Just over a decade ago I encountered a cool band out of Echo Park, Los Angeles, that went by the name of NO. I thought they had a very distinctive sound and their songs had lyrics that stuck with me. Give this track a listen and see if you agree: Leave the door wide open
The way I met NO was also cool: the band's lead singer, Bradley Hanan Carter, is the cousin of Andi Lee, who was my CEO at the time, but also an accomplished musician in his own right. He arranged for NO to play at several company events, including an awesome rooftop party during the annual BlackHat/DEFCON cybersecurity fest in Las Vegas. (Tickets to the event were very successfully employed as prizes to draw people to the company booth!)
My company phone produced some funky images of the band, 50 floors above Vegas. In fact, I took the shot above as NO were performing one of their most popular songs, "There's a glow". The opening of the song is:
There's a glow up over the city the city.
There's a glow up over us all.
The song was later set to video game footage from Grand Theft Auto. Note in 2014, the band changed their name to Black English, but 10 years later changed it back to NO. This makes their material tricky to find, but well worth it. And you can also reach them via a Facebook page.
That rooftop gig was not my first time seeing the band live. NO played a company party in 2012 where it was obvious that they were something special. They can create a very rich sound without it becoming noise, generating powerful emotional tension by restraining that big sound until just the right moment.
Here's a good sample of NO playing live along with an interview.
Disclaimer: I realize musical recommendations from old white guy may not be compelling to everyone, but this is an old white guy who loves good music, who once endured three days outdoors in cold English rain to catch artists like Santana, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane, and Fairport Convention, in a single weekend (Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music, 1970).
Disclaimer: I realize musical recommendations from old white guy may not be compelling to everyone, but this is an old white guy who loves good music, who once endured three days outdoors in cold English rain to catch artists like Santana, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane, and Fairport Convention, in a single weekend (Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music, 1970).
