I've noticed that I've been blogging a lot about music lately. I think it's because I am currently in a phase where I'm reading many more magazines than books. I'll try to remedy that and be more varied in my favorite things.
Anyway...
Jack Johnson has been an acquired taste for me. I never really liked his laid-back surfer-style of music. His songs always seemed a little "sleepy" and directionless for my taste. I need strong, lyrically-driven music, and Johnson always seemed like he was just along for the ride so-to-speak and going where the music took him.
The Dude enjoys his music, though, so little by little Johnson has worn me down.
Sleep through the Static takes Johnson in a different direction. It features songs that have electric guitar and which are politically minded, both new ventures for Johnson. He also recorded this album on the mainland in a Green studio.
There are a lot of critics who thought that Sleep through the Static wasn't a radical enough departure for Johnson, but I think it's actually what I liked most about the album. Johnson has a great voice that doesn't deserve to get buried under layers of crunchy guitar. And, ultimately, that doesn't seem to be what Johnson is "about" anyway. But the move from goofy songs like "Bubble toes" to more darker, more mindful songs like "Sleep through the Static" show his ability to mature as a musician without leaving his history behind.
1 comment:
He's been an acquired taste for me, too. When I worked at Borders, there was one of his albums that we'd play over and over and over and it drove me crazy. But I've liked a few of his more recent songs, and I've heard most of Sleep Through the Static at Starbucks and liked it enough to put it on my mental list of albums to buy, eventually.
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