Jonah's Onelinedrawing - Me And You Are Two
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| Jonah's Onelinedrawing - Me And You Are Two |
Jonah Matranga is something of a
prolific beast who has been producing music and touring since the very early
90s but has seemingly completely passed me by thus far. However, our paths have
now crossed and it's time to find out how and why he's managed to maintain such
a healthy career to date. Before even listening to any music, I'm already
enjoying the album artwork which superbly illustrates that album title and
makes me chuckle. The album itself starts with the lush acoustic tones of the
title track, 'Me And You Are Two', which finds Jonah in sleepily reflective
mood despite the relative brevity of the track. 'Free', on the other hand, is a
much livelier affair featuring the unmistakable guest rapping of R2-D2 himself
- actually, was R2-D2 a guy or a girl? Discuss.
It's immediately apparent that
Jonah is a guy who makes music for himself and 'I Really Love Yr Company' is
testament to this as the lazy acoustic strum mixed with sparse piano notes
could be heard coming from his front porch or an intimate gig venue. There's a
great beat and thrum to 'No Hurry' that puts me in mind of Jake Morley while
'You're What Went Right' is full of questions and a robotic electro melody that
builds in to an uplifting and heartfelt love song. "I'm one motherfucking
fleet-footed man" sings Jonah on 'Fleet-footed Man' which could easily be
a country'n'western tune or a Frank Turner crowd pleaser based on the exploits
of Forrest Gump or Eddie 'Marathon Man' Izzard. Jonah has the ability to switch
styles with ease as displayed on the Jose Gonzalez-esque 'Fixtures' which leads
on to the hurdy-gurdy soporific beauty of 'Still', a tune that could soothe the
most savage of beasts or at least reduce it to tears.
Given the number of heartfelt
tunes that I've already heard on this album, I'm apprehensive to actually listen
to 'Bye-Bye, Best Friend' but it turns out to be a rocked up ode to the beauty
of friendship past and present. 'Yr Will' has a slow-jam lounge feel to it with
a haunting organ sound and Jonah's soft vocals doing their best job of singing
a lullaby while album closer 'Sing' finds Jonah in whimsical mood as he
performs a song with no instrumentation other than his voice and whatever he
can hit with his hands. It's a beautifully simple and honest ending to an album
that comes raw from the heart and mind of a talented and dedicated mind. Now I
understand why he's been enthralling audiences for so long, count me in.
More Information: https://www.facebook.com/jonahmusic
Live Dates:
11th April - Monkey House, Berkeley CA
16th April - Mercury Lounge, New York
17th April - Court Tavern, New Brunswick
18th April - Rail House, Rahway New Jersey
19th April - First Uni Mini-Chapel, Philadelphia
12th May - Gallery Show, SLC
15th May - Mutiny Cafe, Denver
17th May - Holy Mountain, Austin
10th June - Nero Bar, Berlin
11th June - Ramones Museum, Berlin
23rd July - Windmill, Brixton
24th July - Le Pub, Newport
27th July - Think Tank, Newcastle
30th July - Tunnels, Aberdeen
31st July - Glad Cafe, Glasgow
7th August - The Lomax, Liverpool
9th August - Black Swan, York