Although I know a couple of you already know about him and some have even seen him with me before, I'd like to do this first post about my favorite artist of all time:
onelinedrawing
Amazing, amazing artist. He started as the front man of Far, a no-cal based alternative rock band in the mid-late nineties that actually produced some different and memorable stuff and was one of the magical three (hum, far, weezer) that started me on my long downward path into my current musical state. well, anyway, far was rock, pure unadulterated rock with everything from throat tearing screams to tandem overdriven guitars. they were wonderful.
then they were gone... 1998... but i was going to college and the psuedo-yuppie began my ska education.. but i digress...
years later... through some unknown means i found out the lead singer from Far had started a solo project called onelinedrawing.
shit, i'll check it out.
in this hay-day of napster i was able to get both Sketchy EP 1 and Sketchy EP 2 as well as a buttload of live stuff... and i was in love. this guy had range... from tear your heart out sadness with a single guitar (number one defender) to techno beebop german love fest (Always New – March)... the more and more i listened to him the more i liked it... you know what it was? the lyrics... fucking amazing... and the vocals... everynow and again i'll see if i can play one of his songs.. and well, i can.. but shit.. the guitar doesn't make the song.. his vocals are like another couple instruments that really make the song...
There are a few you can listen to on his myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/jonahmatranga and if you want i can get you some samples of my favorites...
I think Sketchy EP 1 is the most approachable album of the bunch and thoroughly enjoyable followed closely by Sketchy EP 2. Jonah (did i mention he is now recording under his name (Jonah Matranga) rather than onelinedrawing?) did create two full lengths with Jade Tree in the last few years and they contain some really amazing songs but i would save off their full purchase until after you have been acquainted with onelinedrawing... (if you must iTunes individual songs from these albums, check out Ghost, Oh Boys and Bitte Ein Kuss (with these three you'll see a bit of variation too))...
This is getting a bit long so i'll wrap up... while you are downloading and buying this stuff, make sure to check out New End Original... it was a single CD side project with jonah and the guys from texas is the reason... this album (Thriller) had some great lyrics but was basically onelinedrawing songs with a full rock band in the back... the composition was quite different so it is worth listening to them to compare to onelinedrawing...
finally, if you have a chance... see him live... i've been to half a dozen of his shows or so andthey often are in real intimate venues with people that are truly fans... the last few sets i've seen him do have been real cool, he'd play five or six songs that he wanted to and then spend the rest of the time just playing whatever the audience asks him to... he did a amazing cover of the sinead o'conner song once... oh.. and although he recently been traveling with an iBook for all his backup he used to have a drum machine welded inside an R2D2 that would provide all his beats.. if you listen to his live stuff you'll hear R2 whining all the while... well all.. thanks for reading and please check out this guy.. i promise you'll love him...
5 comments:
while talking to peep via email about onelinedrawing (and pushing the merits of Far's album: Water and Solutions) i saw this on my sponsered links in gMail.. someone else here should find this funny:
Jeremy Enigk
Former Sunny Day Real Estate band member points to a bigger reality
www.explorefaith.org
Yay Jonah... I got my first jonah mix courtesy of m almost a year ago and was an instant fan. Although some of his songs leave me thinking "Oooh, poor Jonah" and wanting to make him smile somehow, they're all pretty amazing. My favorites of the moment are Crush on Everyone ("if you like undressing, please let me find out…if you like large intestines, please let me find out…"), Smile (yay R2D2), Bitte Ein Kuss (her hips, her hips are like seashells...) and Livin' Small (if only for the fact that Jonah says "I mean, what's the dill-yo?").
Work seems to be making me a horribly awful, angry, bitter, stressed person, so in trying to combat that, I've also been listening to and enjoying Why Are We Fighting, Believer, Candle Song, But It Was Close, Perfect Pair, and As Much to Myself As To You. That collection makes me want to be drunk enough to stand on my desk and belt out any one of those songs while clutching my heart with one hand and my snapple bottle microphone with the other.
I wholeheartedly second the suggestion of going to see Jonah live...I saw him with m in a coffee shop in Belmar, NJ last April or May and it was an amazing show. The place was filled with big fans that knew every word and the show was genuinely about him playing for the love (his and everyones there) of the music, not just trying to make money or get a chance to have people listen to him bitch. (There was also the excitement of the country band that opened for him with my favorite song, Jesus Is a Friend Of the Family, which was actually not as horrible as it sounds..."Jesus is a friend of the family...on Sunday he cooks us breafast, Jesus Christ your pancakes are good")
If you do happen to fall in love with all that is great about Jonah, his newly redone website, http://www.jonahmatranga.com/, always has good stuff for sale on a sliding scale, usually with exciting stuff free with your order. Okay, I'm done with my work as his PR chick…time to listen to more Jonah and write some SQL...
ooh ooh and "Laugh, Fall or the Road"... i wanna hit the road NOW
First, I'd like to say that I have been invited to join this blog, and can't figure it out. That's right. I can't figure out how to accept an invite with Blogger's Beta version. A hearty FUCK YOU to the folks behind the scenes at Blogger - and go to hell.
Second, I plan on agreeing with all of you regarding the merits of Jonah Matranga and his music. To elaborate: FUCK YEAH!!!
I would, however, like to point out that Jonah is the most saccharine individual I've ever met. So much so that it's frightening - I couldn't quite get comfortable with it; I'd keep questioning his authenticity long after his live shows were over. How could someone so sweet (sickly sweet, horrifically sweet) be a genuine cool guy? The angry individual from Far!
Maybe he's just embraced his emotions unabashedly. That is how I've been explaining it to myself. In fact, that might even be his secret - everything hinges on the ease with which he accesses and articulates his emotions; his edgy earlier stuff, his always impressive vocals, his artwork, and his unforgettable lyrics.
He also reminds me of Mr. Rogers. But, I'm among those that actually enjoyed 'The Neighborhood'...
braincubes case in point (from jonah's blog):
*20Dec2006 * Last show for a while was a good one...
Such a great show at Adobe Books the other night. I played with my friends Liz and Ari, between us there is 50 years of friendship. It was a small, warm space, all jumbled with piles of knowledge. They had baked goods, I bought some quiche at the end, the guy said just put some money in the jar, he used it to feed the homeless. I played mostly new stuff, it felt great. First time through a tune called 'Every Mistake' felt particularly great, and they're all starting to make a really good thing together.
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