Cougar Microbes

Some of the greatest concert, album as well as movies (but that is for another blog) experiences come when the artist blows you away when you had no idea what to expect. I could name a few albums i picked out without hearing a single note which left me open mouthed when i finally played them at home. Likewise there have been a load of artists that were anonymous when they hit the stage and became heroes as they stepped off.

Elvis Perkins won me over exactly like this. With a sole spotlight shining bright he faced the audience and without saying a word began strumming the chords for ‘While You Were Sleeping‘. One by one the lights lit up as his band introduced drums, double bass and trumpet sowing the seeds to this wonderful song. What followed was a triumphant performance where brief joyous moments like ‘May Day!” were interjected by a reflective sadness producing mass goose bumps in the audience.

A simple online search will reveal that Elvis lost both parents in separate yet equally tragic circumstances and the occasional melancholy that creeps into his music must stem from these events. His debut album Ash Wednesday is wonderfully sparse and laced with subtle chord progressions and hazy musings. Combining a Leonard Cohen-esque lyrical dark side and a less-is-more Dylan structuring approach here is a man playing passionate folk-rock in the 21st century and making it sound very relevant. By the time he stepped off stage the merch stand had sold out of his CDs and an other audience was definitely won over.

MP3′s:

Elvis Perkins – While You Were Sleeping

Back in the early 00′s I was part of the editorial team for the independent webzine MIUZIK.com and though that project eventually imploded when various key players moved on to bigger better (?!) things I continued writing about music, book and movie mostly for my own amusement.

I always thought that eventually i will get back to it and have been “threatening” to start a music blog for a while now but never actually got round to doing anything about it. Instead I built up reviews, articles and other random stuff I had written since the demise of Miuzik. So on Sunday night at 2am (of all times) I began setting up the foundations of my new online home.

The plan is hardly ground breaking: to feature tracks and artists, both past and present, with the hope of promoting these great releases to anyone interested or anyone who stumbles across this site. There are a few people who i am sure will be able to help me out with their musical input but more about them when the time is right

So without further ado here are a few tracks with the common theme of…INTRODUCTION

TRACK SELECTION:

Voxtrot – Introducing

This band cast a spell the moment I heard the gem ‘Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives’ and couldn’t get it out of my head for weeks. The Texas band have a real knack for writing memorable hooks and this track is no different. Expect more on Voxtrot very soon.

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Ugly Duckling – Introduckling

Ugly Duckling prove that you don’t have to rap about guns, bitches and bling to be a “respected” rapper. Make no mistake, though their subject matter is generally fun loving and chilled this does not subtract from the immense lyrical skills these guys have.

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Faith No More – Introduce Yourself

I must admit when it comes to Faith No More I am a Mike Patton man (who isn’t?!?!) particularly on the underrated ‘King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime‘ album. Be it crooning like a 50s star, screaming like a crazed lunatic or singing with the best of them the versatile FNM front man never failed to impress. It is a testament to the rest of the band that some of the tracks from the Chuck Mosley fronted ‘Introduce Yourself‘ release show the potential these guys eventually fulfilled with Patton on vocals. This track is one of the most entertaining cuts from that album.

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The Hives – The Hives Introduce The Metric System In Time

If you don’t love The Hives there is something seriously wrong with you. The self proclaimed saviours of rock n roll are true masters in the 3 minute pop ditty and had been delighting audiences long before their commercial breakthrough on the back of the Garage Rock bandwagon. See them live and you will need a crowbar to remove your smile as Nick Arson, Chris Dangerous, Dr. Matt Destruction, Vigilante Carlstroem and Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist convert you to The Hives cause

Thank you for reading so far welcome to COUGAR MICROBES ARE MARCHING IN LIKE ARMY ANTS…