21 January 2009

Artist of the Week - 18 January 2009

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know it's Wednesday, but I labelled it  because we're still in the week of the 18th... I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it!

My artist of the week is... monkeybacon!

The 'baconator (I'm sure I infringed on a copyright there, oops) describes his tools of the trade as "a collection of old synthesizers, guitars, basses, plus miscellaneous sound generating equipment [t]weaked and played by Paul Malmstrom." He also adds that his songs are "[i]nstrumental quasi-electronic tunes written and performed by Monkeybacon. It's a bedroom 'affair' with classic music machines stroked, plucked and hammered on with ten fingers."

Here's how I'd classify his music: enthralling

Take music from campy 60s/70s spy movies (crossref movies and such which would probably influence artists such as Chris Joss, Mr. Chop, etc.), jazzy sounds from older French/European films (or at least what I've stereotyped them to be), mid-90s Swedish pop sounds (the Cardigans, Komeda), fun hockey rink organ synths, some great instrumentation, and you've got a treasure that should be found!

Tracks such as "Spit" with the bouncy organ background, trickling piano notes, jazzy drums, old skool synthesizer melodies, and glitchy techno samples just get my "overactive leg disorder" going. "Dead Beef" has a wonderful "Spanish" spy guitar gizmo pushing the song over happenin' drums and colorful orchestrations. The electric bass(?) solo toward the end takes the track from good to great. His whole catalog is head bobbin', toe tappin' instrumentation at its best. Even his more laid back creations just ooze cool, fun and fantastic. 

When you head over to his site, make sure to sample all the wares! His page is super stripped down and simple; a perfect complement to his music. You can download most of his music there, he just asks for a donation to help keep the meat sizzlin'!

I'm sure you're tired of the kitschy/gimmicky lines by now...

but get your bottom over there and tell all you friends that monkeybacon is your new chillout daddy!

Update:  I've got my podcast finished... but it maybe pushed back a while. The file is too big, and I may have to upgrade a storage account. All will not be lost though! It'll be up before long. Thanks for your patience.

Update 2: Me and the missus have now been married (by the time most of you read this) six months now. Crazy, I know!

No comments: