Album Notes

JON JAMES & THE TRASHCAN FANTASY DANCEBAND
999 Manifesto Records [2003]
Produced by D. B. Curtis & Jon James

THE SORDID PAST:
After years of laying in wait and silently honing his own fits of perversion, Jon James - the Twin Cities' favorite sideman and sleeper guitar whore - finally steps up to the vocal mic with his debut solo release, Jon James & The Trashcan Fantasy Danceband. James has previously collaborated with an array of Minnesota artists, including Kristin Mooney (Peter Himmelman), Brynn Arens (FLIPP), Johnny Clueless, Patrik Tanner & the Faraway Men, Heidi Jo Lang, Ryan Lance (The Blenders), King Size, Bellaswan and Days of Four.

FILE UNDER:
Astro-Folk Bombast
(Dugan & Pamela say Jon sounds like, "AM Gold on Acid." Feel free to trip out and sing along.)

"It can't be rock music," says Jon. "That stuff's all for posers and wannabes. Folk music is where it's at, Jack. Music for the people. This entire CD cherade started out in D.B.'s attic with a 1966 Melody Maker and a broken beatbox."

And yet, mysteriously, the CD really does sound quite loud and spaced-out. Psychedelic, sensual and - of course - preposterous, Jon offers sweet & sour three-minute anthems that meld elements of Brit Invasion, '70s Glam and Power-pop. A careful study in bi-polarity, the record is as timely as it is utterly anachronistic. It lambastes the state-of-the-state by relentlessly poking fun at insipid pop trends, yet winds up sounding imminently "pop-ish." The sound is big & expansive, gleefully embracing the spirit of modern rock production, but Jon keeps it all in check by offering spontaneous performances and a refreshing lack of digital processing. "We didn't have the budget or proper gear - let alone the attention spans - to fudge every track with multiple takes, edits and gizmos," says James. "For the most part, we just stuck with whatever ended up on tape. But we did have 32 tracks to work with ... and endless piles of cocaine."

THE HYPE:
Despite the tongue-in-cheek sensationalism, as noted by Splendid E-zine, "James is [actually] well acquainted with the highly unglamorous lifestyle of a striving, workaday rock band. He's done time in several such bands over the years, but on his new solo album he suspends his disillusionment with the business of making music and embraces the sort of far-out rock star fantasies only a starry-eyed teenager could take seriously. James plays [almost] every instrument in his Trashcan Fantasy Danceband in an attempt to approximate the bright, arena-ready power pop he would make in the 'dream band' he's never been able to assemble."