Sharon Hagopian, a quiet and
reserved elementary school music teacher, has an alter ego, Cannonball Jane.
When she's not teaching the younger set about quarter notes and treble clefs,
she's making music that's a wonderful hybrid of 60s harmonies and modern-day
electronica. Comparisons have been made to Solex and Julie Ruin, and while those
are certainly apt, I'd like to think that she's much more of an electronica-version
of Aislers Set--you know, punk rock noise met with indiepop sensibility and
classic pop stylings thrown in to boot. Hell, it would be a great crime if
Hagopian and Linton never collaborated.
"Deceptively simple" is the best
phrase to describe the music of Street Vernacular. While you would be
easily tempted to think that this was just another case of a kid with a computer
making electronic music in their bedroom, you'd be wrong. Terribly wrong.
Hagopian assures us that no computers were used in the making of this record,
and if you can't tell that she's telling the truth, then you're either jaded
or...well...stupid. That's not a nice word, and we apologize for using such an
insulting word, but it's true. Of course, when the musician in question is a
music teacher, why would you think that she'd be incapable of making such a
wonderful record on her own?
Hagopian was wise to keep Street
Vernacular short. It clocks in at less than thirty minutes; normally, that's
a pathetic amount of time for a 'full-length' album, but she obviously knows
that brevity is the soul of wit. Plus, she perhaps realized that her
songs--which do go all over the place, yet stick to a basic formula--are best
enjoyed in small samples. Electronic musicians often don't realize that it's
better to say something in a short amount of time than to utilize every ounce of
time you've got, especially if your style is very basic and not terribly
complicated. It's better to produce an album that's excellent yet too short than
to produce an album that's tedious after twenty minutes but still a half-hour
away from finishing. Hagopian obviously understands that it's best to leave them
wanting more, and Street Vernacular is a musical peanut-butter cracker on
an empty stomach.
Kicking off Street Vernacular
is "Slumber Party," with a piano riff that's very much a mid-60s creation. Of
course, she modernizes everything with an electro-beat that is quite similar to
her self-referenced influence Solex. Hagopian then turns the beat around with
"Hey! Hey! Alright!," a song that Le Tigre could take a few lessons from. The
chug-chug beat is complemented with a riff that borrows heavily from..."Freeze
Frame?" Yes, that's it! My favorite mixing of styles has to be "Brave New
World," where she deftly makes a medley of Mozart and Missing Persons!
See, that's the magic of Cannonball
Jane's debut. You can listen to it, and you'll find something new each time, and
you'll love it even more. I've listened to Street Vernacular almost every
day for the past month. It's that wonderful; it's totally fun, and it's
quite smart, too. I mean, what can you say about an artist who makes a melody of
Mozart and Missing Persons ("Brave New World")? She pulls it off with grace, and
if there's any artist that makes me excited about their future, it's her. Big
things for the schoolteacher who can? I sure hope so! Not only am I excited at
the prospect of her next record, I'm secretly wondering what kind of influence
she has on her students. If Street Vernacular is any indication, then the
future of music is secure and safe...
Mundane Sounds
- September 6, 2003