The Not-Pop Jukebox

It's incredibly rare that a song moves me enough that I have to stop everything for a few minutes after hearing it just to absorb what I've heard. Requiem Dem accomplished just that.

Normally I focus on up-beat songs, some dark but few slow. Today I find myself unable to think of anything you more deserve to hear, my darlings. DJ Champion (and Pilou Côté...and an orchestra...and a bunch of other people) have finally released a new album and you can stream the whole thing on YouTube. Naturally I immediately began to do so.

I haven't made it through all seventeen songs, yet. I had thought to share Half a Mile at first but wanted to hear more. Then I hit play on Requiem Dem. Keeping the song in context, knowing that the four-year period between albums had been filled with a cancer battle that almost claimed Maxime Morin's life, this song moves from piercing power to intensely personal. It literally brought tears to my eyes.

And so, while I normally would have chosen something fun or just danceable I had to share a song that struck me hard. Requiem Dem is deep and complex, anguished and hopeful. It's a powerful piece from a talent that the world nearly lost. Then go get the album, "#1", from Champion's site. You should be able to explore the videos for the whole album right here.

While Bassic probably strikes you as something quite a bit more mellow than the usual fare, here at The NPJ, I have to say that I quite enjoy his musical endeavors. Perhaps it's because I've following a lengthy conversation about original music in video games, but I have to say that I can really picture Rise and Shine as the opening music to an epic story. Then again, I might use this as my alarm clock. Maybe I could have an epic day!

Whatever the case, have a listen to Rise and Shine. If you're looking for more from Bassic, click over to Grooveshark for plenty more. In particular, I'd recommend Every Man Can Be His Own Rocketship and Omniom from his latest release.

It's Friday. It's late. I've been listening to Banana Ripple for several minutes as I do my other on-line tasks and, in truth, some part of my mind simply assumed that I had put on an old Pet Shop Boys album and let it play, as who expects an indie, electro-pop sort of song to go on for over nine minutes. Heck, that is half a Pet Shop Boys album.

But this is, in fact, Junior Boys and the album is far newer than the 1986 sound. Banana Ripple came, in fact, from their album "It's All True" released just four months ago. It's a bit mellow for my usual fare but I actually listened to the whole thing without having any desire to hurry the boys along. In fact, it's piqued my interest in Junior Boys so you may be hearing more from them here in the future. What did you think: did you love it, hate it, or just let it run on in the background?

I’m not much of a shoe-gazer, when it comes to music. Every once in a while, though, an ethereal construct of musical layers will catch my ear and I’ll find myself staring uselessly at something and just listening to it. As a rule, that doesn’t last an entire seven-minute indulgence of a song because so much “shoe-gaze” is repetitive in the extreme. More exciting or interesting music would distract you from your contemplation, after all.

Naturally, I’m writing this to point out an exception to the rule. Champion’s L6 (The Blooded) meanders around for 6:48 and keeps adding layers, changing patterns, and generally switching it up enough to keep me zoned out the whole time. Songs like Alive Again and So Big make me want to jump around and dance but L6 proves that Champion doesn’t need vocals or five other guitarists to make a great song.

And so I give you what is likely to be the only song I’ll ever post with the label shoe-gaze. I can’t help it; I’m just so surprised that seven minutes of bathing in sound can be so entrancing. I hope you like it at least half as much.