Showing posts with label blind mr jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blind mr jones. Show all posts
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Blind Mr Jones - crazy jazz EP
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blind mr jones,
CDs,
review,
shoegaze
It is 1992 and for their second EP Blind Mr Jones presented a more evolved and expansive sound, still shoegazy but with lots of flute! "Fading fast" is a superb opener, fast and urgent, an eruption of guitar noise. "Dolores" was probably the closest song to their first EP "eyes wide" (one of the best shoegaze records ever released by the way). "Featherweight" is a beautiful track that brings their revised flute augmented sound to the fore. A relaxed instrumental, meandering through a soundscape of fuzzy guitars and flute. This was probably the highpoint of their shoegazing phase, for later records they did revert more to more traditional indie rock but this EP is one hell of a highpoint. Still to this day this record can blow most recent bands out of the way. It showed what was possible and where indie could have gone. We made a choice back then and we made the wrong one.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Blind Mr Jones - eyes wide EP
Shoegaze, a sub-genre of indie, is one i really dig but if i was going to pick one shoegaze record for my "desert island exile" then it would be this one. Blind Mr Jones are fairly unknown now and never really made it big but they perfected the shoegazing vision in the early 1990s and produced music that even now sounds far more advanced and imaginative than most indie out there.
This was their first EP and includes 4 classic tracks. "Over my head" and "Henna and swayed" bookend the EP and are my favourite songs here. Both manage to embody a melancholic feel for a nostalgic past in their melodies somehow. I think its due to the beautiful and often intricate yet simple music, powerful at times with plenty of effects but at others so delicate. Half-forgotten melodies and tones from your childhood seem to lie buried in the music. Well maybe you can't be sure. There is something both familiar and unknown here. Its just magic.
This was their first EP and includes 4 classic tracks. "Over my head" and "Henna and swayed" bookend the EP and are my favourite songs here. Both manage to embody a melancholic feel for a nostalgic past in their melodies somehow. I think its due to the beautiful and often intricate yet simple music, powerful at times with plenty of effects but at others so delicate. Half-forgotten melodies and tones from your childhood seem to lie buried in the music. Well maybe you can't be sure. There is something both familiar and unknown here. Its just magic.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Blind Mr Jones - over my head
Its often dangerous and usually pointless to highlight anything as "the best" or your all-time favourite as you choice usually changes over time or you forget other contenders to the title. However i have no hesitation in naming Blind Mr Jones the best original shoegazing band. What who? Not Slowdive or Chapterhouse? Well they were good but Blind Mr Jones captured the scene and explored the sonic possibilities of shoegazing more than any other band in the early 1990s.
This compilation brings together everything Blind Mr Jones recorded, thats two albums and a couple of EPs. I used to have it all from the fabulous "Over my head" EP to the latter album that was rather disappointing (so much so i can't remember its title at the moment). What did Blind Mr Jones sound like, an often ethereal delicate sound together with hard fuzz noise. On songs like "Henna and swayed" the tones spark memories of one's childhood and other nostalgia. On the impressive "Dolores" BMJ blast you with a sheer wall of noise.
CD #2 has their later material which more straight forward indie rock than their earlier fuzz drenched stuff. I didn't like it that much at the time though the songs in hindsight were more intelligent and mature. Just lacking the right amount of noise. The addition of a flute did give a new dimension to their later sound though often the flute arrangements are a little obvious.
This compilation gives me a wonderfully nostalgic feeling for the sounds of the early 90s but maybe that feeling also has a bittersweet edge due to lamenting a band who were criminally overlooked and really should have been massive.
This compilation brings together everything Blind Mr Jones recorded, thats two albums and a couple of EPs. I used to have it all from the fabulous "Over my head" EP to the latter album that was rather disappointing (so much so i can't remember its title at the moment). What did Blind Mr Jones sound like, an often ethereal delicate sound together with hard fuzz noise. On songs like "Henna and swayed" the tones spark memories of one's childhood and other nostalgia. On the impressive "Dolores" BMJ blast you with a sheer wall of noise.
CD #2 has their later material which more straight forward indie rock than their earlier fuzz drenched stuff. I didn't like it that much at the time though the songs in hindsight were more intelligent and mature. Just lacking the right amount of noise. The addition of a flute did give a new dimension to their later sound though often the flute arrangements are a little obvious.
This compilation gives me a wonderfully nostalgic feeling for the sounds of the early 90s but maybe that feeling also has a bittersweet edge due to lamenting a band who were criminally overlooked and really should have been massive.
(Amazon)
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