The temperature inside the intimate venue quickly rises as the crowd gathers and hustles, the clinking of bottles and wine glasses the only audible sound above the mish-mash of anticipant chitter chatter. There is excitement in the air but it is ever-so slightly tinged with sadness as people talk about this being JUNK!'s last gig in Osaka for some time and how the South Koreans will be blown away when they get to hear him. Every now and then somebody else will shoot a glance in the direction of the man of the hour and see him in deep concentration, fishing intently through a matrix of wires and equipment while setting up. Suddenly the lights dim and there is a brief moment of calm. The projector fires the first visual onto the stage's white screen and the JUNK! experience begins. He sticks with his usual opener My Name Is Glen, and the crowd begins to bounce and sway.
It quickly becomes apparent to all that are watching that Lloyd is putting 110% into this final gig and in the river of sweat that is gushing down his face you can see reflected the wide grins on the faces of the audience as they begin to mosh a little harder with each successive song. The venue, a French restaurant by day, is muggy and too crowded and the smell of beer and bodies starts to override the perfume. This place is by no means perfect but he makes it work, provoking the crowd like a glam rock matador as he approaches and flaunts his sequinned cape and shades before retreating, teasing the crowd into utter obedience.
Lloyd performs for close to two hours and goes through much of the material from his first album Women and his second self titled release as well as a couple of new additions to keep the crowd guessing. The room explodes into ecstasy with some of his more popular songs, especially Matzo Ball Soup and its final regaling of grandma's old recipe. In between these eruptions of emotion, the energy is still maintained at a constant high level by the master of ceremonies and by the end everyone is dehydrated, exhausted and elated. A great way to go out Glen JUNK! Lloyd, South Korea is in for a treat.
Ever been unsatisfied by the music you hear? Ever just felt... flat when listening to that same song with the same infuriatingly repetitive melody churning on and on through your crappy car radio speakers? Ever imagined a sound so perverse, so usurping of the rules of Pop music that it makes your pants tight and your cockles hot with excitement?... me neither, but ladies and gentlemen, the sound is here, it goes by the name of JUNK! and it kinda sounds likeBowie being raped by The Scissor Sisters (while Rick Astley watches).
Founded back in 1999 in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, The Noise Floor (as the band was originally coined) was the result of one man: Glen Lloyd and his mission to create something beautiful and completely different from the late nineties boy/girl pop pandemic that had mercilessly infected his friends' Sony Discmans. Initially with no place to produce his art, Lloyd set about converting his suburban, inside-of-a-lava-lamp-looking bedroom into a studio and the sound began to take shape: energetic, fiercely original and slightly wacky... much like the decor. By 2005, his parents had made a permanent move to their beloved beach house, leaving a mid-twenties Lloyd to his own devices in the family home. In between countless house parties and prank calls to Dominoes, he expanded the studio into the living room, bought more equipment and, taking inspiration from the countless empty beer cans and pizza boxes that now surrounded him, began to hone in ever closer to the sound that would later become his own. In the midst of this creative period JUNK! was born, andlike so many of Lloyd's greatest ideas it was the result of a bathroom epiphany:
"I was thinking that my band name "The Noise Floor" was too serious… so one day I was having a shower; I looked down and thought "that's it!" and I changed the name to JUNK!"
Since that fateful day, JUNK! has gone on to perfect his sound and gig frequently; gaining notoriety in alternative communities internationally. In 2011, after touring his native Melbourne with the help of long-time friends Peter King (bass) and Kaz Pink Square Seiger (keys), Lloyd relocated to Japan and went back to performing JUNK! as a one man band, where he quickly became an underground hero throughout the Kansai region; spreading the gospel ofsound like a modern-day Jesus with a bad haircut and a costume to match. So what exactly is the JUNK! sound? Well, to describe it as a mind-fucking fusion of Electronica, 80s Synth-Pop, Chip Music, Soul and Hip Hop (to name but a few genres in there) would be to tell only half the story. Simply put, JUNK! isn't just a musical act, it's an experience that blends often stripped-down, ingeniously simple accompaniments with hilarious, parodic lyrics that address everyday issues like the breaking down of relationships, hating your boss, not being able to dance and guidance on how to make the perfect matzo ball soup. The result is a (molotov) cocktail of high-energy vibes that at certain times border on both the sublime and the ridiculous, often simultaneously. Either way, the one true constant of this act is fun, with edited clips of bad movies and fifties news reels firing from a projector to add further hilarity to this already rollicking and yet at times poignant piece of audio/visual art. JUNK! is definitely one to watch, and if you don't fancy shelling out for a plane ticket to Osaka to see him live, do the next best thing and get his music.
Greetings and welcome to The Blacklight Bazaar, an idea that was conceived some time ago but for one reason or another (good T.V. and FB chat) has took a little longer than expected to get off the ground. The basic premise of this thing is to address all that is "up and coming", alternative, underground…or however else you want to label it; whether that be from the music scene, film or just (counter) culture in general. I'm going to try my very best to stick to this, and so would appreciate your moral support and graceful forgiveness should I start to stray too far from the intended path. Hopefully you will find what I have to say enjoyable if not utterly enlightening… and FEEL FREE TO SHARE YOUR VIEWS, this is not a dictatorship, and no comment is a silly comment. *Stupid comments will be punished severely*
Prepare to see things exposed under The Blacklight.
YES it's late January, but that means it's still January and in my book that means I can still just about get away with a "predictions for 2012" thing. For this I'm afraid I am going down the generic route of music criticism (shock horror) BUT don't despair bloggers, I'll make it interesting. This is my list of ones to watch in 2012, whether that be in preparation for a roaring explosion into the top forty or just for the steady building of underground hype. Either way, read on and check these artists out...
Frank Ocean
After exploding onto the underground circuit with an appearance on Odd Future luminary Tyler The Creator's debut Goblin, the New Orleans born singer-songwriter continued his illustrious ascent by releasing his own debut album nostalgia, Ultra in March '11. Eventually shopping it independently as a free download on his personal blog, the album symbolised a middle-finger-flung farewell to his then label Island Def Jam, whom Ocean publicly denounced as a "failing company" whom had signed him with "no intention of following through" with releases or his development as an artist. Pain and frustration akin to that evidently felt by Ocean during this period are present throughout this first effort, with songs like There Will Be Tears reflecting the singer's hollow sadness regarding his fatherless childhood, whilst American Wedding serves as a cooly-shrouded attack on the institution of marriage in America and the heartbreak all too often caused by its breakdown. It is these hopeless, melancholy intervals vented alongside moody chord progressions and zany drum beats that have led more than a couple of critics to label the Frank Ocean sound as having a "late night" or "early hours" feel to it. But is nostalgia: Ultra really twilight in mp3 format? I'm going to have to disagree. With songs like We All Try and Swim Good to name but two, the southern beau makes a clear break from the midnight debauchery antics of his OFWGKTA counterparts with insightful monologues that display maturity and a forward-thinking acceptance. Where Tyler and the gang joke about guising as vampires to stalk and kill pregnant women, Ocean seriously addresses the contentious issue of abortion and advocates that women have "the right to choose". Rather than night, this one reeks much more of dawn, which is fitting as the talent evident here leads me to believe that 2012 could well see the rise of RnB's new favourite son.
Shad
Hailing from London, Ontario, Shad emerged from obscurity back in 2005 with his debut offering When This is Over. A self-made creation funded by the $17,500 he won from 91.5 The Beat's rhythm of the Future talent competition, the album gave the young MC much needed exposure and opened the door to a record deal and the release of his two subsequent albums: The Old Prince (2007) and TSOL (2010). If When This is Over was a foot in the door to the Hip Hop world, the Canadian wordsmith's second two efforts must be considered contributions to Rap music that border on the excellent, with Shad's unmistakably amicable lyrics laden over smooth, upbeat accompaniments that harp back to the golden era of Hip Hop. This is feel good, nice guy Hip Hop in which the narrator's trademark self-depreciating lyrics are only overshadowed by his compelling focus on world issues such as famine in Africa and the eradicating of racist black stereotypes. Activism aside however, the Canadian showcases jaw-dropping talent on the mic, employing a plethora of puns and metaphors that seem to effortlessly flow off the beat in a way that you would expect if Common and Biggie miraculously conceived. It is for these reasons that in my opinion Shad rivals any MC, living or dead, and places convincingly amongst Hip Hop's elite. With extensive touring over the past year and ever-present whispers of a new album set to be dropped later in 2012, I wonder and hope that finally we will see Shad emerge from the murky shadows of the underground and receive something like mainstream success, even if these days an artist such as himself is never going to be a household name. Could, for heaven sake, 2012 be the year of the Shad?
The Weeknd
Back in early 2011, an unknown entity uploaded three songs onto Youtube that were like nothing anyone had heard before. the sound was a polished yet raw mix of highly-effected ambiance somewhere between RnB, Soul and Dub Step. This was the revolutionary new sound from The Weeknd and the overnight hype it created paved the way for the mysterious new artist to follow with his first mix tape: House Of Balloons. Available only by (free) download at www.the-weeknd.com, the tape was dropped in March '11 and became an instant underground success, increasing the buzz already surrounding this still enigmatic figure. On the mix tape, the same style of dirty, creepy beats bopped to in the pilot songs were accompanied by a lengthy catalogue of lyrics soaked in a potent solution of crushed Oxycodone dissolved in sweat. This was sleazy music for the young who didn't give a f**k and regaled hazy stories of money, drug-fuelled sex and the pounding head of regret that came the morning after. The initial success of House Of Balloons fuelled the release of the follow up Thursday and the final chapter in the trilogy, Echoes Of Silence in August and December respectively. Although the two latter additions haven't had quite the same impact as the first, The Weeknd continues to prove himself a master of both music and P.R. as he courts critics and listeners, periodically revealing snippets of information about his identity or up and coming projects. so far we know that The Weeknd's real name is Abel Tesfaye, that he's a 21 year-old from Toronto and that he plans to release his first full-length album later this year… oh yeah, and that Drake labelled him as "one of the greatest artists [he's] ever heard". When an artist as big as Drake is saying this about you, it's surely only a matter of time.
