Holy mackerel, 20 years of Light FM?!

Photo by Jim Newberry

It's really weird to think a friend's band has been around in one form or another for 20 years. Well, I guess it's not that weird. I have friends whose bands are nearing the 30 year mark, now that I think of it, but it's still the sort of thing you only really consider in the context of "classic" bands. I guess I have friends in "classic" bands? That must make Light FM a classic band!

I've meaning to write about Josiah's new Light FM Tourist EP, and I kept forgetting to do so. It's not because it 's not good—it is—but I kept waiting for the "right time." Like, a tour, or round-up of local releases (even though Josiah's been in L.A. for years and years I still keep thinking of him as a Chicago musician—guess I just can't let go).

So, Light FM has a new EP and it sounds exactly like Light FM, which is to say crisply produced and written, with layers of sound that betray Josiah's love of the studio while also supporting his never-ending quest for something that sounds buzzy and futuristic yet soulful and of-the-moment. And, like almost everything the man has written, there is a tug--f-war between sunshine and storm clouds, and that struggle has always endeared his music to me.

The track he's pushing from the album is "Dreamerz" and it features Brett Anderson of The Donnas entwining her vox with Josiah's. They mix well, to be honest. Honestly I'm just pleased Light FM is still making music, and you should be pleased too.

Light FM also just released a career-spanning retrospective called Turn On The Light FM, which serves as a nice primer for the band's music. So if you like the future pop of the song below, you will probably also enjoy taking a dip and swimming through their older tunes as well (even if the collection criminally omits my favorite song of the band's, "Eli Miller," but I'm sure that's just my nostalgia speaking and Light FM has a reason for not including it).

Hey, between the 20 year thing and the album retrospective and the new EP I guess I did have a timely reason to write about the band! And now you will also discover that sometimes I don't title these posts until after I'm done writing and figure out what point I might be trying to make more fully...