Existential Hero - The Storm of the Century

One great thing about Santa Barbara's DIY troubadour Existential Hero (Steven Ray Morris) is that he's prolific. He is up to seven albums at press time (not counting EP's and splits) and he's not about to stop now. Album five"The Storm of the Century" kicks off his multi-album concept project called "The New Zealand Trilogy" (guess where it was mostly recorded?) and is a quite interesting genre-bleeding menagerie of pop, psychedelia, and hip hop.

It has its share of undeniable gems - memorable opener "You're Always Late" sounds like a driving early Daniel Johnston tune with a dash of Tom Waits and a whole lotta angst. My favorite "She Aches, She Makes, But Will She Break" is a piece of shy, stripped down perfection set to an understated harmonica and baritone ukulele. Morris brings the garage rock on "Deep Conversations", while "Clear Clear Clear" brings out the existential hero in all of us -a wonderfully frustrated ode to helpless, homesick frustration.

Unfortunately, Morris seems to have a penchant for overproduction and an overambitious musical scope, making "The Storm Of The Century", in some ways, a spotty album. Case in point, the momentum of the excellent opener "You're Always Late" is immediately leavened by the kind of tuneless and joyless "Waiting For The View". "Meet in Japan" has plenty of great ideas but the overuse of ambient sound effects makes me not really want to return to it. Morris finds his strongest moments when he simply lets his songs be and sticks to what he does best, and when he does this, he leaves me with an indelible impression.

Overall, I enjoyed listening to "The Storm Of The Century" - the weaker tracks are worth sitting through in order for wonderful rewards like "Ginny O", "She Aches, She Breaks...", and the title track. The simpler songs are what Existential Hero does best, and if a bit of the excess was trimmed, we would really have a solid front-to-back listen. However, as it is, it's a well-made and highly entertaining album which stays true to Steven Ray Morris's boundlessly creative musical vision.

myspace.com/existentialheromusic

Jellybean! - The "Hey Sexy!" Mix!

Jellybean! - The "Hey Sexy!" Mix

I was initially drawn to the music of Jellybean! (aka Kelly Bold) when I stumbled upon her ukulele based, sing-songy version of T-Pain's "Lean Like A Cholo" on her MySpace page. I was floored - all the banality and stupidity of mainstream hip-hop was given the most excellent, effortless send-up possible.

Two shows of hers later, I finally got my hands on her CD, "The "Hey Sexy" Mix". It turns out that much of the Jellybean! catalog is based on ukulele (and sometimes acoustic guitar) tributes to Usher, Snoop Dogg, and others. This would have simply passed as a fey novelty if the songs weren't set to some of the most perfect pop melodies I've ever heard.

If you've heard Snoop Dogg's unforgivably stupid "Sensual Seduction" (like 99% of the population of the USA), you've never heard it like this...morphed into a swinging three-chord pop song topped off by infectious (and auto-tuned!) vocals, it kicks off the album nicely. The result is hilarious, yet immensely satisfying listening. The formula is stretched to a few more songs - "Love in This Club", "Low" and "Lean Like A Cholo". While these others are also good for a laugh, it's possible the concept can wear thin for a few listeners, due to the sort-of-samey G, C, D chord changes. But that doesn't matter!

The album only gets better once Jellybean!'s originals are introduced. The nigh-perfect "Friend Pretend" gives me the same naive-pop high I get from Calvin Johnson or Belle and Sebastian. "I Hate Vegetables" is a wonderful stab at a They Might Be Giants-esque singalong, only you don't really want your kids to hear it (for various reasons). The clever "Drug Deal Boyfriend" is - hey! - an extended metaphor... "If I did drugs, then I guess I'd need a dealer, and I wouldn't want that dealer to be anyone but you." "Pokesong" is a Pokesong. And it's probably the first ever written.

In fact, Jellybean!'s entire catalog of music is based on fresh, new, and funny musical ideas. Plus, it's chock full of adorable melodies that will make you smile. Jellybean! is a true original.

www.myspace.com/jellybeanghettotech

Ross Major: Farewell

William Ross Major Presents: Farewell (Dear Friends)

I was a bit disappointed with Ross Major (as Iamb)'s 2005 release, "I'll Stay Waiting". While it contained a few bona fide classics ("Petals Drift Away", "I Don't Care What Happens") The record was swarming with half baked OK Computer-isms and genre invocations that did not play to his strengths, while leaving some of the melodies and actual songs a bit weak. When I had given a cursory listen to that album, I had convinced myself that Major, while he delivered an inspired live performance, was not an especially strong album artist.

How wrong I was.

Come autumn 2008, Ross Major has delivered a relevant, meaningful collection of songs with the aptly named "Farewell", a home recorded album mostly made as a goodbye present for friends and family on his move to Santa Cruz. The album is succinct (eight songs), yet is also overflowing with quality. Mainly concerned here with personal themes of arrivals, departures, love, loss, and travel, Major has found himself maturing as a poet and songwriter.

One of my favorite things about "Farewell" is that, for most of the album, experimentation takes a backseat to pure songcraft, as shown in melodic acoustic gems like "Butterflies" and the twitchy, drama-laden "Broken Glass". Major explores a wide range of themes and influences to cite throughout, from banjo driven, Kerouacian storytelling ("The Sea in San Diego") to effortlessly gorgeous Ryan Adams/Neil Young throwbacks ("In Seattle, In Boise, In Albany, In Dallas".) No song is wasted and the album does not leave much to be desired, although if this kind of quality was expanded to a full-length release, it would seriously blow some minds. As it is, this really feels like a classic.

What's more, it feels like a solid album, rather than a mere collection of songs. The tracks flow together well and the whole work never feels overlong. It even feels like a personal present to me, from the handpainted cover to the large, Ross-sized thumb print on the back of the CD which I had to remove with Windex.

In conclusion, let me share my favorite line from the album, from the song "When The Plane Landed".

"And just before the plane landed, I swore I saw God, in your face, in your hair, in everything, everywhere. And I'm not scared to die, I'm not scared anymore."

Perfect.

www.myspace.com/rossmajormusic