Bands I Heart: 65daysofstatic

65daysofstatic is a really great band that doesn't get enough hype on the blogosphere, including here. Their full-length from last year was our #30 best album of 2007 and I had only mentioned them once before that, so here's some 65daysofstatic stuff. This UK outfit is broadly a post-rock band, but they break down more genre walls then most any band you can paint with that brush. They just dropped a new video on youtube earlier this week in support of their new EP/Single, The Distant and Mechanized Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties:

"Dance Parties (Distant)":



So they seemed to have gone post-dance-rock with this EP and these guys have the ability to conquer just about any sort of feel they want. Here's another track from it:

65daysofstatic : The Distant and Mechanized Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties : Goodbye, 2007


They are touring around with The Cure right now and will be at the Gwinnett Center Arena on June 15th. Here is a recent torrent form one of those shows:

65daysofstatic 2008-05-10 Wachovia Spectrum/Philadelphia, PA (16-bit) (FLAC)

65daysofstatic
(Opening for The Cure)
Wachovia Spectrum
Philadelphia, PA
May 10, 2008

Recording Location: Section 226, Row 16, Seat 7

Source: SP-CMC-19 > SP-SPSB-1 > Edirol R-09

Editing and Conversion: Audacity 1.3.4 (Editing and track splitting) > Trader's Little Helper 2.1.0 (FLAC conversion and fingerprint creation)

1. Drove Through Ghosts To Get Here
2. Await Rescue
3. Fix The Sky A Little
4. Primer
5. Retreat! Retreat!
6. Radio Protector


65daysofstatic Myspace

Buy The Distant and Mechanized Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties Here

One last live video:

Road Trippin'

I spent my Thanksgiving holiday down in St. George Island, Florida and decided for my drive down I would catch up on my 2007 releases and listen to nothing but albums I haven't listened to. The first album I popped in was Aceyalone's new Lightning Strikes. i had really enjoyed some of his older stuff, but on my first listen of this one, i thought is very under par. Hip-hop is a style I truly love, but it is so hard for me to find stuff that i really dig these days. I'm guessing I just don't have the right exposure to the good stuff, but there has been very little this year that has floored me and that makes me sad.

Next up was the new M83 album, Digital Shades (Vol. 1). I thought it was pretty good, but I don't think it comes anywhere close to Before The Dawn Heals Us. The biggest difference i think between the two is this album seems less aggressive and engaging, but rather hangs around in their more ambient, trancey texture stuff, which is still great. I think this would be an excellent come down album after a really crazy night of drugs.

M83 : My Own Strange Path


The next jam was Polytechnic's debut album Down Til Dawn. This band sounds to me like a mix between early Rolling Stones and The Sea And Cake. It was a pretty solid listen all the way through but not an album that is going to blow your mind.

Polytechnic : Running Out Of Ideas


I had been hearing some noise about 65daysofstatic and finally checked out their new album, The Destruction Of Small Ideas. Upon my first listen, I was really into it and enjoyed it thoroughly. The band does post-rock suped up with strong classical technique and much more range than I've come to expect from this genre. This will probably end up being one of the better post-rock albums of this year.

65daysofstatic : Wax Futures


Next up was Dan Deacon's Spiderman Of The Rings, which had been on my list to listen to for way too long. His experimental electronic stuff is suberb and I highly recommend checking him out if you haven't. I'll be blasting this album non-stop for a while and am excited to see him in Atlanta early next year.

Dan Deacon : Wham City


As I cruised through some back roads between Valdosta and Tallahassee I put in the new God Is An Astonaut, Far From Refuge. Unfortunately I missed this post-rock three piece at Echo Project, but everyone who went to see them said they were really good, so I've been diving into them lately. The album is a solid release for the genre that I enjoyed immensely, but it doesn't really bring anything new to the table.

God Is An Astronaut : Grace Descending


Finally, I finished the journey off with what was probably the most enjoyable listen of the trip, current Wilco guitarist/badass Nels Cline's Draw Breath. If you were a little disappointed with the lack of adventurousness on Sky Blue Sky, this experimental jazz album is right up your alley featuring his instrumental trio called the Nels Cline Singers.

Nels Cline Singers : Caved-in Heart Blues