Testify
So I’m sitting in a studio in Glendale and the engineer/producer/owner tells me the only good thing he’s heard in years is Carney.
Huh?
But the lead singer was too good-looking, he gave up and went to Broadway, he’s the lead in "Spider-Man".
Huh?
I feel like James is speaking a foreign language, then he goes over to his Mac Pro and dials up a track and WHEW!
Remember sitting in your basement, in your bedroom with the lights off, driving the speakers to distortion, listening to music that energized you and soothed your soul at the same time?
GET READY!
Now let’s start at the beginning, let’s go back to that studio in Glendale, stocked with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. It’s like being a kid in a candy store. The kids may be listening on earbuds, but the creators are still freaks for sound. And what’s coming out of the speakers is positively MIND-BLOWING!
Could it be the digital to analog converter, a Lavry?
That helps.
But the key element is the speakers, Dynaudio BM15A’s.
If a salesman had been there with a Square, I would have whipped out my credit card. It was a positively religious experience. It was the lower mid-range, not quite the gut-kicking bass. It was like a warm ooze was embracing me, not a digital field, but something positively organic, that felt so good.
James told me everybody had been using Genelecs. But that Clearmountain had turned him on to these.
And I start calculating. How large is this room, will the speakers fill up my living room space without clipping…they’re self-powered and a red light comes on when you reach the limit.
I’m financially challenged, but I was calculating… I’ve got the Mac Pro, $600 for the Lavry and $3,000 for a pair of BM15A’s… Actually, the speakers are a bit cheaper and the D to A converter a bit more expensive, but remember when we were on a quest, to get closer to the sound, when we wanted to walk right into the speakers and become one with the music? That’s what it was like, listening on these BM15A’s was like being injected with aural heroin.
And the track…
I just shut all the windows in my house, I’m afraid my neighbors are going to call the police. Because I need to hear this track loud. I’ve got the feeling if I just turn it up enough I’ll be in the room with the band.
Actually, you can see this same act performing one of those lame Bono/Edge "Spider-Man" tracks on YouTube. You’re a victim of your material, and this is shite. U2 is not about songs but sound. And Carney is about the material.
Listen to the entire album, an EP of 8 songs, what we used to call an album. Every cut is different, you hear elements of Queen, you want to hear more, where this band is going to.
But the absolute killer is "Testify".
It’s like listening to "Kashmir". Crossed with "The End". A mysterious trip into the heart of darkness.
And if that appeals to you, and you know who you are, go here and check it out:
Carney’s been hiding in plain sight. That’s the modern era. Records are land mines, you’ve just got to wait for people to step on them. Just because you don’t have traction don’t think you’re doing it wrong, it just takes a while for everybody to catch up.
But if you’re great, they will.
"Testify" is great.
Goes with late night headbanging, sunroof open cruising, tattooed sex, it’s the aural grease you need to get through.
I just wish you could hear it on the Dynaudios.
