Jean-Paul & Things to Hear: Zonk

When you go to a band’s website and right off the bat it says “A weird band,” it raises questions as to what that band’s music is really going to be like.

This is the case with Jean-Paul & Things to Hear. On their website, they call themselves “A weird band not stuck in any one genre.” Well, listening to their most recent album, Zonk, I’d say that description is false on both accounts.

The first (and title) track, “Zonk,” is a little odd, since it consists mostly of just saying “Zonk” a lot, backed with some accordion. That is, literally, the only thing about Jean-Paul & Things to Hear’s that can even remotely be considered weird. Even that, though, is an entertaining track, so weird is good. 

“Not stuck in any one genre” isn’t exactly an accurate description either. With the exception of “Zonk,” Zonk has a consistently bluesy sound to it. At times it may extend into the umbrella-term genre of “alternative,” but even then there is still a definite blues tinge to the music...MORE

Copernicus: Nothing Exists

Nothing Exists, the new (yet old) LP from Copernicus is easily one of the coolest albums I have ever heard.

 

Originally released in 1985, Nothing Exists was Copernicus’s first album, paving the way for the eleven albums that would follow. After releasing a new album in 2009, Copernicus went back to the beginning, digitally re-mastering and re-releasing Nothing Exists.

 

The album is an extremely interesting fusion of spoken word (Copernicus the vocalist started out as a spoken word artist) and progressive rock, which is simultaneously very chill and incredibly intense...MORE

 

Wide Hive Players: Players

Although it rarely receives the same attention as other, more mainstream genres of music, the jazz scene today remains alive and well. California natives Wide Hive Players are proof of this.

 

Given when it was that jazz was in its hey-day, the genre tends to have an inherent older feel to it. Listening to jazz can elicit images of being in a completely different time period.

 

With their album Players, Wide Hive Players stick to the roots of jazz while bringing a freshness and modernity to it that sets them apart from other jazz musicians.

 

In fact, the sound of Wide Hive Players is like a hybrid of traditional jazz fused together with jam-band style music...MORE

David Wahler: A Star Danced

On his sophomore album, A Star Danced, David Wahler takes us away from everyday life without ever saying a word. Wahler uses electronic keyboards to create an atmosphere that is simultaneously whimsical and mysterious, and instantly brings to mind images of floating through space.

 

However, despite the celestial ideas the album evokes, the title A Star Danced isn’t entirely accurate. It’s more as though a star…hopped.

 

Being his second album, one would have expected Wahler to try pushing things to the edge, rather than relying on melodies that are simply pretty. Or, if that were the chosen route for the album, there could definitely have been more variation put into those melodies...MORE