Like most people, my first exposure to Jimmy Eat World was “The Middle” music video. Which ain’t a bad place to start—Bleed American is a great record. But make sure you backstep a little bit too, because missing Clarity is a crime.
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Month: December 2014
Record #286: Coheed and Cambria – In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003)
In the beginning of the 21st century, I was in a post hardcore band with some high school friends. The three of us had some pretty different tastes–I had a strong bias toward melodic emo like Further Seems Forever and the Juliana Theory, Travis’ tastes were for almost purely punk bands like Flogging Molly and Against Me, and Seth had a soft spot for nu-metal a mile wide. But there was one album that none of us could get enough of: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 by Coheed and Cambria. This disc joined Thrice’s Artist in the Ambulance and Thursday’s War All the Time to form the triumvirate of albums we all played on repeat.
Record #285: The Foxery – Unless (2014)
About nine years ago, a Pedro the Lion fanatic named Calvin added me on MySpace because I looked a little like Aaron Weiss from mewithoutYou (this is true). We became friends through many an AIM chat (nine years ago, remember?) where we discovered that we were both songwriters with a penchant for emo-tinged acoustic music. I was striking out on a solo project after the dissolution of my high school post-hardcore band, he had just started playing Bazan-esque tunes under the name The Foxery. Over time, the Foxery added members and influences until this year when they got signed to Spartan Records and released the emo record of the year, which is no small task in the year that brought the emo revival no one knew we needed.
Record #284: EF – Ceremonies (2013)
A few weeks back I was trying to sell my Sigur Ros box set and someone in a vinyl forum on Facebook inquired about it. The price was too high, but he said, “since you like post rock so much, you should check out EF.”
So I hopped on Spotify and gave it a listen.
Record #283: Jimi Hendrix – Cry of Love (1971)
Even if he lived to be a hundred, the world never would have been ready for Jimi Hendrix’s death. He certainly wasn’t, as this unfinished album contained some of his most poignant statements.
Record #282: The Antlers – Familiars (2014)
At this point in time, the biggest question I ask about anything the Antlers could release is “will it get me to stop listen to Undersea?” And four tracks though it was, that extended play was one of the most beautiful records released in 2012, and it remains a fixture on my turntable. So when the mood strikes for the Antlers, will anything replace its sublime wonder, or should I just play the disc I have?