Midlake...

I got the advance for the new Midlake record The Trials of Van Occupanther and HOLY SHIT this thing is amazing. I can't do it credit. I certainly tried in my review for Popmatters but the more you listen to this disc the deeper it gets. Unfortunately you can't write a book length record review no matter how much one would like to. There are a couple of songs that have been available via blogs and Bella Union for a while. Those songs, "Roscue" and "Young Bride", are excellent but only scratch the surface. Somehow or another Tim Smith and the rest of Midlake have miraculously channeled everyone from Fleetwood Mac to Dire Straits while at the same time updating those bands finest moments. At the risk of getting hyperbolic I've really gotta say that The Trials of Van Occupantherd is the clear front runner for best of 2006. Seriously, it's that good.

The album is a concept album or a rock opera or whatever you want to call it. It follows the trials of a character named Van Occupanther (bet you couldn't have guessed that), a garrulous fellow who lived around 1891 and has some serious trouble getting hitched. But really the whole narrative of the story is secondary to the songs. The songs steal the show to such a degree that any overriding idea of a narrative is completely overcome. The songs rock and weep and dance around your head like so many pixies on bicycles (whatever that means). The release date is July 25th and you must get it on that date. Must. Get. It.

1 from The Trials of Van Occupanther:

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