Monty Python's line, "...and now from something completely different" comes to mind after hearing the unique album called "Blue State" by Josiah Wordsworth. It's a fusion of jazz, rock and some hinting at classical piano accompanied by drums. It really is something different to my ears. I've heard bands that fuse musical styles together but not really like I'm hearing in Wordsworth's work.
He dares to go at it without any lyrics, so from the get-go he's asking the listener to concentrate on the music. That will probably keep in standard practice with the jazz listener's but you might lose some rock fans that are looking for melodic lyrics to deliver the songs message. On first listen I waited for lyrics to start up (prior to reading the bio) and that distracted me, I immediately had to restart the disc and listen with new ears and it started to click for me.
I don't know if the title "Blue State" has multiply meanings relating to Minnesota being a 'blue state' in 2004 elections, or references a period in Wordsworth's work like Picasso 'blue period' or if it's just the general feeling of the album, there were plenty of moments of that do reflect a 'blue' vibe (but there was plenty of upbeat moments as well). It felt like something John Cale meets Ben Folds would do minus the vocals, a sort of eccentric but poppy music. It was defiantly refreshing, and one record where it did feel like a new sound was being developed.
www.josiahwordsworth.com
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