AM Radio
Some people have a quirky backstory in an annoying, forced way. Some people just have things happen to them, and so it seems with my subject today. Born in Pennsylvania, moved to a tunnel underneath Manhattan, relocated to a monastery on the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, studied postgrad in New York, moved to Hawaii... He now lives in Homer, Alaska and produces music from what seems along the lines of a garden shed.
Sergius Gregory. As you can see, he also has the kind of name that inspires enigma and speculation. Sergius Gregory from Alaska. I often wonder to what extent locale affects sound: does, for example, recording an album in Nashville infer a subconscious twang, or does recording in the desert add space and distance to a record? Does Alaska give an icy, spacious tone? Well, yes and no. The instrumentation on Gregory's music is as warm as you could wish for, while it's sparse at times, it's also comforting, fireside music - very simple, just minimal drums and picked acoustic guitar for the most part. It's his voice which is the defining factor. Rarely more than a hushed croon, it's high, pure and angelic and harmonises beautifully. Reminiscent of, ooh, Jacob Golden maybe rather than Sigur Ros, that's the angelic I'm trying to describe. The songs are quiet and beautiful, totally unassuming in some ways but timeless in construction and delivery and extremely... nice. I guess that's it. Gregory's songs are abstract little comments on things with an innocence, almost naiveté that's quite charming. I'm currently reading Haruki Marukami's Kafka On The Shore, and I imagine Gregory's life to be a little like that of Nakata's, where the stresses and strains of everyday worries don't really figure, where the present is not some philosophical context to be debated, but just the occasion to sing about.
I'm sure Mr Gregory is actually a perfectly straightforward guy, but these are the impressions I get from the music, and I like 'em.
Look, I've waffled again. Ignore me, please. Just have a listen and relax yourself a little - you can download some songs from MySpace, or stream at Garageband, a really nice idea. Or, you can download here:
The Music
Sergius Gregory - Our Holiday
Sergius Gregory - Bed Of Sticks
The 'fo
Artist: Sergius Gregory
Website: MySpace, Garageband
Recommended: no releases! Check MySpace for updates
Label: none
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Jacob Golden - Hallelujah World
Tags: Sergius Gregory; acoustic; Alaska
Sergius Gregory. As you can see, he also has the kind of name that inspires enigma and speculation. Sergius Gregory from Alaska. I often wonder to what extent locale affects sound: does, for example, recording an album in Nashville infer a subconscious twang, or does recording in the desert add space and distance to a record? Does Alaska give an icy, spacious tone? Well, yes and no. The instrumentation on Gregory's music is as warm as you could wish for, while it's sparse at times, it's also comforting, fireside music - very simple, just minimal drums and picked acoustic guitar for the most part. It's his voice which is the defining factor. Rarely more than a hushed croon, it's high, pure and angelic and harmonises beautifully. Reminiscent of, ooh, Jacob Golden maybe rather than Sigur Ros, that's the angelic I'm trying to describe. The songs are quiet and beautiful, totally unassuming in some ways but timeless in construction and delivery and extremely... nice. I guess that's it. Gregory's songs are abstract little comments on things with an innocence, almost naiveté that's quite charming. I'm currently reading Haruki Marukami's Kafka On The Shore, and I imagine Gregory's life to be a little like that of Nakata's, where the stresses and strains of everyday worries don't really figure, where the present is not some philosophical context to be debated, but just the occasion to sing about.
I'm sure Mr Gregory is actually a perfectly straightforward guy, but these are the impressions I get from the music, and I like 'em.
Look, I've waffled again. Ignore me, please. Just have a listen and relax yourself a little - you can download some songs from MySpace, or stream at Garageband, a really nice idea. Or, you can download here:
The Music
Sergius Gregory - Our Holiday
Sergius Gregory - Bed Of Sticks
The 'fo
Artist: Sergius Gregory
Website: MySpace, Garageband
Recommended: no releases! Check MySpace for updates
Label: none
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Jacob Golden - Hallelujah World
Tags: Sergius Gregory; acoustic; Alaska
1 comment:
Good stuff.
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