The Ovation Thread - Musicians Who Should Be Better Known

I often stumble across musicians in various SBAF threads that are entirely new to me and also astoundingly enjoyable. I ask myself ,"why have I never heard of them before"?

The purpose of this thread is to allow people to draw attention to musicians that are deserving of a wider audience. Here are a few examples:

1. Musicians who are extremely talented, but haven't found traction in the popular consciousness
2. Musicians who left too early leaving only a small body of work (eg. Eva Cassidy)
3. Musicians that represent a style of music that generally doesn't have wide popular appeal, but could be a good gateway drug into that sound world (eg. jazz, prog, classical, doom) (eg. Herbie Hancock)

I'm using the term "musician" in its broadest possible sense to encompass performers, soloists, bands, song writers, composers and whatever else you can think of.

As for the contents of these posts, here are a few suggestions:

1. A bit of bio backstory
2. A few clips of their music and/or listening suggestions
3. Why you think they should be better known
4. Descriptions and/or analysis of their work (if you feel like it)

Have at it. Looking forward to having my mind and listening broadened and hope that this thread achieves the same thing for you.

 

I've got one!

Joshua Van Tassel

Aside from his bio on his website, the innernets are pretty sparse:

Joshua Van Tassel is a sideman, producer, composer, podcast producer, sample maker and sonic landscaper. He regularly performs some of Canada's best song writers such as Great Lake Swimmers, Amelia Curran, Sarah Slean, Donovan Woods, Rose Cousins, David Myles, among others. Joshua and his studio Dream Date Studio in Toronto have worked on albums for Sarah Slean, David Myles, KIRTY, Justin Rutledge, Christine Bougie, Megan Bonnell, and more. He has been nominated for numerous ECMA, JUNO, and NSMW Awards.

The album that just floored me because of its' coherence and craft is Dance Music volume II: More Songs for Slow Motion. It is not dance music. There is not a volume I.



To preface, I love stuff like Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed, Fly Pan Am, Stars of the Lid, A Winged Victory for the Sullen, Olafur Arnalds, Max Richter, etc., but the thing that struck me most about JVT and Dance Music was just how competent and complete the album feels, start to finish. The build, release, build, release, that's sort of "of the type" with some of the other bands mentioned above always seems to come with the same or similar emotional engagement through any of their albums. That is to say, gloom and dread permeate most, with Explosions being an outlier; much of their stuff is hands-with-closed-fists-raised-to-the-sky solid positively life-affirming good vibes. The stunning thing about Dance Music is it (for me) absolutely nails a much more complete palette of emotive colors. It's just a superbly complete album. All from a guy with (no shit!) only 45 subscribers on Youtube. The icing on the cake for this album is that it is immaculately produced, and a sheer joy to hear for the sonics alone. Wonderful dynamics.

Anyhow, I'd love for someone with more music theory chops than I to dissect this work; my musical background is maybe 10 years of playing percussion, so I usually just make grunting noises and bang on things when someone starts saying words like pentatonic or Phrygian. I'd love for someone to tell me it's as compositionally dull as a ham sandwich from a music theory perspective. 'Cause sometimes a very well crafted jambon et fromage can be life changing.

 

Now this is what I'm talking about. I've got Dance Music, Vol. 2 playing in Qobuz at the moment. Very chill. Very minimalistic. Very meditative.

You know, I've not heard of any of the other bands/musicians you've listed either. Something you might think of as common as mud can open up whole new avenues of enjoyment. Lots of listening to do.

Edit: This article is a good read. "I feel like really just straight-up beautiful things have become uncool. There’s this idea that sentimentality is looked down upon, and emotion is not cool."

 

But there is! https://joshuavt.bandcamp.com/album/dance-music-songs-for-slow-motion

 

LOL I hadn't checked his bandcamp in over a year, but there it is!