Another band that kicks my ass... JESSAMINE!Lots of throbby bass, weird keyboard bits, cool over-the-top effects (I've always been a sucker for a ring modulator...), dreamy blisst-out vocals... this is the band I always played for customers who wanted a recommendation + referenced Portishead or Massive Attack...
Sure, there's none of that dancebeat happening, but beyond beat is that lush, trippy vibe + turning someone on to a really cool (at the time kinda) underground band is always preferable to hocking the same ol' schlock alla time. And, of course, indie-rockers into My Bloody Valentine or Sonic Youth + looking for something different would get steered toward Jessamine, as well as Bardo Pond, Labradford, TFUL282 and (cuz I love em soooo much + they're sooo damn good) Tortoise.
Jessamine's line-up was:
- Rex Ritter - guitar/vox
- Dawn Smithson - bass/vox
- Andy Brown - keys
- Michael Faeth - drums
Discography:
- Jessamine (Kranky) 1994
- The Long Arm of Coincidence (Kranky) 1996
- Don't Stay Too Long (Kranky) 1998
- (singles compilation) Another Fictionalized History (Histrionic) 1997
- (with Spectrum) A Pox On You (Space Age Recordings) 1996
- (with Experimental Audio Research) Living Sound (Histrionic) 1999
Post-Jessamine, Rex Ritter + Andy Brown went on to further sonic experimentations with Fontanelle. Ritter has also been involved in post-metal drone-masters Sunn O))) - whose newest release Monoliths + Dimensions is fookin' excellent!
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Hey Paps--
ReplyDeleteYou said the magic (and noisy) words: My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. I will be diving into the Jessamine "pond" every-so-soon.
And then thereafter, I might check out the Bardo Pond "pond". :-)
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