DJ Bluetone

Over the past weekend I made contact with DJ Bluetone, a Scottish DJ (VJ?) who hosts his own show on JustinTV (Monday nights - or afternoons if you happen to be stateside).  Like me, he focuses on promoting unsigned bands he’s found on MySpace.  I’d intended to catch his premier show this week, but got my British Summer and Pacific Daylight Times a bit mixed up.  Fortunately, he does archive his program, so one can still catch Monday’s broadcast here. 

As I write this I am listening to (and periodically watching) the archived show.  It’s quirky and kitschy, a bit rough around the edges, but worth a watch.  DJ Bluetone sits in what appears to be a room in his home, surrounded by images of amplifiers and a mirror ball (and an intermittent sword-carrying dominatrix), spinning music, commenting on the songs and artists, conducting live video interviews - and occasionally humming along with the tunes.  There are a few technical glitches, which, for me, add to the charm of the experience.  Promoting unsigned acts (as well as being part of one) is a labor of love (definitely not profit).  One must do what one can with lots of determination and very little funding. 

DJ Bluetone’s got great taste, plays a wide variety of sounds and will introduce you to music you’re unlikely to hear in any one place (unless you have the patience to sift through all the unsigned acts on MySpace, which I highly recommend, if you don’t have a job and never leave your room).  

If you’d like to hear your music featured on DJ Bluetone’s show, he encourages you to contact him at his MySpace site.  I also encourage any and all who read this to support DJ Bluetone and check out his show.

He begins spinning at 9pm BST - 4pm on the American east coast and 1pm in the west, again on JustinTV.  You can also follow him on Twitter.

S.

Frequency Theater

Yesterday, Nate Butler, aka Frequency Theater, requested that I listen to his music and review it on my blog.  This being the first time I’ve received such a request, I was both elated and daunted.  On the one hand, I was flattered that Nate thought so much of my writing.  On the other, I worried I might not like the music and would have to either write a negative review about somebody who’d been very nice to me, or lie and make only really positive comments I didn’t actually believe.

Thankfully, I didn’t find the need to do either.  In fact, after sampling a couple tracks at Frequency Theater’s MySpace site I went to iTunes and downloaded the debut release, Fly Gallery.  Fly Gallery is a powerful, driven and passion-filled collection, full of extramusical surprises and artfully layered sonic tiers which I’ve found more intriguing through multiple listenings.

In terms of musical style, as with many artists, it would be far too easy to categorize FT within some easily digestible genre (say, Electronica or Industrial), then carve away what’s a bit different and allow that to dangle out there as the one identifying factor making this act stand apart from every other that’s doing roughly the same thing.  In this case that different ‘something’ would be Nate Butler’s upbeat lyrical approach - a style that stands in flagrant contrast against a backdrop of troubled and downward gazing cohorts.  

Frequency Theater’s own website rhetoric describes the act as one that “strives to inspire the audience to believe in themselves, to push to become their best version of themselves and to doubt their doubters.”  Further, a review also posted at the site quips:  “Music fans wondering what Trent Reznor might sound like on a happy day, look no further.”  In all honesty, after first reading these I feared the songs would be too simplistic and naive or vapidly didactic.  (Yes, alas, I am one of those who often confuses woe with depth).  And honestly, who wants to hear Trent Reznor on a good day?  Isn’t it his job to suffer for our listening pleasure?  And what is one to expect after such a comment?  July Andrews singing “I want to f*ck you like an animal?”

But these songs are not simply a sea of loud samples and bangs with cheery, Pollyanna lyrics floating on top.  Indeed, aside from the song The Charismatic, I found the lyrics subtle, complex and enigmatic - driven by the same intensity and misgiving one might expect of the more nihilistic offerings from Trent Reznor or Robert Smith.  

What I do find most compelling in all this is Nate Butler’s daring to rub that industrial angst against the grain a bit by infusing that rage with a bit of hope, conjuring something fresh and new that is brash and nuanced; full of anguish and inspiration.  

S.

Beatnik Jr.

This is my first entry of the New Year... I guess I must have overslept or something and missed the first four days.  Actually, I’ve been working on my own music this past week, a task I’ve neglected lately in favor of promoting my older material and writing about great unsigned acts, such as my favorite of the day, Beatnik Jr.  

Beatnik Jr. is an enigmatic band from LA with that rare ability to experiment without being so dissonant as to appeal to only a small sliver of listeners.  As one of five finalists for the 2009 Hard Rock Ambassadors of Rock Battle of the Bands, Beatnik Jr. proved it possible to appeal to a popular audience while simultaneously maintaining a high degree of originality.

Their genre is a bit difficult to pin down.  According to the band’s own press releases “Fans have referred to Beatnik Jr.'s music as sounding similar to Radiohead, The Faint, The Postal Service, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, and even The Beatles.”  I would also add The Flaming Lips and at times Death Cab For Cutie to that list - the latter particularly in regards to lead singer John Maro’s vocal style.  

Still, I lament the need to compare one band to another, especially in this case.  I think it suffices to say that Beatnik Jr. manages to genre blend, to beg and borrow and to innovate all at the same time.  Their songs are full of sonic surprises set to uptempo pop-beats and melodies, resulting in a sound that is both fresh and familiar.  Their recordings are tight, well-produced and endlessly listenable.  

For more on Beatnik Jr. you can read Liberty London Girl’s blog and visit the band’s MySpace page.  They also have five tracks available to download from iTunes.  

And since you’ll already be checking these guys out at MySpace, you might as well stop by My MySpace page to see and hear what I’ve been doing lately as well : ) [That’s meant to be a sheepish grin, BTW]

S.