20080421

New Mates of State song


















Mates of State just premiered the first song on their new record, called "Get Better." Not only is the song shockingly different for the band, it is outstanding. You can hear the song and watch the hysterical video on their Myspace page. The new album, "Re-Arrange Us", will be released May 20 on Barsuk Records.

Here are the song titles:

  1. "Get Better"
  2. "Now"
  3. "My Only Offer"
  4. "The Re-Arranger"
  5. "Jigsaw"
  6. "Blue and Gold Print"
  7. "Help Help"
  8. "You Are Free"
  9. "Great Dane"
  10. "Lullaby Haze"

20080415

The Alchemy Index


















I have been waiting for this day for a LONG time. Thrice's entire Alchemy Index is available for purchse. Fire & Water released last October, Air & Earth released TODAY. Four discs, four styles, 24 songs. One of the most unique music releases I have ever heard. The project exceeded all of the expecations I had for it.

Cheapest place to buy the albums digitally is HERE.
Cheapest place to buy the physical CDs is HERE.

A 4 x 10 inch vinyl set, which will come in a hard-back book, is in the works.

20080414

Explosions in the Sky


explosions in the sky
Originally uploaded by jaredswafford

I didn't take this picture, but it is from the Explosions in the Sky concert last night that I attened in Atlanta at the Variety Playhouse. The show was excellent. With the exception of the symphony or something like that, this was the first instrumental concert I have ever been to. For those of you unfamiliar with Explosions in the Sky, they did the soundtrack for the movie 'Friday Night Lights.' They actually sound a lot like their name. The dynamics were awesome, all four of the guys were really passionate and intense.

In case you were wondering, the image in the header of my blog is the artwork for Explosions in the Sky most recent record. You can buy it here.

Explosions in the Sky is in a genre of music called post-rock, which I have recently been getting more into. My brother has liked post-rock for years, and forever has been telling me about Godspeed you Black Emperor! and Mogwai. I have been listening to tons of Mogwai recently, as you can see in my Last.fm playlist to the right of this page. Generally vocals and lyrics are my favorite part of music, so listening to music without those things has been different.

The opening artist was Lichens, a solo guy playing ambient music. He played one "song" that lasted 20 minutes. I have listened to a little ambient music, but never seen it performed live. Very strange but enjoyable.

Matt Slocum of Sixpence None the Richer has a great current interview here. He talks a lot about the reformation of the band and what their goals are. Sixpence recently played a concert in Nashville that was broadcast live on Lightning 100 and streamed live online. Many people recorded it (including myself), and you can find download links on this message board.

The second part of Thrice's Alchemy Index releases tomorrow- buy it!