REVIEW: Flatland, Joe Meek, FEFF, Three Second Delay and Young Sham.

REVIEW: Flatland, Joe Meek, FEFF, Three Second Delay and Young Sham.

Innovators who bring us new perspectives, new movies, a blend of music whether it be rock and metal, or rap and lyrical, but all bring passion, purpose and good entertainment.

Innovation is always a catch-22. Yes, you want it, but how do you get it without just imitating what has gone before and looking tired or cheesy? True innovation, in my opinion, comes about naturally. If you are passionate about what you do and passionate about life, you naturally find yourself drawn to new experiences and creative endeavors. Curiosity may be the true hallmark of innovation, whether it’s in the scientific fields or the artistic ones. It isn’t imitation. It isn’t just doing something to evoke a reaction (good or bad.) You know that last type, those who do and say things just for shock value—it’s tired and worn and no one really remembers them beyond that initial surprise. No, innovation comes from a deep desire to create something new and special—to create something uniquely you with your voice and your thoughts and expressing your needs and views. If you’re lucky, it will resonate with the rest of us as well.

So here’s some innovators whose curiosity, intensity and passion come clearly through the noise—at least to me they do.

Young Sham: He’s a hip hop rapper with a wonderfully light style and fun sense of timing, samples and beats. He has a smooth, easy voice that makes for an equally smooth delivery in the more lyrical hip hop tunes like the more romantically inclined Anytime. His more rap endeavors include interesting samples and beats, all mixed up with a flair for entertainment. The only downside I personally felt was that I often couldn’t understand the words, they were too often on my player being drowned out by the music. I certainly sensed that there were deeper issues involved with the lyrics, as is something I personally favor with street poetry, that need for social change and social expression, but because I couldn’t necessarily understand all the words, I feel like I might have missed some of the subtler points of the artist’s efforts. Still, Hula Hoop is a bouncy tune full of life and vigor, Anytime is a lyrical gift to romance, Hear It Comin hints at something deeper and more philosophical and GUnit Freestyle is raw, forceful rap in the traditional style but with unexpected samples giving it a slightly unexpected musicality.

FEFF is a metal/rock band out of New York City. (See, I told you I’d get to some metal bands!) Powerful chords and drums abound in this metal upon metal band, but as aggressive and forceful as the music is (and should be with metal) the lyrics are clear, concise and purposeful. The musicality is professional and demonstrates virtuosity and obvious talented skill. Return to Grey could easily become the anthem of a new generation, or even an older generation. Its message is as applicable today as it would have been in the sixties, seventies and in every decade, for that matter. My only regret is that MySpace suddenly freaked on me, as has been happening on the network to many of us, and the music stopped working. Still, it’s saying something when it only took one song to sell me on this band—and that the band was a metal band on top of that. These guys are definitely in the mix.

Joe Meek Movie: The site includes a teaser of the new indie movie about sixties record producer Joe Meek, whose life and death was full of controversy, conspiracy, violence and ultimately dramatic innovation. The movie is a feature length documentary about the life and career of Britain’s first independent record producer. If you’re a musician or a music lover, then part of the reason you have the music you love today is because of innovators like Joe Meek and the talents, the HUGE legends in fact, that he helped on the road to fame before his own strange death. Take a peek at the teaser on the site and if you get a chance, go and watch the movie when it gets released.

Three Second Delay is destined for more than three seconds of fame, I think. Haunting, moody, powerful, lyrical and compelling—from the first strangled, straining electrified note, this group commands you to stop and take notice. Most of all, they pull you in to their world, never releasing you until the last note has drifted slowly away. The vocals are deep, mesmerizing and emotionally draining while the rock roots of the music are evident and strong yet eerily fascinating. Each complements the other in tonality, emotional expression, technique and innovation. Disappear is my favorite with its fascinating and unnerving opening and Leony Paredes’ deeply evocative vocals, but I liked all the offerings from this group. Someone sign them quick before the big labels discover them and change them into just another rock band.

Flatland: A 3D animated feature-length adaptation of the scifi novel by Edwin Abbot. If you understand the reference to Flatland, then imagine it as a movie. Hard to imagine? Yes, kind of mindblowing. Still, someone out there is finally giving it a whirl. Intrigued? Go see the trailer on his site. “Oh, it’s just a little war…” When the three dimensional and the two dimensional meet—pretty cool.

Flatland can be found at www.myspace.com/laddehlinger
Three Second Delay can be found at www.myspace.com/3secdelay
Joe Meek Movie can be found at www.myspace.com/meekmovie
FEFF can be found at www.myspace.com/feffband
Young Sham can be found at www.myspace.com/youngsham

Check them out. They deserve some attention.

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CG Anderson is a 10 year new media provocateur involved in media, art, technology and the online world. Also a writer, blogger and novelist. CG's comments are personal and opinionated and solely the responsibility of the author, so there. Don't like the opinions, disagree, agree, don't know? Great, make a comment—clean ones will be allowed, netiquette-challenged ones will be ignored!

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