MORIARTY
[last.fm page]
Mmmmmmmmmkay.
[last.fm page]
My music find of the day. I get the feeling this might be one of those bands a bunch of my friends already know about that I just never heard for some reason, because the name does ring that sort of bell... But then again, maybe it just sounds familiar cos I've read parts of On the Road in recent months (the band named themselves after the book's hero, Dean Moriarty).
I found them while nosing through a newsletter I get for Joe's Pub, one of my favorite music venues. The description of the band immediately caught my interest:
Moriarty are not your average indie-rock band or streamlined electro-pop unit, even if the presence of "drilling machines" makes it sound as though they're going to break into some sort of Einsturzende Neubaten-style industrial rock-fest at any moment (or fix your teeth). With members of French, American, Swiss and Vietnamese parentage, based in several cities around the globe, they're a ramshackle olde world acoustic outfit with a theatrical bent and a tendency to dress like 1930s Prohibition outlaws who make a mess of sound that takes in folk, country, blues, jazz and cabaret.
Since that entire second sentence was making me salivate, I wasted no time looking them up on last.fm and was quite pleased to find that they 1) had a page, and 2) had a page graced with a generous line-up of their songs available for listening, from their album Gee Whiz But This Is A Lonesome Town. The first that starts playing is "Jimmy", which opens with a relaxed guitar line that's a little Iron-and-Wineish (compliment), soon joined by a high, wistful harmonica, and then by the vocals of Rosemary Standley. She's got a very nice folk voice for sure, but you can also hear the ease it has dipping into country or bluesy territory, backed up by a great band that subtly works a mild jazz vibe in their strums as the song picks up. (Also, what sounds like a violin and the harmonica melding together, I think? Loooovely.)
The second and third songs in the list, "Private Lily" and "Cottonflower", continue to impress and to surprise. Between the two of these I was most struck by the versatility of Standley's voice, which switches from a higher, purer sound in "Lily" to something much lower and matured - darker - in "Cottonflower." I was almost surprised that it was the same singer. The change in voice is not just literal - it creates a sense of two very different, distinct characters, each with their own narrative to tell through their songs.
Here's how I know when I like a new band: I get some of their music, I start listening...and I keep listening. Through every song.
I like Moriarty.
I found them while nosing through a newsletter I get for Joe's Pub, one of my favorite music venues. The description of the band immediately caught my interest:
Moriarty are not your average indie-rock band or streamlined electro-pop unit, even if the presence of "drilling machines" makes it sound as though they're going to break into some sort of Einsturzende Neubaten-style industrial rock-fest at any moment (or fix your teeth). With members of French, American, Swiss and Vietnamese parentage, based in several cities around the globe, they're a ramshackle olde world acoustic outfit with a theatrical bent and a tendency to dress like 1930s Prohibition outlaws who make a mess of sound that takes in folk, country, blues, jazz and cabaret.
The second and third songs in the list, "Private Lily" and "Cottonflower", continue to impress and to surprise. Between the two of these I was most struck by the versatility of Standley's voice, which switches from a higher, purer sound in "Lily" to something much lower and matured - darker - in "Cottonflower." I was almost surprised that it was the same singer. The change in voice is not just literal - it creates a sense of two very different, distinct characters, each with their own narrative to tell through their songs.
My name is Lily
I'm 19 years old
No money to study,
No boyfriend,
I'm kind of bored
I went to the trade fair,
To find a job
There I found a few guys from the army
They told me that I was smart and pretty
I'm goin' to war I'm goin' to war, I'm goin' to war, I'm goin' to war, I'm goin' to war
She's goin' to war, she's goin' to war, she's goin' to war, she's goin' to war, she's goin' to war
I'm 19 years old
No money to study,
No boyfriend,
I'm kind of bored
I went to the trade fair,
To find a job
There I found a few guys from the army
They told me that I was smart and pretty
I'm goin' to war I'm goin' to war, I'm goin' to war, I'm goin' to war, I'm goin' to war
She's goin' to war, she's goin' to war, she's goin' to war, she's goin' to war, she's goin' to war
You are my cottonflower
I'm nothing but the lonely rider
I don't wonder who is right or is wrong
Sing this song for you to sing when I'm gone.
I am your purple spider
My hose are getting wider
Even though there're a-robins crying
I don't worry cause I'm only dying
Sing this song for you to sing when I'm gone
It don't hurt no more now.
You've seen a thousand like me
I'm not the first one,
I'm not the only one
The best one, the first one, the last one
You've seen a thousand like me
Won't you turn off your TV?
I'm nothing but the lonely rider
I don't wonder who is right or is wrong
Sing this song for you to sing when I'm gone.
I am your purple spider
My hose are getting wider
Even though there're a-robins crying
I don't worry cause I'm only dying
Sing this song for you to sing when I'm gone
It don't hurt no more now.
You've seen a thousand like me
I'm not the first one,
I'm not the only one
The best one, the first one, the last one
You've seen a thousand like me
Won't you turn off your TV?
Here's how I know when I like a new band: I get some of their music, I start listening...and I keep listening. Through every song.
I like Moriarty.
It's a real shame I won't be able to hit up their concert at Joe's on the 23rd. Hopefully I'll run into them live one day, though.
...Or just this fellow:
...Or just this fellow:
Mmmmmmmmmkay.
