Volume 3, Issue 26
Deceember 20, 2001 - January 10, 2002
"When I lived in Seattle," Kenny James explained, "the tricky balance between light and darkness really hit me. During the winter, it would rain so much and be cloudy so much. Éand then there would be days when you would wake up and watch the rain stop. The clouds would part for a second and the sun would come out just for a little bit. You'd think, 'Yeah! ' Then the clouds would roll back in and the rain would start again. It was just beautiful like that." James sits in a local coffee shop talking easily about how his solo project The Witching Hour came to be. There is much to be said. The enigmatic music of The Witching Hour juxtaposes good with evil, light with dark, reality with mystery. It's a project that brought James to the forefront of his musical career, something that, as a drummer, was another delicate balance between exhilaration and total fear.
"I've been used to being in the background, literally, by staying behind the drum kit playing in other people's bands," James said. "With The Witching Hour, I'm writing all the songs, performing most of the instruments, and creating this stage image. I've never been a 'front' per-son. Hell yeah, it was scary!"
Fear may have been one reason that James's vision of TWH took almost seven years to complete. In more practical terms, Kenny James is a busy man. His band roster reads like a Who's Who of musical talent including Judge Roughneck, Xiren, United Dope Front and Denver veterans Thumpasaurus Rex and Sympathy F. On the national level, he's recorded and toured with George Clinton/ Parliament and the Samples, to name just a few. Once James had some time, money and energy to focus on TWH, things quickly started coming together.
The first thing James noticed was the obvious change in his persona during TWH recording and promotional sessions. Like the great alter-egos of rock music -- from Ziggy Stardust to KISS to Alice Cooper to Slipknot -- James felt that a new personality emerged through the music he was writing and recording for The Witching Hour. Enter Stormy Chase.
"I believe that every single person has an alter-ego, whether they know it or can harness it or not," James said. "A lot of people call it Game Face. I can't quite remember how I 'found' Stormy, but people started noticing that I would change or act differently when put into the position of being the front man on stage. Some people even told me that I was acting weird, like 'Why is Kenny acting like that? ' and it was really this other side of my personality that felt the most comfortable fronting The Witching Hour." James feels that Stormy Chase is the real person to hold accountable for the image and mystique of TWH.
After all, it is Stormy who brings the music to life. As James begins to formalize a second record and assemble musicians for live shows, it is Stormy who will lead the stage show. James is all business, Chase is all showman. "I'm really glad I found a way to harness that energy and bring Stormy to life. He's a pretty interesting guy," James said, "and the 'Kenny' side of me still gets to just play the drums." James plays almost everything on TWH debut record. He invited a host of local guests, including Elizabeth Rose (Sympathy F), Dan Miller (Rocket Ajax) and Dani Hoffer-Harrison (Soul Thieves) to add layers and subtle nuances to certain tracks. Just as James is intelligent and thoughtful, so is his music. He crosses so many musical boundary lines that a critic would be forced to hyphenate most of the review. Is it ambient-techo? Industrial-electronica? Prog-goth? Mellow-metal?
It's heavy on the beat, balancing (a-HA!) thick chords and ethereal melodies. Spoken word interludes or what may be perceived as "noise" fill the normal gaps between tracks giving the whole CD an understated ebb and flow. Angles In Shadowed Blue opens with a sampled spoken introduction which leads to the powerful "Shocking." Loops of phrases "It's just a nightmare/ angles in shadowed blue" fade in and out. The steady pounding bass and drums make it a perfect target for clubs around town (if it's not there already). Seeds of Nothing has a Queensryche flavor with tight, close-knit vocals but is technically updated and fresh. To sum up The Witching Hour experience in a few words is difficult, to say the least. It is Kenny James -- drummer turned musical entrepreneur -- who writes, directs, and casts the defining elements for his dream project. It is Stormy Chase who delivers the product with passion and sincerity. It is the audience who will decide how well and for how long both personalities can hold the balance.
--Judy B.
Greetings earthlings! We, the Tralfamadorians of Tralfamadore are delighted to announce that we have hijacked the united parcel spacecraft that was scheduled to deliver ripening (the first extended play sound recording from boulder multi-media artist Orange Peel Moses) and intend to hold it hostage until planet Orange Webb records deposits a ransom of four hundred twenty thousand quarks (approximately equivalent to four thousand two hundred dead presidents) into our temporary swiss bank account. The recording will feature four tracks: 01 Through the looking-glass; 02 Jesus was an alien magician; 03 Scorlin; 04 Night of the round tables. If you would like to reunite Moses with his precious ripening masters, snail-mail ten dead presidents (as advance payment for your copy) along with your name and address to: Planet OrangeWebb Records, Post Office Box 363, Peyton, Colorado, Earth 80831.
Somewhere in the middle of the universe between Saturn and Mars, the Tralfamadorians of Tralfamadore (p.s. to sneak a preview of the cover art, log in: www.orangepeelmoses.com)
What a beautiful and inspired record this is. And it's holiday tunes no less. Making an album of traditional Christmas songs is tricky because the songs are sooooo overplayed during December, and because the element of tasteful can turn to tacky in the blink of an eye. Perpetual Motion's holiday release brings high quality musicianship and creative instrumental arranging (very important on a record such as this) to standards such as "Joy to the World," "Carol of the Bells," and "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Also included is the title track by Vince Guaraldi and some well-placed original tunes like "Northern Lights" and "Nova."
Perpetual Motion usually records instrumental records that fit in well with mellow jazz or New Age listeners. The founding duo of Perpetual Motion, guitarist Tom Carleno and violinist Josie Quick have such huge musical ears, however, that the music stays fresh and accessible to any "type" of fan with high musical standards. Even on a Christmas CD, the duo does not disappoint.
Surprise your family by putting on a CD filled with the holiday spirit during dinner this year. Tell them it's a local band. How cool is that? Find out where to buy at www.perpetualmotion.net--Judy B.
The big new mall on the way to Boulder has an artsy side Ð the Flatiron Crossing Music and Art Foundation. This season, a compila-tion CD with contributions from sev-enteen local artists hit the shelves. The range of artists is wide and the mix of tunes is diverse. The quality is an interesting display of our city's tal-ented
artists from New Age to cabaret to acoustic ballad to salsa. Opie Gone Bad serenades "Silent Night" and Freddi Henchi Band funkifies "Let It Snow." Liza Oxnard and Wendy Woo put an electronic alt-rock spin on "Little Drummer Boy," and Cabaret Diosa penned its own holiday tune, "Merry Mambo Christmas." Bluegrass even gets a tune with The Stanley Tones perform-ing "Blue Christmas." Other artists include Chris Daniels and the Kings, Nick and Helen Forster (E-Town fame), Rare Silk, and Lannie Garrett. This is the first of many anticipat-ed annual records created by the com-munity- based Foundation. All pro-ceeds will be awarded to grant recipi-ents involved with children's art and music programs. Purchase the CD at Flatiron's Crossing, Border's Books in Boulder, or www. recorddeal. com. Judy B.
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