{"id":498,"date":"2013-02-19T10:02:23","date_gmt":"2013-02-19T10:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/douglascowie.com\/?p=498"},"modified":"2013-02-18T15:08:38","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T15:08:38","slug":"music-review-jphono1-know-your-clouds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.douglascowie.net\/?p=498","title":{"rendered":"Music Review: Jphono1 “Know Your Clouds”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"KnowJphono1<\/a> Know Your Clouds<\/em> Potluck Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n

Stratus! On the debut Jphono1 album, John Harrison pulled together every passing sound as he floated through space and glued them to his simple melodies, and with his band North Elementary he proves that just because gentlemen prefer a pretty melody doesn\u2019t mean they can\u2019t rock their balls off at the same time.\u00a0 Cirrus! Here on Know Your Clouds<\/i> these two impulses meet somewhere in the middle: not floating out in space, but neither with a bulge that says yes, that\u2019s a melody in my pocket but I\u2019m happy to see you, too.\u00a0 Cumulus!\u00a0 Big lush acoustic guitars greet you with one and a half minutes of \u201cSaturday Blues 2nd<\/sup> Round\u201d and the swagger rides into town for the equally brief \u201cWail of Women\u201d.\u00a0 Cumulonimbus! Elsewhere, electronic bleeps keep you hopping and on your toes as the vocals tell you it\u2019s a wicked world on the space-jelly slow \u201cForever Right Here\u201d and a mid-paced banjo plonking tries not to freak out in the face of the growing menace of electronic feedback wash and a fuzzed-out guitar.\u00a0 Altostratus! The title track presents an understated, John Carpenter-esque synthesizer melody that soundtracks you to the end of the album over twelve engaging minutes. Stratocumulus! Where Living Is Easy<\/i> made me want to jump on my space horse right away and canter to the weightless part of the universe, the genre-melting on this album took hold a little more gently, weaving its tendrils into me and asking for a few listens before I realized it\u2019d grown benath me like a beanstalk was raising me aloft.\u00a0 Altocumulus! It\u2019s all the better for it.\u00a0 Cirrocumulus! The limited edition vinyl is sold out (and I\u2019m kicking myself for being too lazy to get one myself) but you can still buy it on CD or cassette for only five bucks if you visit the link above.\u00a0 Know your clouds!<\/p>\n

\"Share<\/a>