Today was supposed to be a great day, LOST is on! I'm up and ready to go, lunch packed, ready for some work. I walk into work, say hello to the girls and begin to get my desk ready for the day's work. When out of the corner of my eye, I see a battery pack on the floor, so me being my OCD self I had to pick it up. I squat down to get it and I feel a slight tear in the rear of my jeans. As the initial reaction of fear begins to overwhelm me, my eyes widen, breath has seize to exist, and a rush of panic ridden ideas roam the mind. Did anyone hear the tear? Is my entire ass hanging out? What the hell is going on? I slowly begin to rise, making small talk with the girls in my office, trying to play it cool. I wonder if they even noticed that I walked out of the room backwards? I quickly power walk it to the men's restroom where I begin to assess the damage. My worst fears are realized, my blue boxers are completely exposed, I practically am wearing a onesie, all I need are the buttons on my backside and I'm good to go! So, what do I do now? Suck it up and continue the day or miss a whole day's work?
So, the moral of the lesson is...If you see a battery pack on the floor, just let it go...
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
An Observation On Life... Being Content
Sometimes I look at life and look at all the people running around with their lives, as if chickens with their heads cut off, and I just wonder if they even have a clue? I look at the news, and the talk shows and the self-help channels and I see how they're always talking about staying positive or being happy. I look at this, and I wonder if they know that, that's a dangerous game they're playing with human emotion? While staying positive and staying happy is a pleasant idea, it's hardly a goal or a concept that one could ever really hope to achieve on our plane of existence. On this, the dangerous side of always trying to be happy, is that it implies that we're all negative or that somehow the idea of happiness is better than any other human emotion. However, the goal of happiness is not something a human being can achieve by exercising an idea or physical program or artificial substance; it can only be achieved in what I like to call "the art of being content."
There is not enough glory bestowed upon people who are content in western society. We prefer to look at those individuals who are always trying to achieve impossible goals and we glorify them for their victories and sometimes for their failures, but will that one moment in their lives define them and bring them happiness? I often think that those people would feel empty after a defining moment, a "what now?" type of feeling. Then, there are those who chase happiness through drink, drugs, or sex and claim they've found the answer, but have they? No, I've found that the key to one's happiness is just being true to yourself, to stop trying to achieve what "others" would have you do or what "society" demands of you. Life is life and none are the same, and not one person has a clue in how you should lead your own. I think that if people would learn to slow down, they would find that their soul would speak to them and they would see that they really are truly happy. Happiness can not be defined or put to a comparison of someone else's life, it's just an idea. Contentment of one's self is happiness, and you'll find that if you learn to be content, happiness finds you.
- Nicholas Dunn
There is not enough glory bestowed upon people who are content in western society. We prefer to look at those individuals who are always trying to achieve impossible goals and we glorify them for their victories and sometimes for their failures, but will that one moment in their lives define them and bring them happiness? I often think that those people would feel empty after a defining moment, a "what now?" type of feeling. Then, there are those who chase happiness through drink, drugs, or sex and claim they've found the answer, but have they? No, I've found that the key to one's happiness is just being true to yourself, to stop trying to achieve what "others" would have you do or what "society" demands of you. Life is life and none are the same, and not one person has a clue in how you should lead your own. I think that if people would learn to slow down, they would find that their soul would speak to them and they would see that they really are truly happy. Happiness can not be defined or put to a comparison of someone else's life, it's just an idea. Contentment of one's self is happiness, and you'll find that if you learn to be content, happiness finds you.
- Nicholas Dunn
Sunday, March 9, 2008
An Observation On Life... Myself
A Forward
I often have been called "opinionated" by family, I've sometimes been called "guarded" by women, and I'm occasionally called "a trusting soul" by close friends; of these I prefer the latter, but I'll leave it to you.
Of all the people I've been blessed to know in my life, when they've come to me for advice and I wonder "why", they always say "I'm honest with them." While this is considered a pro in most people's opinion, it has sometimes been a con at points in my life. I've sometimes been criticized for being "too blunt" with people and not considering of their feelings or seeing things from their point of view. While I always try to be fair to any one's argument or situation, I feel that some people aren't really looking for the truth, more self deception and are looking to me to confirm their self-doubts. Self deception can be a powerful thing, and one should always be prepared for the negative truth as well as the positive when asking someone for their opinion.
On this, I thought I would write a column on my "observations on life" and human behavior. While some of these will be on things I considered to be growing positive traits of human existence, you should also be prepared for my rants of the negative down slopes of human society. I'll leave it to your interpretation on which is good or bad and expect a pleasant discussion of my interpretations on life.
-Nicholas Dunn
I often have been called "opinionated" by family, I've sometimes been called "guarded" by women, and I'm occasionally called "a trusting soul" by close friends; of these I prefer the latter, but I'll leave it to you.
Of all the people I've been blessed to know in my life, when they've come to me for advice and I wonder "why", they always say "I'm honest with them." While this is considered a pro in most people's opinion, it has sometimes been a con at points in my life. I've sometimes been criticized for being "too blunt" with people and not considering of their feelings or seeing things from their point of view. While I always try to be fair to any one's argument or situation, I feel that some people aren't really looking for the truth, more self deception and are looking to me to confirm their self-doubts. Self deception can be a powerful thing, and one should always be prepared for the negative truth as well as the positive when asking someone for their opinion.
On this, I thought I would write a column on my "observations on life" and human behavior. While some of these will be on things I considered to be growing positive traits of human existence, you should also be prepared for my rants of the negative down slopes of human society. I'll leave it to your interpretation on which is good or bad and expect a pleasant discussion of my interpretations on life.
-Nicholas Dunn
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Slow Death of Bonnaroo?
In a little field in Manchester Tennessee, a music festival called Bonnaroo has been taking place each summer since its creation in 2002. To many, Bonnaroo has become the Woodstock of our generation, a Mecca gathering to show how our generation has great music to offer the world as much as it did in 1969. However, since its creation in 2002, the numbers of people that flock to this little music festival have grown tremendously and the pressure on promoters to get more attractable acts has begun to weaken that message. With more mainstream musicians now allowed to come to the music festival, one has to ask "Is the 2008 Bonnaroo Music Festival the year that "the little festival that could" going to sing its Swan Song?"
A Jam Band Beginning: 2002-2005
Like many music lovers in the southern United States, when the 2002 Bonnaroo was announced I was thrilled with excitement of the idea of a 3 day music festival. I quickly purchased my ticket and prepared for the 3 days of new music I was about to experience. I was amazed at the chance to experience so many new and struggling artists who were dying to be heard and I was eager to be experimental. From my very first day there, I loved it, the feeling of the enthusiasm in the crowds, the friendliness, a feeling of community, and not a negative word was spoken in the entire three days. I had never experienced something like this, it truly felt like a Woodstock event, peace & love as far as the eye could see. Of course, then there were the artists! People tend to forget that the 2002 Bonnaroo was comprised of almost all artists who were not established, accept for the headliners, and really broke many of them into the mass markets of people they were dying to reach. Within these first 3 days of the 2002 festival, I and many others, were exposed to the great talents of: Jack Johnson, John Butler Trio, Norah Jones, moe., Old Crow Medicine Show, Robert Randolph, String Cheese Incident, Ben Harper, Ween and many, many more. Hearing such an array of great music really blew my mind and I just couldn't wait for the next year!
In 2003, the Bonnaroo Music Festival came back with a one-two punch, enlisting great headliners such as Neil Young, Widespread Panic, The Allman Brothers Band, James Brown & the return of The Dead! I was amazed that such great artists would do such a venue and I was eagerly awaiting to see them as well as experimenting again with new and returning small artists from the previous year. This year I chose to invite some of my friends to attend the event with me, the more the merrier. They too, felt the same way I did my first year at the event, a feeling of peace & love, perfect strangers embracing each other and yet again, not a negative word was spoken. This year, once again, exceeded my expectations of the plethora of talented artists who I'd never heard of but would be listening to in the future. The new artists for this year that I had the pleasure of experiencing were: Younder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams, Ben Kweller, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Polyphonic Spree, and G. Love & the Special Sauce. Of course there were some returning veterans of 2002 that also blew away the crowds such as: Ben Harper, Robert Randolph, Galactic & moe. But of course, what really stole the show, for me, was getting to see the living legend Neil Young and the talents of Widespread Panic and The Dead. The 2003 Bonnaroo was the Festival's zenith!
In 2004, I once again began to prepare for the Bonnaroo Music Festival, I was again extremely excited about the returning, new & headlining artists, with a few exceptions. However, this year's festival would prove to me that the festival's bubble was beginning to burst. I was extremely excited to see headliners: Bob Dylan, Steve Winwood, The Dead, David Byrne and Trey Anastasio, however, the inclusion of Dave Matthews Band worried myself and many others as to where the future of festival was heading. Until then, Bonnaroo had always been a festival of more hippie/jam band type music with independent/experimental music thrown in for fun. The inclusion of Dave Matthews Band signaled to me and others that the promoters were trying to attract a different crowd, the more upper middle class college crowd that most hippies prefer not to be around.
It was just one artist though, so I shrugged it off because I really wanted to enjoy my three days of music with the crowds I come to love, this however, was also a very different experience. From the start I could sense a oddity in the crowds, the multi-cultural distinctions, New England and Mid-Western accents that hadn't been there the first two years. A sense of hostility when faced with opinionated people who were there more for drugs than for music and snapped at you when you wouldn't share more than you could spare. I just didn't see the warmth of the previous two years, people were openly pushing others into the mud and stomping on blankets neatly spread along the fields, not an Altamont weekend, but you could feel a hostility in the crowd.
Now, don't get me wrong, the 2004 Bonnaroo was still a great venue! This is the festival that introduced: Damien Rice, Wilco, Mofro, The Black Keys, Calexico, Grandaddy, Blue Merle, and sadly Maroon 5 to the Bonnaroo scene, but Bonnaroo was clearly never going to be the same again.
In 2005, I was unable to attend the festival due to scheduling conflicts with school, but from discussions with friends who went, suggest the festival was the same as the year before. This is supported by basically the same lineup as the 2004 show with headliners Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, and the Allman Brothers Band. Also, Bonnaroo continued its tradition by introducing new artists such as: Iron & Wine, Ray LaMontagne, Citizen Cope and M. Ward. However, they also were expanding with many more acts and non-jam band groups such as the Mars Volta.
A Mainstream Bonnaroo: 2006-Present
In 2006 Bonnaroo began it's second phase of entertainment by expanding its search for different genres and appeals to different people. The jam bands were fewer and fewer from years past and the crowds attending Bonnaroo were more different than ever. No other signal that the festival was changing was the absence of the band Widespread Panic, a southern hippie following and yearly tradition. The festival's decision to not invite Widespread Panic sent a clear signal to fans that Bonnaroo would be changing and straying away from the jam band crowd and what had been going on for the past 4 years. This change was also clear in the choices for the headliners: Beck, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty and the return of Radiohead indicated a more modern, more experimental, more mainstream type music that traditional Bonnaroo fans might not want to listen to. It's choices in newer/unknown artists was different too than in years past inviting artists such as: Death Cab For Cutie, Cat Power, Bright Eyes, Ben Folds, Nickel Creek, Matisyahu and Clap Your Hand Say Yeah. If the announcement of more mainstream headliners wasn't enough, the non jam bands of the lesser performers clearly showed 2006 as the Bonnaroo year of a newer age sound.
In 2007, after a fan backlash of the sudden departure from Bonnaroo's roots, Bonnaroo promoters went with a mixed festival of half jam bands and half new sounds. They welcomed back jam bands such as Widespread Panic, String Cheese Incident, Gov't Mule, North Mississippi All Stars, Ween and new comer Tea Leaf Green. But sticking to their desire to see new age bands and embrace different audiences they invited headliners: Tool, The White Stripes and reunited 80s band The Police. This diversity was also present in the smaller guests as well, ranging from the independent singer songwriter clans such as: Damien Rice, Regina Spektor, and Elvis Perkins to more mainstream sounds such as: The Roots, The Black Keys, and The Decemberists. Clearly, the audience diversity was overwhelming.
As for 2008 and the future, the promoters of Bonnaroo have yet again gone to the more mainstream approach to Bonnaroo, this year though, they have possibly gone too far. The headliners for 2008 include: Pearl Jam, Metallica, Kanye West, Jack Johnson, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Phil Lesh, The Allman Brothers Band, Willie Nelson, Levon Helm, & B.B. King; a very diverse and controversial selection. Bonnaroo promoters have also done the same with the other larger and smaller artists, by making them a diverse artist selection of music. The artists are actually a blend of returning independent artists and experimental ones such as: Iron & Wine, Fiery Furances, Donavon Frankenreiter, Ben Folds, O.A.R., Umphrey's McGee, Derek Trucks, Robert Randolph, Rilo Kiley, and Jose Gonzalez that should keep the loyal Bonnaroo fans at bay and entertained throughout the day. But probably the most saddening change to Bonnaroo's lineup is that the unknown artists are almost non-existent this year, striking down the main reason why music lovers, like me, want to go to festival, to try something new! There are hardly any new artists that I have not heard of on the bill. For example, the artists Tegan & Sara who are touring on there critically acclaimed album "The Con", are making there debut at Bonnaroo as "new artists" but for people like me, they are hardly "new" artists. I'm sure that crowds that have not been in the light on the new sounds of music, will be blown away by the sounds of Tegan & Sara and I for one would love to hear them too, but I want to go to a festival to be surprised!
It is clear from this year's lineup at Bonnaroo, that the promoter's are aiming for numbers, money and keeping the ever growing crowds happy with selection. However, by Bonnaroo reaching out to all genres and people by enlisting grunge, metal, rap, pop, country, blues and southern rock, will this gamble pay off?
Which brings me to my main point and question: Have the promoters forgotten about what happened at Woodstock '99?
When Woodstock '99 was announced I was so excited! I was 18 and had never been to a music festival and wanted to go to the "festival of festivals", after all it was it's 30th anniversary, what could go wrong? I quickly started asking if a few friends wanted to go and began making plans, but when my mom caught wind of me possibly driving up to New York she quickly put an end to it. Luckily for me, that was probably the best thing that could have happen from the outcome of the event. If the idea of the hippy dream wasn't dead already, the Woodstock '99 festival sure dealt it a final death blow. Promoters of Woodstock '99, catering to idea of quick and easy money, got a variety of artists from all different types of genres and singing array of messages or no message at all. There was no message to the masses at Woodstock '99, nothing but exploitation of money. Vendors soon found a day into the event that they were ill prepared not having enough water, food or restrooms for the 3 day event. Instead of dealing with the problem, vendors raised the prices of essentials to generate more money for themselves driving the crowds into a frenzy. Then there was the real problem, the mix of different kinds of music and people. With bands such as: DMX, Godsmack, Ice Cube, Insane Clown Posse, Kid Rock, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Megadeath, Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, the message being put out was anything but "Peace & Love." After two days of hostile vibes, extreme heat and overpriced food and water the crowds of Woodstock '99 were primed for destruction. On the final night of Woodstock '99, the band Limp Bizkit began singing their song "Break Stuff" and that's exactly what the crowds did. Violence and looting began with Limp bizkit's performance and escalated with The Red Hot Chili Peppers, setting bonfires around the stages and even the audio delay tower; ATM machines were broken into and vendors were looted. The New York State Police was quickly called in with riot gear to put down the violence, but was met with little resistance. Later, the New State Police would report that at least 4 rapes occurred, six people were injured, seven arrests were made for violence, and some one-dozen trailers, a small bus and a number of booths and portable toilets were burned in the chaos. Since Woodstock '99, there have not been any other plans or interest shown in promoting another Woodstock.
Now, Bonnaroo has always been greatly prepared with food, water and medical supplies and in all the years that I've to the event, and I have never seen any kind of exploitation of the public. However, deaths at Bonnaroo have been growing each year due to young kids experimenting with drugs and heat exposure. And now, with the potentially hostile sounds and messages of artists like Metallica, Kanye West, and even maybe Pearl Jam the promoters run a risk of causing another Woodstock '99. It just seems that the message of "Love of the Music" is slowly getting lost to "no message at all" or more the capitalization of music that we already have in today's music industry.
I want so badly to be wrong on this, I want to hope it will all work out. I respect all the artists who will play at the festival, I just don't have faith in the difference in musical genres and what they do to the people who are absorbing the vibes that they put out. As Woodstock '99 proved, when people have been put together for 3 days and are exposed to an entire array of emotions caused by different kinds of music, non-prepared officials and just natural causes, any and all things can happen. It might not happen this year or the next, but if the course of Bonnaroo continues to go as it has been these last 3 years I fear that the festival will turn into chaos.
"Oh mama, can this really be the end? To be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues again!" - Bob Dylan
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Death of a Hot Water Heater...
It's the simple things in life that make you love it, however when a thing like your hot water heater finally departs this world, oh you know it!
Like any other day, I got up and prepared for my morning shower, set the knobs right where they should be, and turned on the shower head. After a few minutes I began to get in and "Holy Shit!!, that's cold!!" and immediately jumped back out. I knew immediately what was the problem, I had been noticing over the past few days that my showers had been getting shorter because of the water getting colder much faster, but I just dismissed it as being wintertime, was I wrong. I went to investigate the circuit breaker, hoping that maybe it had just been thrown, nope. I then went to the water heater to discover that it was slightly leaking and a circle of dampness around the base, "Shit!" Now, I don't know what to do. Let's hope for an easy fix in the future!
Now, I get the lovely privilage of going to work feeling like a used condom, yay! Nothing like sitting around your fellow coworkers smelling like a foot. Luckly, for me, I'm a guy so I can just throw on a hat and wash my face with cold water and it hides most of the damage. Also, I'm an archaeologist, so we generally smell anyway.
Oh, how I will miss my hot water heater, it gave me two months of happiness and now it's back to being poor and bathing in the sink. Makes you think how spoiled our society is, eh?
Hot Water Heater Nov 30, 2007-Feb 21, 2008 R.I.P.
Like any other day, I got up and prepared for my morning shower, set the knobs right where they should be, and turned on the shower head. After a few minutes I began to get in and "Holy Shit!!, that's cold!!" and immediately jumped back out. I knew immediately what was the problem, I had been noticing over the past few days that my showers had been getting shorter because of the water getting colder much faster, but I just dismissed it as being wintertime, was I wrong. I went to investigate the circuit breaker, hoping that maybe it had just been thrown, nope. I then went to the water heater to discover that it was slightly leaking and a circle of dampness around the base, "Shit!" Now, I don't know what to do. Let's hope for an easy fix in the future!
Now, I get the lovely privilage of going to work feeling like a used condom, yay! Nothing like sitting around your fellow coworkers smelling like a foot. Luckly, for me, I'm a guy so I can just throw on a hat and wash my face with cold water and it hides most of the damage. Also, I'm an archaeologist, so we generally smell anyway.
Oh, how I will miss my hot water heater, it gave me two months of happiness and now it's back to being poor and bathing in the sink. Makes you think how spoiled our society is, eh?
Hot Water Heater Nov 30, 2007-Feb 21, 2008 R.I.P.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Ah...Moving, Sweet Tears of Pain
Originally Posted On December 3, 2007
Ah the great joys in moving to a new home! First, there's the headache of finding a place worth moving to. Second, arguing over the price. And thirdly, the great pleasure of moving everything you've manage to hoard together your entire life, fun eh?But don't get me wrong, I'm SO glad to be moving out of the virtual shit hole I've been living in for the past year and a half, but damn! I've forgotten how much shit I have.
Well, for a few months now I'd been looking for a new place to call my home and I thought I'd found one in the old historic district of 4th & Gill in North Knoxville. However, my dad thought differently, and insisted on me moving to West Knoxville to be closer to my sister, who's pregnant with her first child. Knowing I couldn't afford any kind of apartment/house in that neighborhood my dad assured me he would help me out if I needed it, sweet!
To my amazement I found a house near my sister in just two weeks of looking that was perfect for me. A 3 bedroom house with a 50x30 yard backyard, which I absolutely love. I had to negotiate a bit about the rent and the lawn duties, but I'm actually happy for once in my life about where I'll be.
Now just comes the headache of moving all of my stuff! Isn't it amazing how when you move all of your things at one time, what you find? I found magazines and notes from friends dated 8 years ago! Not mention things that I had actually been looking for and just chalked up as being stolen or lost. You can't help at laugh at yourself though when you find something like that and you kick yourself for not looking there when you were so actively looking for it when you couldn't find it. And then of course you laugh when you find missing things from your past, like notes from friends, and how it takes you to the exact moment of when that event occured in your life.
So, in a way Moving can be a blessing. It's a way of taking a step forward in life and a way of refecting back on your life in what you've just left behind. Sweet Tears of pain of moving......
Ah the great joys in moving to a new home! First, there's the headache of finding a place worth moving to. Second, arguing over the price. And thirdly, the great pleasure of moving everything you've manage to hoard together your entire life, fun eh?But don't get me wrong, I'm SO glad to be moving out of the virtual shit hole I've been living in for the past year and a half, but damn! I've forgotten how much shit I have.
Well, for a few months now I'd been looking for a new place to call my home and I thought I'd found one in the old historic district of 4th & Gill in North Knoxville. However, my dad thought differently, and insisted on me moving to West Knoxville to be closer to my sister, who's pregnant with her first child. Knowing I couldn't afford any kind of apartment/house in that neighborhood my dad assured me he would help me out if I needed it, sweet!
To my amazement I found a house near my sister in just two weeks of looking that was perfect for me. A 3 bedroom house with a 50x30 yard backyard, which I absolutely love. I had to negotiate a bit about the rent and the lawn duties, but I'm actually happy for once in my life about where I'll be.
Now just comes the headache of moving all of my stuff! Isn't it amazing how when you move all of your things at one time, what you find? I found magazines and notes from friends dated 8 years ago! Not mention things that I had actually been looking for and just chalked up as being stolen or lost. You can't help at laugh at yourself though when you find something like that and you kick yourself for not looking there when you were so actively looking for it when you couldn't find it. And then of course you laugh when you find missing things from your past, like notes from friends, and how it takes you to the exact moment of when that event occured in your life.
So, in a way Moving can be a blessing. It's a way of taking a step forward in life and a way of refecting back on your life in what you've just left behind. Sweet Tears of pain of moving......
Midlake - "The Trials of Van Occupanther"
Originally Posted On November 18, 2007Released in July of 2006 the sophomore effort by Denton, TX band "Midlake" is one the best albums of the early 21st Century. The Denton, Texas five-piece Midlake did pretty well for themselves with their 2004 debut Bamnan and Silvercork. While no one would label that record brilliant, or even fully realized, it did have enough vision and scope for critics to group Midlake with some pretty good company that included The Flaming Lips, Grandaddy, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Mercury Rev. The common refrain in most reviews of Bamnan and Silvercork centered around “psychedelic” and “quirky” and the easy line that could be drawn from those words to the band’s associated influences. Midlake does a lot with The Trials of Van Occupanther, but perhaps the most notable accomplishment is the ease with which they have graciously acknowledged those influences while simultaneously telling them to eat their musical dust.The Trials of Van Occupanther is such a nuanced, finely layered work that Midlake has certainly crafted one of the best releases of 2006. The band has packed much sonic punch into the album’s 11 songs by using a variety of strings, keyboards, woodwinds, guitars, piano, and percussion. It’s the kind of ambitious music that recalls the finer moments of the classic rock canon. I’m talking about songs that both evoke and at times equal everything from Neil Young to Fleetwood Mac to Jethro Tull to ELO to Dire Straits. That may be some pretty heavy company for a young band to be compared to, but a couple of listens to the album will make you a believer.While The Trials of Van Occupanther is intended to be a concept album about a fictional character’s trials and tribulations, it isn’t very hard to place the emotional content in the songs as barely disguised declarations of the group’s—and singer/songwriter Tim Smith’s—own internal life. Still there’s a certain ballsy-ness, if not nobility, in crafting a concept album so musically engaging.The actual story of Van Occupanther may be more obscurant than overt or literary, but the music is so perfect it’s impossible to hold the narrative shortcomings against Smith and the rest of the band. The Trials of Van Occupanther is a character piece set a few hundred years ago. The story has the whiff of a British nobleman in colonial Africa, though it could just as well be about a lonely coal miner in 1891 Appalachia. Honestly, it really doesn’t matter, and I won’t spend a lot of time dissecting the narrative the band has put together. The individual songs steal the show; a cohesive narrative from beginning to end seems less than important. Besides, it gives the band something to strive for on their next record.Two songs from The Trials of Van Occupanther are currently making the Internet rounds. The lead track “Roscoe”, which the bands’ press notes say has been downloaded close to 100,000 times, and “Young Bride” are the most indie rock-friendly tracks on the album. But patience and a few listens will reveal gleaming gems that rock circles around Snow Patrol and Arctic Monkeys.“Head Home” is blessed with the kind of melody and soaring harmony that would make it at home on late ‘70s Top 40 radio (and that’s a compliment) while still sounding vital today. Smith uses his weary warble to full effect on “Head Home” as he acknowledges that “there’s someone I’d like to see, she never mentions a word to me” before bowing his head and sadly singing, “I think I’ll head home.” The chorus slides easily into a brief squall of a guitar solo that sounds like frustration translated into music. It’s a crafty, well-written moment in an excellent song.“Branches” is a melancholy tale of unrequited love anchored by a gentle piano that soars with power ballad bravado at the line, “We won’t get married because she won’t have me.” The muscular chorus fades into a quiet refrain of, “It’s hard for me, but I’m trying.” As is the case with many of the tunes here, Midlake excels at carefully adorning their songs with just enough extras—a synth here, a piano there, a string section peeking through—to make the songs extraordinary.There must be something in the water down in Denton, Texas. In addition to Centro-matic and The Baptist Generals, we can now add Midlake to the city’s roster of impressive bands. With The Trials of Van Occupanther, Midlake moves immediately to the front of the pack.
Sample This: Roscoe
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