feelinggood:

I first heard of The Ivoryton Piano Factory (Justin Veatch) when Owen (Mike Kinsella) posted a cover of the song ‘ESRT Page 14’ on his Myspace page.  I am a huge fan of Owen and I really enjoyed that cover, so I went to the Myspace page for The Ivoryton Piano Factory.  I enjoyed the songs posted there, but I was sad to learn that Justin had passed away.

The album ‘Permagrin: The Music of Justin Veatch by The Ivoryton Piano Factory and Friends’ collects the completed Ivoryton Piano Factory songs along with covers of these same songs by a wide-range of artists.  The proceeds from the album go to the Justin Veatch Fund, started by Justin’s father to provide scholarships to college-bound students pursuing music education.  Here is the tracklisting of the album:

01. The Ivoryton Piano Factory - ESRT Page 14
02. Owen - ESRT Page 14
03. Hard Calibers - ESRT Page 14
04. The Ivoryton Piano Factory - Clean
05. Vinicius Cantuaria - Clean (Translated to Onda Pura)
06. The Ivoryton Piano Factory - Can’t Afford the Color
07. Moving Mountains - Can’t Afford the Color
08. The Bensen-Scott Big Band - Can’t Afford the Color
09. The Ivoryton Piano Factory - Jersey City Homecoming
10. Stay Home - Jersey City Homecoming
11. The Ivoryton Piano Factory - Broken Angel
12. Caterpillars - Whispering Spirits
13. The Ivoryton Piano Factory - Whispering Spirits
14. Anthony Melillo - Justin’s Song

Here are the highlights in my opinion:
* ESRT Page 14 - This is probably my favorite song by The Ivoryton Piano Factory.  It is a simple song that keeps building and building.  It really gets stuck in my head.  The Owen and Hard Calibers covers of this song are really good.
* Whispering Spirits - This song is a close second to ESRT Page 14 in my opinion.  It is a slow song, but still catchy.  The Caterpillars cover is also good.
* Clean - This is another good song by The Ivoryton Piano Factory.  It is more upbeat than Justin’s other songs.
* Can’t Afford The Color - This piano-driven song really gets into a groove.  The original version and the Moving Mountains cover are both good.
* Jersey City Homecoming - This may be the one song on the album where I like the cover version better than the original.  The cover by Stay Home is significantly slower, which I like, but both versions are good.

Overall, I’m really enjoying the compilation.  It is surprisingly cohesive with such a wide array of artists involved, but I suppose that is because all of the songs (except the last one) were written by Justin Veatch.  I would really recommend checking it out for the music, but it’s also nice that it goes to a good cause.  Justin’s family and friends should be very proud of his music and their effort to have it heard.

The CD can be purchased directly from the Justin Veatch Fund or from Polyvinyl Records.  The album is available digitally from Amazon or Itunes.

Alan was nice enough to give me a heads-up about a review he wrote of Permagrin, a release we helped The Justin Veatch Fund distribute. Thanks!