George Clanton's collaboration with Nick Hexum of rock band 311 — George Clanton & Nick Hexum — may not be something you instantly understand. A proponent of internet friendly vaporwave et cetera isn't the likely team-mate for the co-frontman of a band whose music represents, at least early on, that shredded splice of '90s proto-numetal and grunge we all know and love. And that is the point: Clanton is a big fan, so the real question isn't "why" but more simply, "why not?"
"This album is a collab no one asked for or predicted," Clanton says in a press release. "Nick has never pandered to a mainstream audience with his work in 311, they've always done their own thing and built their own culture around the music they wanted to make.
"I believe in that, and I've been doing my own thing for 10 years now."
Simply put, there's logic here. The logic of fandom and respect between artists that goes way beyond aesthetic tastes in genres, in stylistic direction. Calling it a "stoney side project" Hexum says in the same press release that it's "been a lot of fun to work in a new genre." Fun is the chief idea here, rather than a collobration that looks great on paper.
Happy with the "unique" project that's based purely on the music, Clanton makes it clear that neither he nor Hexum needed to do the collaboration. "I've never done one of those buzzy collabs with a hot artist in my own sphere just to get more plays," he says, adding, "There should be more records like this."
'Aurora Summer' is just one of the collection of tracks from George Clanton & Nick Hexum. Woozy Earthbound-flavoured synths waft in like the essence of some fantasy adventure or coming-of-age idea, cooked up in stew form, simmering somewhere way back in recent eons past. Hexum's guitars cut in simple melodies, adding sour to the earthy tones of Clanton's concoction; the former's vocals — distinct in tone, lilting and elastic — float fittingly in the scene.
The track summons laid-back living, warm weather, comfort, grass, sand, blue skies, clouds in small herds spiralling through the sky like the disappearing froth on a cappucino, hot pavements, beach bars, warped air distorting the space above the street. Nothing weird about this collaboration — just a concentrated cocktail of doing what feels right.
- 🔔 Order a copy of the George Clanton & Nick Hexum LP over on the 100% Electronica Bandcamp.
☟ Nick Hexum Internet Presence ☟ soundcloud ⚘ twitter ⚘ instagram ⚘ wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment