Yes. This happened.
Am I pleased it happened?
Yes. I am.
So let me introduce you to Dan and Drum, you will not regret reading this!
Who Is He?
Dan is an artist who previously gigged around LA as a musician and songwriter for Emily Osment (yes the actress singer person who I'd expect you will have heard of if you're under 25), under the name of Ramshackle. In his own words "her good intentions clashed with my depraved sensibility", so having been lead into poverty by his own deviance he decided to start his own project.
We should thanks him for his depraved ways.
Style
He calls it Growlpop and/or Sufferfunk. I call it a folk, soul, indie, breaks mutant that should be ugly but for some reason I can't take my eyes off it. Something that feels like it should be wrong but I can't seem to stop admiring it.
There is evidence of a multitude of influences in his music. I hear mostly Fight of The Conchords and Modest Mouse, probably mainly because I'm a fan of these acts, however such is the mixing of styles I'm sure listeners of other types of music could also name a few.
The Music
Usually I concentrate on one album or release, but for this I will pick out some songs from his entire Soundcloud catalogue, in the hope it encourages you to discover the rest for yourself.
Mona Lisa is a track with a great vocal. It has a folk influence with some more aggressive soulful delivery intertwined. It has an electro beat with a captivating guitar part that incorporates a picking style and a funk/groove element.
The tracks Fixin' up right and Bottle You Up have some hallmarks of one of my favourite bands, Modest Mouse. The vocal technique of the songs reminds me of some of their best work, but he keeps his own clear style and almost breaks style beats throughout.
Party 'Til shows off talent this man has for incorporating styles whilst writing good songs. It has a video, it's good, it was the cause of his randiness, it's good........
Lester and Fire n' Shit are my favourite songs, whilst not as chaotic and attention grabbing as some of the other compositions, I find them warm and comforting, a very well written pieces. Fire n' Shit has hints of folk and gospel with its layered vocals and is a slight departure from some of the other songs but just highlights the diversity and talent of this artist.
Over the last 15 years (probably longer, I got so bored I forgot to count) the popular music scene has heralded boring farts sat on a stools playing unoriginal songs. They have a couple of hits then fall off the radar because ultimately they have nothing new or interesting to offer. So why don't we start looking elsewhere for something interesting and clever?
Dan And Drum has clear influences that are worn on the sleeve that a lot of learned music fans will identify, but the clever mix of these styles, with the twist of insanity is really the kind of music we should be embracing and pushing into the limelight. It's fun, well written and incredibly well performed.
So listen to him on soundcloud, give him a follow and some support if you like this.
