Weaver at the Loom

PREVIEW: STREAM Weaver at the Loom’s I Was Searching and Then I Found on their Myspace

Everyone loves Explosions in the Sky. As one of the most innovative bands in the current music scene, Explosions has inspired multiple artists to delve into the world of musical epics. One brainchild of the band is Weaver at the Loom.

Like Explosions, Weaver is comprised of four members who each contribute their musical talents. The difference between the two bands: Weaver features vocals in every song. As was described on their Myspace, Weaver masterfully combines “atmospheric elements of groups like Explosions in the Sky and The Album Leaf with the songwriting grace of compositional masters Death Cab for Cutie and Coldplay.” To add to this wonder, the lyrics of every song on the band’s only album, I Was Searching and Then I Found, flow together to make a story that could be comparable to Eliot’s The Waste Land. Much like Explosions, the album is meant to be listened to from start to finish.

With some of the most beautiful vocals I’ve ever heard and simple yet emotional instrumentation to compliment, I Was Searching and Then I Found could easily be classified into the coveted “album that I could never get tired of listening to” category. If you are listening to the album for the first time, here is what I recommend: play the album all the way through while reading the lyrics. It is honestly a spiritual experience.

–Elizabeth Vogt, Assistant Front-of-Book Editor

Today, Rooftops debut album “A Forest Of Polarity” is available worldwide via an assortment of online music retailers such as Itunes, Amazon and Lala.

You can find samples of the music as well as links to buy digital and physical copies of the album below:

Stream Five Tracks Via Rooftops Myspace

AFoP through Clickpop Records (Physical)

AFoP on Itunes (Digital)

AFoP on Amazon (Digital)

Rooftops Official Website

Enjoy This Live Video As Well.

As is custom mid-month, I get the priviledge to download some new music. This month I downloaded the following:

(click the picture to discover more)

Explosions In The Sky, All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone

Explosions In The Sky, How Strange, Innocence

Explosions In The Sky, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever

all downloads provided by

Rooftops’ debut album “A Forest Of Polarity” (CP014) will be released on November 17th, 2009 on Clickpop Records. With Drew Fitchette, Mark Detrick, and Jonathan McIntyre on guitars and Wendelin Wohlgemuth on drums, Rooftops craft intricate, mathy pop rock with dense counterpoint and sparse vocals. However, the band’s tapped notes, and complex, cross accentuated rhythms are balanced by emotive melodies and moments of delicate beauty. If you need a comparison, imagine the complex power of Don Caballero or Battles, but with the emotional tug of Explosions In The Sky or Mono. AFP expands on the bands intricate math rock sound by adding layers of acoustic guitars, vocals, horns, strings and percussion.

Five brand new songs from “A Forest Of Polarity” are now streaming on the bands Myspace page that you can find at: www.myspace.com/rftps

The album is available for pre-order now on Clickpoprecords.com, and will be available in local stores, on itunes, amazon.com on the 17th. You can also pick up copies from the band directly at the following release shows next weekend:

November 20th 2009
w/ The Mission Orange & Pan Pan
The Rogue Hero
1313 N State St. Bellingham, WA
9:30pm/$5/21+

November 22nd 2009
In-Store Peformance
Everyday Music
115 E Magnolia St. Bellingham, WA
7:00pm/FREE/ALL AGES

Please check out the following links for more information:
Rooftops-
www.myspace.com/rftps
www.rooftopsmusic.net

Clickpop Records-
www.clickpoprecords.com

The Mission Orange-
www.myspace.com/themissionorange

Pan Pan-
www.myspace.com/thepanpan

Only because I thought it was awesome in a secondary school gym/Prom/Homecoming Dance sort of way. Awkward but so incredibly sincere.

I listened to post-rock so much in college I can still feel my life adhering to a constant state of crescendo. I’ll be walking down the street and suddenly it’ll be like the beginning of the first 28 Days movie, a lone mind-guitar chiming in the background; others will join in, the tempo quickens and I end up running away from invisible, swelling orchestras. 

It sounds exciting but, more than anything, it’s scary. Bands like Mogwai, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Mono, Explosions In The Sky, Apse, Tristeza, Saxon Shore, Unwed Sailor … they’ll haunt … your dreams.

Finfangfoom, named for a reoccurring Marvel comic-book character – are what you would call a post-POST-rock band. Their guitar arpeggios, bass gallops and high-hat taps drain every ounce of drama from every measure, to be sure.

But there’s more to it than that; Virginia, we have vocals! Finfangfoom’s singer sounds a lot like Jake Snider from Minus The Bear, maybe with a deeper timbre. I can take ‘r leave the vocals, but they’re not near as annoying as those of Minus The Bear because the arrangements are fluid and consistently engaging.

Despite this quality, I don’t care for Foom’s breed of p-p-rock enough to recommend Monomyth with too much enthusiasm, especially when bands like Appleseed Cast, Isis, Pelican, Red Stars Theory (well, maybe not them) have done this before and done it just a lil’-bit better (save Two Conversations; yuck).

There are times, mostly during “Exploding Coast,” where F-f-foom show signs of breaking out of their shell. In the end though, tedium becomes a part-time companion Monomyth can’t shake.

I guess it doesn’t get plainer than that. As with groups like Anoice and many of the herd mentioned four paragraphs up, I respect what they’re doing but, respectfully, often reach for something else when it’s time to ROCK-circa-ROLL.

* Título estilo versão brasileira Herbert Richards. O original é Starsearcher, como é possível ver embaixo, na caixa do Youtube. Poderia ser pior, alguma coisa do tipo “Viagem insólita”, “Um Futuro Muito Louco”, ou então os clássicos título-spoiler (marque o texto entre as setas para para ler) –>“Robô suicida e a Salvadora da Esperança”<–.

O vídeo é sensacional, e tem a trilha toda de trechos de Godspeed You Black Emperor! e Explosions In The Sky.

Ah, e foi feito por um universitário como trabalho de conclusão de curso. Classy.

Enrolei muito? Lá vai então.

If you’ve never seen or heard Explosions in the Sky – or even if you have – you owe it to yourself to watch this video.  The band dispenses with vocals in favor of sprawling, intricate – and, at times, earth-shakingly heavy – arrangements that manage to sound like nothing else out there.  Can I get away with the phrase “sonic cathedrals”?  Well, there it is.  Sonic cathedrals.  Nothing else quite fits.  This is “Memorial,” the centerpiece of their 2003 album, The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place. Stick with it; the reward will come.  Holy cow, I love this band.

Atlas Sound – “Walkabout (W/ Noah Lennox)” – Logos

Phoenix – “One Time Too Many” – It’s Never Been Like That

Four Tet – “Ribbons” – Ringer

She & Him – “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” – (500) Days of Summer Soundtrack

Devandra Banhant – “Quetate Luna” – Cripple Crow

Explosions In The Sky – “Your Hands In Mine” – Friday Night Lights Soundtrack

Grizzly Bear & Feist – “Service Bell” – Dark Was The Night

Though it’s hard for me to believe, The Guitar Show is now a year old. This week, as I prepare a special program to mark this first anniversary, I’ve been reflecting on my dream of having a weekly radio show, and where my efforts have led thus far.

It all started in fall 2008, when my producer, John Haring, offered to “loan” me his two-hour, Thursday night slot on Radio Free Nashville. I’d already visited the station’s website several times and toyed with the idea of pitching a guitar-centric show, but had never taken any action. Having a time slot dangled in front of me was all it took to get things rolling.

After discussions with the station’s program director, Beau Hunter (who also hosts several intriguing shows of his own, including a psychedelic beauty called “Strange Daze” that precedes mine each Thursday night), I was given the green light to launch my program.

Originally, I called it Guitarmania, and this moniker lasted for 32 shows. When John Haring was alert enough to grab the domain name theguitarshow.com when it came up for renewal, we decided that The Guitar Show better reflected the diversity of the music I was playing and would have less of a shred-fest, monster truck rally, or professional wrestling vibe. To differentiate my show from other events, such as vintage guitar conventions or TV programs in other countries, we tacked my name onto the program title and The Guitar Show with Andy Ellis was born.

Right from the start I’ve included interviews with guitarists along with eclectic music. At first, the interview clips came from my personal archives, recordings I’d made during my 15+ years at Guitar Player magazine. As the show gained momentum, I began recording new interviews specifically for each week’s program.

In addition to being exciting for me—I’m an active guitarist and have an insatiable curiosity about all things guitar—interviewing guitarists provides a way for their music and ideas to be heard in an increasingly restrictive radio environment. As commercial radio becomes more rigid and conservative, it falls to community stations—as small as they are—to provide a forum for creative musicians to be heard. I want to know what Kelly Joe Phelps or Mike Keneally is thinking, and how such adventurous players approach music in the early 21st century. I know I’m not the only one out there who enjoys exploring music that crosses stylistic borders and eras. If the big girls and boys aren’t going to let this happen, then indie broadcasters are going to step up to the plate and do the job. I’m honored to count myself among them.

There have been several milestones in this broadcast year. The first was a Q&A that Guitar Player published in their March ‘09 issue about my show (which was still called Guitarmania when the article was written), called “On-Air Guitar.” You can download a PDF of this piece at our site. The article expanded my audience tremendously—thanks GP!

We passed another milestone when a second station picked up my weekly program. Broadcasting out of San Antonio, Texas, Dewberry Jam also increased my audience by broadcasting the program on Friday and Saturday nights. Between Radio Free Nashville and Dewberry Jam—both of which stream online—The Guitar Show can currently be heard three nights a week, around the planet via the web. Like Radio Free Nashville, Dewberry Jam is an indie operation with a big soul. Click here for their program schedule.

Over the course of 52+ shows, I’ve slowly discovered my voice and refined my programming instincts. Of course, I’ve got a long way to go before I’m satisfied, but, just like playing in a band, you get better the more you step up to the mic.

I’ll let you decide if I’m going forward or backward in my hosting skills. Here’s my intro to show 01, broadcast on October 23, 2008.

And this is my intro to show 53, broadcast a year later on October 22, 2009.

Okay, I don’t possess that “big DJ” voice. (Frankly, I abhor that hyped-up sound.) But nerdiness aside, one thing I’m proud of: Each week I play music that stretches back to Blind Blake and Charley Patton and forward to Explosions in the Sky and Russian Circles. No barriers!

I’m also happy that amazing players like Shane Theriot, Cindy Cashdollar, and Monte Montgomery, who don’t get much love from commercial radio, get equal time on my show with such legends as Wes Montgomery, Andrés Segovia, and Django Reinhardt.

Coming up in The Guitar Show’s second year are several new features, including “New Faces”—a segment designed to spotlight up-and-coming guitarists—and various special programs modeled after our Les Paul Tribute, which remains the most popular show we’ve done so far and ranks as another milestone in our brief history. We’ll also keep expanding our interview archive. Here you can stream at your leisure the conversations I’ve had with a wide variety of guitarists.

If you’ve been tuning in online to The Guitar Show, thanks for listening, and I hope you continue to enjoy the interviews and music. And please tell your friends about the program. If you haven’t heard my show, I invite you to check it out (the broadcast times and streaming links are below).

With a little luck and several gallons of midnight oil, I’ll get to do this for another year. Cool! ♦

The Guitar Show with Andy Ellis streams online. Here’s our weekly broadcast schedule:

• Thursday 10:00p-12:00p CST streaming on WRFN Radio Free Nashville
• Friday 10:00p-12:00p CST streaming on AM1670 Dewberry Jam, San Antonio, TX
• Saturday 11:00p-01:00a CST streaming on AM1670 Dewberry Jam, San Antonio, TX

• For weekly playlists, archived audio interviews, and more guitar lore visit theguitarshow.com.
• Follow The Guitar Show on Twitter … our name is theguitarshow.
• My Twitter name is twangmon.
• andy@theguitarshow.com

Explosions in the Sky makes music that works as the soundtrack to whatever you’re doing while listening to them.

Explosions In The Sky “Time Stops”

Like what you see feel free to email me at tad@creativesquall.com and don’t forget to become a fan on Facebook. Check out the Creative Squall website to see how sketches grow up to be complete ideas.

Lo realmente asombroso de la astronomía es que todos esas cosas raras, todos esos nombres imposibles, existen de verdad. Son sitios, lugares tan reales como su calle o, no sé, Cáceres. La única diferencia, claro, es que están más lejos. Nunca los podremos visitar; nuestra curiosidad y ánimo explorador quedarán frustrados sin remedio. Pero hay maneras de compensar: siempre he sido aficionado a una cierta música (sin más en común que la sensación que me produce) que parece hecha para escuchar con los ojos cerrados y dejarse llevar en un viaje ionizado. Música que, por cojones, tiene que estar compuesta con los sonidos de los exoplanetas.

Si vamos por orden, creo que la cosa empezaría con ese ceclarkiano Songs of Distant Earth de Mike Oldfield (uno de los mejores títulos y una de las mejores portadas de la literatura y de la música, fijo), que suena epopéyico, subacuático y cubierto de restos de supernovas. Tampoco es lo mejor de Oldfield (un autor que hace tiempo que se dejó de sobrevalorar), pero sugiere mucho e hipnotiza, a pesar de las cansinas voces.

Pero ése es el abuelo, el despegue. Si superamos el viento solar y cruzamos el vacío llegamos a las nubes de luz, a los brazos de la espiral galáctica. Ahí lo que suena sabe más a distorsión, a crescendo reposado, eléctrico. Tiene que ser, a la fuerza, Mogwai, o esas idas de olla de Clint Mansell copulando musicalmente con el Kronos Quartet de camino a Xibalba (¿que no han visto The Fountain? Pues ya tienen deberes). Sonidos (¿música?) de meditación tibetana, de viaje astral sin retorno, de potingues indígenas que arrancan los ojos y el alma, tan chungos que no quieres saber ni el nombre.

Seguro que pasaremos por turbulencias: de ellas tienen que haber salido los cortes de Explosions in the Sky, gotas  iridiscentes de restos de galaxias viejas que caen sobre nosotros, nos impregnan y nos incendian. Más allá encontraremos formas de vida hechas de ondas intangibles, de antimateria. A eso suena Kwoon, con su único Tales and Dreams (tampoco les hace falta más). A lo mejor en el viaje nos cruzamos con Moby, observando estrellas como un ornitólogo sideral. No siempre le verán por aquí (hay lugares disco más mundanos que mantener), pero si lo hace, como en su sorprendente Wait for Me, no pierdan ocasión de escucharlo.

Como viajeros avezados ya habrán podido tomar notas. La fórmula, si la hay, contiene mucho pedal, mucha progresión de guitarra contenida, ciclos que se repiten y crecen en círculo, melancolía y nostalgia, zanfoñas, goteos, atmósferas cargadas de electricidad estática y un movimiento de escalera mecánica, de detector de metales que no deja pasar la conciencia, de jardín zen. Todo muy post-rock, si eso quiere decir algo.

Y al final del universo siempre acabaremos encontrando a los daneses Mew, con la voz de castrati de Jonas Bjerre (puedo dar fe, tras verlos en concierto, de que es real), furiosos, climáticos, etéreos. Y lo saben, los cabrones. El viaje acabará con los nueve minutazos de su Comforting Sounds, nuestro Big Crunch. Luego, el vacío primigenio, la paz de la nada. Si llegan hasta aquí puede que no vuelvan: avisados quedan.

V the Wanderer

(Mientras tanto, en un universo paralelo, retorcido y macabro, Trent “NIN” Reznor sigue bajando una putrefacta y descompuesta espiral.)

O grupo começou em 1999 e até hoje esta ativa e se tornou uma das poucas bandas de post rock a atingir respeitável sucesso e popularidade, como Sigur Rós e lançar cds regularmente e fazer shows estarrecedores. Explosions in the Sky é tudo isso e mais um pouco, formada por Munaf Rayani, Mark Smith, Michael James e Chris Hrasky o grupo faz turnês inesquecíveis e está sempre sendo sucesso de crítica com suas músicas bem sólidas e explosivas e, ao mesmo tempo delicadas. O grupo já participou de trilhas sonoras de filmes e está sempre atualizado – estão em processo de gravação e turnê de um novo cd.

Aqui para download o álbum All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone     Download

1 – The Birth and Death of the Day

Poche estati sono rimaste indelebili nella mia memoria, forse un paio. Una è certamente quella appena trascorsa. Quest’estate, semplice ed indimenticabile, avrà per sempre il suono degli Explosions in the Sky.

Gli EITS sono un gruppo strumentale formato da quattro ragazzi texani. Già attivi dal 1999, dapprima sotto altro nome, pubblicheranno il loro primo album nell’anno successivo (How strange, innocence). Si guadagnano un posto di tutto rispetto nel panorama post-rock nel 2003 con The earth is not a cold dead place. Successivamente scrivono la meravigliosa colonna sonora di Friday night lights, film di Peter Berg che racconta la corsa al titolo di campione dello stato del Texas nel 1988 della squadra di football della Permian High School di Odessa, e l’attaccamento dell’intera città alle sorti di questo team di giovanissimi. Io ho conosciuto gli EITS soltanto in questi lunghi e caldi mesi appena passati.

Devo tutto ad un amico che può vantare conoscenze ed esperienze musicali notevoli. Sulle prime note di The earth is not a cold dead place mi sono chiesto: dove sono stato fino ad ora? Titoli evocativi, forti, sinceramente toccanti, che ben si adattano alle emozioni che i rispettivi brani sono in grado di ricreare, ai tempi di attesa, ai dirompenti crescendo strumentali. È musica che, per quel che riesce a stabilire tra me e tutto il resto che c’è intorno, mi piace definire “cinematografica”. Brani lunghissimi che avvolgono i momenti, penetrano tra un attimo e l’altro, tra un respiro e l’altro di ciò che si sta vivendo, e creano essi stessi l’atmosfera e fanno la sostanza stessa dell’emozione. Qualcosa, ormai, di irrinunciabile.

Ho sempre creduto che un disco cominci dalla copertina e dal titolo per poi proseguire lungo le varie tracce, fino all’ultima ed a partire dal loro stesso titolo. Your hand in mine, ultima dell’album, ne reca uno semplice e meraviglioso. La tua mano nella mia. Quante e quali cose possono farsi tenendosi per mano? Quante e quali emozioni possono essere vissute così? Quante e quali cose iniziano, proseguono e finiscono col contatto di due mani? Infinite. Il sesso, l’amore, l’amicizia, il dolore, la perdita, infinite cose cominciano o finiscono con la propria mano in quella altrui. Sarà per questo che alla musica di questo brano ho deciso di affidare, a partire da quest’estate, molti dei miei stati d’animo e pensieri. Tendo la mia mano a questi suoni, protesi verso di me, come mani amanti e amiche.

DMST's Other Truths will drop from Constellation Records on October 20th

PREVIEW: DOWNLOAD Do Make Say Think’s “Do” MP3
WE GIVE IT: 17/20 Watts

As Toronto’s Do Make Say Think entered the studio to put together their sixth record since the group’s inception in 1995, they’ve made an obvious move back to their post-rock roots. The product, The Other Truths, is easily the group’s finest release to-date, and one that surely sits atop the genre’s seas of Explosions in the Sky-impersonators.

The group has its origins in a sparsely adorned Toronto classroom, where the original members would work out informal instrumental jams. On each of the room’s four walls were the words Do, Make, Say and Think. Not only did the group adopt this as their namesake, but then decided to use the vaguely motivational philosophy as the track titles for their latest four-track LP.

The album has a distinctly natural feeling to it from start to finish. The instrumentals, which are accompanied at times by wordless vocals from Akron/Family, were recorded in a surprisingly hi-fi manner, bringing out every intricacy that the players use to give the album its unyielding feel of solidarity through the LP’s movement.

True to their roots, DMST approaches each of the record’s four tracks in an unpredictably structured way. Yet they manage to allow the songs, which all continue for 8-12 minutes each, to still sound like merely well-executed studio jams. This organic feeling permeates the entire record and makes listening to it effortless, but still incredibly rewarding.

Upon listening to the album, it’s all too easy to lump DMST in with the rest of today’s post-rock instrumental groups, who often take advantage of a glazy-eyed audience to turn out spontaneous jams that too often merely blend into one another when put on a record. Despite the fact that the LP is only four tracks, DMST manages to separate the selections extremely well, giving each a clearly individual drive behind the music. Note the transition from the album’s opener, “Do,” a driving, yet lighthearted track, to the album’s second track, “Make,” which possesses an unmistakably darker, more introspective feel.

From start to finish, the record is a post-rock masterpiece that will continue to define the genre in true DMST fashion. The collection is a must-have for any instrumental fan, and an album to be reckoned with by instrumental rock’s sea of wannabes.

– John Luposello

“It’s been a looooong night in New York City…”

Mr Mayer is back with his new single, ‘Who Says’. It’s been spinning on my iPod…

Toni Braxton – Yesterday (Ft Trey Songz)

OneRepublic – Secrets

LMFAO – Get Crazy

I can’t stop SKANKING to PASSION PIT. Thanks for the shout teQuila-mazou

Amerie = too fly. She is POW. Why R U + Heard Em All. YES.

Love her.

Love her jams.

And her voice.

It helps that she’s fly…

did I mention that already?

“Loving you is like a battle that I can’t afford to lose”

You all know

MR HUDSON

…but check out Mr Hudson & the Library’s album ‘A Tale of Two Cities’. It’s from ‘07, but I still bump it.

AND, for all you emotional-I-like-slow-songs-instrumentals-emotive-music-people, Explosions in the Sky are one of my favourites when it comes to craving music that is described as ’should-be-in-a-film-music’. So Youtube them!

The King of Pop.

I’ve been listening to the single to support the film that comes out later this month.

It’s all for love…

L O V E

The tour would have been UNREAL. He still had it. No matter what people say. He KNOWS how to put on a show. Check out the Bad tour or Dangerous tour if you haven’t. Trust me, it’s the best s**t ever.

Who’s killing us? Robbing us of life and light? Mocking us with the sight of what we’d might’ve known?

Explosions in the Sky – Have You Passed Through this Night?, from the album “Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever”

(these are) the living

Irgendwie war es der Tag der Erfahrungen. Zum Beispiel, was es für seltsame Zufälle gibt und wie sich diese fügen. Man verfährt sich um satte 16 Kilometer auf dem Weg zum Übel & Gefährlich und in dem Taxi, das man hektisch an der Ampel anwinkt um den Fahrer nach dem Weg zu fragen, wird der Blumfeld-Sänger Jochen Distelmeyer kutschiert. Das muss man sich erst mal vorstellen. Perplex ob dieses Zufalles habe ich dann sogar den Straßennamen vergessen, und als sich die Wagen wieder in Bewegung setzen und ich endlich „Feldstraße 66!“ herauspressen konnte, signalisierte mir ein Winken des Hamburger Schule-Urgesteins, dass der Club genau in der entgegen gesetzten Richtung liegt. Und tatsächlich, in dem Bunker-artigen Gebäude verbarg sich im vierten Stock die kleine, sehr gemütliche, mit Leder-Sitzecken ausgestattete Location. Auch eine neue Erfahrung: Mit dem Fahrstuhl samt „Liftboy“ zum Veranstaltungsort gelangen. Es gibt für alles ein erstes Mal.

Um fünf nach acht absolvierte Eluvium sein Support-Set, also 40 Minuten lang angenehme Ambient-Teppiche aus Gitarren- und Laptop-Effekten, unterbrochen von schlichten Klavierstücken. Das fiel sogar weit weniger dröge aus als erwartet, Matthew Cooper füllte mit seinen minimalistischen Soundspielereien den Saal voll aus, ohne dabei penetrant zu wirken – Das Publikum nahm den Temporary Residence Label-Kollegen der Explosions dementsprechend recht wohlwollend auf.

Die Texaner legten daraufhin ab fünf nach neun ein 75minütiges Set hin, das zu den intensivsten und atemberaubendsten Konzerterfahrungen zählt, denen man sich stellen kann. Man muss zugeben, die Songs von EitS sind sich insgesamt untereinander recht ähnlich und durch die verschiedenen, zwischen laut und leise alternierenden Wechsel schwer voneinander zu trennen. Da kann man befürchten, dass es live zu einem anstrengenden Mix an anonymem Material kommt. Dem war aber ganz und gar nicht so, trotz einer Setliste, die recht viel von der Fan-favorisierten, im Katalog aber eher mittelmäßig zu bewertenden The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place enthielt, hatte das ganze Set einen fesselnden und atmosphärisch dichten Aufbau. Wenn die Aufmerksamkeit einmal gefangen war, ließen die Männer sie nicht mehr in die Entspannung zurück fallen, selbst die kleinen Pausen, in denen sie zu wiederholtem Reverb ihre Instrumente stimmten, unterbrachen den Fluss nicht. Soundwände und ambiente Miniatur-Melodien strömten wie Ebbe und Flut über das durchschnittlich recht junge, aber sehr aufmerksame Publikum hinweg. Gerede und Pöbelei hielten sich auf einem erfreulichen Minimalmaß.

Einige Momente der Show waren besonders herausstechend, etwa wie Bassist Michael schon beim früh im Set platzierten „Catastrophe And The Cure“ im Scheinwerferlicht die Schweißtropfen ob der immensen Anstrengung in Strömen vom Kopf schossen oder Munaf im Finale desselben Songs ganz showy die Gitarre gegen Drumsticks tauschte und Christopher am Schlagzeug Gesellschaft leistete. Es macht bei Explosions in the Sky viel aus, die vier Texaner bei ihrer Arbeit zu beobachten, wie sie zu gewissen Einsätzen synchrone Bewegungen ausführen, Mark auf dem Boden kniend die verzerrten Gitarreneffekte produziert oder Munaf wie in Trance seine eigenwilligen Tänze zelebriert, bei denen sein Kreuz irgendwie mit Stahlstriemen unterstützt werden muss, denn das bleibt immer kerzengerade.

Auch wenn es relativ wenig vom neuen Album gab, lieferten sie keinen Grund zur Beschwerde, denn das Gefüge aus Stücken und ihrem Auf und Ab ist so cineastisch und kunstfertig virtuos verwoben, dass es ziemlich egal ist, welchen ihrer Songs sie live zum Besten geben, es ist immer wie ein Best Of-Set. Besonders erfreulich: Ihr wohl stärkster und fesselndster Song „Greet Death“ war auch dabei und das klare Highlight eines durchdringenden Gigs, der Skeptikern an modernem (Post-)Rock vor allem gezeigt hat, dass man immer noch in Musik eintauchen und in ihr leben kann. Für diese, wohl wichtigste Erkenntnis des Abends war ihnen das gelöste Publikum sichtlich dankbar. [11. & 13. Mai 2008]

Eluvium: 7/10
Explosions in the Sky: 9,5/10

Band: Explosions in the Sky (USA)
Support: Eluvium (USA)
Datum: 10. Mai 2008
Stadt: Hamburg
Ort: Übel & Gefährlich
Eintritt: 18 Euro
Spielzeit: 75 Minuten

Setliste:

1. Memorial
2. Catastrophe And The Cure
3. With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept
4. Your Hand In Mine
5. Greet Death
6. The Birth And Death Of The Day
7. The Only Moment We Were Alone

Explosions in the Skys Homepage: http://www.explosionsinthesky.com/
Eluviums Homepage: http://www.eluvium.net/

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Have You Passed Through This Night by Explosions in the Sky

Dark Was the Night by Blind Willie Johnson

Avalon by Sigur Ros

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