Zookeeper - Becoming All Things (Belle City Pop, 2007)

My wife said it best that if Christopher Simpson pooped in a paper bag and set it on fire on our doorstep, I would call it genius (and be all giddy about the fact he knows where we live). He can do no wrong in my book, and that's usually because he keeps me interested and seems to go through life at the same pace that I am. Mineral was a huge influence when I was in my "the world is crashing down" phase (ok ok, it was my emo phase). When my tastes started maturing and I was realizing the world around me, he was there with me in The Gloria Record. And now that I've started to take life less seriously (or at least try to...) he is Zookeeper (the picture of Simpson on the album cover with a sack on his head says it all really). While Mineral and TGR were full of design, emotional expense and vulnerability, Zookeeper loosens up quite a bit and allows for all kinds of ingredients to be thrown in the pot. Zookeeper really is the most perfect name for this new venture as all the animals at the zoo, er, more like all his musically capable friends, take part. And there doesn't seem to be too much dictation or direction from Simpson, just a basic framework to build upon by whoever wants to take part. A community of musicians-on-the-side seems like such a cool concept to me. 

Becoming All Things, the first Zookeeper full length, swings in a few directions at different points. It's not a single theme kind-of-album, but sort of leaps and hops around a bit, which I dig, of course. The bombastic Snow in Berlin and Ballad of My Friends kick oh so well, while Boy & the Street Choir and On High are whispers where you need whispers. About half of the songs on this album had been made available on Zookeeper's MySpace page for a while, so I had already heard them in heavy rotation, and was a little worried I wouldn't get the full effect. One song turned this around for me and that was the brilliance of the title track, Becoming All Things. The way it built and spun and, well, became all the things I wanted to hear, made me realize that while the structures and environments Simpson works within might have changed, there are consistent themes that still feel like home to me. I anxiously await what's next.

Here's a clip from their last tour featuring an unreleased track that's been in my head since the show. "I want to be the kid whose not. Congratulate the kid whose not."

Jellyfish - Split Milk (Charisma Records, 1993)

My two older brothers and I had been building it up for weeks. We had tickets to the Jellyfish and Dada show at Six Flags and were preparing with a constant rotation of their albums - it was going to be a huge sing along rock opera for the decades. Sadly, rain cancelled the outdoor show and disappointment settled in and I don't think it ever left. I must have been only 13 or 14 years old and this concert, of contemporary bands that I loved, was supposed to be a significant event in my life (technically seeing Heart and the Oak Ridge Boys with my family were my first true concerts, but choosing to see a band is a completely different event).

I was too young to appreciate a band like Queen, but I think the Jellyfish guys took a note or two from them with a pop twist to it. I loved the stories, the theatrics and how they still found room to rock it significantly. Records like Spilt Milk were made by heavily talented musicians who were largely appreciated in the mainstream. Doesn't seem to hold true these days. Classics include New Mistake, The Ghost of Number One and Joining a Fan Club.