Many of you know John Moessner from CPA. As part of his Masters thesis he created his debut album Welcome to the Johngle. I was pleasantly surprised. It is actually very clever and well produced. Take a listen. You can listen to the whole album on line at his website www.johnmoessner.com
Also on the website is a album that another CPA grad recorded. I don't know if many of you know James Peel, but his album is on there as well. Also not bad. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Posts
3 comments:
Thanks robert for the post! I love johnny mess and i have been wanting to hear the new album.
He is a talented guy. The album is good times - very "Johnny Van Mo"
!Spoiler Alert!
Joseph (john's cherubic son) talks on a couple sons. It's amazing.
I love John's album and I'm really proud of him. I wrote him an "album review" which he decided to include on his website. (The comments on Track 7 are more of an inside joke between John and me. Also, the thoughts about the album cover are when he was considering doing an album cover of him with his shirt off, looking like a horrible 1970's LP.) But, here is the review I wrote for him, which expresses my thoughts on the album...
I was fortunate enough to get a hold of an early copy of "Welcome to the Johngle" - a HIGHLY anticipated album from an artist most people haven't heard of... yet.
The early designs for the album cover are a beautiful combination of genius and disgusting. But, more importantly, is the music - let's look at a track-by-track overview of "Welcome to the Johngle."
Track 1 - "Welcome to the Johngle" Yeh, you heard that right. This album actually has an Overture and it works perfectly. I love it. Obviously, there's the cool part of bringing in an element from the melody in each song in backwards order so that you hear the melody to the first song right before it plays. But, much more importantly than that - it just works. It just somehow kind of sneaks up on you. The music fades in, and all of sudden without even noticing it, now you're in the middle of a carnival. But not "Carnival" in the bad sense of the word: like, "Carny Folk and used syringes"; but "Carnival" in the sense of magic, in the sense of a young kind walking around being held by the hand (by his Mom or Dad, he doesn't even know who because he's not even paying attention to who is holding his hand because he's too busy licking his Lolly and looking around at all the beautiful, bright lights and happy sights.) That's what this track does. It just invites you in and says "Look around... enjoy." And then, before you even know it, you're on a ride...
Track 2 - "My First Attempt" The ride begins a bit bumpy, but in a good way. What better opening line for a Freshman album than "This is just my first attempt, not everybody gets exempt."? As the drums and guitar all try to fumble into place and find their way all of the sudden it all starts to "just fall" into place. And when the harmonies come in you just smile. That is all these kinds of harmonies can make you do, is just lean your head back on your car seat, turn the volume up two notches louder than where you previously had it set and just smile.
Track 3 - "I'll Be Here Waiting" Now we make it to the biggest tent in the carnival. A Beatles-esque organ starts piping out some gentle chords as we step into the big top for the big show. This track is some sort of blend between "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" that somehow transitions to a stirring "Be Not So Fearful" type of song. As the music breaks down and the cello enters with the repeated words "I can't fight all her battles or lead her out to war" all of a sudden you've left this childhood-circus setting and you're grown up and talking about serious and important matters. Bringing in the cello on a song like this could have missed, it could have missed badly - but for some reason it works. It really works. Those low, cello tones cause your heart to beat at the same timing that they are played and (whether or not you can exactly figure out who the song is written about) it causes you to think of someone you feel the same of and stirs your heart on their behalf.
Track 4 - "Is the Universe Friendly" The best vocal recording of the album. There are a few more impressive songs vocally, where big and impressive notes are hit. But the sound of the vocals on this track have a certain honesty and vulnerability to them. It's like there is no fluff, or cute talk, or overly-clever lyrics on this track - it's more straight ahead. So that the vocals (not a whisper, but still a perfect use of breathiness) are absolutely perfect on this track.
Track 5 - "For the Boy" If Jeff Buckley would have ever had a son and written a song for him, it would have sounded something like this. Which is another way of say, "This song is beautiful, large, bluesy (though not bluesy in a sad sense, but yet in a hopeful and loving and longing sense) and just plain rocks."
Track 6 - "How It Began" Without question the most fun track on the album. A perfect way to begin Side B of the album. The horn section over "workin' down in Loredo" and pedal steel riff after the line "Back in Nashville..." does not go unnoticed. Though that is very clever, what is even more impressive about it is the fact that somehow pedal steel fits perfectly and seamlessly in a song that is a straight-ahead R&B. If Barry White would have had only had one lover in his lifetime this would have been his signature tune, and yet somehow pedal steel is not a ridiculous stretch - it fits into a Barry White song... Unbeliveable!
Track 7 - "I've Got It All Figured Out" It is hard to listen to this song and not think one thing and one thing only: The Slide Steel Guitar rocks me to the core of my essence! Eric "Slow-hands" Clapton, Sylvester Weaver, Blind Willie Johnson, Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Duane Allman and Bonnie Rait have all collectively never done anything to compare to the slide guitar performance on this track. I can't wait for the album to be released and the liner notes to reveal who played this instrument-changing, history-shifting performance on the slide guitar.
Tack 8 - "If" This was my initial my favorite track on the album. I played it on repeat every time I got in my car the first week I had the album. It's beautiful. All of the instruments are perfect. Not too much, but also not too little. A perfectly produced song.
Track 9 - "Let's Go Fly a Kite" The album ends back where it started. You are once again a little kid. This new rendering of "Let's Go Fly a Kite" immediately makes you picture yourself as a small child running through a field with a kite. It gives you the image of when the sun is actually way too bright, where it almost blinds you when you try to look up, but then when the kite passes in front of the sun you regain your sight. The mandolin is perfect, absolutely perfect, on this song and the song is gorgeous.
Track 10 - "For the Girl" Short, but perfect. The perfect final touch to a great album. Not too much not too little - perfect use of restraint and yet a perfect closing song.
All in all, I love it. I have now been Welcomed to the Johngle, I'm just wondering when the Johngle will be welcomed to the world?
Wade Holmes
Music Critic
Post a Comment