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09/13/08 Starry Plough Berkeley, CA
10/02/08 Das Gast Haus Arcata, CA 10/08/08 BBG Roseburg, OR |
W♥M video fans would've noticed I used "From Here To There" on my last video. My choice for using this particular song was that it had such a nice, breezy, even sad, tone to the song. It fits perfectly to a nice afternoon, drinking and enjoying nature.
This song is from Dylan Champagne's New Equation, an album that's being released today on his own record label, Broke in Oakland (I love that name). As the name suggest, he's based out of Oakland, California.
Champagne's roots seems to be from (now defunct?) "math-punk" band, One Step Shift. I've never heard of the band, but his biography lists that they sounded like noise artist Sonic Youth and Modest Mouse - but their inspiration seem to have come from the explosive West Coast punk scene (most of the more famous ones came from California, such as Minor Threat and Operation Ivy).
New Equation does not sound anything remotely punky, other than its DIY feel. The album does comes across as pretty minimalistic, most of these songs are just Champagne and his acoustic guitar. There are enough quirky warped noises and layers of piano, harmonica, drums, to make keep the music interesting.
I've read that this whole album was actually recorded in Champagne's basement, which lends a certain personal secret to it. These songs sounds very haunting, isolated, and disturbingly quiet. This album is best listened to on a quiet pitch black road in the middle of nowhere (hint: not at a party).
There are some songs that have reoccurring themes, take for instance "Time Unkind" and "Dead Leaves Part II", both about how unforgiving time can be. Time ultimately ends in death, and that fits perfectly with "Cemetery On The Hill".
The most up-beat song on the album is "Market Street Canal", possibly the best song here. As much as I love it, it also does not really represent the album. This brings me back to my original song of choice: "From Here To There". The catchy melodic song may sound as if it's about traveling and an accident ('scar, from here to there'), but I would like to interpret this as a heart torn out/love lost. At least that's how I saw it, the best songs are usually the one that you give its own meaning anyway.
New Equation is out now, pick it up from Broke in Oakland. Keep up on Dylan's news on news.weheartmusic.com - where you can download "From Here to There" as well as Junk Parts for free.
