The Antlers – Hospice ; real men know how to howl

What do the singers of Bon Iver and The Antlers have in common?
That low, scratchy growl of a voice, of course!

One day, while the wolf and the sheep were hard at work discussing the best albums of 2009, the obvious choice for #1 was Brand New’s Daisy. Brand New is our ULTIMATE band. We could probably share some crazy stories about things we’ve done for this band, but maybe another day. It’s pretty much Brand New over everything else in life for us. At least, that is how it is on most days. Not on this day though, because the wolf said to the sheep, “I hate to break it to you, but my favourite album of the year was by The Antlers.” Jaws dropped and so did the (chat)room temperature. The sheep was enraged. The wolf was scared with its claws ready to defend as the sheep wanted to pounce.

Clearly, 2009 tested our musical tastes and dedication to our favourite band. Even thought my love for Brand New will float on and on, I find that I am less.. well, obsessive, about them due to the new sphere of music that I have opened myself up to. Upon hearing His Old Branches a 2009 EP released by what can be considered our breath of fresh air band – The Republic of Wolves (You’ve got to hear this band!), the sheep exclaim— I mean, bah-ed loudly, : “I AM SO OVER BRAND NEW RIGHT NOW”. The point is, there comes a time for every music lover when you begin to explore the world of music beyond your safety point (ie Brand New, which held me over for years). You begin to explore new music and sounds and the feelings these new artists invoke. 2009 marked this for me. I’m not sure if it is because I moved away to university and became more independent in life overall (a milestone, really) and therefore was more brave to try new things, or simply because the same old tunes weren’t cutting it for me. Either way, my life has been blessed with new sounds to enjoy, and I will be grateful for this beyond the day when my children pick up the same CDs I bought this year and fall in love with them the same way I did.

Among these CDs, there will be a copy of Hospice. This was an album that I had to get used to with every listen. Thankfully, each listen did not feel like a chore (such as trying to like the new Taking Back Sunday albums back in the day…..). I was trying something new, now forcing myself to like something I was already dedicated to. I was intrigued by the new art. The thing that interested me the most about Hospice is that it is a concept album and tells a story chronologically with each song. I was introduced to the song Two in a mixtape I received from a certain big-toothed individual who runs this blog. There were 17 songs on that mixtape and this was the only one I listened to for days (sorry wolf). I hate to say this, but it was beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful! So much beauty in 6 minutes that it could make you cry. I had a hard time getting into the rest of the album because the bar was set so high due to my repetitive listens of Two (iTunes play count: 62)

As for me, I am beyond excited to see The Antlers this February as they make a stop in Toronto with The Editors (The Editors on Myspace). As for the Wolf, she has been lucky enough to see them already, and could only describe it as the most beautiful show she’d ever been to. Now, please note that, even though we use the world “beautiful” a LOT on this blog, does not mean that we use it lightly. We use it because it is the perfect word, and we mean it every time.

I can wrap up all this personal junk with saying that The Antlers have been a big deal for me because they are a new sound for me. They have been a band that allowed me to expand and test my boundaries of what i allow my ears to hear. In my life, that is a pretty big deal.

Finally, time for the goodies:

The Antlers – Shiva – A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

The Antlers – Two / Epilogue – A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

The Antlers also stopped by Daytrotter:

You said you hated my tone
It made you feel so alone
So you told me I had to be leaving
But something kept me standing by that hospital bed
I should have quit but instead I took care of you

Kettering

These can be downloaded right off the site righthere. Enjoy! Listen! Expand your horizons! And then listen again!

Keep checking back for a review of Hospice hopefully!

PS: Thank you to our new subscribers! It means a lot to us 🙂

that secret that you know;

Pitchfork: So what are some of your favorite quotes?

JV: Oh man, I don’t know. I’d have to think about it, but I was listening to this Johnny Cash song today that Tom Waits wrote for him– I think that’s the story. For some reason it’s a thing that sticks in my brain. He’s describing this scene where he sees all these almost biblical images happening kind of in this burrow where this biblical train runs through this yard. The song goes, “I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth down there by the train” and for some reason when Johnny Cash is singing that…

I have that written out. I thought that was an image I had to put in my pocket and keep with me. I’m not exactly sure why. It’s not that I need to remember it, because I won’t forget those kind of things, but I just want to write them down and look at them. It’s almost like when things like music come out and you’re listening to a song and you have experiences with art or phenomena that supersede your simple relationship with them as just a piece of art. They’re more than that. That’s just what those quotes are for me. They’re big, they’re important.

– Justin Vernon of Bon Iver

The interview done by Pitchfork can be found over here.

at the end of the day;

” At the end of the day if you’ve only immersed yourself in those things you don’t really feel accomplished as opposed to just writing a song. That just came out of me, I just made that up out of nowhere and it’s always going to be something, it’s always going to be a song. Whether I’m the only person who knows it or a million people know it, I made something and put it out into the world. That kind of sounds like a precious sentiment, but it’s true.”

– Jesse Lacey of Brand New

interview by Sheena Lyonnais from here.