While one of the great pleasures of music is finding a new band that no one in your circle of friends has heard of, sometimes uncovering the one that slipped through the cracks of your music knowledge can prove to be the most rewarding. For me, Built to Spill is that band. To this day, I have no idea how it took me so long to "discover" BtS, but once I did they quickly became one of my favorite bands.
BtS has been described as "Radiohead meets heavier guitars," but that may be too reductive. BtS frontman Doug Martsch thrives on powerful, atmospheric guitars mixed with his reedy voice, that sometimes struggles to be heard above the craziness around him. His songs often go in unexpected directions, culminating in soaring guitar solos so strong that they sometimes give me chills.
The two songs I selected for this Music Monday, "Randy Described Eternity" and "Time Trap," are from the same 1999 live set, most of which was later released as the album Built to Spill: Live. I highly recommend checking out the rest of the album which includes an unbelievable cover of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer." However, these two songs provide an entry to the BtS discography (and the greatness of their live shows).
One thing you can be sure about is BtS is never boring.
Have a delightful Music Monday and a happy Passover!
No comments:
Post a Comment