Wednesday, November 19, 2008

#13 - Chicago to NYC, Naming Names and The Darkest World

In this episode of the Casey Stratton Podcast I answer a question about recording, talk about the move from Chicago to New York as well as the record company meetings that eventually led to the Sony contract...naming names in the process. I then talk about the new EP, The Darkest World and perform Released from said EP. Music recommendation this week is Snow Patrol: A Hundred Million Suns.

On the surface, A Hundred Million Suns seems to suggest, nothing especially new: producer Jacknife Lee, who first worked with the band on 2003's Final Straw and went on to work with the likes of U2 and REM returns to the fold; and an opening brace of songs suggest that a successful formula--chiming guitars, gentle builds, and Gary Lightbody's quavering, tremulous vocal--persists. Still, “Take Back The City", a windswept, electronic-tinged rocker, rather does for this band what “Dakota" did for Stereophonics, proving that a spot of sleek, synthetic motorik is not beyond their grasp, and there's a new, bright optimism to Lightbody's lyrics that sets the likes of “The Planets Bend Between Us" in light relief to some of Snow Patrol's earlier work. If you want experiments, though, you'll have to wait until the closing “The Lightning Strike", a 16-minute track in three parts that investigates Phillip Glass-style minimalism and electronic beats with some aptitude. --Louis Pattison

Listen to podcast #13

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this was my favorite podcast performance of yours. Just....wow.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever had offers from European labels or tried to contact one?

cathrin

Casey Stratton said...

I have never pursued European labels at this point. A lot of my stuff was done in London when I was on Sony, though. I have thought about it, but I am hesitant to ever be on a label again...anywhere. LOL