Anton Newcombe is a person who I would not like to party with because I would be dead within hours. I have been informed that he doesn’t party like he used to, circa the filming of Dig!, which was released in 2004 to the great acclaim of my friend and I who would get drunk and watch it almost every single weekend. And that’s a good thing. Unless he has the genetic make up of Ozzy Osbourne or Keith Richards he would be in deep trouble right now or possibly not alive. Instead, he is still making music and that’s great news for me. Selfishly, I would like Anton to live to be 100 and make music until his very last day.
Under my radar, which isn’t even close to what it used to be thanks to family life and a job that keeps me busy, Brian Jonestown Massacre released a new album called Aufheben. It’s not quite like the BJM that gave us songs like Whoever You Are, Servo and If Love Is the Drug Then I Want to OD because that was a long time ago and bands usually try different styles after a while. Come on, you should know that. Anton is a different person than he was back then because like all of us we experience things and meet people and change our perspectives from time to time. He lives in Berlin these days and has been traveling Europe extensively. It’s inspired him to make music like what you’ll hear on Aufheben.
The track Seven Kinds of Wonderful is just the first standout to these ears. It’s addictive head candy. Female vocals soar over swirling eastern rhythms with a hint of synthesizer thrown in. It’s the kind of music that instantly puts me in a good mood and the more music I can find like that, the better.
Making this discovery even more fun is that Anton runs his own YouTube channel and actually replies to the comments he gets on his videos which, probably not by design, keeps the comments relatively troll free. He’s also on Twitter at @AntonNewcombe and in an act of criminal stupidity, I had not been following him up until the writing of this post. So go listen to this song and then go listen to the extensive catalog of Brian Jonestown Massacre. Keep music evil, wear white, and fuckin’ come when we call.
BJM will be in Chicago on Saturday, August 18th at the world famous Metro. I’d love to be there and hopefully some of you will join me. Here is their full tour schedule thanks to Brooklyn Vegan.
