First Breath After Coma

There are topics so important trying to put pen to paper about them gets me nine kinds of worked up -- OK, not "important" as the term is widely understood, but "important" as defined by me, however loosely (read: stupidly) that might be.

And so... on to singing the praises of Explosions In The Sky! They are -- 1. another Austin band I've recently stumbled across, late as usual -- 2. on Temporary Residence, a brilliant label out of Portland, OR -- 3. unbeliveably great in their own right, in ways that completely defy my ability to so easily wax hyperbolic about this or that rock and roll band. My first reaction upon hearing them was (once again) bewildered outrage -- how come none of my "hep" associates had ever mentioned Explosions In The Sky to me? And why aren't they far and away the most popular band in this entire jerk-water burg? What!?!? Whyyyyyyyyy!?!?

An aside: let me say how unbelievably happy it makes me that Explosions In The Sky are from Austin. Add them to your short list of brilliant diamonds in the gaping mediocre rough.

Here's a live version** of "First Breath After Coma", recorded 6/6/03 at Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA. "First Breath After Coma" is the first (brilliant) song off their latest (brilliant) album, The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. Give it a listen and experience them for yourself. You can find this and many other live Explosions In The Sky tracks either here or here (though this site is less Mac-friendly), and some other places besides, I'm sure.

Explosions In The Sky blow me away because they do so much more in the "rock" idiom -- with two guitars, a bass, and drums, I guess I mean (they tend to get labelled post-rock along with Godspeed!, et al.) -- than any other band I can think of right now. It's not like every band needs to do what Explosions In The Sky do, I just don't think they could. Explosions In The Sky make... well, they make flat-out beautiful music, with soul and real depth and power and ferocious directness -- guitars, drums, and a bass creating art in the here and now. It's nice to keep on getting surprised by beauty, isn't it?

** It's all I can do to stop myself from tacking on adjectives like "brilliant" and "amazing" to most nouns associated with EITS. I'm trying, though. Sort of. Oh yeah, photos are from here, and are uncredited. If you were wondering, I deliberately avoided using some of the cooler pictures, on general principle.

Comments

[Benjamin Hayes]

Uh, what about Sigur Ros?

[Superinkygirl]

They're cool. Thanks for the links. I like your blog.