artist Junior Blue

"Now this is an experiment that really works. Junior Blue was created by Broken Social Scene's Justin Peroff and By Divine Right's Dylan Hudecki, and features members of those bands - Brendan Canning, Kevin Drew, Jose Contreras, Brian Borcherdt - plus others from the prolific Toronto scene. In the Search of Solid Gold could work as a background or soundtrack, but its variety and musical inventiveness keep you more engaged than the "ambient" label would warrant. Aside from the five-minute introduction, a sound collage called "Cabs (Day One)", and the stately-tempoed "Gold", many of the pieces are short. "Complete Breakdown" layers a breathy trumpet over a gently percussive guitar. "She" starts off sounding like a jam, but gains momentum into a ragged, bluesy thing. Guitar strings peal like church bells on "Sleeping Through Alarm Clocks". This album has a dreamlike quality, but not a sedative one. There's a sense of direction & control. This is more like a lucid dream, one that avoids the both the psyche's dark corners (where bands like GY!BE dwell) and its shallow indulgences. Perhaps that's why the word "search" appears in the title. There is a tasteful balance of electronic atmospherics, sampled dialogue, and rock instruments, it's engrossing from beginning to end, and reveals more with every listen. I hope this synergy of musicians wasn't a one-off, but if they never collaborate again, there's enough here to enjoy for a long while." Review by Jon Parker-musicemissions.com

the dill (blue jeans)
justin peroff (junior pande)