Explosions In The Sky...Thank You HL2.net

[Dynasty]

Okay, so about 2 years ago I finally decided I wanted to enter a whole new genre of music.

I was browsing around these forums, as always, and noticed all the talk about Explosions In The Sky. I couldnt help but think 'who the hell are these guys youre talking about?'.

So I went down to my local HMV store one day, doing some random browsing around lunchtime as..well..I was a student back then and had more spare time than a...something that has alot of spare time on its hands.

Flicking through the usual generic crap, I suddenly remembered EITS. So I asked an HMV employee if they had such a band, thinking they probably werent popular enough to be in stock.

His eyes sparked up and he pratically dragged me to the correct area, flicked around some CDs under E in the rock section, and whipped out All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone and The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. They had a buy-one-get-one-free promotion so I grabbed both CDs thinking how bad could it be, free music is always welcome.

Went to the desk and gave the CDs over to the girl behind the counter, and as she was scanning All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, she looked up and smiled and said 'This is an awesome CD, Im glad someone else has finally heard of them too'...which got me thinking, after the usual guy stuff of how cute she was, that maybe this band wasnt all that bad after all. A few dates and an alarming amount of Starbucks later and I was with her for a few months, which was..er..nice?

I bring this all up because I was watching Friday Night Lights last night, and it suddenly dawned on me at how great the music was, and THEN realised that it was almost completely all done by Explosions In The Sky.

Why cant more films use them for emotional scenes. The ending of that film had me almost in tears simply because of the music that was being played over the top of it.

So I just want to say thank you HL2.net. Your Hand In Mine has to be one of the greatest, simplest yet most memorable songs Ive ever heard, and I never knew such emotion could be extracted from just a few songs...which dont even have lyrics.

 

[dfc05]

Nice, sounds like you got a good deal on those cd's .

I was lucky to be in Austin for college and got to see them live three times, which is probably more than anyone deserves but never enough! From the more recent live recordings though, it sounds like they've reached the point where their shows are drawing people who go to be seen or because it's "cool" and not because they're really into the music. Lots of crowd chatter, and generally rude people. At one show I was standing next to an annoying drunk girl who kept being like "I LOOOOVE THIS SOOOOONG" and jabbing me with her elbow. I was also at their free SXSW show and they filled an entire field, with people spilling out into the streets. A couple of friends went late -- one ended up in the street and the other sat on a hill a little bit away and just watched the screens. Luckily I showed up four hours early, but still ended up getting elbowed by some jerk who was really insistent on standing in front and taking up way too much space.

Anyhow, if you get a chance to see them, do it, and buy tickets early! Most of their shows sell out.

Your Hand In Mine is great live especially after a really loud song. Gotta love the loud -> soft contrast.

Also, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czmgu74dbec

 

[Adabiviak]

Shoegazing? They sound like the Verve unplugged (even with all those effects). Note: big fan of the Verve here, and will look into these guys more. Is most of their work, eh, ambient like that? Not that it's bad, but this sort of musical talent mixed with some soul/gusto is super awesome. Do they sing in any of their tracks?

 

[knut]

I'm seeing them live this weekend at ATP. Cannot wait. Used to be really into them, then stopped following for a while whilst I moved on to new pastures but then recently got back into them when I found out they were on the ATP bill that I'm going to. Recently picked up Those Who Tell the Truth... on vinyl but left it at my uni flat. Doh.

 

[kineaesth]

I'm seeing them live this weekend at ATP.

You lucky bitch.

 

[knut]

Explosions In The Sky
Tortoise
Shellac
Dirty Three
Melvins
Mudhoney
The For Carnation
Papa M - Performing Live From A Shark Cage
Deerhoof
**** Buttons
The Drones
Sleepy Sun
Bardo Pond
Battles
Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks
Sunn O))) - Performing The GrimmRobe Demos
Sunn O))) performing from Monoliths & Dimensions
J Mascis And The Fog
APSE
Alexander Tucker & Decomposed Orchestra
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Performing Fever To Tell & more
Modest Mouse
The Breeders
Lightning Bolt
mum
The Magic Band
Edan (The Dee Jay)
Om
Porn
Tall Firs
The Mars Volta
BEAK>
Afrirampo
Devendra Banhart and the Grogs
Polvo
Growing
Six Organs Of Admittance
Josh T. Pearson
Crispin Glover's Big Slide Show
Ricky Powell's World Famous Slideshow
Mick Turner Art Exhibition
Belle and Sebastian DJs
Knitting With Kelley


****ing sex.

 

[kineaesth]

I'm going to set you on fire you dick

 

[Pulse]

Yeah they're awesome, loving epic instrumental bands at the moment. You should check out Mogwai, Russian Circles and Mono (Japanese band) if you're digging EITS. Maybe Oceansize too, they do have some heavier stuff and most of their songs contain singing but they are pure epic too.

 

[Kadayi]

If you like Shoegazing stuff you might want to check out Slowdive:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF-sJa3bvJQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3TG7d9N7J4&feature=related

Long since broken up, but Just for a Day and Slovaki are great albums.

 

[jimbo118]

Yeah sweet band. I also discovered them here. Saw them live once here in Dublin. Wish they'd release a new album. They shit all over most other post-rock bands who get mentioned as being similar to them but are merely poor imitations.

 

[Qonfused]

****ing sex.

I ****ing hate you.

 

[dfc05]

Shoegazing? They sound like the Verve unplugged (even with all those effects). Note: big fan of the Verve here, and will look into these guys more. Is most of their work, eh, ambient like that? Not that it's bad, but this sort of musical talent mixed with some soul/gusto is super awesome. Do they sing in any of their tracks?

I think Birth and Death of the Day is the least "ambient," or maybe just the most epic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP09piedtAk

They "sing" on a couple of tracks on The Rescue (kinda an experimental one-song-per-day thing, downloadable here). It's just "ahhhhhhh"-ing though. At one point someone laughs because they weren't used to it.

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the new album they're working on may have spoken word. I might have just dreamed this up though.

Yeah sweet band. I also discovered them here. Saw them live once here in Dublin. Wish they'd release a new album. They shit all over most other post-rock bands who get mentioned as being similar to them but are merely poor imitations.

Awesome, do you remember which songs they played? If you got to see "Moon is Down" I will be jealous

 

[staticprimer]

Post-rock is great. I think you'll like it even more the more you explore it. Pulse mentioned Mogwai and Mono, which are mainstays so definitely check them out. Also you need to at least give Godspeed You Black Emperor a listen (you may recognize their song "Providence" from 28 Days Later, it is in the background during the hospital/city reveal), they are long since broken up, but each of their albums are genre classics. If you really like the mellow-crescendo-chaos format of some of the EITS songs, also check out The Evpatoria Report. They are now defunct and never really gained widespread popularity, but they are one of my favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7s4-GcCitA

 

[swan_song1973]

one of my roommates turned me onto them, really good study music.

 

[PoeticRocker]

When I first heard Slowdive's Machine Gun, it was instant love for early 90's shoegazing.

 

[Iron Kat]

I downloaded The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place a couple of weeks ago. It's such an amazing album! Your Hand In Mine is still my favourite and has made me cry on more than one occasion. I really need to listen to more Explosions, though.

 

[jimbo118]

Awesome, do you remember which songs they played? If you got to see "Moon is Down" I will be jealous

Can't seem to find any setlist. Don't think they did.

 

[Mogi67]

Mogwai shits all over everything EITS does IMO

 

[knut]

These were quite exceptional at ATP over the weekend. Opened with First Breath After Coma which was great. Sadly I had to miss the last song/songs to get to the beginning of another set at a different stage, but still great.