Fans of Explosions In the Sky already know their new CD All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone comes out on February 20th. If you followed my advice and preordered the album online through the band’s website, you may even have it now (as I do).

What you may not realize, however, is that back in 2005 Explosions released an EP called The Rescue. Only available through a limited preorder on their label’s site, the EP was part of a series called Travels In Constants. Because of the somewhat secretive nature of its release, not many people knew about the EP until it was too late. After its release, I heard it was selling for over $100 on eBay. Despite the temptation, I held on to my copy.

Those of you who missed the preorder of The Rescue aren’t out of luck. Apparently you can buy the EP at their shows (which I’ve heard are amazing). Or you can download the entire EP on the band’s site, along with select songs from their other LP’s. I’ve provided direct links to the songs below:

[mp3] Explosions In the Sky :: Day One
[mp3] Explosions In the Sky :: Day Two
[mp3] Explosions In the Sky :: Day Three
[mp3] Explosions In the Sky :: Day Four
[mp3] Explosions In the Sky :: Day Five
[mp3] Explosions In the Sky :: Day Six
[mp3] Explosions In the Sky :: Day Seven
[mp3] Explosions In the Sky :: Day Eight

I also stumbled upon another interesting find at The National website. When Clap Your Hands Say Yeah toured with The National in 2005, I remember reading concert reviews detailing how half the audience would leave after Clap Your Hands finished. The reviews then went on to mention how the people who left missed a vastly superior headlining performance by The National.

While I’ve heard a few of their live mp3’s, they did not prepare me for what I was to find at their site. A fan of the band has posted three live videos from their 2005 tour. One of the featured songs is “About Today” (from my “Late Night Drinking” podcast) and it is nothing short of amazing. An extended intro and intense final climax push the song over the 8-minute mark. The National has definitely climbed near the top of my list of bands to see (though they’re probably still behind Explosions In the Sky).

[video] The National :: About Today [live]

The other two videos can be found here.

Slacking aside, I’ve been listing to a lot of new music lately (surprise, surprise). I’m still working on the top 10 Songs and Albums of 2006; there were a lot of great albums released at the end of the year. So in the meantime, enjoy what I call “The New to Me List.” It’s composed of bands I discovered in 2006, though they have been around for much, much longer.

Mono

My discovery of the Japanese post-rock band Mono may very well have saved this year in music for me. I was desperately looking for something worthy of obsessing over. When I heard One More Step and You Die for the first time, I knew Mono was it. Their collaboration with world’s end girlfriend (called Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain) features my favorite song of 2006, “Part Five.” I thought about including it in the Top 10 Songs of 2006 podcast, but it’s almost 20 minutes long.

[mp3] Mono & world’s end girlfriend :: Part Five
[mp3] Mono :: Sabbath

The Twilight Singers

I know that I’ve blogged about these guys before, but I feel the need to do it again. The Twilight Singers rock. Their album Powder Burns is definitely making my Top 10 Albums of 2006 list. Not to mention they also released a fantastic EP called A Stitch In Time in October. I highly, highly recommend checking them out if you passed on them the first time (the mp3’s are posted again below).

[mp3] The Twilight Singers :: The Lure Would Prove Too Much
[mp3] The Twilight Singers :: Fat City (Slight Return)
[mp3] The Twilight Singers :: Forty Dollars

Neko Case

2006 will go down in history as the year I started listening to bands fronted by female musicians. I don’t know why I held out for so long (actually, I know exactly why), I’m just glad I finally gave in. I guess Neko Case is responsible for the change. Her rootsy brand of indie rock features her gorgeous vocals, which remind me of … wait, what am I talking about, I don’t know any other female singers.

[mp3] Neko Case :: Hold On, Hold On
[mp3] Neko Case :: Star Witness

Shearwater

I originally started listening to Shearwater because I desperately wanted to find more music by Okkervil River. With the release of Palo Santo, Shearwater is no longer just an Okkervil River side project. In fact, the album sounds nothing like Black Sheep Boy. And while my love of the River may have initially drawn me to Shearwater, I’ve come to appreciate the ‘Water for what they truly are: a great band.

[mp3] Shearwater :: Nobody

Cat Power

I hate cats, which is why I also hate cat power. Not the band, but the thought of giving power to cats. Turns out the band Cat Power is quite good. I especially like the song “Good Woman.” I first fell in love with the live version, but after hearing the album version with its children’s choir, I think I like studio cut better. I can’t wait until my eMusic downloads refresh so I can finally listen to 2006’s The Greatest.

[mp3] Cat Power :: Good Woman
[mp3] Cat Power :: Good Woman [live @ KCRW]

There were many other great bands I discovered in 2006, including Calexico and Destroyer. I would also include Bishop Allen, but I feel like 2006 was their breakout year, thus violating the “been around for much, much longer” rule. Anybody wanna add to the list?

I’ve recently found myself listening to tons of instrumental post-rock (in hindsight, those two words are kinda redundant). Bands like Mogwai, Mono, Explosions In the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Tortoise write songs that work great as background music for reading or studying.

If I can find the time, I’ll post an Artist Spotlight on Mono later this week. But for now, I’ll post an excellent track by Mogwai. It’s called “New Paths to Helicon Pt I” from their “live” album Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996-2003.

The track starts and ends quietly with a beautiful, shimmering guitar piece floating around in the background. Then about 1:50 into the song, guitars drenched in reverb (correct me if I’m wrong) enter and play a gorgeous series of descending notes. At the 4 minute mark, all hell breaks loose as the amps get turned up to 11. After 2 minutes of fury, the song settles back down and leaves as it entered.

I’d have to say “New Paths to Helicon Pt I” is one of Mogwai’s best tracks. If you enjoy it, check out their site for more mp3’s, or give their debut album Young Team a try! I highly recommend the track “Mogwai Fear Satan.” Their complete discography is available on eMusic. Check out the comments on this post for other recommended Mogwai tracks.

[mp3] Mogwai :: New Paths to Helicon Pt I

A few years ago I stumbled upon the (largely) wordless world of post-rock. Initially, I didn’t know what to think. I worried that the lack of lyrics would prevent me from emotionally connecting to the music.

Call me lame, but at that point in time my musical tastes were still evolving. I gravitated towards slow songs with sad lyrics. I wasn’t necessarily sad and depressed, I just liked listening to other people who clearly were.

But you can’t be depressed forever. The same goes for music too. I had exhausted the catalogues of David Gray and Coldplay and needed something different.

I don’t remember the exact sequence of things, but I think I discovered Sigur Rós and Explosions In the Sky at around the same time. Both bands differed from everything in my music collection: Sigur Rós sang in a foreign/made-up language and Explosions In the Sky didn’t sing at all.

After a few listens, my initial concerns were put to rest. This was really good music. And with no lyrics to distract me, I could assign my own meaning to each song. For example, I’ve always pictured myself cruising down pristine slopes through epic powder while listening to “The Only Moment We Were Alone” by Explosions In the Sky.

Those of you who know that song may think I’m crazy, but that’s what I get from it.

And then there’s a song by The Album Leaf called “TwentyTwoFourteen” that perfectly fit one of my last drives through the mountains of Tahoe last winter. I think it’s the only track that I can link to an exact place and moment in time.

Now I’m not saying that songs with lyrics are bad. Good lyricists use words to paint blurry images that can be uniquely interpreted by the listener. I think everyone would put Bob Dylan in this category, though I think I’ll take a more modern example: Jim James of My Morning Jacket. Especially on the album At Dawn.

Writing this lengthy dissertation has made me realize something: when I listen to a song for the first time, I rarely hear the words. Instead, I focus on the instrumentation and overall mood of the song. For example, I didn’t realize that “The Monitor” by Bishop Allen was about the Civil War until several of my friends told me. I was focusing too much on that damn guitar part. Whether that’s good or bad is debatable…

I honestly don’t know what sparked this post. I just wanted to point out the fact that music doesn’t need lyrics to have impact. Then I planned to reinforce this observation by sharing a really good track by Mono called “Sabbath.” But somewhere in that process things went horribly awry.

[mp3] Mono :: Sabbath