The Quietus - A new rock music and pop culture website

Baker's Dozen

Blissful Resonance: Brian DeGraw Of Gang Gang Dance's Favourite Albums
Tristan Bath , January 14th, 2014 06:16

With Brian DeGraw's debut solo album as bEEdEEgEE released last month, the Gang Gang Dance founder member speaks to Tristan Bath about thirteen of his favourite albums, from Scott Walker and Pharaoh Sanders to Burial and Public Enemy

Bobbybrown_1389015629_resize_460x400


Bobby Brown - Live

My knowledge of who Bobby Brown is is fairly limited, apart from some very mythical rumors and hearsay. I do know that he was from Hawaii, had (possibly still has) an insane vocal range, was a one-man band, loves dogs, and used to open for Fleetwood Mac sometimes. I refer to these qualities in the past tense only because one of the many rumors is that he was contacted by a label who were inquiring about possible reissues, and he apparently no longer had any interest in having an active role in music.

The cover of the Live record is a photo taken at one of the Fleetwood Mac shows, but I believe the actual recording was just done out of his van with his dogs as his audience. The word "live" in this case seems to refer more to the fact that he plays everything at once with his mobile one-man band set-up of synths, percussion, guitar, flutes, and whatever else. As if that weren't impressive enough, what he actually does with that set-up is insanely beautiful and sonically mind-blowing… it's as if his spirit is on autopilot.

There is no other music like this - it's a man who reached very deep into his own soul and pulled out a magical and natural voice that defies the boundaries of the vocal cord. Live often reminds me of the perfect breeze at just the right temperature.