Tag: Music

Almost, Not Yet, Already: Rain for Roots’s New Advent Album (and a Chance to Get the CD Free)

 

Cover Art by A. Micah Smith
Cover Art by A. Micah Smith

 

There are notoriously few tools for parents to use in engaging Advent with their kids. Rain for Roots this year offers a new and creative resource, Waiting Songs. The album is a joy to listen to, even as it draws out the difficulty of waiting, and helps the listeners to enter into the sometimes awkward liminal space of Advent.

The band explains the genesis of the album:

 

 

Here’s a brief, track-by-track overview.

1. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The album begins with a beautiful, stripped down version of my favorite Advent hymn. I’ve always taken this song to be the quintessential articulation of both Advents (so far!) of Christ. What better place to begin a season of waiting (“until the Son of God appear”) than with this classic prayer-hymn?

 

2. Come Light Our Hearts

The full band is in on track 2: guitars, piano, lots of great harmonies, bass, banjo, drums…. Sandra McCracken affirms,

For you, O Lord, our souls in stillness wait

Truly our hope is in you

It’s a compelling and reassuring waltz, giving language to those who wait.

 

RainForRoots94

 

3. Isaiah 11

Next is a twangy, string-bending, rollicking country-ish number. “A little child will lead them,” sing some wonderful mothers! Partway through there is a child reading from Isaiah 11:10, using Eugene Peterson’s Message. The song goes from, “A good, good king will lead them” to, “A good, good king will lead us.”

 

4. Every Valley (It’s Hard to Wait)

Have you ever wondered how to explain Advent to a child? This gentle bluesy, soulful song does a great job:

When you write a letter to a friend

And you don’t know when

You’ll hear back again

It’s hard to wait

It’s hard to wait

So hard to wait

When the one you love leaves on a plane

And you’ll know that she’ll

Come back some day

It’s hard to wait

It’s hard to wait

So hard to wait

BUT!

There is gonna to be a day

Every low valley he will raise

There is gonna to be a day

Hills and mountains gonna be made plain

There is gonna be a day

Winding roads gonna be made straight

Comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort!

I noticed it was getting awfully dusty in my room as that song played.

 

5. The Weight of the World

I’m not a lover of the kind of the stylized vocals that carry this track, but the song itself is—like all the others—a good one: memorable, meaningful, and singable.

 

6. Mary Consoles Eve

First of all, I just saw this “Mary Consoles Eve” image last Advent for the first time ever.

 

“Virgin Mary Consoles Eve,” Sister Grace Remington, http://www.mississippiabbey.org

 

And now there’s a song that accompanies it perfectly:

Almost, not yet, already

Almost, not yet, already

And

Eve, it’s Mary

Now I’m a mother, too

The child I carry

A promise coming true

This baby comes to save us from our sin

A servant King, his kingdom without end

This whole album is so catchy and well-written–even more so than their previous album on the Kingdom of God, if that were possible!–and this is perhaps the song that will stick with listeners the most.

 

7. Zechariah

“Zechariah” is pretty funny, because not only is the story of Zechariah’s speechlessness kind of funny (in retrospect! probably wasn’t for him), but this song gives kids and parents a chance to talk and sing in a babbling, tongue-tied manner.

 

8. Magnificat

“Magnificat” is another catchy—if somewhat somber—tune. This track stands out less to me than some of the others, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be hitting fast-forward when it comes to track 8 on the album. Flo Paris Oakes’s vocals and Kenny Hutson’s guitar and mandolin work call to mind Lead Me On-era Amy Grant… which is, now that I think about it, the album I am going to listen to while I work on my sermon this morning.

 

9. Great Rejoicing

Yet more beautiful lyrics:

The troubles of this world

Will wither up and die

That river of tears made by the lonely

Someday will be dry

There’s gonna be a great rejoicing

Also, while playing this song with my wife and three-year-old in the room, I asked my wife, “Do you like this music?” To which my three-year-old replied, “I DO like this music!” The pedal steel and Skye Peterson’s lead vocals partway through the song are icing on the cake.

 

Don't you want to hang out with these awesome people? Next best thing: put this album on repeat
Don’t you want to hang out with these awesome people? Next best thing: put this album on repeat

 

10. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Waiting Songs ends much as it began: with a beautiful, stripped down version of a classic Advent hymn. (Side note to worship leaders: yes, there are Advent hymns in the hymnal! And you should sing the few of them that exist as many times as you can in the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.)

Rain for Roots’s addition to the hymn will stay with you for days, even after your first time hearing it:

We are waiting

We are waiting

We are waiting for You.

McCracken’s “Hallelujah, what a Savior!” background vocals float above the “We are waiting,” bringing the album to a satisfying close. Advent purists ought to be able to overlook the use of “the H-word” during Advent here. Or does “Hallelujah” sung on top of “We are waiting for you” deliberately point to Christ’s third Advent, when he comes again in glory?

 

Final Thoughts and Where to Get It (or Win It)

 

I really love this record, not just for myself, but for my kids, and for any other kids and families that have the privilege of hearing it! Also, I’m totally going to teach some of these songs to our congregation during our intergenerational Sunday school hour this Advent. They’re excellent.

I was a big fan of Rain for Roots’s previous album, too–it is still on regular rotation in our house, especially on road trips. But Waiting Songs even tops The Kingdom of Heaven is Like This. It’s a remarkable record.

The album releases November 10. You can (and should) pre-order it here. AND… three more cool things for you before you go:

  1. Rain for Roots is performing an online/streaming concert to celebrate the album’s release. Find out more here.
  2. If you use the discount code WotW you can get 20% off the album when you pre-order (in various formats) here. That code is good through November 9, the day before the album releases. (EDIT: Should have clarified–the code is applicable just to the digital download option.)
  3. Want to have a chance to win a physical copy of the CD, courtesy of Rain for Roots? I’ll randomly select two winners from the comments below. For one entry, simply answer the question, “What is Advent to you?” Or, you know, just say, “Yo.” For a second entry, share a link to this post on Facebook or Twitter, and come back here to the comments to tell me you did. I’ll announce the two winners in a week.

 

 

Thanks so much for the good folks at Rain for Roots for the pre-release stream of the album so I could review it.

5 Years Later… A Review of The Innocence Mission’s New Album

Hello I Feel the Same album cover

 

The last Innocence Mission release was 2010’s My Room in the Trees. I’ve been a big fan of the band since I inquired about my youth minister’s copy of Glow on top of the youth group boombox in the mid-90s. My Room in the Trees, however, stood out to me as one of their best. It featured the amazing “God is Love”:

God is love, and love will never fail me

God is love, and love will never fail me

If I’m driving there today

And I really am this afraid

God is love, and love will never fail me.

I’ve quoted it from the pulpit before and have sung it to myself not a few times.

I listened to that song and album in the midst of some dear friends moving out of our triple-decker community house (“Some birds I know are moving on this weekend”). I needed to hear “God is Love,” because we were in the midst of a major transition: our second child was soon to be born.

Without recounting the entire birth story here, I can simply say that his safe arrival left us in tears–more than the “usual” baby-being-born kind of tears. Some last-minute delivery challenges gave us quite a scare–but then there was baby #2, safely being cuddled by his mom and me. It may seem a small thing to The Innocence Mission to sing, “Stay calm… stay calm,” but that line from North American Field Song carried me through some shared moments of difficulty. I still think that is the best song they’ve ever recorded, and one of the very few songs I would ever consider calling “perfect.”

 

* * * * * * *

 

This Friday The Innocence Mission releases Hello I Feel the Same, their first album since My Room in the Trees.

If you are still, 20 years later, longing for the killer drums of 1995’s “That Was Another Country” (my second favorite track of theirs), or the opening track to 1991’s Umbrella, you will be left waiting again till next time. (Every new Innocence Mission I harbor a secret hope that Karen and Don Peris will ply their trade with a rocking band behind them. I’m long-suffering.) Mr. Peris does, however, lay down a sweet drum groove on “Barcelona,” the album’s fourth track. It’s like a fresh-water version of recent Mark Kozelek. The drums make another cameo before the album ends.

The first two tracks are classic Innocence Mission, with just a touch of drums and subtle bass harmonica (!) coming in a minute or so into the second song. Don Peris’s high-register guitar arpeggios and pleasingly breathy background vocals complement Karen Paris’s good-as-they’ve-ever-sounded vocals.

Track 3, “Washington Field Trip,” is this album’s “North American Field Song”–at least as I listen to it. Here is the band, only “wanting to be helpful in this life,” helping–whether they mean to or not–by laying down a devastatingly beautiful song with actually perfect piano tone. Never was a three-note melody in a chorus so haunting. The Perises, again, get into soul territory:

I do not want fear to hold me

I don’t want to be kept from loving at all

The longest song on the album is 3:43. Four songs don’t even reach the three-minute mark. You want all of these songs to keep going, but therein lies the duo’s approach and artistry.

Highlights include “Blue and Yellow” (what The Truman Show might have sounded like had Karen and Don Peris scored the movie) as well as the moving (and highly singable) tribute, “Fred Rogers,” which calls to mind Lancaster, PA (and, now that I think about it, maybe also heaven):

And you know I hate to drive

Maybe I’ll see you at the station

“The Color Green” features viola and violin and closes the album in a wonderfully fitting way–ascending piano with gorgeous melody in the right hand, joined by all manner of longing-inducing string parts.

And darn it if the song doesn’t resolve to the tonic at the end! One hopes The Innocence Mission will not make their listeners wait five more years to hear what’s next.

Hello I Feel the Same is another excellent effort from some beautiful makers of art and music.

 

 

Thanks to The Innocence Mission’s publicity team for early access to the album for the review. I’m sure it’s available on Amazon and iTunes, but why not support the band more directly? Check out the album at their Bandcamp page here.

Review of Audiosharp AS1130 Earbuds

 

Earbuds 2
Image via Audiosharp

 

After I ran a 5K my sweet three-year old picked off one of my earbud covers and left it who-knows-where. So I’ve been in search of a good replacement. Audiosharp’s AS1130 earbuds (currently on sale for $25 at Amazon) have been an exceptional choice for every-day headphones.

Here are the specs from Audiosharp:

 

  • Perfect design: Solid all-metal construction even down to the plugs, Three size soft silicone ear buds provide a super comfortable, secure fit and One Compact rugged case for safe storage are included.
  • Accurately reproduce clear natural vocals: High intensity listening experience with crisp, clear sound and deep powerful bass, Ultra-fast,accurate speaker design delivers the full details of today’s digital music with extreme clarity and deep bass.
  • Awesome noise reduction: Sealed in-ear design reduces external noise for a better music experience. the voice is still clear over the din of the store so you can enjoy uninterrupted music on the go.
  • High Performance: High Quality Tangle Free Cable.Micro-strand wire and flux tube for clear audio with reduced interference.Innovative, cable design is ultra-flexible and tangle free.
  • Audiosharp Features: Audiosharp is the most professional headset seller, Our products are designed by high-end designers and rigorous professional inspection. All Audiosharp products come with a 1-year warranty.

Most surprising was the packaging in which the earbuds arrived. It’s impressive, if excessive:

 

Image via Audiosharp
Image via Audiosharp

 

The carrying case is especially cool–and useful! It’s easy to wrap the earbuds up and store them in their protective cover:

 

Earbuds in case

 

The construction is high-grade, and these appear to be earbuds that will last a long time. The all-metal design looks cool, too:

 

Earbuds

 

Cable

 

As for the sound, the quality greatly exceeds what I expected for an under-$30 set of earbuds. Bass is fully present (but not overly so), and highs and mids are clear. It’s definitely an upgrade from the standard issue Apple set.

Having the earbuds in really does silence outside noise, too. They’re not noise-cancelling (nor do they claim to be), but noise-reducing, for sure.

They stay in my ears well even when I’ve got them outside on a run–a non-negotiable for me with a set of earbuds, and a feature which seems to be missing in most kinds that I’ve tried.

If you’re looking for greater sound quality than what you get with a $5 pair of earbuds, but for something that won’t break the bank and will last you a long time, Audiosharp’s AS1130 earbuds are an excellent option.

 

 

Thanks to Audiosharp for the review sample, given to me for purposes of review but with no expectation as to the content of this post. Find the earbuds here.

A Guided Listen Through Caspian’s Dust and Disquiet

Dust and Disquiet Cover

 

Caspian’s Dust and Disquiet releases Friday. At the time of writing, you can stream the whole album via the New York Times here. Or you can just take my word for it and buy it for yourself now (iTunes/Amazon/band), and listen as you read through this track-by-track review.

 

1. Separation No. 2 (3:09)

 

The album fades in with a gorgeous opening track. Is that a saxophone? I wondered on my first few listens through. Then felt embarrassed to learn my brass knowledge is not what it should be. It’s Jon Green on the trumpet. With effects. On top of a lovely guitar. Beverly, Mass. never knew so sweet a sound.

After the three tracks Caspian previewed to introduce the album’s release, I was not expecting the soft, gentle sound of “Separation No. 2.” The lush tones, layers, guitar swells… everything is in sync. It’s one of the more evocative album intros I can remember hearing. Strings, brass, acoustic and electric guitars… YES.

The track is a mere 3:09, so leaves something to be desired. But you realize it’s the first of a pair, really. It’s the call to the response of the second track.

 

2. Ríoseco (7:52)

 

I could listen to this Caspian all day. The drums finally enter the record, about half a minute in. One wonders, too, if the bass’s album entrance only at 1:01 is deliberate–a sort of silence to honor the life and now absence of late bassist Chris Friedrich. (Also, now that you’re thinking about that, look again at the album cover.)

By 1:51 everyone is in and in lockstep. Guitars, bass, drums, effects strings–you get the feeling the band is just doing their thing for themselves, and you’re lucky enough to get to listen in.

“Ríoseco” is a really moving track. This is post-rock (or whatever) at its best… with pedal steel. No, it’s not country; it’s just awesome. I hope the band will be complimented and not bothered by the comparison with this track to (the best of) early-2000-era Mogwai.

 

3. Arcs of Command (8:49)

 

Caspian, you know, has a propensity to pull in ex-emo kids like me with the interlocking, layered, warm guitar parts, and then double their volume and quadruple the distortion. “Arcs of Command” begins more aggressively. Now that Caspian has got you all teary-eyed, they’re ready to rock those tears right off your face.

And dang it if they’re not going to do it in 5/4 time! Until they decide, that is, to turn the track into a blistering waltz. And that’s not the last time in the song they’ll change time signatures.

Especially after the first two tracks, the listener may well ask: What is this, a metal record? Caspian asks a lot of their listeners in this song, most of whom will be thrilled to oblige.

 
4. Echo and Abyss (5:45)
 

Where can you go after the heavy “Arcs of Command”? To another heavy song, of course, the build-up in which barely takes any time at all.

The (heavily processed) vocals cry out, as from an abyss, “Speak to me! Speak to me!”

 
5. Run Dry (4:36)
 

“Run Dry” is the albums “Whaaa…?” moment. The acoustic guitar with clearly audible vocals (“We are wide awake now….”) evoke Bruce Cockburn more than anything in Caspian’s back catalog.

Have we heard Calvin Joss sing before? After hearing him partway through Dust and Disquiet, we who love this instrumental band might still want more of his vocals in future records and/or side projects.

 
6. Equal Night (1:57)
 

A short two minutes serve as a sort of coda to the previous track. “Equal Night” brings the first part of the album (at least as I interpret it) to a close and prepares the listener for the second half.

 
7. Sad Heart of Mine (4:27)
 

The opening arpeggios call to mind the start of the record. If this were a cassette tape, it would be the perfect first track to Side B. This time, though, there’s a bit more of a joyful feel, or at least a post-catharsis mood, having worked through the first six tracks.

All of which is (deliberately?) ironic, given the track’s title.

 
8. Darkfield (6:36)
 

Don’t get me wrong–this is a fine song, and Caspian rarely if ever puts out what fans would consider a dud, but I found this track to be not as remarkable as the others. I was actually relieved for a bit of a break, in that sense, because there are still 13 minutes to go.

Take my assessment with a grain of salt, though–I’m a sucker for their quieter stuff. If you like the heavier, industrial sounds Caspian sometimes reaches for, you’ll likely love the track.

 
9. Aeternum Vale (2:08)
 

Another interlude, this one featuring some nylon-string guitar. It’s good in its own right, but seems needful preparation for the album’s long and (you guessed it) epic closing track.

 
10. Dust and Disquiet (11:26)
 

The album’s title track is classic Caspian. There are lots of dynamic shifts, builds, swells, memorable melodies, grooves, and tremolo picking. Lesser bands might give up on such a song and split it into multiple tracks. Not these guys.

And, no, 11 minutes is not too long for this track. It’s the exact length it needs to be to do what Caspian wants it to do.

The riff they finally end on will stay in your mind (and maybe even your heart, dare I say) long after the album ends.

 

* * * * * * *

 

The fall is here, and you need good music in your life. I’m grateful to Caspian for making such a thoughtful, emotive, meaningful, and well-executed album. I’ve already listened to it a dozen times, and even introduced my seven-year-old and five-year-old to it. (They’re fans now.) I will listen many more times to this record.

Check it out for yourself now (iTunes/Amazon/band). The album releases Friday, September 25.

 

——

 

Thanks to the good folks of Stunt Company for the album download for review. And many thanks to Caspian for making this record!

6 Most-Visited Posts at Words on the Word

It’s been a quiet week at Words on the Word. Don’t worry–I’ve been working on some future posts, not the least of which is a review of the new Caspian record. In the meantime, just for fun, here are the top six posts that keep people coming back to the blog, based on traffic, in increasing order.

6. First Look at Logos 6: New Features and Screenshots

5. How to Read and Understand the Göttingen Septuagint: A Short Primer, part 1

4. Why did Jesus tell the disciples not to tell anyone about him?

3. Review of Sony SRS-BTS50 Bluetooth Wireless Speaker

(I’ve got a review of Logitech’s new BOOM 2 coming soon….)

2. Bonhoeffer’s Last Words, Before He Was Hanged (70 Years Ago Today)

1. Which Bible software program should I buy? Comparison of BibleWorks, Accordance, and Logos

(This review is three years old, and could be updated to include the new versions of all three, but many of the comments still hold.)

More anon….

Review of SHARKK® 15W Bluetooth Wireless Speaker

 

I’ve been jamming to some sweet tunes with SHARKK’s 15W Bluetooh Wireless Speaker recently. I’ve used it around the house for some organizing projects, as well as took it on a trip with me.

Here are the full specs from SHARKK:

◦ Rock the House with this Powerful 15 Watt Bluetooth Speaker with 2200Ah Lithium Battery which supports up to 10 consecutive hours of playing time.

◦ Subwoofer + high-performance amplifier combine for incredible volume and high quality sound.

◦ Can also be used to charge your phone or other rechargeable USB devices with its built in Power Bank.

◦ Supports AUX, Bluetooth 4.0, and NFC with Siri/S Voice Functionality. Make and receive phone calls with the built-in Mic.

◦ Includes Charger, Carrying Pouch, and a 3.5mm audio cable.

Here is what it looks like out of the box (images via SHARKK):

 

 

Sharkk Speaker: What’s Awesome

Battery percentage indicator

 

You can see the battery level right next to the phone battery percentage—it’s always visible from the device from which you are streaming music. There’s no real battery life indicator on the speaker itself, so being able to see it from your device is neat.

 

Sound decent for cost

 

The sound is good for the cost. Not stellar, but solid. The bass is noticeable, if not wholly sufficient, and the highs and the mids come out, though perhaps not as crisply as one might want for a speaker at $80. Still, the sound is decent.

 

It remembers your device

 

Once you connect a device to the speaker via Bluetooth, the SHARKK speaker remembers it, so you don’t have to keep setting it up each time. I really appreciated this.

 

Totally portable

 

The speaker fits on a towel rack in the shower room. It’s easy to hold in one hand and move around the house to follow you from room to room. Highly portable and light enough to carry around, if you want.

 

What’s Not Awesome

The speaker died one night

 

One night, for no reason that I can discern, the speaker died. I charged it overnight. It still didn’t work. I charged it a second night. Still nothing. Then on the third day (I don’t mean this to be a religious parallel), it sprang back to life and has been working fine since.

Support was responsive throughout the issue, but I never could figure out why the speaker stopped responding like that.

 

No remote control

 

Lacking is a remote way to control the speaker. You cannot do it via remote control or from your phone. I know it’s not a huge deal to get out of your chair to turn it on or off, but a speaker in this price range should support remote control.

 

Play/pause button flashes

 

The play/pause button flashes blue when the speaker is on. I noticed this one night in the middle of the night from across the room, when I had forgotten to turn the speaker off. A minor nuisance, and certainly not a deal-breaker. But an auto-off feature would be nice.

 

Cloth carrying case

 

The speaker comes with a cloth carrying case, which is handy, but doesn’t do much to protect the speaker. On a recent trip where I wanted to take the speaker (it is very portable), I just packed the speaker up in its original box, which was a much better solution.

 

+ and – buttons

 

It’s awesome that you can play and pause your iTunes or even Spotify app from the speaker itself. One tricky thing, though, is that the “+” button fast forwards the track. Only holding the button turns the volume up (the expected result from a button like that). So, too, with the “-” button. It turns the volume down, but only if you hold it. Otherwise it rewinds the track. I found this less than intuitive, and still think it’s an odd design decision, but I got used to it over time (mostly). It is nice to be able to change tracks from the speaker itself.

 

Concluding Evaluation

I can recommend the speaker, but only with the reservations above. I’m not sure it would be my first choice for a sub-$100 speaker, but it does have some nice features that make it an attractive option worth considering.

Find the speaker here (SHARKK) or here (Amazon).

 

Thanks to SHARKK for the review sample, given to me for purposes of review but with no expectation as to the content of this post.

Review of Teen Daze’s Morning World: Do Yourself a Favor and Listen to This Amazing Album. Right Now.

 

It’s already August, so I’ll just call it now: Teen Daze’s Morning World is 2015’s Album of the Year.

Two weeks ago I had never heard of Teen Daze, impoverished soul that I was. The lush, arpeggiated riff that opens the album on “Valley of Gardens” drew me immediately in.

Then Jamison, genius behind Teen Daze, sweetly sings:

I went down
To see what the pond had collected.
A valley of gardens
Muted the sound of the hills.
And the rain had ended
I can smell the leaving of winter.
Blue and green, now:
I feel them in every sentence.

…which is a good thing, because there aren’t that many sentences on this record. Jamison doesn’t need many lyrics, though, because (a) the ones he uses are plenty evocative and (b) the music is expressive, creative, intricately layered, and speaks for itself.

After my first listen or two, I described Teen Daze’s sound as if The Lassie Foundation were covering Badly Drawn Boy songs, with some mid-1990s James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) sprinkled in. The drums are perfect, the riffs are unforgettable, and the production (John Vanderslice, mastered by Bob Weston) is outstanding.

But then on about my fourth listen through, I noticed the strings. Oh, those strings. They really make the album. Cello and rock and roll were made for each other. And these parts are perfectly orchestrated.

Morning World somehow has a way of evoking so many bands I’ve loved over the last couple decades, yet with its own unique sound.

The title track, “Morning World,” is what my college roommate might have called “the perfect pop song.” Its 4:15 duration could easily be 10 minutes, and you wouldn’t mind. Jamison asks in his falsetto:

Should I, drift back
Drift back, into a dream.
Into a dream?

The album pulls the listener into this dream—no, not the dream of the 90s, but visions of the Garden of Eden (“finally a place of endless wonder”). If Teen Daze is suggesting Morning World could have been the Garden’s soundtrack, it’s hard to argue.

But despite the promise that “We can live forever,” and the desire to “believe that this is forever,” mid-album (and the lyrics only allude to it, allowing the music to do the work) the listener realizes something has gone wrong in the Garden. The rest of the record comes to grips with what it means when “forever” actually has an end.

Morning World—released today—is actually a fairly significant departure from Teen Daze’s previous work. I went back and listened to three previous albums, and there’s barely a live drum set or unprocessed guitar part to be found. That older, ambient, synth-heavy stuff is awesome in its own right (and still has a place here), but the new sound serves Teen Daze’s music well.

Also—Teen Daze took just 10 days to make this album. Yes, 10 days—6 for recording and 4 for mixing. There are a few times when this shows–a couple muffled guitar notes here and there–but that comes across and mostly endearing and just adds to the album’s charm. You’d otherwise never know this genius record took less than two weeks to bring to completion.

Get this album as soon as you can, put on a pair of headphones, turn off your device notifications, and enjoy what is easily the best album of the year. Find it here (iTunes) and here (Amazon).

——

Thanks to the good folks of Force Field PR for the album download for review.

This Will Be 2015’s Album of the Year

 

Imagine if The Lassie Foundation covered a suite of Badly Drawn Boy songs, with 1996 James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) sitting in on guitar and vocals.

And then sprinkle in an Eno/Lanois influence. Among other awesomeness.

The new record from Teen Daze–whom I’d never heard from till last week–is stellar.

NPR’s First Listen has the forthcoming Morning World available to stream in its entirety. Listen and read more about the album here.

New Caspian Record: Dust and Disquiet

Dust and Disquiet

 

Caspian has been on heavy (and I mean: heavy) rotation ever since I saw a screening of their concert film Live at the Larcom.

They’ve got a new record coming out this fall, which I suspect will be excellent.

Here’s the track list, with names that portend some epic soundscapes:

01. Separation No. 2
02. Ríoseco
03. Arcs of Command
04. Echo and Abyss
05. Run Dry
06. Equal Night
07. Sad Heart of Mine
08. Darkfield
09. Aeternum Vale
10. Dust and Disquiet

I’ll report back as soon as I can. In the meantime, you can pre-order here or here, and listen to the first released track below (you’ll have to open the post if you’re reading on email or RSS):