On the Half Shell

I’m on break from work right now.  We don’t go back into the classroom until the thirtieth of January.  That leaves me lots of glorious free time.  To fill it, I’ve been traveling, writing, doing other creative stuff, reading, surfing the www, and indulging my varied whims.  I’ve also been listening to music.

I have this huge music collection on the hard drive of my Acer laptop.  There must be several hundred albums stored in that brain that’s not a flesh-and-blood brain.  Heck, my machine’s probably got more memory capacity than I do, low-tech gadget that I am.

Lately, I’ve been making an effort to listen to stuff I haven’t heard for awhile.  A few days ago, I noticed that I hadn’t double clicked on Blue Öyster Cult for a long time, months actually, or maybe even longer than that, so I quickly made amends for this oversight.  (By the way, this site, the band’s official web page, provides a really good history of group.)

I’ve decided to blog a couple of tracks from two of my B. Ö. C. CDs.  The first one is “She’s as Beautiful as a Foot,” a tune with one of the greatest titles of all time.  It’s from their self-titled debut album, released in 1972.  The second one, “I Love the Night,” is from the 1977 release, Spectres.  Both are as groov-a-licious as all get out!

I’ve got talented ears, but I don’t know how to write about really good music.  There’s just too much beauty and wonder there for me to be able to say anything that sounds the least bit sensible.  Instead, I’ll just talk about what I think about when I hear rock like this.

I’m reminded of my long-haired and wild-haired youth.  I’m reminded of West Texas and warm summer nights.  I’m reminded of fast cars and pretty girls and good friends and hard partying.

I’m well aware that this probably makes me sound really old and nostalgic.  I guess that’s apropos.

    

Again, I’m reposting something I wrote for Savvy, back in the day.  I would occasionally do something on music, especially Indie bands I’d just discovered and gotten hooked on.  Have a look…

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That VOICE

I'll be the first to admit that I went a little nuts with the videos this week.  That's because I'm blogging about a topic that's really got me revved up.

A little background:  I have a huge music collection that I've put together over the years, mostly by downloading MP3 CDs from Amazon.com.  My tastes are very eclectic.

Not long ago, while browsing Amazon's music store, I discovered, completely by accident, a group called Dengue Fever, an up-and-coming rock band based in LA, California.  I listened to some samples of their work online and immediately purchased two of their CDs.

Dengue Fever's secret weapon is Chhom Nimol, a physically tiny Cambodian émigré who has a voice like none that I've ever heard before.  As a matter of fact, she foregrounds herself as soon as she opens her mouth, and her fellow band members, the big American guys with their various instruments, fade into the background.  Her vocalizations become the driving force, moving the music forward.  The other members of DF are back there, somewhere, but I have to try hard to notice them because that voice is just so enthralling.  

This first video is a recording of Dengue Fever performing my favor song, "Sleepwalking through the Mekong."  The sheer otherworldliness of Chhom's voice comes through loud and clear in this one.  The photo is one of Chhom, the one that appeared on the CD cover. 

As you'll see in this next clip, she also sings in English and occasionally shares the microphone with Zac Holtzman, the group's lead guitarist and lyricist.  What you'll see is an unplugged rendition of "Tiger Phone Card" and was shot by an outfit called Balcony TV, as DF prepped for a gig in Dublin, Ireland.

If, like me, you get hooked, there are lots of DF videos online, including this one of a very interesting interview that takes place in the band's practice space, during a rehearsal break.  In it, you get to see all the group members and hear the story of how DF came together, got its name, and then discovered Chhom, its STAR.

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If you’re into experimental rock—it occurs to me how the application of a label to anything sets up certain expectations—or whatever you want to call it, you might want to check out the following bands as well.  I’ll make it easy for you.  You’re welcome.

• EMA, especially Past Lives Martyred Saints
• Destroyer, especially Kaputt
• Toro Y Moi, especially Underneath the Pine
• Knox Bronson, especially Pop Down the Years
• Atlas Sound, especially Parallax
• And anything by My Morning Jacket