There Is No Cat - Fear of Music

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Wednesday, December 18, 2002

Fear of Music

As 40 approaches me fast, I think sometimes about my dedication to seeking out new music, something I've always done. The past few years, it seems to happen less and less often that I stumble across a band who really takes my breath away. I have this fear that I'm turning into someone I've always felt sorry for, someone whose musical taste is stuck at a particular moment in time (usually whenever they turned 20 or so). Am I doomed to listen to the same bands I liked when I was 35 forever? So perhaps I get a little extra thrill from the sensation of cheating impending brain death when I find a new band whose music sends chills up my spine. A band like Nathan, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I heard a track of theirs on CBC Radio 3 a few weeks ago that's been sticking to the roof of my brain like peanut butter. I gotta love a band that includes tuba and accordion in its repertoire, even if you don't. But don't let that scare you away. The three tracks by them on CBC's New Music Canada web site sound quite different from each other, with the main connecting thread being the gorgeous female harmonies. "Measure Me", the track I heard on Radio 3, is a waltz, with the aforementioned accordion and tuba, and swings like crazy. "Australia", on the other hand, sounds like a sweet pop tune until the fifth or sixth listen when you figure out that it's about someone who's crazy, inserting herself into her new boyfriends past photographs. The tunes are catchy as hell. I think I'm in love. It appears that their main outlet here in the US is through CD Baby, who seem to specialize in less-well-known bands with poor distribution (hi, Shirley). Anyway, I look forward to someday (soon) hearing the rest of their CD. If it's anything like the songs I've heard so far, or even if it sounds completely different but has the same attitude, it sounds like the sort of thing I'll have to pry out of my CD player with a crowbar. And I feel a little bit more alive.

Posted at 9:33 PM

Comments

Note: I’m tired of clearing the spam from my comments, so comments are no longer accepted.

YEP I loved the sound of Nathan since i first heard them on CBC Radio One two years ago. been a big fan ever since.

Posted by intruder at 2:39 AM, May 5, 2003 [Link]

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What do you mean there is no cat?

"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."

- Albert Einstein, explaining radio