[August 25 - 31]
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
Sounds Like: Folk
Drinking Buddies: Kevin Devine, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, Simone White.
Synopsis: Soulful folk and a crisp, classic sound.
Makes You Want To...: Listen to vinyl; Clap your hands; Sing.
[Myspace]
One week, one band. You know the drill.
This week, the featured artist is Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson.
You know that old saying, "It's not about what you do, but how you do it?" Music can really reflect such adages as this one. It's one thing to play music, certainly. It takes plenty of talent, and skill, and knowledge, and drive, and determination, and many, many other adjectives. It takes dedication and diligence to sit around day in and night out, crafting songs that lyrical come from your heart and musically come from your soul. But think of how many folks have actually done that. Think of how many folks have actually spent those days in and nights out crafting music for the greedy public's ears.
The frank answer is that the number is quite astronomical. Which brings us to the harsh reality of what Voilà! is covering this week: some bands don't quite make it. If you didn't catch Voilà! on Friday, we had our first in a series of featurettes on long since past bands, last week, Test Icicles. Hundreds of bands make no impact on the music scene, but my question is, why does Test Icicles stand more prominently? Why did Voilà! feature them first, and not any of the thousands of other defunct musical outfits?
"It's not about what you do, but how you do it." Test Icicles didn't just make music. They didn't just perform lives shows. They changed music. They tweaked it in all the right places, leaving impressions that remain apparent to this day. They didn't just make their unique brand of sound, but they expressed it, and have a story to tell at the end of the day. It's not about what they did to enter the music scene, or how they changed it from the inside, but how they did it all.
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson. Yeah, he has a ton of names. Yeah, he hails from Brooklyn. Yeah, he did a few recordings here and there with some band called Grizzly Bear. But what makes this guy so great? What makes his usually loud, mostly electric, yet absolutely nifty, catchy folk rock jangles so special? What makes his sometimes slipshod, fuzzy, blaring, energetic live performances so unique? What makes Ben Robinson Miles Anthony........ wait, I mean Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson... any different from the fusillade of folk artists that we, as listeners, are bombarded with on a daily basis? What makes this guy so special? "It's not about what you do, but how you do it."
Akin to the loud, wild, rambunctious style of 90s indie-rock icons, Pavement, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson lays down the law in steady, rhythmic folk songs that tantalize any listener that comes to close to the melodies, drawing them in, and having them asking for second and third helpings. His DIY style offers for grainy recordings of astounding musical prowess and lyrical composition that makes Jack Johnson's pop-centric singles just seem silly.
But the treat is with Miles' live performances, where he truly shows how one rocks out. It's not about what he does, but how he does it: with wild singing over eclectic songs, Miles doesn't only take all the love he's put in his music and make it audible, he makes this love and his soul visual for the crowd to see and appreciate in its entirety. Somewhere between the verses and the solos and the inane guitar strumming and drumming, there's a whole lot of love shining like a diamond lost amidst the busy New York City streets for far too long.
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is presently making his rounds 'round the Big Apple. But with the end of August comes a change, as Mr. Robinson and company embark on a epic tour of the States until the beginning of October, hitting everywhere from Chicago to San Francisco along the way. Miles has his debut self-titled album for sale wherever you can find it (may I humbly suggest Insound?). He's also performed on Daytrotter, where he has some excellent recordings, some of which involve unreleased tracks, others which involve Bob Dylan covers and broken guitar strings. And of course, Miles has a Myspace, where he offers a slew of live performances which are every bit as unique as he is.
Miles leaves his impression by his style and his uniqueness, and stands out amongst his peers as the better man. With that, I bid thee, dear reader, adieu. More to come on Friday!
No comments:
Post a Comment