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Flanfire (Duggan Flanakin) is bringing LIFE to Austin music -- and telling the world how sweet it is!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Listen to Kassanoff "Over and Over"
Neal Kassanoff is a thinking man's songwriter. I knew that the first time I saw Carolyn Wonderland performing his "Heart" live and again on her "Bloodless Revolution" CD. I remember seeing Neal live on stage at the Shaggy's Reunion Concert at Freedom Oaks, backed by Lauren Gurgiolo, and hearing more of his songs for the first time. Then Neal was a vital part of one of the most creative exhibits I have seen in a long time - a multimedia experience last January at the Cathedral of Junk. Some folks may not know that Neal and Guy Forsyth wrote the score for the cult documentary film, "Hands on a Hard Body," which is of course all about people standing up and staying awake for days in hopes of winning a truck.
So it is no surprise that the new CD, "Over and Over," features Gurgiolo on backing vocals along with her mate David Lazaroff on guitars, keyboards, vocals, and pedal steel; other players are Shiben Battachatya on bass, Steve Sanders on drums, and Sarah Sharp and co-producer Luis Guerero also on vocals. Neal says of this collection of garage band-punkish songs that they have been "a pleasure to record and perform - emotionally direct, experimental and replete with happy accidents." These are songs, he says, "about the difficult spaces of alienation, disappointment and heartache, songs about internal conflict and deific struggle." They are "big drums and crunchy guitars that make you want to take a bite, primal screams and understated harmonies, pedal steel and solitary piano."
What I got from listening to the CD a couple or three times was that this music will sound ten times better LIVE (and replete with all the uncommon weirdness of outdoor theater sets) -- and with oddly painted dancers interpreting each song (or at least selected songs) through multicolored lights and occasional smoke and fog. Just imagine all of this in a space with children's imagination-filled minds and hearts ... perhaps in a space like that outdoor theater in Wimberley (whose name escapes me right now - but the stage there is HUGE and under the stars).
Kassanoff says of his music, "It's very important for me to veer, wander, seek inspiration and run with it, no matter where it might take me. I have written songs about preachers who minister in bars and find themselves tangled up in drug deals. I have written about a god who can only consummate his love by relinquishing his duty to hold the sky in place. I have written about stolen bicycles, bank heists, smashing the state, mythical floods, vampire temptresses, late night binges that decimate wine collections, and (of course) songs about every girl who has ever broken my heart and/or mended my soul. I flow, scream, croon or belt it out, depending on the song and the moment."
Neal puts a lot of his musical energy into the Groundwork Music Project, an organization that provides free and low-cost music education to preschool children. The program operates out of Austin, Texas, and educates children at Open Door Preschool and the APIRE Program. Groundwork operates under the premise that all people are musical and early childhood musical experiences are essential to developing basic musical skills. Neal put together the curriculum for Groundwork - which is aimed at helping children teach themselves music through play (even in Spanish). Look for a big blowout in December during Groundwork's annual fundraising drive.
Now to the songs, of which there are an even dozen. Maybe my favorite is "Black Balloon," which opens with a stiff drum beat, then squeezes out a lyric that admits the secret that, "when the wind revives you you'll remember where you've been the night before," and this information is hard to handle for our protagonist who "could float like a black balloon in the night", maybe get high, "and then go down down down."
I also like "Why" - the latter of which asks "why does your heart keep beating like a bass drum when I put my ear to it?" [And does it beat the same way for other guys?] I love the tinny guitar sound here. "End of the Day," the final cut, opens with a classic sounding keyboard but played softly (rather than like Eighties music) and switches to the pedal steel sound -- and yet the entire feel is like an old Hollies song (but sadder). The second cut, "Sky God," is pure grunge - would you leave behind your awesome responsibilities just for a girl? "Donna" opens with fonky guitar, then morphs into a punkish classic cut that just begs folks to jump into the mosh pit.
There is much more - but I suggest that, rather than read more here, just go out to Emo's on September 30 (where Lauren's band the Dialtones are also on the bill) or The Continental Club on November 5 (where Neal opens for Carolyn Wonderland -- a SUPER show!) and hear this music for yourself. And be prepared to have a VERY GOOD TIME!
Neal Kassanoff is a thinking man's songwriter. I knew that the first time I saw Carolyn Wonderland performing his "Heart" live and again on her "Bloodless Revolution" CD. I remember seeing Neal live on stage at the Shaggy's Reunion Concert at Freedom Oaks, backed by Lauren Gurgiolo, and hearing more of his songs for the first time. Then Neal was a vital part of one of the most creative exhibits I have seen in a long time - a multimedia experience last January at the Cathedral of Junk. Some folks may not know that Neal and Guy Forsyth wrote the score for the cult documentary film, "Hands on a Hard Body," which is of course all about people standing up and staying awake for days in hopes of winning a truck.
So it is no surprise that the new CD, "Over and Over," features Gurgiolo on backing vocals along with her mate David Lazaroff on guitars, keyboards, vocals, and pedal steel; other players are Shiben Battachatya on bass, Steve Sanders on drums, and Sarah Sharp and co-producer Luis Guerero also on vocals. Neal says of this collection of garage band-punkish songs that they have been "a pleasure to record and perform - emotionally direct, experimental and replete with happy accidents." These are songs, he says, "about the difficult spaces of alienation, disappointment and heartache, songs about internal conflict and deific struggle." They are "big drums and crunchy guitars that make you want to take a bite, primal screams and understated harmonies, pedal steel and solitary piano."
What I got from listening to the CD a couple or three times was that this music will sound ten times better LIVE (and replete with all the uncommon weirdness of outdoor theater sets) -- and with oddly painted dancers interpreting each song (or at least selected songs) through multicolored lights and occasional smoke and fog. Just imagine all of this in a space with children's imagination-filled minds and hearts ... perhaps in a space like that outdoor theater in Wimberley (whose name escapes me right now - but the stage there is HUGE and under the stars).
Kassanoff says of his music, "It's very important for me to veer, wander, seek inspiration and run with it, no matter where it might take me. I have written songs about preachers who minister in bars and find themselves tangled up in drug deals. I have written about a god who can only consummate his love by relinquishing his duty to hold the sky in place. I have written about stolen bicycles, bank heists, smashing the state, mythical floods, vampire temptresses, late night binges that decimate wine collections, and (of course) songs about every girl who has ever broken my heart and/or mended my soul. I flow, scream, croon or belt it out, depending on the song and the moment."
Neal puts a lot of his musical energy into the Groundwork Music Project, an organization that provides free and low-cost music education to preschool children. The program operates out of Austin, Texas, and educates children at Open Door Preschool and the APIRE Program. Groundwork operates under the premise that all people are musical and early childhood musical experiences are essential to developing basic musical skills. Neal put together the curriculum for Groundwork - which is aimed at helping children teach themselves music through play (even in Spanish). Look for a big blowout in December during Groundwork's annual fundraising drive.
Now to the songs, of which there are an even dozen. Maybe my favorite is "Black Balloon," which opens with a stiff drum beat, then squeezes out a lyric that admits the secret that, "when the wind revives you you'll remember where you've been the night before," and this information is hard to handle for our protagonist who "could float like a black balloon in the night", maybe get high, "and then go down down down."
I also like "Why" - the latter of which asks "why does your heart keep beating like a bass drum when I put my ear to it?" [And does it beat the same way for other guys?] I love the tinny guitar sound here. "End of the Day," the final cut, opens with a classic sounding keyboard but played softly (rather than like Eighties music) and switches to the pedal steel sound -- and yet the entire feel is like an old Hollies song (but sadder). The second cut, "Sky God," is pure grunge - would you leave behind your awesome responsibilities just for a girl? "Donna" opens with fonky guitar, then morphs into a punkish classic cut that just begs folks to jump into the mosh pit.
There is much more - but I suggest that, rather than read more here, just go out to Emo's on September 30 (where Lauren's band the Dialtones are also on the bill) or The Continental Club on November 5 (where Neal opens for Carolyn Wonderland -- a SUPER show!) and hear this music for yourself. And be prepared to have a VERY GOOD TIME!
