional, excited, happy, sad; truthfully, the state of emotion didn’t much make a difference, but the magnitude. As a happy teen listening to Agaetis Byrjun, the album took on a bright, shimmery light; as an occasionally angst-ridden 16-year-old, the album came in a more sad, depressed form. As a teen who avoided some of the emotional highs and lows of his peers (though I wasn’t without fault, by any means) Sigur Ros gave me something to feel when I didn’t want to worry about feeling other things.

Agaetis Byrjun was as much an escape as it was a gateway drug into a convoluted world of inventiveness. It wasn’t long after I started listening to the group that ( ) was released, which certainly sped things along, but this album is what kicked it off.

I’ve ascribed my first experience with a Sigur Ros live show as one of the few moments of overwhelming aesthetic arrest  — like that thing many others have called simple spirituality or inspiration, but undoubtedly stronger:

“This supreme quality is felt by the artist when the esthetic image is first conceived in his imagination. The mind in that mysterious instant Shelley likened beautifully to a fading coal. The instant wherein that supreme quality of beauty, the clear radiance of the esthetic image, is apprehended luminously by the mind which has been arrested by its wholeness and fascinated by its harmony is the luminous silent stasis of esthetic pleasure, a spiritual state very like to that cardiac condition which the Italian physiologist Luigi Galvani, using a phrase almost as beautiful as Shelley’s, called the enchantment of the heart.”

James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

It illustrates my relationship with Sigur Ros in a necessarily convoluted way: I doubt much I could put in plain words the impact the experience has had on my musical journey, lest I delve into lines of mystical nonsense.

The beautiful thing, ten years later, is that the album has held a decade-influencing impact — a decade that’s seen Sigur Ros scale musical heights with the utmost precision, clarity, and grace.

Inquiet - “Fresh Flesh” | download
Download audio file (2008-inquiet-fresh-flesh.mp3)

Inquiet is an experimental pop group from Australia: That’s not a phrase you hear too often in many musical circles, especially those in the northern hemisphere. That’s got little to nothing to do with the musical quality here, to be honest.

Inq Beyong culls influence from several sources; from Cambodian ceremony to Brian Eno, thick strands of a diverse musical background lace this record, the solo project of Sam Szoke-Burke, co-founder of Brother Sister Records and a member of label-mates Drama For Yamaha.

This is a record that might take a bit of listening to really catch on for most listeners: The native percussion styles, the sweepingly ambient vocals, and dense soundscapes present on Inq Beyong call for a deal of attention to be placed on these thematic elements.

Inq Beyong a bit too complex to make for easy background listening, and a bit too simple to be enjoyed without thought; Inquiet reaches a difficult middle zone that may find them with very few listeners willing to invest the time required to enjoy this layered release to its fullest. Of course, not everyone will put forth that attention, but those that do should find themselves with a record that doesn’t disappoint.

There are times that self-releasing an album can be the best option for a band, especially given the many instances of hot-air blowing by music industry personnel — and it’s not just major labels that have been known to play the game in miscreant ways. Sometimes, though, artists just don’t want to deal with the hassle of marketing their release, preferring to just put the music out for public consumption.

Aviary Ghost certainly hasn’t self-released their music out of a lack of quality: Memory is a Hallway, from start to finish, is a bold, passionate release demonstrating the band’s penchant for engineering emotionally descriptive soundscapes, crisp vocals sometimes leading the musical path, other times remaining out of the picture to let some skillful instrumentation take hold.

Apparently influenced by a wide range of musical styles, including 1960s American pop and post-rock, Aviary Ghost have crafted a release that’s rarely anything less than a joy to hear, to absorb: Memory is a Hallway, which apparently took a good three years before being ready, is a carefully crafted amalgam of upbeat piano, neatly harmonious vocals, dense guitars, organs, mandolins, and a slew of other layers of instrumentation.

Memory is a Hallway is a strong pop album recorded by a band unafraid to break free of the constraints of genre music, providing a strong sound; though lulling listeners into a relaxed groove, this debut hardly sits still for a moment. Aviary Ghost, who claim to be recording more music, aren’t to be missed: Their album-proven pedigree is strong enough that whatever comes next should be undeniably excellent.

Aviary Ghost’s Memory is a Hallway was self-released by the group on July 15, 2008.

Let’s get one thing straight: it’s not everyday one runs into music like this — nor should it be. Colin Stetson performs a frantic, solitary-instrument jazz on the bass clarinet and bass saxaphone, and while it’s certainly not bad, it ventures far into the realm of experiment: This may be a good thing for you and I, but if the common man were to hear things like this on a regular basis, a backlash not unlike reactions to Frankenstein’s Monster might be unleashed. Still, the two tracks posted below, “Letter to HST” and “Groundswell” are interesting, evocative, and all those other adjectives you look for in music. Be warned, though: It’s not your grandpa’s jazz.

Colin Stetson — “Letter to HST” | download
Download audio file (colinstetson-lettertohst.mp3)

Colin Stetson — “Groundswell” | download
Download audio file (colinstetson-groundswell.mp3)

Power Pill Fist will be releasing Kongmanivong on February 23 in the U.S. on Graveface Records. Kongmanivong is available for pre-order on Power Pill Fist’s Web site.

Power Pill Fist — “Chuckanut Drive” | download
Download audio file (chuckanutdrive.mp3)

Power Pill Fist — “Mashed Potato Legs” | download
Download audio file (mashedpotatolegs.mp3)

Power Pill Fist — “Sagadraga” | download
Download audio file (sagadraga.mp3)

Power Pill Fist — “Vile” | download
Download audio file (vile.mp3)

Power Pill Fist — “YFF, Lou Pappans” | download
Download audio file (yffloupappans.mp3)

Power Pill Fist on MySpace

Invoking such diverse musical styles is difficult when creating experimental music, and Rings certainly managed to succeed in the matter. What’s interesting, though, is that these elements are not forefront endeavors; rather, a fair bit of examination is required to infiltrate the obscurity that surrounds the band and Black Habit.

Rings — “Mom Dance” | download
Download audio file (mom-dance.mp3)

What’s most difficult about the music created by Rings is not simply understanding its nature, though it is a challenge we’re presented with. No, it’s more along the lines of simply listening to the music for extended periods of time. This is a challenge for all groups, of course, but it is uniquely prominent among experimental music.

Part of the danger here is the droning and repetitive nature of much experimental music, though, with some effort, problems of this nature can be avoided. Rings does well to steer clear during the vast majority of the music’s timeline, but, for instance, “Scape Aside” doesn’t quite escape from the problem and becomes a bit grating.

In a larger sense, though, Rings has created an engaging album that points to the potentiality of very good, innovative music from the band. For a first album, this is more than just a little successful – and it’s important to keep in mind that they’ve got a long way until they make a genuine impact on the musical landscape; such is the nature of experimental music.

This review was originally published at SUUJournal.com and in the University Journal at Southern Utah University.

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