As the July 24th release date approaches, John Vanderslice is revealing more and more of his Emerald City. Above is Time To Go, the first video from the record, along with a link to Mr. Vanderslice’s Myspace page where you can stream the ENTIRE album for a limited time. Eat it up, kids![stream] The entire Emerald City album @ http://www.myspace.com/johnvanderslice
I’m not sure I like what is going on in the new Interpol video for ‘the Heinrich Maneuver’- actually, I’m not sure what’s going on, period. There seems to be some cryptic, minimalist message hidden somewhere, perhaps even an allegory.
I really need to go back to school and take an art class.
As far as the song itself it is pretty much by-the-numbers Interpol. I listened to the first three songs off the band’s up coming Our Love to Admire on MTV’s the Leak and I wasn’t very impressed at all. Unless I get blindsided by a stellar second half, it looks like Turn on the Bright Lights will continue to hold the throne as Interpol’s best. Speaking of which, I haven’t been able to locate my copy of Bright Lights for the past few months and I don’t have the mp3 files on my computer. I do have the vinyl version but I am too lazy to hook up my record player right now. Sounds like I am in a pickle, doesn’t it.
That boring nugget was my attempt at getting more personal with all of you. How did it feel?
Truthfully, the thing I enjoyed most about Wolf Parade’s critically acclaimed Apologies to the Queen Mary was Dan Boeckner and his unique singing voice. Perhaps that is why I consider myself a fan of Boeckner’s other band the Handsome Furs. The voice is there in all its glory, hovering above a desert of drum beats and accoustic guitar (which are provided by Boeckner’s real life spouse Alexei Perry). Unlike some of SubPop’s other recent releases (*cough* Jenifer Gentle *cough*), this is some good old fashioned indie rock I can get behind.
[mp3] The Handsome Furs - What We Had
And just because:
[mp3] Jenifer Gentle - Electric Princes
John Vanderslice promised fans a ‘band’ record and that is exactly what he delivers with his latest record Emerald City.
Unlike 2005’s Pixel Revolt which employed heavy electronic bleeps and studio magic, the soft-spoken, slow paced songs featured on Emerald City live and die by their nakedness. The best way to decribe the record is to imagine ‘Trance Manual’ without all the bells, chimes, and studio tinkering. The peacefully moving instruments and soothing vocals have been arranged in a format that is built for the live setting rather than the record. Almost every sound you hear is able to be reproduced live by the band which unfortunately couldn’t be said for Pixel Revolt. After all is said and done, Revolt may be the better album and a bigger leap between records but the songs on Emerald City look to be a better addition to his live set.
The first single ‘White Dove’ is the most upbeat and probably the most familiar Vanderslice song on the record. His strong vocal delivery is reminscent of his Time Travel is Lonely days and the distortion on the acoustic guitars remind me a bit of Neutral Milk Hotel, who Vanderslice has openly expressed admiration for. Download the track now from Barsuk.com where you can also pre-order the record before its July 24th release date.
[mp3] John Vanderslice - White Dove
