This album splits the contemporary Art world, fuck just the music world, we are speaking of Art. There is before this album, and there is the present, which now includes this album. It is watershed, it is fragmentary, it is whole. Living through the modern wake, the postmodern deconstruction, this album delivers something appropriate for our age. It is...worth a listen.
You can download it for free here, just make sure you read the text below the tracks and follow Alex's instructions:
http://yellowalexbyhisself.bandcamp.com/
I first saw Yellow Alex, aka Alex Gedeon, perform in 2005 while I was living in nyc. He was in a band called Trick and the Heartstrings. This was before he was Yellow Alex. Trick and the Heartstrings is one of my favorite bands ever. If you know me, you've probably heard me ramble on about Trick. I was managing a band called Paragraph at the time, and Trick and the Heartstrings were what we wanted to be. When Trick and the Heartstrings broke up in 2007, I was heartbroken. I saw so much potential in the band. I was sure they would ride a wave of success akin to the Strokes or Prince or U2. But like so many other bands whose talents far outweigh the shit we hear on the radio, Trick did not become famous and for personal reasons decided to disband.
Alex eventually moved from nyc back home to Los Angeles, I believe in 2007. Since then he has been working on new projects. He created Yellow Alex, and then created a band called Yellow Alex and the Feelings. Because I was such a big Trick and the Heartstrings fan, it was hard for me to get into the Feelings project. That said, they are pretty fantastic. But with this solo release, as Yellow Alex, Alex Gedeon kindof did what I wanted him to do. Just go fucking ballistic and blow shit up. He has broken new ground. He has produced something experimental. Oh that word is so licentious! so ridiculous! He has opened up his heart and soul. Because the ground is broken, a new slew of audio intelligence is seeping up from the cracks in the concrete. Expect the music to be raw, broken and whole, safe and lost, imaginary, displaced, and hungry. I am so inspired by this album (you can't really call it an album, but we humans are stuck in language and the choices are limited, and at the end of the day we must choose). Through James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Michel Foucault, Jaques Derrida, James Baldwin, David Foster Wallace, channeling Nietzsche and many others, Alex Gedeon/Yellow Alex has given us something that finally makes sense. It is a musical response to the 20th century, and a brilliant interpretation of the United States. We have, unknowingly been waiting for Gedeon.
satyr - 1. a sylvan deity in Greek mythology having certain characteristics of a horse or goat and fond of Dionysian revelry; 2. a lecherous man
icon - 3. an object of uncritical devotion: Idol
American Idol
America awash in lecherous, empty, money-motivated signs
I became friends with Alex while living in new york, and our friendship has continued to this day. We don't speak often, we usually correspond by email. Lately, Alex has been in an anti-internet mood, which I totally understand. But through various communications, he told me he was working on what is now Satyricon. However, I had no idea it would break this amount of ground and re-establish the importance of good pop music, funk, soul, taking risks and an open mind. When I got his email with the link to the album, I was euphoric. I knew before I listened to a single song (actually, I had heard about half of the tracks already, in rougher form, because Alex was kind enough to share them early on) but before I heard any part of the new album, I knew it was, would be, is brilliant.
I was overjoyed and knocked over with humility when I saw my name on his PER DILIGO list. In Latin, as I understand it, this basically translates as "with love, affection, gratitude". It is essentially a list of acknowledgements. I was shocked to see my name. I feel such gratitude and amazement/disbelief that I could have played a small role in inspiring Alex to create this project. Alex has been a beacon of inspiration, joy and creative courage for me. To be on this list is very meaningful. The first two names on the list are the other members of Trick and the Heartstrings. Danny Lane, the lead singer of Paragraph, the band I managed while in nyc, is also on this list. My heart is warm being a part of this group. So much love to Alex. So much love to Leif and Peter, the other members of Trick and the Heartstrings. So much love to Danny Lane, Joe Imburgio, Mike Gagliardi and Casey Jost, the guys in Paragraph.
But the day belongs to Alex. I have now listened to Satyricon from start to finish. I am again in awe and inspired.
Function with love and creative courage--the rest will fall, fall, fall into place,
Anthony
ps - I'm sorry, but I had to do this. This is one of my favorite Trick and the Heartstring's songs. Enjoy.
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