Outside the box

I am starting to realize how much I enjoy when a band or a singer does something unexpected with their career or heads into a completely different realm or territory than I'm used to. There are many different ways this can be done, with some more commonplace than others...such as a unique collaboration or the the ever timeless (and sometimes cringeworthy) concept album. Occasionally you'll find an artist who ends up scoring a film or composing a movie soundtrack (ie: Sondre Lerche with the Dan In Real Life soundtrack). A brave and talented few will take on the task of writing a musical or opera (I'm looking at you, Rufus Wainwright!) All of these things help to keep things interesting in an endless sea of music.

I bring this up because in the span of a week or so, I've come across three very different and very interesting projects that are happening or will be happening. First, I was tipped off by my friend Eric that the (Mercury Prize winning) band Elbow have plans to put out a children's album. That excites me very much! For the past year, I've worked on an amazing children's radio program called Kids Corner and I've actually become pretty fond of a lot of music for kids, particularly artists (ie: Justin Roberts) and albums (ie: Snacktime! by The Barenaked Ladies) that can appeal to a wide age range. In my limited experience, I find it rare to come across actual, legit bands or singers making children's albums...though one of the major exceptions to this being the For The Kids series of albums, which features some pretty hip artists (Nada Surf, Mates of State, Of Montreal), singer/songwriters (Matt Nathanson, Jason Mraz, Ron Sexsmith) and some big names (Tom Waits, Barenaked Ladies, They Might Be Giants) performing original songs or fun covers that would appeal to kids. These albums aside, there isn't much in the way of popular artists making children's music...and that makes the prospect of a Mercury Award winning band making a children's album even more awesome.

Then today I was editing an interview we did with Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (creators of the animated band Gorillaz) about their new project called Monkey: Journey To The West, a stage adaptation of a 16th century Chinese novel called Journey To The West. Albarn wrote the music, Hewlett focused the visual elements (costumes, sets, etc)...and really, this is quite a 180 from Gorillaz and a definitely interesting undertaking, for sure.

And then there was my other discovery today that pretty much prompted this entire post, really. I was clicking around on Myspace and saw a bulletin from the band Say Anything (one of my favorites) about lead singer Max making an appearance on an album called Razia's Shadow - A Musical by the band Forgive Durden. Initially, I was hesitant to investigate this. Forgive Durden, after all, is a Fueled By Ramen band...and I have a bit of a personal issue with FBR, I guess you could say? I basically do not understand the appeal of pretty much everyone on that label outside of...well, Phantom Planet is pretty much it. A lot of it (to me anyway) tries to be ~*~hip and edgy~*~ when really it just comes off as uh...a walking stereotype, to be quite honest. (I mean, really...Cobra Starship? Really?) I also feel like I've moved past a lot of what the FBR sound is at this point. But since FBR gave my boys Phantom Planet a home, I try not to be too closed off and DO try to give the label the the benefit of the doubt from time to time. And Since I adore anything Max Bemis is involved in, I had to check it out this project

With a few clicks, I was not only directed to the Forgive Durden blog, but also to a website where you can view the characters in the story/who they are played by and hear sample clips of all the songs.

To be honest...I'm a bit in love with this whole thing. And I'm surprised about that! I listened to some of the stuff the band has done prior to this and it's just not my cup of tea...very heavy, kinda whiney...but this album looks like it's going to be something entirely different and that little theater nerd part of me is just squeeing with excitement :) It's definitely theatrical with a rock edge and a bit of quirkiness...and I'm pretty sure once it's all together the entire album is going to tell the full story. I love that...I loooove albums that tell stories. (Funny enough, the last two Say Anything albums have sort of been like that.)

The album features guest appearances by a lot of the FBR heavy hitters, like Brendon Urie from Panic At The Disco and Gretta Salpeter from The Hush Sound (I'm gathering that they're the two main characters?)...but also some non FBR talents like Chris Conley from Saves The Day, Nic Newsham from Gatsbys American Dream (whose voice I love to pieces) and, of course, Max Bemis from Say Anything.

And can I say...I'm maybe a little biased, but from what I've heard, I love Max's song the most :D A few songs on Say Anything's last album had a bit of a musical theater bent (ie: The Church Channel, That Is Why) and I think Max's voice is quite suited to that style, to be honest. The little clip I've heard of his song (bottom of the Razia's Shadow page...click the last red circle on the top row) is awesome...especially his voice on the "Oh, oh, ohhhh!" part. Unggg, Max Bemissss iluuuu.

But yea, I'm totally excited for this! (To the point where I'm seriously considering buying the special pre-order package from the FBR site...I know, right? Ludicrous!) It should definitely be something very interesting.

Edit: So I just may have to declare a bit of undying love for Forgive Durden because, even though I'm not a fan of their earlier sound, they have a song called "For A Dreamer, Night's The Only Time Of Day." Newsies references = obvious win :D