Music: September 2004 Archives

Last week Monday, Mike and I went down to the Pound in S.F. to see Brandtson play. Brandtson's label, The Militia Group, included a sampler CD with the issue of Alternative Press that had Fall Out Boy on the cover. I checked that disc out, and really liked the Brandtson song "Escapist". So, I bought their new album, "Send us a Signal". Many listens later, I passed it on to Sara and Kevin, and apparently, I scored direct hits with both of them. Kevin found out that they were playing S.F., and even though he flaked out, Mike and I still went and had a good time.

This band is very tight, and put on a pretty great show. I wasn't bringing my A-game in terms of energy level that night, but I was still impressed by what I heard. This band is able to change tempos on a dime, and thus can shift from hard rock to more of a lo-fi style quite easily. It seems like they were trying to accentuate their harder stuff though, and while they did play a number of songs that I like, such as "Who Are You Now?", "Mercy Medical", and "Over And Out" -- they didn't play "Escapist"! Argh! That song is the whole reason that I even got into this band in the first place.

Now I'll just have to see them again, so I can see that song live.

-Andy.

So, I managed to pick up Far's re-release of their final album, "Water & Solutions" in DVD format. I had some problems finding it, but when I was up in Berkeley with my parents, I found a copy at Rasputin music. That means that I have been sitting on it for awhile, but I finally got a chance to check out the DVD yesterday. I don't own very many music-oriented DVDs, so I can't say if this is great in relation to all music DVDs, but it certainly impressed me. The live footage of Far playing at the Metro in Chicago looked pretty sharp, and sounded great. So far, I am happy with the content that I am finding on this DVD, and it has been a great way for me to explore a band that I really like again. If you are at all into Far, you definitely should pick this re-release up.

I still remember the one time that I was lucky enough to see Far live. It was at a place called "Peabody's downunder" in the Cleveland flats. That place was pretty small, and the Far show was lightly attended. But they played a termendous set, and just blew me away. I think that after all of these years, that is still the single best live performance that I have ever seen. It was really, truly amazing.

Far's lead singer, Jonah Matranga has been doing a solo thing since Far dissolved, called "onelinedrawing". I have been picking up his CDs over the course of the last several months, and I have been quite happy with them. Jonah just knows how to make great music -- it's that simple. His latest CD, "The Volunteers" is decent, and growing on me. I would recommend checking it out.

-Andy.