The musical genius Chilly Gonzales (aka Jason Charles Beck) has recently taken over my airwaves and all I have to say is where has he been my whole life! Granted, he has been around for a while. Gonzales abandoned his first love, jazz, to embark on a career with the alternative rock band Son, whose Wolfstein, released in 1998, was a concept album about a werewolf. He then released three rap and electro albums under the Gonzales moniker and started producing or performing with a group of fellow Canadians, including Feist, Peaches and producer Tiga.
But I have to be honest and say we first met during the new iPad commercial and since then, I can “Never Stop” listening! Actually Never Stop was the first single from the Ivory Tower album and if you haven’t heard it, go immediately to iTunes or wherever you download your music from (wink wink) and collect this amazing 15-song album. My personal faves “I am Europe” which features a lyrical breakdown like no other “I am a shrugging mustache, wearing a Speedo tuxedo.” The booty-shaking “You Can Dance,” is also a toe-tapping, can’t-help smiling track that is sure to get you out of any funk. The video is super-fun too!
His beats are fresh, his arrangements electrifyingly smooth and his unconventional quirky style and sensibility keep you guessing and keep you smiling. A true original and artist, which seems to be lacking in a lot of today’s entertainers.
Ivory Tower was produced by Boys Noize, and is a soundtrack to a film of the same name that Gonzales has made which stars Peaches, Tiga and Feist, and which he has also funded himself. This explores the conflict, as he sees it, between art and commerce and tells the story of a former chess prodigy (played by Gonzales) who quits Europe for his native Canada. There he invents “jazz chess” – a game in which there is no winner, only beautiful positions.
“I know what I do is not built for the mainstream,” he says. “I’m not in danger of watering down what I do; I’m in danger of losing people. That’s why I write three-minute pop songs and why I wanted the structure of my movie to be like Rocky or 8 Mile… because what I pour into that is such an acquired taste I need all the help I can get.”
To check out Chilly:
http://www.chillygonzales.com/
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