I stumbled upon The Gena Rowlands Band while googling an old high school friend, who, as it turns out, occasionally plays piano with the band. As far as I can tell, GRB hasn't yet released a full album, which is a shame given the quality of the five tracks available for download at their site. My friend tells me that GRB is actually Bob Massey, a writer, composer, and film buff. His love of films is obvious, of course. Along with the name of his band (one of the best ever?), he also makes allusion to Dr. Strangelove in "Kong Meets His Maker." I have no choice but to be a fan.
And now for the obligatory attempt to describe his style: imagine if Rufus Wainright were writing mellow songs for the first King Crimson album. (Okay. Listen to the song, and send me an e-mail if you can do any better.) The song of the moment, "Garofalo, C'est Moi," is biting, beautiful, and borderline pretentious. I love it. It's a real credit to Massey that he can fit these lyrics to such a wonderfully melancholy melody:
Oh, how I hate you Spielberg, Eisner, Katzenberg
All my best memories are lies
St. John Cassavetes was a martyr for the cause
And he threw the wood onto his own back
Burn Hollywood, you motherfucker, burn
All my best feelings are lies
I finally found what love is
Love is . . . only in the movies
Everything in this house is on fire
From the Kosher Records site : The Gena Rowlands Band allstars are currently working on the score for THE NITRATE HYMNAL, an experimental opera by writer/musician Bob Massey and filmmaker David Wilson. The work was commissioned by Washington Performing Arts Society for world premiere January 23, 2003 at the Washington Memorial Masonic Temple in Alexandria, VA.
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