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Reglulega þá kemst í þvílíkt stuð fyrir hljómsveitinni Beat Happening og þá iðulega öðru sem Calvin Johnson, söngvari sveitarinnar, hefur komið nálægt. Þetta gerist yfirleitt á ca hálfs árs fresti og hlusta ég þá óhemjumikið á þessa músík í svona tvær vikur en hvíli hana mestu þar á milli – en svo vill til að ég er akkúrat í ansi miklu Calvin stuði þessa dagana. Tónlist kallsins liggur kannski ekki alveg meðfram meginstraumnum og virkar einföld og hrá við fyrstu hlustun en leynir alveg allsvakalega á sér. Og svo er Calvin auðvitað með eina mest töff rödd rokksögunnar.

Á heimasíðu K records (sem Calvin rekur sjálfur) má finna nokkur mp3 af öllum Beat Happening plötunum og er ég því óhræddur við að linka í þetta eðalstöff. Tékkum á Bad Seeds af frumburði sveitarinnar frá 1985, Cast A Shadow af Black Candy (1989) og svo Teenage Caveman af síðustu eiginlegu breiðskífu þeirra, You Turn Me On (1992).

Beat Happening – Bad Seeds (af Beat Happening, 1985)
Beat Happening – Cast A Shadow (af Black Candy, 1989)
Beat Happening – Teenage Caveman (af You Turn Me On, 1992)

Á You Turn Me On var líka lagið Pine Box Derby sem ég held að hafi verið fyrsta lagið sem ég heyrði með sveitinni en ég var einmitt næstum búinn að setja myndbandið við lagið í aðra færslu fyrir ekki alls löngu en bæti úr því hér. Ég kemst varla yfir hvað Calvin er töff!

Eftir Beat Happening fór Calvin að gera músík með sveitunum Dub Narcotic Sound System og Halo Benders en hefur undanfarin ár helst gefið út sólóefni (þó allar sveitirnar hans poppi upp endrum og eins). Hann hefur gefið út tvær sólóplötur (plús eina með endurgerðum á eldri lögum hans) og við skulum tékka á lagi af Before The Dream Faded frá 2005.

Calvin Johnson – I’m Down (af Before The Dream Faded, 2005)

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Once in while I become obsessed with a band called Beat Happening and then also other projects including their singer, Calvin Johnson. This usually happens about every six months and then I listen a lot to these bands for two weeks or so – and now that period has come again. The music made by Calvin isn’t really on the commercial side and usually sounds primitive and raw to new listeners but is really awesome. And Calvin has of course one of the coolest voices in rock history.

On the website of K records (a label run by Calvin himself) are mp3’s from all of the Beat Happening LP’s so there is no reason not to link to some of these great tracks here. Let’s check out Bad Seeds from their debut album released in 1985, Cast A Shadow from Black Candy (1989) and finally Teenage Caveman from their last real LP, You Turn Me On (1992).

Beat Happening – Bad Seeds (from Beat Happening, 1985)
Beat Happening – Cast A Shadow (from Black Candy, 1989)
Beat Happening – Teenage Caveman (from You Turn Me On, 1992)

You Turn Me On had also a track called Pine Box Derby which I think was the first song I heard by the band and I had almost put the video in another post here a few weeks ago, so let’s just do it now. Just look at how cool Calvin is!.

When Beat Happening stopped recording Calvin started to make music with Dub Narcotic Sound and Halo Benders but in recent years he has mostly been recording some solo stuff (even though these bands all pop up now and then). He has made two solo albums (plus one record with remakes of some of his older songs) so let’s check out a song from his 2005 album, Before The Dream Faded.

Calvin Johnson – I’m Down (from Before The Dream Faded, 2005)