Taking the bait

JP over at Japers' Rink has been busy over there. He's put up a nice video summary of the Caps season, added some worthwhile/worthless stat of the night posts, and even had time to make a music recommendation. Since he invited Carolina fans to "recommend their favorite Toby Keith record", I'll take the bait. So here's the non-hockey post.

I'll take time here to suggest a record that very few, if any of you are listening to -- Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever by Explosions in the Sky. This is one of my favorite records from the last five years, and is the one that blew me away more than any in my collection. The first time I listened, I was left breathless. Every single time I've listened since then, I still get completely struck with awe.

Explosions in the Sky is a four piece instrumental band from Austin Texas. Their brand of music is most commonly referred to as "post-rock", and their songs are more like overtures than traditional rock songs. They are typically between seven and twelve minutes in length, and each song usually has at least four different parts with a recurring theme. At some point in each song there is almost dead silence for several seconds, and at some point in each song there is a crescendo leading to a near deafening cacophony of guitar and drum. All the while, it feels much more like classical music than rock.

Those Who Tell the Truth... was released, depending on which account you believe, in late August 2001, September 4, or September 11, 2001. I bring this up because of the album's artwork and the inscription on the inside front cover "This plane will crash tomorrow".

You may be familiar with the band without knowing it. If you saw "Friday Night Lights", that was their music throughout the film.

Go somewhere where you can listen to the whole album (rather than the :30 bites you get from Amazon). Give it a twirl, and try to have patience. It requires a patient and thorough listen, but you probably won't regret it. If you don't want to take my word for it, see what Pitchfork Media has to say about it here.

Oh... Go Canes.