Explosions In The Sky – “Trembling Hands” MP3/download
Without further ado, I present: pics of Explosions In The Sky‘s (colored-vinyl edition of) Take Care, Take Care, Take Care!!!
This is a fantastic art package, the sort of aural and aesthetic affluence Album As Art was birthed to chronicle. It comes with a quadruple-gatefold apparatus that’s as complicated as a rubic’s cube, a giant poster, a download card, two colored slabs of wax (one pumpkin-orange/blue, one split-pea-soup green) with an etching on Side D and … well, that’s it. But that’s a lot.
It’s interesting to me that Explosions In The Sky sidestep the post-rock debate that killed a lot of bands off over the past 6-8 years. Mono and Mogwai seemed to survive it too, but scads of groups I personally liked (Saxon Shore, My Dad Vs Yours, This Is The Process Of A Still Life, Timeout Drawer, Apse) aren’t on the radar at all anymore.
Mono improve with every album, while Mogwai … now that I think about it, Mogwai haven’t wowed me since 2005 or so; I guess that means they’re in decline, but I still buy their albums and attend shows when I can (as I did in Chicago one random, fateful night in 2009). So there’s that.
EITS represent the middle ground between Mogwai and Mono: They’ve released three great albums (you know which are which, I assume) and one so-so one (EITS’ debut ain’t the same as what came after), a pretty good track record that ranks them with the very best of the best — I’m talking cats like Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Tarantel, etc.
Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is an apt title for an Explosions In The Sky album because they treat their songs like most mothers treat their babies — light touches, gentle caresses, tender gestures — and as a result hits a highly specific spot in the human aural-connection zone, just as their best records do.
They make an effort to take new routes to get there, they do, but this is the same old template: sparkling twin-guitar shimmer-shines, contemplative percussion that swan dives when it has to, bass that quietly, unassumingly heads up the rear and a generally dramatic flair from all four players.
When you combine that dilligence with the eye-SMACKing artwork, it’s tough to think of a reason NAWT to take the vinyl journey on this one. Either way if you download this record without experiencing its art yr a DICK.
If you’re a Mogwai, EITS, Mono fan, you should check out For A Minor Reflection. They’re an Icelandic post-rock instrumental four-piece, much like EITS, but they have a bassist, which I appreciate, and every once in a while, they do what Explosions won’t, and just decide to go hard, and proverbially “take names”. Or, ears, rather.
hmmm, been awhile since a group like that got my attention. would you say they push post-rock into new territory then? i’ll check ‘em out, though I can’t promise when. thanks for the comment