| Film School — Bright to Death (Sep 14, 2018) |
Film School — Bright to Death (Sep 14, 2018)
✹ Ačkoli Film School nahrávali před odchodem na hiatus v roce 2011 s různými pracovníky, tato konkrétní skupina hudebníků nehrála spolu od roku 2007. Dokud se nesešli v září 2014, aby soustředění, které bolo zamýšleno jako one~off show San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill a jako hold pro 40. narozeniny Newenhouse, neprorostlo. Šlo to tak dobře, že si odsouhlasili repete — a teď to máme! Čtyři písně z června jsou zasněné, prostorné, výmluvné: všechno, v co fanoušek může doufat. Já a Liška Bystrouška jsme volali: „Nyní nám dejte album, kluci!“ A dali nám ho!
Formed: 1998
Location: San Francisco, CA
Style: Alternative Rock, Shoegaze
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, yellow translucent
Album release: Sep 14, 2018
Record Label: Hauskat Records
Duration: 38:56
Tracks:
01. Crushin 3:50
02. Don’t Send My Love 3:18
03. Bye Bye Bird 3:42
04. Two in Sun 4:17
05. If There’s One Thing I Hate 2:41
06. The Celebration 3:11
07. Go Low 3:37
08. Here in the Shadows 3:25
09. In Two 3:49
10. Bright to Death 3:29
11. Waking Up 3:37
℗ 2018 Hauskat Records
Members:
✹ Greg Bertens: vocalist/guitarist
✹ Jason Ruck: keyboardist
✹ Justin Labo: bassist
✹ Nyles Lannon: guitarist
✹ Donny Newenhouse: drummer
Credits:
✹ Krayg Burton — Artwork
✹ David S. Gardner — Mastered
✹ Dan Long — Mixed
✹ Dan Long, Film School — Producer
Notes:
✹ Silver limited to 100 copies
✹ Yellow limited to 400 copies (this release)
Venue Information:
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St.
Portland, OR, 97214
✹ http://www.holocene.org/
✹ Bright to Death is Film School’s fifth album and first full~length since 2011’s Fission. Recorded over 8 days in November 2017 on the outskirts of Joshua Tree, this luminescent collection of 11 songs is the finest showcase yet for the band’s signature layered sonic tones, psychedelic atmospheres, and seductive melodies.
✹ „When this lineup first came together in the early 2000s, I never thought we’d be doing some of our best work 15 or so years later,“ marvels Film School singer and guitarist Greg Bertens. „Our [self~titled] album came out in 2006, when bands like the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand were in full swing. The music landscape was totally different then — shoegaze was a bad word. That’s changed.“
✹ „Crushin,“ the album’s dreamy, melancholy opener (and first single), is the kind of secret message you’d put on a playlist for an unrequited love, in between Beach House and Slowdive. „Don’t Send My Love,“ a dancefloor~ready ode to post~breakup spite, is complemented by „Two in Sun,“ with its washes of pure, enveloping atmosphere; and the Paisley Underground vibe of „Bye Bye Bird“ is a catchy counterpoint to the propulsive rhythm of „The Celebration.“ But for all its familiar touchstones, Bright to Death constantly surprises the listener as well, making the album Film School’s most compelling yet. Take the title track, a hypnotic, midtempo hip~shaker primed for an extended electronica remix. Or the menacing „Go Low,“ with its layers of sound building over a distorted synth track to create a sonic dystopia, while the bouncy, stripped~down „Waking Up“ sparkles like the prom song in a John Hughes movie.
✹ The Joshua Tree recording session came about almost by accident. Greg was at a Fourth of July get~together in NorCal, grumbling to bassist Justin LaBo about musical writer’s block. Two years earlier, the original „Beggar’s lineup“ (named after Beggar’s Banquet, the renowned indie label that put out the band’s self~titled LP in 2006) had reunited after almost a decade to record the EP June; but in the ensuing months, work and family responsibilities had zapped his creative abilities. Greg quipped, „The only way I could write is if I were out in the desert for a week.“
✹ A few hours later, he got a phone call: Justin had the go~ahead from his wife and kids to actually go to the desert. Greg’s offhanded remark had awakened „a pent~up lust to make music the way we wanted to,“ in Justin’s words. It wasn’t long before Nyles Lannon (guitar/backing vocals, also a dad) and Jason Ruck (synths) were on board, too.
✹ The album gets its title from some text on an artwork Greg had seen, part of an exhibit by Chinese students on the topic of global warming. „Bright to death“ popped into his head as the band was recording in sun~blistered Joshua Tree, and it stuck. In addition to four members of the Beggar’s lineup, the album features drummer Adam Wade (Shudder to Think, Jawbox) on several songs, and was mixed by Dan Long at Headwest Studios and mastered by David Gardner at Infrasonic Sound.
✹ Each morning after Greg returned from his dawn run (he recently completed his second LA Marathon), the four bandmates would hunker down in the small outbuilding that functioned as a simple studio. „It was perfect,“ says Justin. „We set up our laptops and fashioned a makeshift DIY recording setup. It brought us back to [2003] when we recorded the Alwaysnever EP in Nyles’s bedroom.“
✹ They spent all day and most of the night working, breaking only to eat and catch a few hours of sleep. „At some points we had two recording setups going simultaneously,“ Justin recalls. „Greg and Nyles might be working on an arrangement or vocals, while me and Jason would be tracking keyboards and bass for another idea. We recorded for 8 days straight, right up until the very last moment.“
✹ The band members agree it was a combination of their decades~long friendship and the unique, isolated surroundings that yielded such creative success. „It was a reconnection, to each other on the one hand, but also to a feeling of creating and enjoying the process,“ Nyles says. „Outside the studio there was just this huge expanse, and somehow that sense of space and emptiness created a clarity of purpose and focus.“
✹ Jason puts it this way: „It’s a keeper.“
About Film School
✹ Inspired by post~punk, dream pop, and a touch of electronica, the San Francisco~via~New York quintet Film School began as the brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Krayg Burton (aka Greg Bertens), who began recording under the Film School name in the late ’90s. After releasing the I’m Not Working 7” on MeToo! Records, Burton joined forces with a rotating cast of musicians to make 2001’s full~length A Brilliant Career, including members of Fuck and Elephone as well as Pavement and Preston School of Industry’s Scott Kannberg. Also involved in the sessions were keyboardist Jason Ruck and guitarist/vocalist Nyles Lannon (also of the electronic group Technicolor and his side project n.lannon), who both became permanent members of the band. For the tour supporting A Brilliant Career, Film School recruited Lannon’s fellow Technicolor bass player Justin LaBo and drummer Ben Montesano. This lineup recorded 2003’s Alwaysnever EP for Kannberg’s boutique label Amazing Grease. After appearing at South by Southwest early in 2005, Film School signed to Beggars Banquet and began recording, joined by new drummer Donny Newenhouse. The On & On EP arrived that fall and heralded the release of their self~titled album in winter 2006. Film School’s lineup had almost completely changed by the time Hideout, their third album, arrived in 2007; bassist Lorelei Plotcyz, guitarist Dave Dupuis, and drummer James Smith added to the album’s darker, more cohesive sound. The group spent most of 2008 touring in support of the album and contributed a cover of „An American Dream“ to the Love and Rockets tribute album New Tales to Tell the following year. When Beggars Banquet dissolved and left Film School without a label, the bandmembers planned to release their fourth album, Fission, by themselves. However, Hi~Speed Soul, which issued albums by the group’s former tourmate Adam Franklin, stepped in and gave Fission a mid~2010 release. ~ Heather Phares
Discography:
Albums:
✹ Brilliant Career (May 29, 2001)
✹ Film School (January 24, 2006)
✹ Hideout (September 11, 2007)
✹ Fission (August 31, 2010)
✹ Bright To Death (September 14, 2018)
EPs:
✹ Alwaysnever (March 23, 2003)
✹ June (February 12, 2016)
Singles:
✹ „Harmed“ (2004)
✹ „On & On“ (November 7, 2005)
✹ „11:11“ (May 1, 2006)
✹ „Dear Me“ (August 28, 2007)
✹ „When I’m Yours“ (2010)
✹ „Bye Bye Bird“ (2017)
✹ „Crushin’“ (2018)
Website: http://www.filmschoolmusic.com/
Film School © 2018 Tais Awards & Harvest Prize | Ta konec članku, ne? Mariu! |
Photo credit: Howard Wise
_____________________________________________________________
| Film School — Bright to Death (Sep 14, 2018) |
Formed: 1998
Location: San Francisco, CA
Style: Alternative Rock, Shoegaze
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, yellow translucent
Album release: Sep 14, 2018
Record Label: Hauskat Records
Duration: 38:56
Tracks:
01. Crushin 3:50
02. Don’t Send My Love 3:18
03. Bye Bye Bird 3:42
04. Two in Sun 4:17
05. If There’s One Thing I Hate 2:41
06. The Celebration 3:11
07. Go Low 3:37
08. Here in the Shadows 3:25
09. In Two 3:49
10. Bright to Death 3:29
11. Waking Up 3:37
℗ 2018 Hauskat Records
Members:
✹ Greg Bertens: vocalist/guitarist
✹ Jason Ruck: keyboardist
✹ Justin Labo: bassist
✹ Nyles Lannon: guitarist
✹ Donny Newenhouse: drummer
Credits:
✹ Krayg Burton — Artwork
✹ David S. Gardner — Mastered
✹ Dan Long — Mixed
✹ Dan Long, Film School — Producer
Notes:
✹ Silver limited to 100 copies
✹ Yellow limited to 400 copies (this release)
Venue Information:
Holocene
1001 SE Morrison St.
Portland, OR, 97214
✹ http://www.holocene.org/
✹ Bright to Death is Film School’s fifth album and first full~length since 2011’s Fission. Recorded over 8 days in November 2017 on the outskirts of Joshua Tree, this luminescent collection of 11 songs is the finest showcase yet for the band’s signature layered sonic tones, psychedelic atmospheres, and seductive melodies.
✹ „When this lineup first came together in the early 2000s, I never thought we’d be doing some of our best work 15 or so years later,“ marvels Film School singer and guitarist Greg Bertens. „Our [self~titled] album came out in 2006, when bands like the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand were in full swing. The music landscape was totally different then — shoegaze was a bad word. That’s changed.“
✹ „Crushin,“ the album’s dreamy, melancholy opener (and first single), is the kind of secret message you’d put on a playlist for an unrequited love, in between Beach House and Slowdive. „Don’t Send My Love,“ a dancefloor~ready ode to post~breakup spite, is complemented by „Two in Sun,“ with its washes of pure, enveloping atmosphere; and the Paisley Underground vibe of „Bye Bye Bird“ is a catchy counterpoint to the propulsive rhythm of „The Celebration.“ But for all its familiar touchstones, Bright to Death constantly surprises the listener as well, making the album Film School’s most compelling yet. Take the title track, a hypnotic, midtempo hip~shaker primed for an extended electronica remix. Or the menacing „Go Low,“ with its layers of sound building over a distorted synth track to create a sonic dystopia, while the bouncy, stripped~down „Waking Up“ sparkles like the prom song in a John Hughes movie.
✹ The Joshua Tree recording session came about almost by accident. Greg was at a Fourth of July get~together in NorCal, grumbling to bassist Justin LaBo about musical writer’s block. Two years earlier, the original „Beggar’s lineup“ (named after Beggar’s Banquet, the renowned indie label that put out the band’s self~titled LP in 2006) had reunited after almost a decade to record the EP June; but in the ensuing months, work and family responsibilities had zapped his creative abilities. Greg quipped, „The only way I could write is if I were out in the desert for a week.“
✹ A few hours later, he got a phone call: Justin had the go~ahead from his wife and kids to actually go to the desert. Greg’s offhanded remark had awakened „a pent~up lust to make music the way we wanted to,“ in Justin’s words. It wasn’t long before Nyles Lannon (guitar/backing vocals, also a dad) and Jason Ruck (synths) were on board, too.
✹ The album gets its title from some text on an artwork Greg had seen, part of an exhibit by Chinese students on the topic of global warming. „Bright to death“ popped into his head as the band was recording in sun~blistered Joshua Tree, and it stuck. In addition to four members of the Beggar’s lineup, the album features drummer Adam Wade (Shudder to Think, Jawbox) on several songs, and was mixed by Dan Long at Headwest Studios and mastered by David Gardner at Infrasonic Sound.
✹ Each morning after Greg returned from his dawn run (he recently completed his second LA Marathon), the four bandmates would hunker down in the small outbuilding that functioned as a simple studio. „It was perfect,“ says Justin. „We set up our laptops and fashioned a makeshift DIY recording setup. It brought us back to [2003] when we recorded the Alwaysnever EP in Nyles’s bedroom.“
✹ They spent all day and most of the night working, breaking only to eat and catch a few hours of sleep. „At some points we had two recording setups going simultaneously,“ Justin recalls. „Greg and Nyles might be working on an arrangement or vocals, while me and Jason would be tracking keyboards and bass for another idea. We recorded for 8 days straight, right up until the very last moment.“
✹ The band members agree it was a combination of their decades~long friendship and the unique, isolated surroundings that yielded such creative success. „It was a reconnection, to each other on the one hand, but also to a feeling of creating and enjoying the process,“ Nyles says. „Outside the studio there was just this huge expanse, and somehow that sense of space and emptiness created a clarity of purpose and focus.“
✹ Jason puts it this way: „It’s a keeper.“
About Film School
✹ Inspired by post~punk, dream pop, and a touch of electronica, the San Francisco~via~New York quintet Film School began as the brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Krayg Burton (aka Greg Bertens), who began recording under the Film School name in the late ’90s. After releasing the I’m Not Working 7” on MeToo! Records, Burton joined forces with a rotating cast of musicians to make 2001’s full~length A Brilliant Career, including members of Fuck and Elephone as well as Pavement and Preston School of Industry’s Scott Kannberg. Also involved in the sessions were keyboardist Jason Ruck and guitarist/vocalist Nyles Lannon (also of the electronic group Technicolor and his side project n.lannon), who both became permanent members of the band. For the tour supporting A Brilliant Career, Film School recruited Lannon’s fellow Technicolor bass player Justin LaBo and drummer Ben Montesano. This lineup recorded 2003’s Alwaysnever EP for Kannberg’s boutique label Amazing Grease. After appearing at South by Southwest early in 2005, Film School signed to Beggars Banquet and began recording, joined by new drummer Donny Newenhouse. The On & On EP arrived that fall and heralded the release of their self~titled album in winter 2006. Film School’s lineup had almost completely changed by the time Hideout, their third album, arrived in 2007; bassist Lorelei Plotcyz, guitarist Dave Dupuis, and drummer James Smith added to the album’s darker, more cohesive sound. The group spent most of 2008 touring in support of the album and contributed a cover of „An American Dream“ to the Love and Rockets tribute album New Tales to Tell the following year. When Beggars Banquet dissolved and left Film School without a label, the bandmembers planned to release their fourth album, Fission, by themselves. However, Hi~Speed Soul, which issued albums by the group’s former tourmate Adam Franklin, stepped in and gave Fission a mid~2010 release. ~ Heather Phares
Discography:
Albums:
✹ Brilliant Career (May 29, 2001)
✹ Film School (January 24, 2006)
✹ Hideout (September 11, 2007)
✹ Fission (August 31, 2010)
✹ Bright To Death (September 14, 2018)
EPs:
✹ Alwaysnever (March 23, 2003)
✹ June (February 12, 2016)
Singles:
✹ „Harmed“ (2004)
✹ „On & On“ (November 7, 2005)
✹ „11:11“ (May 1, 2006)
✹ „Dear Me“ (August 28, 2007)
✹ „When I’m Yours“ (2010)
✹ „Bye Bye Bird“ (2017)
✹ „Crushin’“ (2018)
Website: http://www.filmschoolmusic.com/
Film School © 2018 Tais Awards & Harvest Prize | Ta konec članku, ne? Mariu! |
Photo credit: Howard Wise
_____________________________________________________________