| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Broken Face |
Posted - 04/14/2006 : 07:55:32
For a long time i've been hearing loads of good things about Jawbox, and particularly J. Robbins, the main guy behind Jawbox. I remember reading a column he used to have in Guitar School magazine back in the early-mid 90s and thinking he seemed like he was one of the few musicians at the time who really combined a punk/DIT attitude with a desire for good musicianship and progressive songwriting (at a young age i was very impressed with his discussion of when writing music to at a certain point make the hook of the song not what you'd expect - you go to scratch that itch of the big hook and then its not what it should be).
Anyway, i found out he has a new band, Channels, and i got the EP off of E-Music, and i really love it. It makes me want to dig back through Jawbox and Burning Airline (his post-Jawbox, pre-Channels band) - does anyone have any recomendations?
-Brian
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| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kirk |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 12:51:37
I'm just a west coast kid who missed the whole east-coast-dischord-art-rock scene, but these seem to be the elements of J Robbins' music, IMO:
a rough voice
thoughtful lyrics
unique chord progressions
constructed vocal melodies with limiting spacing, due to the nature of where the chords jump from.
suspended harmonies
embellished chords
& dynamics
Good stuff. |
| Kirk |
Posted - 04/15/2006 : 12:37:29
Jawbox first caught my attention with their video from "For Your Own Special Sweetheart". I sampled their album and their 3/4 rock & 5/4 experimentation won me over.
I rate Burning Airlines "Mission: Control!" over "Identikit"
Both are great albums.
I'm still awaiting for Channel's release although you can find their songs at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/channelstheband
J Robbins does have a personal website http://www.jrobbins.net/ with samples of bands he's been working with. |
| Apesy |
Posted - 04/14/2006 : 21:24:43
Burning Airlines' Mission: Control! is a fantastic album.
I actually don't think I've heard much Jawbox.
-=Apesy |
| Broken Face |
Posted - 04/14/2006 : 17:32:54
Thanks Scott - i'll scour E-Music later for some goods.
By the way, i got this box set called Not Alone - its a 5 CD charity set for Doctors Without Borders, and has a ton of stuff on it - Devendra Banhart, Teenage Fanclub, Keiji Heino, Matmos, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Isobel Campbell, etc. A lot of the more ambient stuff reminds me of stuff you've put on comps before. Its only $25 too. Check it out:
www.jnanarecords.com
-Brian
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| ObfuscateByWill |
Posted - 04/14/2006 : 12:05:21
I'd move through the Jawbox catalog chronologically.
Grippe & Novelty (1st and 2nd album for Dischord) sound a bit dated, but still hold up very well. Well-written lyrics.
For Your Own Special Sweetheart & Jawbox (Atlantic) see the addition of Zach Barocas (sp?). Excellent drummer that brought about a fairly significant change in their sound. To me it went almost like emo/prog?
J. wrote sometimes extraordinary lyrics. Very talented, but I haven't really sought out any of his work since Jawbox (self-titled) was released in '96 or so. Whoa! Ten years!
*Take a bite of the chocolate coffin. |
