As I sit here enjoying my potentially hazardous Freon-encrusted/scented/contaminated can of Diet Coke, I'm listening to one of the CDs I haven't sold out of my collection yet that I can never get enough of. The band is named Estradasphere, the CD is called "It's Understood". Just like every other time I give it a listen, it's blowing my mind. Trying to describe Estradasphere's music sort of like trying to explain my own band. People ask "What kind of music do you play?" and I usually quickly answer with a "yes!" or "all of it!" It's like trying to explain to someone over the phone how to paint a picture.
The song is called "Hunger Strike" and it's the first tune on the album. I say it's one of the best songs you'll never hear because unless you're one of the lucky few that has heard it already, chances are you'll either have a hard time tracking it down, or you'll finish reading this, pop in your latest, greatest top 10 CD you just bought at Target and forget about it. Or - you'll listen to it and think it sucks, which I think in this case counts as "not hearing it".
Ask people who P Diddy is and they'll probably know, even if they think he's a talentless shmuck. Ask people who Estradasphere is and they'll probably say "isn't that the guy from Chips?" As a musician, this makes me sad. There is a dreaded curse that most unconventional music like this carries: most people don't really give a rat's ass about it because it doesn't have a familiar sounding structure to keep their brains happy and content in their listening comfort zones. We have the fine people at Clear Channel and other dull suit and tie media programming bastardos to thank for that. They have brainwashed listeners by only exposing them to sugar coated crap that makes a quick buck and is shoveled onto the heap of used sugar coated crap when the new stuff rolls in. Look at me - I'm digressing and getting angry.. back to Estradasphere before things get ugly!
So.. this song "Hunger Strike" clocks in at an impressive nineteen minutes and thirty seconds, which is a ballsy way to start off a record if you ask me. When is the last time you bought a CD (non-classical, at least) and the first track kept you entertained and listening closely to the very end - some 20 minutes later? It's crammed full of some amazing violin playing, saxomophones, horns, jazz guitar, death metal, swing, and just about any other sound and style you can imagine. Anyone can slap a bunch of styles/genres together and call it a "song", but in many cases, it's unnatural sounding and there's no flow. Not the deal here. And better yet, there's no singing. Yay! 1 less annoying thing to filter out when I'm listening!
So... if you're ever looking for something off the beaten path and interesting to listen to, please check this band out. For you cheapskates out there, they're also on iTunes, so if you're feeling like buying the whole damned CD is a little too risky, you can buy a few songs for 99 cents a pop or at least check out the samples and hopefully see what I'm talking about.
