Ann Dreyfuz – Los Grises
They do warn you that you’ll never know how to truly appreciate something until the day that it is taken away from you. And this is what a lot of typical concert goers learned the moment that the musical live events, for nearly two years, could no longer be organised.
Who knew anyone cared this much? Who could’ve assumed that beyond the typical complaints of regular concert attendees would be such an all-consuming love for live music?
But now they’re back. It’s a good time to ask ourselves what the fans were really missing, and what some are willing to fight for. Probably, at the heart of it, it was the need to communicate with an artist using ideas and energy that so many people found that they could not live without.
That’s good news for artists like Ann Dreyfuz whose music is all about reaching out and creating a bond with listeners. Why are some fantastic live rock acts famous decades after they stopped touring? Because they possess some of the qualities that Dreyfuz also has.
The garage-rock, punk-inspired “Los Grises” very much sounds like a live recording taped inside a small club venue where the audience is huddled next to the stage and staring directly at the performer for the entirety of her set. It’s not a polished sound, or one designed to be marketed through television or radio. But it’s filled with life and with the need to reach out and touch somebody.
Blenko – Adored
Your eyes and brain have adapted brilliantly to seeing ads in flashing lights wherever you go! I am sure of it! How? Well, because if you hadn’t taught your brain to tune those out, one of those makeup ads or the one with Santa drinking black liquid out of a bottle would just cause you to crash your car into the traffic lights. As it turns out, the mind fights like hell for a bit of rest.
And it’s not just visual pollution that you’ve learned to fight against. All manner of information, unless vital, is discarded easily. Modern music, for example, is the first thing to go. Why, you could probably sit in a supermarket for hours with Mariah Carey’s “Christmas Collection” blasting out of the speakers, and you might not notice it.
That’s all to say that the fact that Blenko’s “Adored” makes an immediate impression and doesn’t let up for the whole duration of the song is a mighty impressive feat.
It’s not just the volume or the combative nature of the performance, although those work well. It’s not just the “I Wanna Be Your Dog” themed lyrics, although the concept and the vocal delivery are intriguing. There’s just something about all these choices together with the artist’s personality that will make listeners stop and pay notice. In a world that’s drowned by information, this is the kind of rocking sound that you can trust!
