Post by toomanyhatz on Sept 22, 2020 7:32:19 GMT
Welcome to number three in a very occasional series. Today's artist is the late Israeli guitarist, sort-of singer, very well-dressed eccentric Charlie Megira.
I must confess from the outset that were it not for the fine folks at Amazon Music, I would still not know about Mr. Megira, as I heard him only through my weekly "Discovery Playlist". But that's OK as obviously David Lynch did not know about him either, for if he had, he'd have starred in a Lynch movie, or at least graced a soundtrack or two.
,
And for such a flamboyant artist, Megira has managed to stay very mysterious to a lot of people. I do know where he was for the first couple of years of his life anyway, as at least according to what little we do know about him, he was younger than me - he died in 2016 at the age of 42. It is known, or at least reported, that Megira was born in the Beit She'an Valley of Israel as Gabi Abudraham, that he loved Elvis, Santo and Johnny, Eko guitars, and reverb, not necessarily in that order.
The other thing about him that finds me surprised to be writing about him is that he makes the kind of music that I generally hold to very high standards and don't like most of - a guy that wore vintage clothes, played vintage instruments through vintage amps, was very scant on biographical details, and sang in a distant, whispery voice in several languages, some of which may be made up. Not that you can really tell through all the reverb.
I do know he was a hell of a guitar player, had a penchant for miniaturism - many of his songs are a little less or a little more than a minute long, was fond of surreal/humorous/long titles like "The Death Dance of the Busty Hot Lifeguard Inspector Babe" or "Danelectro and the Fabtones Psychopaths," and that he often sounds like a one-man exotica comp, interrupted by moments of extreme guitar feedback and occasionally aggressive load/fast/hard punk rock.
But there's something mysterious, instant, and lovable about his music. The bastard child of Elvis and Lux Interior, as one of the few online bios would indicate. Featuring dramatic, moody mini-dramas like this:
Or wild guitar instrumentals like this:
Later he'd get more experimental and avant-garde, but with the same vintage guitar sounds - like this, a Sonic Youth wet dream (beware NSFW album cover image):
As I don't know much myself, I read a pretty good bio that told me he suffered from depression for many years, culminating in him hanging himself in his Berlin apartment.
www.numerogroup.com/d/charlie-megira-a-sun-shining-backwards
I searched in vain both here and on that "other" place for any mention of him, so apparently he is (possibly willfully) obscure. Jeff K. would certainly love him if he doesn't already know about him (which I'm betting he does).
Sorry that he didn't have a happier life, and sorry I didn't know about him when he was around to appreciate it.
As always, I welcome contributions.
I must confess from the outset that were it not for the fine folks at Amazon Music, I would still not know about Mr. Megira, as I heard him only through my weekly "Discovery Playlist". But that's OK as obviously David Lynch did not know about him either, for if he had, he'd have starred in a Lynch movie, or at least graced a soundtrack or two.
,
And for such a flamboyant artist, Megira has managed to stay very mysterious to a lot of people. I do know where he was for the first couple of years of his life anyway, as at least according to what little we do know about him, he was younger than me - he died in 2016 at the age of 42. It is known, or at least reported, that Megira was born in the Beit She'an Valley of Israel as Gabi Abudraham, that he loved Elvis, Santo and Johnny, Eko guitars, and reverb, not necessarily in that order.
The other thing about him that finds me surprised to be writing about him is that he makes the kind of music that I generally hold to very high standards and don't like most of - a guy that wore vintage clothes, played vintage instruments through vintage amps, was very scant on biographical details, and sang in a distant, whispery voice in several languages, some of which may be made up. Not that you can really tell through all the reverb.
I do know he was a hell of a guitar player, had a penchant for miniaturism - many of his songs are a little less or a little more than a minute long, was fond of surreal/humorous/long titles like "The Death Dance of the Busty Hot Lifeguard Inspector Babe" or "Danelectro and the Fabtones Psychopaths," and that he often sounds like a one-man exotica comp, interrupted by moments of extreme guitar feedback and occasionally aggressive load/fast/hard punk rock.
But there's something mysterious, instant, and lovable about his music. The bastard child of Elvis and Lux Interior, as one of the few online bios would indicate. Featuring dramatic, moody mini-dramas like this:
Or wild guitar instrumentals like this:
Later he'd get more experimental and avant-garde, but with the same vintage guitar sounds - like this, a Sonic Youth wet dream (beware NSFW album cover image):
As I don't know much myself, I read a pretty good bio that told me he suffered from depression for many years, culminating in him hanging himself in his Berlin apartment.
www.numerogroup.com/d/charlie-megira-a-sun-shining-backwards
I searched in vain both here and on that "other" place for any mention of him, so apparently he is (possibly willfully) obscure. Jeff K. would certainly love him if he doesn't already know about him (which I'm betting he does).
Sorry that he didn't have a happier life, and sorry I didn't know about him when he was around to appreciate it.
As always, I welcome contributions.
