- (Venus of MUEN Magazine)

A new issue means a new love; a new devotion; a new band or musician to plug shamelessly at every opportunity. Just one caveat. Joseph A. Peragine is not the kind of musician you want to be listening to behind the wheel of a moving car. Because such an action would significantly increase your risk of being attacked by trees, parked vehicles, and pedestrians.

There is nothing wrong with the music. Oh no. I’m madly in love with it, actually. The problem is it’s so good as to make concentrating on anything else almost impossible. It draws you in and holds your attention like nothing else. Your mind is tied in with every note, every word, every sigh, every beat and you don’t want it any other way.

I should probably explain the appeal. This is not (repeat, NOT) for the casual music listener. It is lost upon that sort. Not completely, but close enough. It is raw, deep, emotional, and upsetting. This is for the people who understand that music is more than just a series of notes, more than a collection of rhyming words, more than some background noise. If any of the previous sentence resonated with you…then you understand…and I beg you to go listen.

His history must be mentioned here. Otherwise it would not be fair. Put mildly, he’s not quite your average Joe (pardon the pun). He happens to have Paranoid Schizophrenia. He’s kicking its ass rather skillfully, I must say. The fact remains that his songs and poems stem from his battle with the disorder. (Is It selfish to be grateful?)

The point is, I’ve had The Acoustic Diaries playing in my mind for the last week. My cd is lost somewhere. But I remember all the songs. By heart. In their proper order. Because they all do the same thing; they hook into your soul. It’s perfectly alright if you hear only one song once. It’ll be in your mind again soon enough.

So go ahead. Watch his video for Matter of Opinion. Listen for the pain. And try not to fall apart. Live on time, emit no evil.