I'm not one for fancy words today, so here are the facts you need to know:Firstly, if you've been following this blog at all (and if you haven't, well, get on board already!), then you've read here, on more than one occasion, about The Consolation Project, which is essentially the one-man musical vehicle of Ron Cavagnaro, who's based in Rochester, New York. (If you haven't read it, check out our interview with him from a few months ago - it was our first ever interview done via chat, and a really interesting read - it consistently remains one of our most read interviews on the blog). His music is not definable by any certain genre - fuck, it's not even definable by several genres. It's music that you have to hear for yourself. I've tried to describe it in the past, but the English language doesn't allow for it. It's really fucking good, is what it is. Ron does, however, have some of his roots planted firmly in a foundation of shoegaze and atmospheric lo-fi bedroom pop, being a big fan of the Cocteau Twins and Slowdive (to name a few), which you can certainly hear in the music, but there is much more than that going on. Fans of Radiohead, early Verve, the Smiths, and the Cure should check TCP out, as well.
Secondly, the guy is the single most prolific musician I know. If someone else out there has released 14 full length albums since December 2010, speak up now. And I mean 14 great albums, not some bull shit made with Ableton or Fruity Loops in 2 hours. Anyone? I didn't think so.This brings my to my third point, and the main point of the post: in the past couple of weeks, The Consolation Project has released (via bandcamp) a trio of LPs made up of b-sides, rarities and oddities that range from the years 2004-2010, which have been dubbed The B-Sides Trilogy. Like any quality musician worth his or her salt, the b-sides are just as strong as their LP counterparts. It reminds me of the good old days, when you'd buy a Cure 7 inch, and even though the a-side was awesome, the b-side always had some kind of special magic to it. Same thing here, except there are THREE LPs WORTH of them. Jackpot.
I chose one personal favorite track from each volume to post below, and you can stream all three LPs via bandcamp for free...but you can also buy them for a mere $5 apiece, which is essentially a steal. As much as I love free music, we as listeners really need to make more of an effort to support these musicians with actual purchases, when we can. If you like it, buy it. If you're interested, stream it. But most of all, LISTEN TO IT.
