It’s going to be hard to get across to you just how excited we are about this week’s record on The Philebrity Player, The Trials Of Van Occupanther by Midlake. See, lots of times, the records on the Player are known quantities to us at least ‚Äî they’re artists we’ve heard before, or records we’ve been sitting with for a long time before they make their way to you. But some time last week, we fished this Midlake record out of the pile, just for shits-n-giggles ‘cos it had a real weird Jules Verne vibe on the cover. It proceeded to blow our minds, over and again. And we have not stopped listening to it since. Once we found out that, as it happens, they were playing the North Star Bar tonight, we moved heaven and earth to get it on the Player for you this week. (It turns out it wasn’t that hard, but you should still know that if it came down to it, we would have keyed cars, kicked people in the groin and robbed banks to make it happen.) So yes. We love Midlake. The facts: They are from Denton, Texas. Their sound? Oh man. It is a high-caliber Fleetwood Mac/Blue Oyster Cult/Pink Floyd-y loveshot to the neck, for which the only remedy may be MORE MIDLAKE. Van Occupanther is their second album. And for some reason, everyone who hears it falls in stony love with it instantly. From David Dye to Charlie Hall to Eric from Apollo, we all hail The Trials Of Van Occupanther.
For once, ladies and gentlemen, we are simply not worthy.
Click here to launch The Trials Of Van Occupanther by Midlake on The Philebrity Player
Download: Midlake: “Roscoe” [mp3, from The Trials Of Van Occupanther]
Midlake: “Young Bride (Cassettes Won’t Listen Remix)” [mp3]
Video: Midlake: “Young Bride” [Quicktime]
Midlake play the North Star Bar tonight with Sound Team and Cold War Kids. Philebrity has two pairs of tickets to give away. First two emails to ihopeiwin[at]philebrity[dot]com get ‘em. Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 25th, 2006 at 2:49 pm.