Shortly after moving to Chicago, I realized I couldn’t swing an apartment by myself, and so was looking for a roommate. Mutual friends hooked me up with Tom, future drummer for the “classic trio” version of Zapruder Point. Getting to be friends with Tom was one of the more serendipitous things to happen in my adult life.
No less cherished was the friendship I formed with my next roommate, John Aselin. Again, the arrangement was born out of us having mutual friends, but we got to know each other very well, and we ended up playing guitar at each others’ weddings. Aside from being a funny, laid back guy like myself (heh), John has also pretty-much always written songs, pretty-much always recorded them, and pretty-much always assembled them into albums that he puts out himself. Sound familiar?
Musically our styles are pretty different — John’s well-versed in British Invasion and Nuggets stuff, and he can play, erm, at least three more instruments than me. But in conversations at the apartment and since, we’ve struggled with shared issues inherent to songwriting: economy of phrase, how and when to use solos, etc. In short, he’s been a comrade and an inspiration.
And he’s got a new “CD” out. I put the CD in quotes because John’s going “the Radiohead route” on this one, making it downloadable from his website on a pay-what-you-like basis. Not only that, John’s giving the same treatment to his back catalogue. I remember playing these older albums of his all the time when he wasn’t around, and it was amazing how each album had a specific vibe, from the sequencing to the cover. I mean, he was as deliberate and thoughtful about putting these things together as I hoped I was being with my stuff.
Anyway, I would say that dipping into his older stuff is worth it, but what I’m really here to endorse is the new one, Ever Near the Distance. I’ve been listening to it heavily for weeks; it’s just a tight, concise pop-rock record, bursting with hooks, a couple white-hot guitar freak-outs, and just as many gorgeous, reflective moments. In short, many flavors jammed into one smile-inducing half hour. You can preview the whole thing (and all the other stuff) here:
