One of the selfish benefits for me of starting this site and its associated Twitter and Facebook pages is that they have been nice avenues of music discovery for me. Whether it’s followers, subscribers, friends, or people reaching out to me with private messages, I’m getting exposed to all kinds of great stuff. I’ll take an occasional look and listen, and will share some of my favorites.
The two I want to highlight this time could probably not be farther apart on the musical spectrum.
First up is Demon Waffle. I’ll admit upfront that I am a sucker for a good ska band. Be it the first generation of Jamaican artists like Prince Buster, the original punk era revival of bands like The Specials (who really got me hooked), or many of the other groups that have come along over the years (like Fishbone) using strong ska elements.
Demon Waffle, hailing from that tropical hotbed Johnson City, Tennessee, just released their debut album “Eat Your Breakfast” in December 2012 and it’s a corker. It is definitively Ska (with a capital “S”) full of fun and energy, with lots of rock, funk and even occasional jazz flourishes mixed in. The whole band displays solid musical chops, but I have to give a special shout out to the great horn section – they really add that extra Something (there’s that big “S” again) to the mix. The songs are mostly originals, but they also feature a great cover of the classic Underdog by Sly Stone. The Dirtbombs used to do my favorite version of that song…now they’ve got some competition.
Catch Demon Waffle live if you can, and you can get their debut here.
And now for something completely (and I do mean completely) different, I give you Atomic Skunk. Specifically, I’ve been listening to Wintermuse, which Rich Brodsky (a/k/a Atomic Skunk) released in December 2011.
Some of the descriptor tags for the music include the terms “ambient” and “new age,” but I don’t believe these really begin to capture what you’re in for with Wintermuse. It is one 38 minute track and it takes you on an amazing journey. It starts off with quiet ambience but slowly builds with interesting electronic sounds and chiming percussion (Tibetan bells? Milk jugs?). The whole piece ebbs and flows throughout. Lots of other instruments and sounds add to the mix. It feels like a long night walk through the snow; sometimes you are trudging along quietly by yourself, then you come upon a small village and activity, before moving off again to the quiet sounds of nature (real or imagined).
To give you one idea of the types of things you are in for, about 21 minutes in you hear what sound like actual footsteps in the snow. I have to admit I laughed the first time I heard it because I was thinking right before “I feel like I’m on a long walk in the snow.” The walking sounds morph a little and build into a rhythm and then, suddenly we stop and wind a music box to hear a few moments of Silent Night. All this occurs over about 2-3 minutes. Trust me, you will not lose interest at any point.
Brodsky/Skunk hails from the San Francisco Bay area. You can find Wintermuse here, but he also has a great website with lots of information and other music he’s released. I also want to give special mention to some of the gorgeous artwork for his albums. Really stunning and creative.