If you know me just through Ball of Wax, you might not realize that I’m a pretty big fan/supporter of instrumental rock music (sometimes referred to with the blanket genre term “post-rock”). I play in a droney instrumental band myself, and am one of the founders/organizers of the Cumulus Festival, which we started in 2009 to celebrate these kinds of sounds. All of which is to say, I’ve been paying attention to this stuff for a while. By sheer coincidence, two of my favorite bands making this kind of music have released very long-awaited new albums, both of which are now available on sexy 12″ vinyl. You should probably buy both.
Joy Wants Eternity played all three installments of Cumulus, but have been pretty quiet for the last few years. I didn’t even know they had plans to release a new album, but then all of a sudden there it was – on Etsy of all places – in both swirly clear and regular black vinyl. It’s totally worth the price of purchase, but of course you can preview it first just to make sure you’re sold. Even better, go to their record release show tonight at the Sunset and experience the sonic density and pressure of Joy Wants Eternity the way it’s meant to be heard.
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I’ve been a fan of Scriptures since they lived in Montana and were called This Is a Process of a Still Life (whom you might remember from touring through Missoula, especially if you’re Louis). They also played all three years of Cumulus. Their 2009 performance was under the old name, but for me it was the unveiling of the new sound that would become Scriptures. They shed a lot of the delicacy (and the vibraphones) of their earlier incarnation and started bringing more heavy riffing to the table, all without losing any of their musical sophistication or compositional chops. I was really excited to hear a new record from them and now, three and a half years later, it’s finally out and well worth the wait. I think for now you have to go to Spin Cycle Records in Capitol Hill to get the vinyl (cassette also available via Translinguistic Other), but you can hear a few songs to get you out the door to the record store right here:
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Levi has not led us astray, the Scriptures record is rad.
Update! No sooner did I post this post, then Scriptures have now made their entire album available for listening and free downloading at the above bandcamp link for a limited time. Get on it!