CONCERT: The Antlers in Indy!

Whoa whoa whoa. Remember when there used to be a blog here? Yeah, me too. Sorry about that. I know I said I was back at the end of June, and I was. But since being back, I packed up everything I own, drove it across the country, unpacked most of it, and started dental school in Indianapolis. We just now got our internet situation figured out. In the meantime, Logan's been back and forth to CA, figuring out his near future there, and our server has been (of course) down for the count.

So. We're trying to figure the server thing out ASAP. Until then, we'll try to post as regularly as we can - throwing up videos or something. We're not done here. Not even close.

On Wednesday night I got my first taste of Indy's music scene when my wife and I headed down to The Vollrath to see The Antlers (thanks, MOKB). Though the crowd was pretty light, the music was anything but - in fact, the amount of sheer sound this three-piece of a band made up there was pretty impressive. They covered just about all of Hospice, their recent record that's been making some waves (read our take on it HERE). Peter Silberman (who was the sole Antler until recently) was nothing but gracious all night, and had a pretty endearing stage-presence. Be sure to check them out if they're coming through your town.

Anyway, here's a video from their myspace page, because we don't have our server back yet. We'll get that figured out soon. Promise.

NEWS: The Antlers sign to Frenchkiss

Remember that record we wrote about a few months ago by The Antlers? Well if you don't, go check it out. It's a pretty stunning work of both narrative and sonic proportions, enveloping a heart-wrenching tale of illness and alienation in between some of the most subtly beautiful melodies and starkest soundscapes I've heard in awhile.

Well the band, headed by Peter Silberman, has signed to Frenchkiss Records and Hospice is getting a formal release, digitally June 16th and physically August 18th. The whole thing's been remastered, and the band assures "there shall be vinyl."

About the record Silberman says, "Hospice came from the idea of caring for a terminal patient who's mentally abusive to you. You don't have the right to argue with them, either, beacause they're the one who's dying here; they're the one who's been dealt a wrong hand. So you take it, but you can only take so much. Eventually, you realize that this person is just destroying you."

It's not light listening for sure, but the subject matter makes for an engrossing experience that isn't soon forgotten. The song below isn't from the record, but from last year's self released New York Hospitals EP, that actually introduces one of Hospice's key characters (I suspect Sylvia's the terminally ill patient), as well as one of Hospice's key melodic themes. Enjoy.

mp3: The Antlers - Sylvia (An Introduction)
from the New York Hospitals EP

ALBUM: Hospice

The Antlers (AKA Peter Silberman) are set to release their second full-length album on March 3rd, called Hospice. From the band's website:

"When he moved to Manhattan in the winter of 2006, Peter Silberman, disappeared for a year and a half. He stayed cocooned in his apartment, hiding away from friends, family, and most of the city. When Silberman emerged in the spring of 2007, he was twenty-one, liberated, and broken. He set out to explain his absence through a record that would take another year and a half to complete."

The record is a concept album of sorts, exploring loneliness and hopelessness via the cold and austere atmosphere of a hospital/hospice ward. While much of the album lies in the ethereal and ambient realm, there are some moments of quiet beauty where Silberman's lonely falsetto shines through the haze, acting like a little beam of light in an otherwise grey vista. Below are two of those moments. The first is 'Sylvia', a clanging and crescendo-ing piece, and a good representation of the record as a whole. The second is 'Two', which made its way around the internet last year, and which succeeds at being both a memorably beautiful and a remarkably heart-breaking song. The melody-line is simple but profoundly moving, and the adamently strum guitar provides the perfect back-bone to Silberman's woeful narrative.

The Antlers - Sylvia
from the album Hospice (pre-order here)


The Antlers - Two
from the album Hospice (pre-order here)


Click here for more mp3s.