Music
Press
“This Justin Connor kid is pretty tricky. It's all in his voice. He has that rare quality where you immediately get the impression that he's a songwriter par excellence. Kind of the I-can-sing-but-I-don't-have-to-prove-it thing that the Dylans, Springsteens, and even Becks have done so nicely in years past. When Justin Connor sings something, it sounds important, and it sounds like the voice of wisdom.” - 1340mag.com
“Justin Connor takes you on a journey in a saga of musical mindghosts in psychedelic colors. His debut album could be the 2004 soundtrack for a possible sequel to the cult movie Clockwork Orange but it also sounds like the day after the big bomb -- massive destruction and a totally scary silence. The listener must be in a special mood to be able to soak in all impressions from Connor´s subtle piece of work. Turn back the time to 1974 and the year between Pink Floyd´s classic "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Wish You Were Here".....well, Kaliyuga is the album Pink Floyd never released 30 years ago. Imagine a voice between a young Lou Reed and Roger Waters crossed with Coldplay…The track Angelyne just needs a video on MTV to promote it with and the success would be in the same division as the one Coldplay are enjoying right now. Fans of The Verve should check this out too because it could very well have been written by Richard Ashcroft. Behind the Sun feels like sitting on the rocks by the sea on a cloudy day in November, looking out on the raging waters and just being totally lost in the magic of the stormy ocean - Pink Floyd couldn´t have done it better - hypnotic and seductive, yet so beautiful....” - melodic.net
“Justin Connor’s Kaliyuga boldly sets out to go where no CD has ever gone. Though decidedly contemporary and rather quirky in its originality, the music’s lush and lovely production work demonstrates how good this record can get. There are surprises throughout with ambient sounds, layers of harmony, unexpected changes, and shifting dynamics. Yet with all of this, the music remains sufficiently pop, a collage of sections and sounds altogether like something from an early 70’s concept album. The compressed vocals, sound effects, and studio tricks in Behind the Sun and Lull fuel Connor’s lyrics, which can be sharp and cynically paranoid (“All these politicians feeding on the pulpit’s tainted snow.”)…cool, ambitious, overflowing with ideas, a tribute to imagination and technical skill, and well worth a visit.” - minor7th.com
“Gorgeous post-apocalyptic pop music. Justin Connor is well-schooled in the art of songwriting…the songs exude a kind of cheery melancholy that’s hard to describe any other way…the music is tragically beautiful. Songs for the end of the world – and end that you won’t mind at all.” - aiding&abetting.com
“Surprisingly good…the guy sounds like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and The Velvet Underground, but acoustic, and he does it in an original way… I don’t see why he shouldn’t get popular or have trouble getting signed to a major. If John Mayer can make millions, why not Justin Connor? He just needs to play the right shows, get on a good indy label, and he’ll do just fine.” - theship-wreck.com
“Ranging from rum-soaked spongy pop, to a glorious, endearing jangle of finger-snapping, toe-tapping skippers to spacy, removed and detached drifters, echoes of Ben Folds to Coldplay to Beck to Elliot Smith collide and tangle and burst into a vivid arrival of male pop.
Whatever side of sanity he chooses to dance on, every track is a study in commitment to a kernel idea, development and follow-through. Each track is like the only song he ever wrote, a one-hit wonder he slaved over. Unbuckle your self and let him toss you around the
stratosphere for awhile.”
- cdbaby.com
“Justin Connor’s Kaliyuga is very accessible and well-produced…with dreamily pretty vocal harmonies and lyrics that are fairly abstract (“I remember jellyfish swimming circles in the sky/I followed her down to the ocean floor.”) The music is mellow and contemplative, often tastefully building from simple guitar/piano and vocals to full instrumentation…with sinuous violin lines, echoey electronic beeps and swooshes, the music is unearthly and spooky – his strengths seem to lie in lush arrangements and judicious use of effects processors…it’s quite an appealing CD.” - splendidzine.com
“Kaliyuga flows along in a drifting dream state, wrapped in the almost-whispered vocals of Justin Connor. It’s a fantastically depressing pop sound, and often finds its way out of melancholy into a bizarre acid trip…in a weird way, it all fits together and becomes downright mesmerizing.” - mishmashmusic.com
Discography
"Kaliyuga" (2004) - Wiry Pulse Records
"Behind the Sun" EP (2002) - Wiry Pulse Records
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Justin Connor’s debut album, "Kaliyuga", boldly sets out to go where no CD has ever gone before – showcasing Justin’s knack for crafty songwriting, sonic landscapes, and catchy riffs that seek to soothe the senses with a common collective thread of consciousness. Written and recorded in Los Angeles over the past two years, "Kaliyuga" is a fearless celebration of various musical styles and sounds, infusing dreamy melodies, lush arrangements, 70’s classic rock acoustics, honky-tonk piano riffs, and spacy mantras.
CDBaby.com – the independent distribution arm for independent musicians – sold out of all of Justin’s copies of "Kaliyuga" by lunch in it’s first day of release. Additionally, they selected "Kaliyuga" out of thousands to be the featured Album of the Month, comparing Connor to the likes of Elliot Smith and Beck, while declaring it “a vivid arrival of male pop with each track sounding like the only song he ever wrote, a collection of one-track wonders he slaved over. Unbuckle yourself and let him toss you around the stratosphere for awhile.”
“The album title, 'Kaliyuga', is a Vedic reference to the age that we’re all currently living in – an age defined by war, greed, consumption, decadence, and an overall deterioration of human existence. After months of pouring through various Vedic texts,” Justin says reflectively, “I began to sense a strong correlation between many of the deeper truths and questions that I was having trouble understanding in my own life, to the many obstacles that this time period reflects…so I guess this album evolved in an attempt to elicit consciousness, while remaining aware of the many pitfalls that 'Kaliyuga' may present along the way.”
The heart of the music is centered on Justin’s soulful voice and introspective lyrics, which often embodies a soft, earnest whisper reminiscent of a young Roger Waters. Kaliyuga has been hailed by numerous critics, who’ve compared the music to many of Justin’s own inspirations including Radiohead, Pink Floyd, John Lennon, the Velvet Underground, and Grandaddy, among others. However, Justin puts his own stamp on defining an original, idiosyncratic lo-fi aesthetic that’s contemplative in both style and sound. In the process, he’s created not only an accessible singer-songwriter pop album, but a genre defining sound with style to spare.
With such a unique sound in tow, "Kaliyuga" caught the eyes and ears of Nic Harcourt, legendary host of KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic in Los Angeles, who has recently culled some of Justin’s tracks into his program’s rotation.
In addition to being a musician, Justin is also an accomplished actor, recently appearing on such TV shows as Six Feet Under, Monk, Judging Amy, Angel, Boomtown, and Boston Public, while starring alongside Wilford Brimley in the independent film, "Resurrection Mary", which premiered earlier this year at The Tribeca Film Festival in New York.
A descendant of Ireland, and raised in New England, Justin often feels like a fish out of water in the media-ego-obsessed Hollywood, but somehow finds solace living in the mayhem of its ever evolving structures. His CD is now available at www.cdbaby.com, and he’s currently playing out in the Los Angeles area, while planning a West coast tour in the future to promote the CD and garner interest from indie labels in the process.
You can listen to Kaliyuga at Justin’s website, www.justinconnor.com and purchase the album at www.cdbaby.com.
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