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Midlake
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Texas, United States (1999 – present)
Midlake was formed in 1999 by a group of jazz students at the University of North Texas. The original lineup consisted of Tim Smith (vocals, guitars, keyboards), McKenzie Smith (drums), Paul Alexander (bass), Eric Nichelson (guitar), and Evan Jacobs (keyboards). Their initial work — under the working name The Cornbread All-Stars — consisted of funk/jazz explorations heavily influenced by Herbie Hancock.
Later the band began to lean more toward an indie rock sound. Tim Smith quit playing saxophone and began writing songs that were heavily influenced by bands such as Jethro Tull, Radiohead, Travis, and Grandaddy. Smith says about that: “We don’t want to get called a Radiohead rip-off band. I think Radiohead is a lot closer to my natural tendencies as a songwriter than a band like, um, Jethro Tull. I listen to way more Jethro Tull than I do Radiohead these days, but I could write 10 Radiohead songs before I could write one Jethro Tull song. I want to sound more like Jethro Tull, but I just can’t. That’s a big struggle.”
Jacobs left the band and Eric Nichelson took over on keyboard. Jason Upshaw joined the band as a guitarist. Live recordings from this period, recorded at Denton’s Panhandle House studio, were never released as the band felt they had moved beyond the material.
Later the band began to lean more toward an indie rock sound. Tim Smith quit playing saxophone and began writing songs that were heavily influenced by bands such as Jethro Tull, Radiohead, Travis, and Grandaddy. Smith says about that: “We don’t want to get called a Radiohead rip-off band. I think Radiohead is a lot closer to my natural tendencies as a songwriter than a band like, um, Jethro Tull. I listen to way more Jethro Tull than I do Radiohead these days, but I could write 10 Radiohead songs before I could write one Jethro Tull song. I want to sound more like Jethro Tull, but I just can’t. That’s a big struggle.”
Jacobs left the band and Eric Nichelson took over on keyboard. Jason Upshaw joined the band as a guitarist. Live recordings from this period, recorded at Denton’s Panhandle House studio, were never released as the band felt they had moved beyond the material.
Top Albums
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The Trials of Van Occupanther
Midlake
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The Courage of Others
MidlakeBuy- Download Album
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Bamnan and Slivercork
Midlake Buy- Download Album
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Milkmaid Grand Army EP
MidlakeBuy- Download Album
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Shoutbox
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hotterthanjuly wrote:
Bamnan and Slivercork is nowhere near as good as its two successors. And clearly the band knows so too...
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nothere413 wrote:
Yeah, Bamnan is great. Better than Courage, I'd say. Has anyone else checked out the John Grant album they did the instrumentals for? Fucking masterpiece.
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Xorq wrote:
Finally got Bamnan and Slivercork. Should be an interesting album since I've understood it's a bit different from the other two.
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adultery40 wrote:
roscoe,bandits,van occupanther,bring down (Y)
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nothere413 wrote:
The fuck is up with the tags. These guys are not, have not been, and never will be "Indie Pop".
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hotterthanjuly wrote:
Score.
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mythofsisyphus wrote:
Admittedly I am a relative Midlake newcomer, but after listening to all three albums I keep going back to The Courage of Others. It is, hands down, one of the best albums of 2010.
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moonchapter wrote:
Great!
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Murderer wrote:
This is why I love music. Formed in 1999 yet it took 11 years for me to stumble upon them!
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DiSTANToblivion wrote:
Saw these guys a couple of nights ago. They were really amazing, very different to what I'm normally used to as well. Immersive and atmospheric, with some very impressive musicianship. I heard a fairly long instrumental about halfway into their brilliant set, I'm not sure if I've heard it before as I'm still new getting into this band. Sometimes it's great to have a live experience like that to develop a much deeper interest in an artist.
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GreenKamo wrote:
Blown away by The Trials of Van Occupanther. Such an amazing album.
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hotterthanjuly wrote:
Nope. Try again.
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hotterthanjuly wrote:
Wow, DannyTheMute, you're so fucking original. Now be a real mute and shut the fuck up.
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zorinne wrote:
i reallllyyyy love core of nature. like it makes me wish i was a nature person... i would love to wander the woods like that
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windowview wrote:
Fascinating interview about their next album and future as a band: http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20100727_midlake.shtml
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anasbinm7md wrote:
ACTS OF MAN! <3
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whatareweanyway wrote:
does anyone else occasionally get a neil young vibe from the singer's voice? just his voice? no, is it just me?
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HyRRa wrote:
Moody and melodic metal with a progressive flow and harsh vocals. Melancholy with cutting edge - Nodding Sky from Finland. http://www.last.fm/music/Nodding+Sky
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hotterthanjuly wrote:
Diversity, sure. But Bamnan and Slivercork, while a fine debut, is a wobblier effort and overly derivative of sounds of their more famed predecessors, namely Radiohead and Grandaddy. Both The Trials of Van Occupanther and The Courage of Others are more confidently developed without wearing their influences so nakedly. The songwriting and musicianship is indisputably stronger.
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ironstone_3 wrote:
spot on nothere413.. their first album is so underated and miles ahead of 'The Courage of Others' in diversity, creativity, and quality songwriting in general.
Videos
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Events
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Sep
18
Rogue Wave
Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO, Denver CO, United States
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| 4 attendees
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Sep
19
Rogue Wave
The Granada, Lawrence KS, United States
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| 9 attendees
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Sep
20
Rogue Wave
First Avenue, Minneapolis MN, United States
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| 5 attendees
News
The Trials of Van Occupanther Re-Released on VINYL in the US!
10 Aug 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/midlake
Its been a long time coming to do a re-pressing of the vinyl for ‘Van Occupanther’, but the time has come! Denton, TX’ own Nova Posta Vinyl has re-released the vinyl here in the US so if you weren’t a. …
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The Trials of Van Occupanther on VINYL Re-Released!
10 Aug 2010 | from midlake.net/blog -
Fall Tour with Rogue Wave
22 Jul 2010 | from midlake.net/blog -
Midlake, John Grant and Jason Lytle Tour…Now its on!
12 Jul 2010 | from midlake.net/blog
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holywhite
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Recent Activity
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Flipsus16, shoegazer76, Jolijol and 4 other people added Midlake to their libraries. 2 hours ago
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BLLN added Midlake to the lineup of LES HEURES inD festival at Caserne fonk. 15 hours ago
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elbbee, madshefbykar, zeiborg and 4 other people added Midlake to their libraries. yesterday evening
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Salitre_48 unlinked Midlake from No soy raro, sólo entiendo más de música que mis amigos. Tuesday afternoon
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avanatty, anneangersbach, JesseLayne and 24 other people added Midlake to their libraries. Tuesday morning
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RounderII wrote about Midlake – Trials of Van Occupanther in Favorite Albums. Tuesday morning
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mroettchen tagged Midlake with ‘singer-songwriter’. Saturday evening
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mroettchen, doublem1975, theahage and 6 other people added Midlake to their libraries. Saturday evening
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haluk added Midlake to the lineup of Midlake at İTÜ Kültür Sanat Birliği (KSB) Binası Küçük Salon (Maslak). Saturday morning
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dandy86, freefrenchman, youreanasshole and 17 other people added Midlake to their libraries. Saturday morning
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