I'm SUPER excited to share this music with you guys. It's not very often that I come across an artist that NONE of you have become familiar with yet, but I think I really found an indie pop gem here I hope you'll enjoy as much as I do. I heard about Jeremy Messersmith on an NPR wrap-up of the Best Music of 2010. They played a portion of "Violet," and out of ALL the new music they talked about on the entire podcast (including Kanye, Beach House, Sufjan Stevens, etc.), no one was able to grab my attention like this guy, touted as a top newcomer in 2010.
So I went home and checked out his entire catalog (only three discs, none too well known outside of the Twin Cities, although he toured nationally in 2010) and because I've been trying to get into new music lately, I decided to start with his 2010 release, "The Reluctant Graveyard." Actually, before I knew better I thought this was his first release, but there are two previous - "The Silver City" and "The Alcatraz Kid."
His voice is smooth (reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel, and at times Thom Yorke of Radiohead), and the music is incredibly light hearted and upbeat for a graveyard themed album. "Lazy Bones" wakes me up in the morning better than coffee. LOVE LOVE IT! I hope you will too.
Fave tracks: "Lazy Bones," "Violet," "Knots"
And, for you, a bonus video I beg you to watch. Get a look at the man behind the music:
With my constant search for great new music, it really surprised me that Laura found an artist that I’ve never heard of, and felt he was worth a collective listen from all of us. Jeremy Messersmith isn’t exactly a name that gets you noticed or begs to be rocketed to into music fame. The Reluctant Graveyard knocked me back and made me take notice of a rising talent.
ReplyDelete“Dillinger Eyes” was the first track that grabbed me; the premise is interesting and the bass playing is McCartney-inspired. The entire track has a Rubber Soul-era Beatles feel and the psychedelic guitar solo fits in nicely. 60’s music is clearly a huge influence on Jeremy’s playing. “Toussaint Grey” is skillfully executed in Dylan fashion, complete with harmonica. Even though he borrows from these musical masters, he never comes off as a cheap rip-off; I have to say the production value and mastering on this album is top-notch. “Violet!” has terrific harmonies that evoke the Beach Boys; once again Jeremy understands why his influences are considered the greatest, and that is because their sounds are timeless. I am having a great time listening to each track and understand why Laura was excited to introduce this to us. This album is very comfortable with what it is and isn’t busy trying to impress me with being flashy or different. The orchestral tinges on “Knots” are used to perfection to really create a lush sound on a summery track. I love his description of a graveyard as a field of stone on “A Boy, A Girl..”; I also enjoy the way he portrays two people trying not be overwhelmed by the heft of death while standing in a graveyard. Jeremy has found the perfect formula for him; creating a sound that comes of quite effortless and true.
With the weather warming up, this album will stay in steady rotation and make great road trip music for when I go out to Ohio to meet my niece in April.
I am going to go ahead and post my next artist since I already had it done last week. I plan on doing my write up for tonight, sorry for the confusion!!
ReplyDeleteI apologize for the late post, I put other items in front of this and have no excuse. That being said, I should be apologizing to myself for delaying my introduction to a very entertaining album. I very much enjoyed this the first time through and loved it the second time through. Jeremy’s voice often reminds me of a hybrid between Paul McCartney and Ben Gibbard. In anticipation of a rebuttal regarding your reference to Thom Yorke, I wanted to let you know I heard it too on my favorite track, ‘John the Determinist’.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, ‘Lazy Bones’ is a great track to not only start off the album, but also your day. ‘Organ Donor’ was very intriguing in how it was so dark, yet so refreshing. ‘Knots’ reminded me of a Gin Blossoms song with some of the high notes he was reaching and it sounded like something they would write.
As previously mentioned, my favorite was ‘John the Determinist’. The intro and featured violin is very reminiscent of Eleanor Rigby and the rest sounds like a Radiohead song. My next favorite was ‘A Girl, a Boy, and a Graveyard’. The dark theme and pace are everything I like about the Decemberists and he was able to put a lot of emotion into a very slow pace. ‘Dillinger’s Eyes’ was the primary driver to the McCartney and actually Beatles overall reference. This was actually the first track where something other than Jeremy’s voice captured my attention.
Overall, the only thing I did not enjoy about this album was how fast the 11 tracks go by. If I had to pick a least favorite, it would be ‘Violet’. Well done!
Right off the back as I start to listen to “Lazy Bones” I see the appeal that drew Laura in. The sound to Jeremy’s style of music is very reminiscent of the 60’s genre. It very much reminds me of something the Monkees maybe would have put out, with the use of the tambourine. It has a very fun and upbeat tone which I think is great at this time of year especially as we are all longing for warmer days and in desperate need of more sunshine. “Dillinger Eyes” is another great song, and Jeremy’s voice reminds me of a mix of Sufjan and Paul Mcartney. I use the Sufjan reference because I think he has a quieter/higher pitch tone than Paul. For having such a stark premise to the album, there is really nothing that is dark or sad about the album. As is the case with “Organ Donor” which lyrically is a dark matter but put to a light hearted sound that captivates you. I agree with Justin in that Violet! Sounds heavily influenced by the Beach Boys which is always nice to hear out of a contemporary artist. “John the Detrimist” is probably the darkest sounding song on the whole album. I love the violin and the buildup of tempo as the song goes along. While simplistic, I think this song shows great depth and really showcases Jeremy’s voice. “A girl, a boy, and a graveyard” has a very folky feel to it which I thoroughly enjoy. The lyrics are particularly pretty on this track, and easy to relate to.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably my favorite Laura pick to date, and it definitely put me in a better mood after listening to it.
I know it's not typical for someone to post on their own pick these days, but what I loved at the beginning of the week only grew as I forced myself to stray from the tracks that had me hitting repeat before. This whole album is awesome, and I'm super pumped that everyone seems to have really enjoyed it! Score!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Thomas caught my Thom Yorke reference. I rarely hear influences as well as I did this week. I initially was talking about "John the Determinist," which by the end of the week got added to my favorite tracks list. (Love that someone mentioned "Eleanor Rigby" here btw.)
As I continued listening though, I started hearing the same voice in "Organ Donor" although the rest of the song sounds nothing like Radiohead. I especially like that song for the lyrics - as he describes where different body parts went (gave my heart in the school library... lost my tongue in the sanctuary... sent my brain to the seminary... left my spine at the wedding chapel... lost a leg at the iron foundry...) all tied together with "don't know if I'll ever be whole again." Every track on this album has a double meaning, and he's easy to understand, which makes delving more into the meaning of the songs not only easier but fun.
I love that "Violet" could be about a flower, or a zombie girl, essentially. I love the chorus, so uplifting (literally). "Get up, come on and get up, Violet!" But the reason I come back to this song again and again is the harmony around the 1:50, but especially 3:09 to the end.
Again, I still need to see what David thought, but from talking to him I'm sure most of his comments will be positive ones. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you guys all enjoyed it :) *Beams*
It's really hard to pick an artist that I have never heard of, but before Laura found out about Jeremy Messersmith from NPR, I had never heard his name mentioned once in the thousands of hours I've spent scouring the internet for new music. For that, I must congratulate her on introducing me to someone new. Not only that, but the guy is very, very good.
ReplyDelete'The Reluctant Graveyard' is full of upbeat, indie-pop, and the positive attitude that surrounds this album doesn't always work for me with other artists, but Jeremy pulls it off with his true sincerity. The biggest comparison that comes to my mind is The Shins, but that's not a spot on comparison. "Lazy Bones" kicks the album off very nicely, but the template for the album is really set with the next song, "Dillinger Eyes", with its strong 60s guitar rock influences. The whole album is thick with 60's British rock and folk/rock influences, which is a good thing as while that's an era that's been regurgitated many times in the past, when it's done right, it's a great thing. Justin's Beach Boys reference to "Violet!" is dead on, as Jeremy's voice really shines on this track, and the end is brilliant. Elsewhere, I love the piano and orchestration on "Knots", and the "Eleanor Rigby"-like strings (I didn't realize that other people had already used that song as a reference until after I wrote this, but I guess it just shows how strong the reference is) and overall sound on "John the Determinist", which is my favorite song on the album. It's amazing that this album has been pretty much overlooked by everyone within the music criticism scene, but I'm hoping that Jeremy's day in the sun will come soon. He's an extraordinarily talented songwriter, and I honestly believe that we'll be hearing a lot more from him in the future. This one was definitely Laura's best pick to date.