Albums
Dif Juz, Soundpool
Dif Juz, however you’re meant to pronounce it, is music for music dorks such as myself. Soundpool presents the quartet’s…
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Dif Juz, however you’re meant to pronounce it, is music for music dorks such as myself. Soundpool presents the quartet’s first two EPs, Huremics and Vibrating Air, with their excellent contribution to the Lonely Is An Eyesore 4AD compilation, ‘No Motion’ (which may, although I have no proof of this, touch every musical key) stuck on the end.
The band was, sadly, short-lived, its ethereal instrumental prog being too out of vogue for a major audience in the early- to mid-’80s. But the influence is most felt in what would, ten years later, be coined ‘post-rock.’ Except it’s truly beautiful, instead of only being intricate.
Although it is, essentially, that intricacy that makes the music of Dif Juz so interesting. It’s a rhythm that builds consistently, and then hits the listener with that moment of astonishment when all they really did is change out a floor-tom beat. In fact, it takes that level of dork-willingness to feel what’s so brilliant about the songs. It takes attention to detail. It takes repeated listens. It takes headphones. It’ll also take tight lips, so that when you’ve got this playing at a party and that extra synth fill sneaks into the left channel, you don’t ass yourself by making company listen to the same two bars over and over, demanding they notice the change.
Okay, here’s my shot at saying it: ‘DIFF JUHZZ.’
The band was, sadly, short-lived, its ethereal instrumental prog being too out of vogue for a major audience in the early- to mid-’80s. But the influence is most felt in what would, ten years later, be coined ‘post-rock.’ Except it’s truly beautiful, instead of only being intricate.
Although it is, essentially, that intricacy that makes the music of Dif Juz so interesting. It’s a rhythm that builds consistently, and then hits the listener with that moment of astonishment when all they really did is change out a floor-tom beat. In fact, it takes that level of dork-willingness to feel what’s so brilliant about the songs. It takes attention to detail. It takes repeated listens. It takes headphones. It’ll also take tight lips, so that when you’ve got this playing at a party and that extra synth fill sneaks into the left channel, you don’t ass yourself by making company listen to the same two bars over and over, demanding they notice the change.
Okay, here’s my shot at saying it: ‘DIFF JUHZZ.’
—Published March 23, 2003
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