once upon a time I tried to use the full power of the Internet to discover new music. Scouring mp3 blogs, myspace and amazon.com listmanias (wait, is it listmanii?) were almost like a full-time hobby, and being the kind of fellow who enjoys his social life as much as his eyesight, I quickly realized this was not something a working man could do seriously. I guess there's a reason why many of those mp3 blogs are tended to by college students.
But my love for discovering new music never went away, of course, so I just took my searches down a notch or three, and enjoyed the bands and artists I found that much more. One brilliant example of that is today's focus. I came across one of Jeremy Larson's songs on some random TV show and after listening to the guy's myspace, knew I had something special on my hands.
Hailing from Springfield, MO (no, I don't know where that is either. I'm afraid the closest I've ever been to the Midwest is suburban Chicago), Jeremy Larson uses his classical music performance background in pieces that are sometimes subdued but always vivid. Listening to track like Today or The Thief, there's a sense that he likes layers (with the piano as the main instrument) and enjoys seeing how these various sounds can play together, while still remaining mostly within the familiar canons of pop. Speaking of familiar, the piano riff on Make Believe sounds very much like Elephant Parade by Jon Brion off the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Yet to me it seems more like a winking homage than a rip-off. Elephant Parade is a gorgeous 26-second interlude, and Jeremy Larson sounds like a fan who wanted to see what he could come up with for a 4 minute pop tune.
With the release of his debut album scheduled for 2007, this guy could be one of the good finds of the year. He doesn't have any dates planned yet, but here's hoping that touring will be on the cards for him, especially if he manages to come to Europe for a few shows.
But my love for discovering new music never went away, of course, so I just took my searches down a notch or three, and enjoyed the bands and artists I found that much more. One brilliant example of that is today's focus. I came across one of Jeremy Larson's songs on some random TV show and after listening to the guy's myspace, knew I had something special on my hands.
Hailing from Springfield, MO (no, I don't know where that is either. I'm afraid the closest I've ever been to the Midwest is suburban Chicago), Jeremy Larson uses his classical music performance background in pieces that are sometimes subdued but always vivid. Listening to track like Today or The Thief, there's a sense that he likes layers (with the piano as the main instrument) and enjoys seeing how these various sounds can play together, while still remaining mostly within the familiar canons of pop. Speaking of familiar, the piano riff on Make Believe sounds very much like Elephant Parade by Jon Brion off the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Yet to me it seems more like a winking homage than a rip-off. Elephant Parade is a gorgeous 26-second interlude, and Jeremy Larson sounds like a fan who wanted to see what he could come up with for a 4 minute pop tune.
With the release of his debut album scheduled for 2007, this guy could be one of the good finds of the year. He doesn't have any dates planned yet, but here's hoping that touring will be on the cards for him, especially if he manages to come to Europe for a few shows.
official site
myspace
youtube: live performance of Today
No comments:
Post a Comment