Spotlight On: Justin Broadrick/Jesu

Justin Broadrick/Jesu

A ways back now, I went through a phase where all I listened to was Industrial music. It started with my introduction to Nine Inch Nails and sort of downward spiraled from there, I couldn’t get enough. But eventually I grew board of just listening to one genre and wanted to branch out, as will happen with burgeoning Music Curators. But I still have an appreciation for good Industrial sounds, so years later when I was scouring around looking for albums to fix the Metal bender I was on, I came across the band Godflesh and, upon hearing them described as an Industrial Metal band, wondered how I missed them the first time around.

So I sat down to listen to Streetcleaner, Godflesh’s “classic” debut LP. And hated it. It’s not often that I stop listening to an album less than halfway through because I can’t stand it. I will usually hold out to the end even if I don’t like something because I hate just giving up. But something, actually, almost everything, about Streetcleaner repulsed me. The turgidly slow pace, the barked vocals, the rock blender tone of the guitars. Everything. I probably did one of my emphatic “I will never trust whoever this musician is ever again” ranting things and used the album as a Frisbee from then on.

But who was it I was not trusting anymore? I didn’t have a name attached to Streetcleaner besides Godflesh and that later proved to be a good thing as, if I had associated a name to the band, it would have prolonged or even prevented my later discovery of Jesu. Jesu (pronounced “Yeh-Soo”) is the main project of one Justin Broadrick, an excessively prolific English musician who, as I have come to discover, is intrinsically linked to the evolution of Industrial, Metal and even Grindcore.

Broadrick has been creating music since the early 80’s with his one man Dark Ambient project Final (which continues today,) but since then has founded or been a part of a myriad of other bands. His main project of current is Jesu, a sometimes one-man band, sometimes trio, who create some of the finest Metalgaze known to man. Now you’re probably wondering: “what is Metalgaze?” Easy. It’s Heavy Metal mixed with Shoegaze, which is a heavily textured and overwhelmingly loud kind of Rock (I’ll explain more at a later date.)

Now, even under the banner of Metalgaze, it is difficult to truly confine Jesu’s sound as it incorporates elements of Downtempo Electronics, Drone Metal and Industrial. But the interesting thing about it is that, despite being classified a Metal band, which brings certain connotations of doom and gloom in this day and age, I find Jesu to be a very uplifting project. This is ironic

considering the sort of depressed nature of Broadrick’s lyrics (and song titles, read: “I Can Only Disappoint You.”) But seriously, I feel amazingly contented when I hear Broadrick’s signature rumbling roar of a guitar sound. It’s very distinct, he only uses certain sounds, so once you hear his pallet you will always know it’s him on guitar. The music he crafts with Jesu is very expansive, spacious even. It rumbles but does not often grind and being the master of textures that he is, Broadrick washes much of his work in Jesu with downright pleasurable synthesizer sounds. The slow tempo and lengthiness of the compositions he creates gives you time for the music to sink in and really make you feel like you’re drifting into another state of consciousness, a place where things move leisurely through a cascade of thundering echoes.

Despite only being active since 2003, Jesu has built up quite an extensive discography, with several full-length works and a veritable sea of EP’s. This kind of prolificness reflects the overall workaholic behavior of Broadrick. I was exploring his other work when I discovered, to my shock, that Justin Broadrick had been the brain behind Godflesh. The same man who created such gorgeous work as Jesu’s Conqueror and Lifeline EP had created Streetcleaner? At first I was a little freaked out, but I’m not going to fault a musician’s entire body of work because of one bad album. And as Jesu has shown, and continues to show, it is possible for a musician to mature and grow beyond their own restraints. In that regard Jesu’s consistency of quality releases is a powerful victory for Broadrick, who thankfully has almost entirely abandoned his one-note bark In favor of an actual singing voice that could lull to into peaceful sleep if it wanted.

In closing, I’d like to recommend that to start you’re exploration of Jesu, you begin with either their second LP, Conqueror, which features the full trio of Broadrick, bass player Diarmuid Dalton and drummer Ted Parsons, or his Lifeline EP, which features Broadrick himself, accompanied only by his guitar and drum machines. However, if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you should check out my favorite Jesu release out there: the Infinity LP, which consists of one 50 minute long track that is, in my opinion, Broadrick’s most compelling work. If you’re made unsure by the genre tag of “Metal,” just think of it as really heavy Ambient Rock. And get ready to bliss out. Cheers.

Recommended Listening:

Conqueror (2007, Hydra Head/Daymare)

Lifeline (2007, Hydra Head/Daymare)

Infinity (2009, Avalanche/Daymare)

Opiate Sun (2009, Caldo Verde)

Tracklisting:

01: “Losing Streak”

02: “Brighteyes”

03: “Lifeline”

04: “You Wear Their Masks”

05: “The Playgrounds Are Empty”

Spotlight On: Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

The End of The World is a constant theme in music, usually with Metal bands, but it extends to all genres at times. Even the concept of the Pop Song is apocalyptic in nature. I’m totally serious. The Pop Song as we know it came about after the 2^nd World War, during which The Bomb was used for the first time. Before World War II there was no concept of destruction on that kind of scale. But after The Bomb happened? Life got a whole lot shorter and things got faster. The 3-minute Pop song came about from a culture that believed they could die at any moment and so they didn’t have time to sit around listening to full symphonies play for hours at a time. Music needed to happen fast along with everything else. That’s a condensed version of the story, but those are basically the important parts.

Now. Why is this relevant to Godspeed You! Black Emperor? Thematically speaking, the end of the world is a powerful presence in GY!BE’s music. I have heard their sound called “Apocalyptic” more times than I can count, but if it is so, I don’t think it comes from a place of fear. Standing in the crowd at their show this February, they used projections behind them while they were performing and the first thing they projected was the word “Hope.” I think that while GY!BE’s music has undertones of a societal apocalypse, the overall me

ssage of their wordless compositions is one of hope. You don’t make music this gorgeous if you don’t have hope for humanity.

It sounds cliché, but there really isn’t another band out there quite like Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The eight-piece band is entirely instrumental and works more like a miniature Rock Orchestra than a Rock Band. I know that Rock Orchestra conjures up images of something like the symphony performing Led Zeppelin tributes or some shit like that, but I promise you, it’s that’s not how it is. From my perspective, GY!BE comes from the school of music founded by artists like Glenn Branca and carried forward by O.G. Indie rockers Sonic Youth, that of unusually tuned instruments played in such a way to create soaring walls of sound in order to produce an overwhelmingly transcendental effect on the listener.

But Godspeed You! Black Emperor isn’t a Rock band like Sonic Youth, and beyond unusual tunings and use of screwdrivers as substitutes for bows, the comparisons end pretty fast. Looping back around to the conversation that got this piece rolling, GY!BE are probably even less apocalyptic than people think when you consider their utter rejection of the Pop Song. A typical GY!BE song is more than 10 minutes in length and goes through several movements before reaching it’s conclusion. Their music is more akin to modern Classical than it is to modern Rock music in that regard.

The sound GY!BE achieves comes from a veritable armada of instruments. Their set up consists of three guitars, two bass, one cello, one violin and two drum kits, with members alternating between instruments as necessary. Compositions usually begin minimally, with just a guitar or two and gradually they build and build until they reach spectacular conclusions. The sonic experience of this band is akin to being surrounded by a large flock of little birds, each one holding onto a tiny wind chime. As the birds fly around you faster and faster the sound of wind chimes begin to harmonize and bounce off of each other until you are lost in a sea of echoes. That’s the idea anyway. You might hear something different.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor may be the pinnacle of the pretentiously titled Post-Rock genre, but their reign was relatively short and there aren’t a lot of albums by them out there. Of course, they just got back together last year after a long hiatus, so that may change. But in the meantime, the albums that exist by them are all quite fantastic. F♯ A♯ ∞ is one of my favorite albums of all time and probably the best place to start with your exploration of their music. But if you’re into something a bit more focused and a bit more raw, then I would suggest skipping ahead to their last album before going on hiatus: Yanqui U.X.O.

So that’s it. If you need a little more hope by way of Apocalyptic Post-Rock Blues, then this is the band for you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Cheers.

Recommended Listening:

F♯ A♯ ∞ (1997, Constellation/Kranky)

Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada (1999, Constellation)

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2000, Constellation/Kranky)

Yanqui U.X.O. (2002, Constellation)

Tracklist:

01: “Moya”

Spotlight On: Oxbow

Oxbow

In the grand lexicon of bands that you do not, under any circumstances, heckle, Oxbow probably ranks in the highest. Why? Maybe this picture will illuminate the answer:

Would you heckle that man? … I didn’t think so. But people do. Once. And then never again. This man is Eugene Robison. He is the vocalist of Oxbow. I use the term vocalist here, but really, “voice” might be a more accurate description. He doesn’t sing; he yowls, screams, grunts and scats, but in this case scatting probably sounds less like a Jazz interlude and more like a wildebeest having an epileptic fit. Listening to him makes you feel a little unstable and very uncomfortable. Couple that with Oxbow’s Noise Music explorations into realms both caustic and claustrophobic, and you’ve got something that sounds like The Jesus Lizard if they’d had a more eclectic springboard from which to jump.

Robinson even draws comparisons to David Yow, The Jesus Lizard’s caterwauling front man of legendary acclaim. But Yow was never this deranged and The Jesus Lizard’s music was always straight shooting enough for them to garner popularity beyond the cult level. Oxbow’s sound roots into the ground of Noise Rock but also incorporates influences of Metal, Post-Hardcore, Blues, Free Jazz and even Musique concrete. It’s an eclectic blend that has grown almost sophisticated over time, but Oxbow has an inherently scatological and frenzied nature that time and age will not tame.

I alluded earlier to the dangers of heckling Oxbow and especially Eugene Robinson, but I feel I should set the record straight. Some have inferred that Oxbow is merely a vehicle for the members of the quartet to assault their audience on a physical level. While Oxbow’s music is intended to (heavily) assault your eardrums, to assume that the band actually wishes you bodily harm isn’t true, according to Robinson himself. Will the band end the fight if someone starts one though? The answer is: without a doubt, yes. But to go into Oxbow’s music thinking that it’s just the soundtrack to your face being broken would cause you to miss the fact that the music is, you know, really good.

Another good comparison to make for Oxbow would be to imagine if Captain Beefheart had gone more rhythmic and Metal. But even that perhaps belies a kind of coherency that Oxbow’s music is in the business of rejecting. This is about as far from Pop music as you can get and still remain in the realm of structure. Oxbow’s music is very structured, but the Free Jazz influences add a level of looseness to the overall feeling that keeps things from getting too rigid. I should warn you though, if you’re a fan of verse/chorus/verse songs, you aren’t going to find any with Oxbow. What you will find is some of the strangest music you could possibly create with the bare minimum tools of Guitar, Bass, Drums and Voice.

So if you’re feeling daring and want to know where best to start with this band, check out their album The Narcotic Story which was released via Hydra Head in 2007. This is likely their easiest album to be initiated with and is certainly their most sophisticated. After that, work your way backwards through their discography. But do not fear if you’re listening to Oxbow and are scratching your head in bewilderment. Initially, I didn’t get Oxbow and it was a good two years between my first and second album of theirs and even then another month before I really felt like I got a grip on them. Even now I can’t fully claim to understand this band, but these days I don’t feel I have to, I just sit back and enjoy the pandemonium of sound. I hope you do too.

Recommended Listening:

An Evil Heat (2002, Neurot)

The Narcotic Story (2007, Hydra Head)

Tracklist:

01: “…The Stick”

02: “Time, Gentlemen, Time”

03: “A Winner Every Time”

04: “Stallkicker”

05: “Frankly Frank”

Spotlight On: Introduction/Astronautalis

Hey folks. So as I thought would happen, my schedule has pushed my posting into the land of infrequency. But that’s OK, as this was expected. I’m still working my way through the best of last year and pretty soon I’ll start tackling albums from this year. But first, something new.

The subtitle of this blog is “The Art Of Music Curation In Action.” What I want this blog to be is something very simple: a place where you, my friend or random person, can come and look around at what music I think is good or important enough to share with you. Not a day goes by where I do not think something along these lines: “I think that (name of friend) would really dig (name of artist)” or “It’s a shame more people don’t like (name of band.)” So to that end, this still new blog.

The whole purpose is to provide my friends with a place to come and check out new stuff, because I know that for most people, finding new music takes a lot more time and energy than it does for me. I’m not doing music news, or even just new albums and with that in mind, I’d like to start a new series of posts called “Spotlight On.” The purpose of this series will be to highlight artists I like and think you should know, not necessarily just one of their individual albums, but them as a whole, their body of work or just a couple songs I think everyone should hear.

So that’s basically it. I hope you enjoy this series and maybe find something new you like because of it. And to get the ball rolling, allow me to shine the spotlight on:

Astronautalis

When Hip-Hop was first birthed, I sincerely doubt it ever was ever envisioned that a man like Astronautalis could ever exist. Born Charles Andrew Bothwell, Astronautalis began his career in music as a freestyling battle rapper, which is not something you would immediately guess hearing his music for the first time. In fact, hearing his music for the first time, you probably wouldn’t know exactly what to think… or what century you’re in. Gifted with a silvery tongue and quick-witted sense of story, Astronautalis fashions a kind of music that at one time sounds totally anachronistic and yet thoroughly modern. After all, this is technically Hip-Hop, but it doesn’t sound like it. It sounds old. But not like old Hip-Hop. Just old.

Astronautalis’ is something of a Blues man when it comes to story if not structure. Either that, or he’s a con man that’s just grabbed the bag of money and left you with the blood on your hands when the sheriff shows up to arrest you both. Further more, there’s no proof that he was ever there at all. That’s a sample of the world you enter when listening to his music. Astronautalis could be called the Tom Waits of Hip-Hop, in that his music eclectically fuses elements of Americana, Folk and Nick Cave-like storytelling with crackly vinyl beats. He may not have the robust growl that Waits posses, but what he does have is spotless diction and a gripping command of tall tales.

Though he looks thoroughly unassuming, do not be deceived by this man. Astronautalis is the kind of wordsmith who will charm his way into your house, eat your dinner, make your mother laugh and before you know it, have married you and disappeared into the night with all the family jewels. He will do this by talking. I know it sounds like I’m writing about pathological liar and not a musician, but that is the kind of feeling you get listening to his lyrics. Every story is true and everything he says is a lie.

The combination of these fisherman’s tales with the almost Steampunk-esque beats is a match made in heaven for people who appreciate a sort of eclecticism in their Hip-Hop or the kind of genre crossing music created by people like the aforementioned Nick Cave and Tom Waits. The album to start with if you want to get into Astronautalis is called Pomegranate, as it features his most focused work to date as well as some of his most riveting stories. We don’t even get one song into the album before he’s on the run from the law and wooing married women. In fact, “The Wondersmith And His Sons“ is one of his best songs and if it hooks you like it hooked me, don’t be surprised, it’s a damn fine piece of music.

So that’s about it. I hate coming up with clever endings, so to close out, I wish you well and hope that you continue to enjoy the music. Cheers.

Recommended Listening:

The Mighty Ocean And Nine Dark Theaters (2006, Fighting Records)

Pomegranate (2008, Eyeball Records)

Tracklist:

01: “The Wondersmith And His Sons”

02: “Skeleton (Everybody’s Favorite)”

03: “Two Years Before The Mast”

04: “Astigmatism”

05: “A Love Song For Gary Numan”

06: “Trouble Hunters”

07: “Be Careful Of What You Wish For” (Produced by zoën)

(The names on the Tracklist are correct. Not all names in the player are. But the numbers line up.)