Jogger @ Kinetic Playground December 30, 2009

Napping Captain mp3 Jogger This Great Pressure ….. go to Itunes!

Well, my last gig of 2009! And I went to a venue I’ve never been before too. I walked in and the first person I talked to just happened to be the manager of the duo I came to see. An auspicious ending to the year! I’d been looking forward to seeing Jogger, a duo from LA, for months now. If you scroll down my page, you’ll see I’ve included their LP in my list of 25 most listened to records of 2010. I’ve found This Great Pressure to be innovate, completely fresh sounding and just really exciting and sexy! Their opening track, “Napping Captain” completely won me over. It’s a uniquely perfect hybrid of indie and electronica and has all those little clicks and ting tings that entice me. Scattered throughout This Great Pressure are some great grooves, heavy beats, and tremendously repetitive refrains that have the dancefloor completely at their command.

But equally important to this project are two other components that show just how talented these guys really are. Amir on guitar almost manages to steal the show a few times that evening. Yes, he’s that good. No, I didn’t expect that from live electronica. It’s hard and fast and not very indie and we applauded in the middle of the song, after his solo. But Amir is much more than a virtuoso on guitar, he also sings harmony with the mastermind behind all this, Jonathan. And their vocals are key to many songs on the album. Hearing them live, I was more than impressed with their ability to not only reproduce what was created in the studio, but I also realized to a greater degree how wonderfully the music was crafted around their voices, to offset those harmonies. The word “organic” came to mind. The evening just felt like a whole, a piece, a unified being, a tree which was comprise of both bark and leaves. Unlike some electronic music, with awkward transitions between laptop and vocals and instruments, Jogger melds it’s sound. The sources seem inconsequential to the outcome. I felt that way listening to the album as well and I was glad that it carried over to their performance.

The Kinetic Playground was a terrific site for this duo to stretch its wings a bit and iron out its live performance. Jogger will return to Chicago on February 16, supporting Nosaj Thing at Lincoln Hall. I anticipate a really fun show. And hopefully I’ll have more time to chat with Jonathan and Amir about their plans for 2010. I also really need to know what Amir does with that violin.