Music For People - VAST

At the risk of gushing like a madwoman, this is my all-time favourite album. Jon Crosby is a songwriting and lyrical genius; simple lyrics with kick, and music to keep you quiet and in a different place from reality for long enough to realise you quite like real-life after all, as this guy has had it so much worse than you have. Crosby punches out some real musical magic here, more so than in the debut album, 'Visual Audio Sensory Theater' (sorry...TheatRE...I forgot I was English for a moment there!). There are some gregorian monks chanting away on a few tracks which add depth to the drum machine so that, for once, you couldn't care less ...  Read the complete review

Jon Crosby’s first record (‘Visual Audio Sensory Theater’) was full of dark brooding soundscapes, mixing a gothic feel and Gregorian chanting to create a beautiful, if not immediately accessible, record. For VAST’s sophomore effort, he’s recruited a full band line up and made a more traditional record, based around recognisable songs. This time round, there’s a strong influence of U2, and even the Beatles. Overall, the sound’s a commercial industrial one similar to Filter or recent Stabbing Westward - still recognisably VAST, orchestral arrangements and Theatre of Voices samples, but with more accessible song structures, ...  Read the complete review

Monk lovin’ loner Jon Crosby returns with a full on band for VAST’s second album, Music for People. I won’t go on at length about the band though as I did that on my review of the first album and I hate it when people repeat themselves in front of me so I won’t do it to you. Suffice to say the mix of monks and NIN that was the main theme of the first album has been swirled around a bit. VAST go pop! Or at least they do in comparison to the first album; I’m talking Britney here. * The Last One Alive * Swirly synths, strummed acoustic guitars and a funky little bass line start the album off nicely. Then Jon Crosby comes in ...  Read the complete review