I've heard some interesting criticisms about Indianapolis lately. Apparently Rolling Stone magazine allegedly referred to this city as (paraphrasing) a great place to grab some food and use the restroom while you're heading to Chicago, Detroit, or Cincinnati. Ironic, since I now use Rolling Stone magazine to line my cat's litter box. A more-respected friend of mine who recently moved here said it feels like Indianapolis is stuck in a time warp where it was constantly twenty years earlier here than it is on the rest of the planet ... fashion-wise, culture-wise, music-wise, etc. Another local musician remarked (again ... paraphrasing) that this is where all of the new ideas from the coasts and Chicago eventually filter to in order to be excremented out of the country once and for all. Nice, eh?
On the surface, Modern Motion may appear to be a throwback band, nostalgia act, or some sort of 80's tribute. Closer examination, however, reveals a greater musical diversity, depth, and technical prowess than what was typical of that era ... and trust me, I am a player of that era, I have a Yamaha DX setup in my basement to prove it. I, on the other hand, liken this band to other bands of ambitious youths, like Goliathon ( | ) who inherently understand a style of music even though it may have been made before they were born, and are able to combine it with more modern sensibilities and make it appealing to a contemporary audience. While much of the era they emulate was very self-absorbed and simplistic, Modern Motion exhibits a diversity -- or even an optimistic/pessimistic duality -- in their approach that bears careful, and repeated, listening. Trust me, it continues to get better each time.
Links referenced in the show:
Modern Motion can be found here | | | |
You can get their Big Mode EP, and a lot of other musical goodness, via their .
We'd like to thank for being our participating audience this evening. We should probably try to get her on the show soon.
Apparently my memory was faulty. We were drinking from the , not the 2002 one. It is my subtle tribute to a classic episode of the , which inspired my purchase, despite the fact the podcast was warning me not to purchase it.
Though the name of the band was not given, the dueling drum solo on a spinning riser trick was made famous by the Newsboys. You can catch a video of one such battle .
