SlipLive

funny, i just stumbled upon explosions in the sky on someone's myspace yesterday... the song was "your hand in mine" (or something to that effect)... and mmmmm, i played it over and over and over for awhile, something about it just soothes me. the other tunes on their myspace didn't move me quite so much though...

The problem I have with Explosions in the Sky is that all their stuff sounds pretty damn similar. chimey guitars, rumbling bass, electronic effects, LOUD BOMBASTIC DRAMATIC CRESCENDO, repeat on the next song. i've got their new album and one from 2003, and I honestly feel like you could swap out any songs and the final product wouldn't be any different. other bands of the instrumental rock style (Do Make Say Think, Mogwai, Tortoise, etc.) do a much better job of finding ways to be constantly different and innovative. Explosions in the Sky just kinda do the same thing over and over (although they are very good at that one thing, which is why i'll listen to them anyway).

keep in mind that tortoise is in another field altogether. john mcentire is a musical/production genius. i feel bad if you haven't picked up a lazarus taxon - a must for any hardcore tortoise fan.

another great band on that scene is the mercury program. from the vapors of gasoline is a good album and egypt is probably their best song (which don't believe is on that album).

assuming a lot of you heard these bands already, but for the benefit of those who may have not...

secret machines - now here is nowhere (amazing album)

sigur ros - takk... (in my cd player forever)

mice parade - bem-vida vontade (adam pierce is king)

lymbyc systym - love your abuser (good stuff here!!)

halloween, alaska - self-titled (heard a couple tracks _ enjoyed it)

blonde redhead - misery is a butterfly (love it or hate it - i personally love it)

THE MOTET -instrumental dissent (how many times do i have to tell you people)

GOODBYE CHAMPION - paper boat (free ep... what excuse do you have. contact the band and get it) myspace.com/goodbyechampion

Colin wrote:keep in mind that tortoise is in another field altogether. john mcentire is a musical/production genius. i feel bad if you haven't picked up a lazarus taxon - a must for any hardcore tortoise fan.

another great band on that scene is the mercury program. from the vapors of gasoline is a good album and egypt is probably their best song (which don't believe is on that album).

secret machines - now here is nowhere (amazing album)

ive been wanting to check out tortoise forever. i think i will soon. and thanks for the mercury program mention.

that SM album is great. the follow up not so much, and i heard the guitarist just left the band, but the band still plans on staying together.

i wasnt digging ten silver drops either. also i dont suggest starting to get into tortoise with "a lazarus taxon", a b-sides album. i suggest tnt or all the earlier stuff. it all depends on what your into. it took me a while to really love and appreciate stuff on "it's all around you" and "standards." seeing it played live on youtube and reading about mcentire's process a bit (the whole manipulation of actual instruments) made the process of understanding it a lot faster. below is a link to a cool jambase interview with the man himself.


http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=4914

http://www.myspace.com/ilad

for Tortoise fans, check out Ilad. The bass player is a friend of mine. They were recently in Chicago recording with John McEntire. The first song on their myspace page is National Flags, and it is a product of those recordings.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Colin wrote: mice parade - bem-vida vontade (adam pierce is king)

lymbyc systym - love your abuser (good stuff here!!)

blonde redhead - misery is a butterfly (love it or hate it - i personally love it)

great mice parade album. i just copped a early advance copy of their/his new one coming out later this year. very cool stuff, much in this vein. more of the girl from mum, pop song structures, etc

that lymbyc systym album is fucking awesome. quite a departure from their last ep. guitars, horns, and more of a shoe gaze feel in places

im stoked to see blonde redhead at the mercury lounge in may. should be a really cool show.

new music:

Espers - Espers II (really awesome psych-folk)

Kierbdan Heidan (sp?) (Four Tet) and Steve Reid - Tongues (im really digging this, I wish Steve Reid would vary up his beats a little bit more and maybe do more washes of percussion to fit the electronics a little bit more and make it just a little less beat driven but its still a really cool album)

Six Organs of Admittance - everything (fucking awesome!!! i really recommend him to anyone. droning psych folk with free jazz percussion)

Sunburned Hand of Man - Wedlock, Anatomy, Rare Wood - (AWESOME! they played at my college recently and despite sound problems and an empty room, was a great show. psych-rock, kinda Dead-ish in places, like 73 dark star jazzy dead-ish)

Tongues is out? Nice. I have one of the two improv live albums those two did, and it's good, but seeing their Langerado set with the Tongues songs I expect that album to be much better (and they looked like they were having a really good time playing too). Awesome combination.

anyone here into Panda Bear (of Animal Collective fame)'s new album? man this is some addictive shit, I've been listening to it nonstop for the past week. that and the new Andrew Bird one.

tyler wrote:anyone here into Panda Bear (of Animal Collective fame)'s new album? man this is some addictive shit, I've been listening to it nonstop for the past week. that and the new Andrew Bird one.

yeah, 'person pitch' is awesome. i love his melodies. as i mentioned in 'shows&reviews', i have a dilema being that i have a ticket to his show in june but it looks like the BAM will be playing the same night not too far away and i never miss the slip when they come within a two hour radius. but being that panda currently lives in portugal, this is one of 4 shows he's doing, and it's a homecoming of sorts(he's originally from baltimore) well, let's just say it's testing my loyalty

oh yeah, over the last week i've gotten pretty addicted to the album 'writer's block' by peter bjorn and john. really good stuff!

I really like PB&J as well as Andrew Bird.

the new blonde redhead album '23' is pretty awesome.