Jon Athans Project Makes Music in (and for) the Bedroom
I like to play a little game with myself when it comes to listening to new music. I put things I've recently downloaded onto my ipod and then put it on shuffle. A song I don't know will come up and I'll have to take a peek to see what it is because it strikes a chord with me. Sometimes it will come up again and if it makes me look that time, then I make a mental note of it. If it happens a third time, then I know I have to write about it and that I should pay a lot closer attention to the band.
And so it went with the Jon Athans Project. It hit the magical three-looks threshold and I realized I really like it. The song that drew me in is "Humid in Town." It's got a seductive combination of electronica and hushed vocals with just the right amount of propulsion to the keyboards to keep it from being too melancholic. Because it's a little sad, this is true, but that's pretty much a given where I'm concerned, isn't it?
Jon Athans Project--"Humid in Town" mp3 off Hard Holidays EP (buy--click on the album cover)
Jon Athans Project--"Used Books, Torn Pages" mp3 off Hard Holidays EP
The Jon Athans Project is really Jonathan Pretz. He cites Her Space Holiday, Hot Chip and the Postal Service as a few of his influences and he wears them on his sleeve, but that's OK, coz I really like those bands. He's a singer/songwriter and also a local indie radio station DJ from Reading, Pennsylvania who just released his debut EP Hard Holidays. It's available free from his myspace.
Jon Athans Project--"Hard Holidays (Silent Night Mix)" mp3 off Hard Holidays EP
One of his upcoming projects is to remix a song for the original Hot Chip drummer Grovesnor. In fact, he has another myspace just for his remixes, which are very nice. My only question is, why is this man not signed to a label yet??
I play a similar "game" with new music and my iPod! Isn't that funny?
We're such geeks about our music. I also play the Paste Magazine samplers
in a similar manner when I get the mag in the mail. When a particular song
thrills me, I grab the mag and check out what I'm listening to. Often, I
end up buying a cd that way.
geeks, indeed! my family thinks i'm nuts the way i listen to music. :) i
like those paste magazine samplers, too, although i don't pick them up as
much as i should. and you're welcome for this. he's really quite good, i
think, and hopefully will get some notice for what he's doing.
Am the same. I love the thrill of downloading a dozen or so tracks by
people or bands I've never heard before, and then listening to them when
driving to work or hanging out the washing. Makes boring mundane tasks a
whole lot more interesting! Provided of course that the tracks are good.
It's a rare occasion though that I don't find at least one or two gems
hidden in amongst the rubble!
i, too, love to discover a gem amongst the rubble. must be why we all get
along so well! :)
Yep, that's pretty much how I decide what to feature on my music site.
Great stuff, this.
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