My all-time favorite records part I

...and now for something completely different. I have long had the idea of creating a series of posts, celebrating those very special records, that you just know, from the first listen, are something other than just another "good record". Those records, where not one song seems out of place, or lacks quality, and that you continually return to, no matter how much other music you stumble upon and fall in love with. Those records that you just flip over and start over again, as soon as it has run out.

Having thus established the criteria for the selection, its time to present my first entry, and an artist that I can not praise enough, neither musically, nor as a person, namely Jason Anderson and his masterpiece of a record called "The hopeful and the unafraid".

Having seen Jason play live two times, I can say without faltering, that his performances is the most punk thing I ever saw, in that he manages to do what so many punk and hardcorebands strive for. He breaks the barrier between the spectacle and the audience, uniting the two parts into a singing, dancing, flailing crowd of people, singing along to songs they are just hearing for the first time in their lives.

He is one hell of a storyteller, wich is shown clearly on many of the songs on the record, especially the magnificent opening track "El Paso". Musically we are dealing with folk with a distinct diy quality to the songwriting and the performance.

I could use multiple pages praising Jason and this record in particular, but let me leave you with this:

- The first time I heard "El Paso", my eyes teared up, spontaniously.
- Jason's performances mirrors his incredible personality. I can honestly say, that I never met anyone as sympathetic, genuine and thoroughly nice as him.
- If you EVER get the chance to see Jason play live, TAKE IT! And say hi from me, if im not there with you.



















In conclusion, I'd like to share a live performance of one of his best songs ever "So long". To some, the message in this song will propably come across as cheesy, but think about it, and tell me that he's wrong. And watch as he gets the whole crowd to sing along. I fucking love this guy!!!

In the interest of all things obscure part III

Its time once again to get downright obscure. This time, the light shines upon a japanese band called Birushanah and their record 赤い闇. Theres not really a lot to say about this, but here's the deal.

We are dealing in sludge/doom with a former members of noted japanese bands such as YOB and Corrupted. The twist (and you all know by now that theres always a twist in these posts), is that they incorporate traditional japanese music into the mix. This makes for a very strange, and unquestionably unique sound.

Thats the words, now eat your mushrooms and go listen to it.