Thom Yorke Four Times

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Got these from Flickr; who ever took these must've been standing
right next to me cuz this was my (amazing spectacular) view. Sigh.
I'd go again tonight if I could! (I am seeing Midlake tonight though)
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Midlake's Courage Continued

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At the start of October I posted that the band Midlake's next album, three years in the making, finally had a title, that being The Courage of Others. Well now it's also got a cover, seen there above, as well as a track-list (via).

01 "Acts Of Man"
02 "Winter Dies"
03 "Small Mountain"
04 "Core Of Nature"
05 "Fortune"
06 "Rulers, Ruling All Things"
07 "Children Of The Grounds"
08 "Bring Down"
09 "The Horn"
10 "The Courage Of Others"
11 "In The Ground"

This news is itself a month old now - developments have been so slow coming with this record I'm not completely attuned to keeping track of them just yet. The band is also telling us to expect a change of sound:

"We didn't know exactly what we wanted, but we know we didn't want to make the same album as last time. We could have made 10 albums with the amount of time we've spent, but that doesn't mean they'd be saying anything great." Instead they committed to 40-hour work weeks in order to move away from the last record's "Fleetwood Mac-y America" with a shift toward, at least in part, "British folk scene of late '60s stuff."

The album's due on Feb. 2nd, 2010.
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It's Called The Courage of Others, by Midlake

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I don't know why the band Midlake randomly popped into my head just now - the news has been so quiet on that front for so long that I'd nearly given up on ever hearing new music from them. But pop into my mind they did, so I went and checked their website for the first time probably in a couple of months and lo n' behold, a whiff of news! From a post on August 13th:

"Midlake is happy to announce that ‘The Courage of Others’ is rapidly approaching the finish line of completion. The finishing touches are being put upon the long anticipated album and mixing has already commenced. It has been quite a journey, with its fair shares of ups and downs, but the band can’t wait to share the fruits of labor with everyone. No official release date has been announced, but stay tuned for one in the coming weeks. Sincere thanks and appreciation to everyone for their patience and support…"

There are a couple of interviews linked after the date of this post but nothing specific is said about a date yet. But still, I loooved these guys last album, The Trials of Van Occupanther. Which came out three fucking years ago. Gah! Y'all are killing me, guys. Anyway, as a refresher, here's their song "Roscoe" which still kicks unholy ass anyway - and was recently voted by 309th out the top 500 songs of the decade by Pitchfork! - and I'll keep my ear to the ground until it falls off and turns to dust for news about the new album:

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Roscoe Video

The latest addition to Favorite Band status of mine - Midlake, which I've spoken about plenty in the past - have finally released a video to the best song off of their latest album, The Trials of Van Occupanther - which you really should own already - called "Roscoe", which you can now view below, because I am one generous sumbitch. Also, Stereogum found it first.


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Midlake, With A Surprise

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So I saw Midlake play on Friday night and they were really very terrific. Their set was painfully short - about 45 minutes - because they were the second of four bands on the bill that evening (WTF Mercury Lounge? These guys deserve a whole night!), and they only sang about 6 or 7 songs, but they sounded fantastic and I really enjoyed them.

However... there was a bit of a distraction.

Because standing right beside me for most of the show? One Mr. Sufjan Stevens.

Sigh.

I think I've made clear my ... like... of Sufjan before.

He's soooo adorable, I just wanted to stuff him in my pocket and run away! Because, besides being adorable, he's also tiny, see. Pocket-sized. My own little pocket-sized banjo-strumming musical genius to love, and squeeze, and "what-not" to, forever. Aww!

He was also drinking a beer! Sufjan?!?!? What would Jesus think?!?!?

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Down With The Midlake Again

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Just a reminder - the new album by Midlake, The Trials of Van Occupanther, that I've been blabbing about for months now, is finally getting released here in the USofA tomorrow. Pick up a copy, and be the cool kid on your block! I'm seeing them live on Friday night and I couldn't be more excited.

Well, unless Jake Gyllenhaal were my date/sexual-plaything. But that's a given. Sigh. Always the hypothetical-given.

You can download a bunch of Midlake tracks over here, but you should buy the album, it's totally spectacular-like. Best so far this year.
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Midlake

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Every song I've heard off of Midlake's upcoming album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, has been AWESOME. I love every single song.

And right now I'm bubbling with excitement because two new tracks have been posted over at Keep It Coming - go there and dowload them, along with two of the older tracks, both of which I already adore.


The album comes out on the Devil's Day, 6/6/06.

(and you can find more downloads of their music here)

Download These Songs

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"Roscoe" by Midlake

"Lolita" by Elefant

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