I've been listening to the first album (i think!)
I have to say...I'm hooked! (insomnia is amazing!)
It's really hard to get hold of though...Where can i get the rest of their stuff?
I don't mind D/loading but I like to hold the CD in my hand too
so, i went to see the Wintersleep show in Hamilton last night..... or should I say, early this morning... (they went on at 12:20 and played til about 2:15!)
first of all, I just want to say that Loel is my new hero.... that man can play the drums like nobody's business.... where he gets his energy from, i'll never know....
So... I mentioned the other day that I couldn't wait to hear a full set.... and full set is what we got!!! Here it is, not quite in order:
Drunk on Aluminum
Archeaologists
Dead Letter
Caliber (:cool: yah baby!)
Jaws of Life
Murderer
Faithfull Guide
Listen, Listen, Listen (this song is so delicious, I just want to eat Paul Murphy for breakfast!)
Weighty Ghost
Migration
Search Party
Oblivion
Laser Beams
Yellow Bellied Freaks
Snowstorm
Orca
Home (don't think this was planned, but the crowd just started singing it and wouldn't stop, so they had no choice but to join in! )
Nerves Normal, Breath Normal ( mind-blowing, as usual!)
Danse Macabre
The crowd was amazing... Paul looked a little shocked but very happy at the crowd's knowledge of the new songs (great singalongs!!). He said it was the best reaction they'd had to the new songs so far.... and i think that translated into some of the treats from the old records....
I really can't express how in love with these guys i am right now....
I didn't get a chance to talk to to Loel, but he was at the front door when i walked in, and when i handed the girl my email print-out, he exclaimed "Is that an E-ticket??" lol.... i thought it was a strange reaction.... hahaha...
I did bump into Paul as he left the stage (ok - I may have put myself in his way, just a little bit... ) and I was able to shake his hand... all that came out of my mouth though, was "Awesome, awesome... thank you... that was amazing!" I'm such a tool...
hey, ceg, i forgot to reply to your emails about the wintersleep shows...i know...me? forgetful?!?!
awesome setlist! i'm happy they played caliber and i can't imagine what a feeling it must have been for the crowd to be singing home and then the band to go into it because of that! awesome! i had the cd with me on my last trip to ireland a few years ago and it was weird that as i was making my way back into halifax on the airbus, home came on...it was kind of freaky...
so glad to be back home....:)
wintersleep!
also, i'm pleased to read all the positive reaction here for the band. it's been some time since i checked this thread, so it's good to see people are catching on to them. such a good group of guys...they deserve all the success and compliments.
i also got the navy blue 'Thomas' t-shirt.... i couldn't resist...
just re-posting this quote from ceg for you urbanhippie. you actually have the second cd. you can order other wintersleep stuff at this site, but it looks like the first one is out of stock at the moment. :(
edit: but there is a limited pressing of the first one on vinyl there...
I've been listening to the first album (i think!)
I have to say...I'm hooked! (insomnia is amazing!)
It's really hard to get hold of though...Where can i get the rest of their stuff?
I don't mind D/loading but I like to hold the CD in my hand too
looks like you can still get the first disc on their own store site, urbanhippie. maplemusic is out of stock, but there's no disclaimer about that here...
I read a review of Welcome To The Night Sky that said the singer sounded like Eddie without the cheesy theatrics, or something. I'll see if I can find it.
hey, ceg, i forgot to reply to your emails about the wintersleep shows...i know...me? forgetful?!?!
awesome setlist! i'm happy they played caliber and i can't imagine what a feeling it must have been for the crowd to be singing home and then the band to go into it because of that! awesome! i had the cd with me on my last trip to ireland a few years ago and it was weird that as i was making my way back into halifax on the airbus, home came on...it was kind of freaky...
so glad to be back home....
wintersleep!
also, i'm pleased to read all the positive reaction here for the band. it's been some time since i checked this thread, so it's good to see people are catching on to them. such a good group of guys...they deserve all the success and compliments.
p.s. loel!
hey mookie - i knew you'd get around to replying..... eventually....
it was amazing to hear Caliber - but i think Listen Listen Listen was even more special.... i think it has taken the lead as my fave wintersleep song... ok, favorite slow wintersleep song...
lol... there were a few people from my company's Halifax office at the seminar this week... i told them all how much i loved wintersleep - they kinda laughed and rolled their eyes, and said they'd seen them a million times... hahahaa.... i love that they're so new to 'us', but you Halidonians are practically sick of 'em!
~~*~~ ...i surfaced and all of my being was enlightend... ~~*~~
hey mookie - i knew you'd get around to replying..... eventually....
it was amazing to hear Caliber - but i think Listen Listen Listen was even more special.... i think it has taken the lead as my fave wintersleep song... ok, favorite slow wintersleep song...
lol... there were a few people from my company's Halifax office at the seminar this week... i told them all how much i loved wintersleep - they kinda laughed and rolled their eyes, and said they'd seen them a million times... hahahaa.... i love that they're so new to 'us', but you Halidonians are practically sick of 'em!
far from sick of them over here my friend! i would see them another million times! haha
it's just been nice to watch their progression from playing shows on monday nights to crowds of 20 people or so to selling out shows and getting recognition in so many places, then on to opening up for the hip and PJ. it seems surreal.
freakin' sweet!!! i just found these two fantastic video compilations from the show I went to in Hamilton....
The person who filmed them must have been standing right in front of me, because this was my exact view of the show....
check 'em out! you can really get a sense of how much fun the guys were having... the crowd is louder than them sometimes, and the guys can't help but show their excitement... Paul can't keep a straight face through most of it!
Published October 4, 2007 by Jason Lewis in CD Reviews
Many bands mix loud-quiet-loud tactics with shoegaze sensibilities, but few do it with the intricacy of Wintersleep. With a keen ear for pop melodies, they tear open epic anthems with the roar of frantic, rapid-fire guitar work. Straight-up rockers are split in two with seesaw riffs and cataclysmic drum fills. Even after using a phase pedal at full wash, they can still hold their heads high.
Vocally, front man Paul Murphy sounds a bit like Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder without the cheesy operatics, or like Rheostatic Martin Tielli without the squelch. He’s got a sweet lilt that lends itself to the band’s pitch-perfect atmospherics and has just enough edge to play off the ragged edges of Wintersleep’s powerhouse singalongs. Whether he’s telling tales of urgency or slipping into mantra-like choruses, the results are equally engaging.
All of this comes together on album closer “Miasmal Smoke & the Yellow Bellied Freaks.” With an indie-rock build of the highest calibre, this eight-minute opus is the topper on an album of brilliant tension. It’s engaging, it’s massive and it’s beautiful. It’s everything you have come to expect from Wintersleep and more.
~AKA Dave-of-the-dead~
I don't wanna think, I wanna feel
Dublin 23/08/06 Lisbon I 04/09/06 Lisbon II 05/09/06 Paris 11/09/06 Verona 16/09/06
London 18/06/07 Dusseldorf 21/06/07 Copenhagen 26/06/07 Nijmegen 28/06/07
I'm not sure i agree with the Eddie comparison.... actually, just on the way out to lunch today, my coworker, who had never heard them before, said they sounded like Alice In Chains, which I think is a better comparison... but still not quite... Paul's voice just isn't deep enough to be like Ed's...
It’s engaging, it’s massive and it’s beautiful.
this pretty much sums it up for me!
~~*~~ ...i surfaced and all of my being was enlightend... ~~*~~
looks like you can still get the first disc on their own store site, urbanhippie. maplemusic is out of stock, but there's no disclaimer about that here...
Wintersleep has been one of the bigger names to come out the Halifax scene in the last few years. While I certainly enjoyed a lot of the work they did on their two previous untitled albums, I don't think they blew me away. Well, after spending time with their latest, and first titled, album, Welcome To The Night Sky, you might as well give me a bad fake Irish accent and cast me opposite Jeff Bridges, because I am indeed blown away this time.
Recorded in Halifax at Sonic Temple studios by Tony Doogan, it was mixed in Glasgow at Castle Of Doom Studios, which, I have to say, is a rather excellent name for a studio. I don't know if it's the UK influence, but Paul Murphy's vocals have more of a lilting, deliberate quality than I remember from the band's previous work. But I think it's a good match for the album's vivid tales of astronauts and excavating whale bones. You always have the feeling that Murphy is holding back, and that creates a tension that takes the songs up a couple notches.
More often then not, when the songs need to be turned loose, the band does heavy lifting. The consistent drumming and fuzzy guitars of Drunk On Aluminum build steadily until breaking into a full shoegazey gallop and then stopping completely. A brief guitar flurry feels like a whole new song before things get quiet again and Murphy finishes the song off. It's quite a ride to open the album. Archaeologists continues that ride with a bouncy bassline and some floaty ambient vocal ad-libs which provide an unstoppably toe-tapping backdrop for a tale about the remains of a winged boy being found in the belly of a whale. It could be some kind of religious metaphor, but honestly I have no idea. I do know it's the first time I couldn't get the lyrics "belly of a whale, belly of a whale, belly of a whale" out of my head.
I think most people will agree the album's centerpiece is Weighty Ghost, which is clearly the catchiest song about losing one's identity I've ever heard. Organ, strummed guitar, handclaps, and community backing vocals are not only a break from the band's heavy, electric sound, but it's also the perfect recipe for a sing-along inducing crowd pleaser at future Wintersleep shows. The catchy, more straight-forward rockers Oblivion and Laser Beams build up to the epic album finale Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks. Ordinarily I might tend to regard an eight minute plus song with such an obscure title as a little self-indulgent, but it works here.
The melodic choruses on Welcome To The Night Sky probably make it more accessible to the average listener, but I doubt their longtime fans will have any issue with that. For me, I just think it's a great album, 10 varied, and excellent songs that I've listened many times already and I'm not tired of it at all. Check it out for yourself.
sweet! thanks for posting that review, ceg....and for giving us a new name out here, "the nautical halidonians".
sometimes i wish they'd had access to that kind of production for "wintersleep", because it doesn't quite capture that larger than life sound they have live, but i guess that would be difficult to do anyway. it's still a gem as it is.
sometimes i wish they'd had access to that kind of production for "wintersleep", because it doesn't quite capture that larger than life sound they have live, but i guess that would be difficult to do anyway. it's still a gem as it is.
i know! i seriously can't describe how freakin' amazing they sound live!
and the funny thing is, that all the live videos posted on youtube sound awful! and the louder they play, the worse it sounds on those crappy camera/video/phone mics! when in reality, the louder they play, the more heart-poundingly, head-swimmingly, beautiful it is!!
~~*~~ ...i surfaced and all of my being was enlightend... ~~*~~
Nerves Normal, Breath Normal is what made me fall for them in the first place....
Listen, Listen, Listen made me fall even harder...
Listen, Listen, Listen HAS to be my favorite...:D
I heard their second album first and am completely obessessed...:) The first album is also great, but I think the third may have to grow on me a bit more...
Here's hoping they decide to visit this side of the pond in the near future....
Listen, Listen, Listen HAS to be my favorite...:D
I heard their second album first and am completely obessessed...:) The first album is also great, but I think the third may have to grow on me a bit more...
Here's hoping they decide to visit this side of the pond in the near future....
It took a while for Welcome To The Night Sky to grow on me aswell. There were a few tracks I thought were great, but the rest I was unsure about. Give it a chance, and it will blow you away!
~AKA Dave-of-the-dead~
I don't wanna think, I wanna feel
Dublin 23/08/06 Lisbon I 04/09/06 Lisbon II 05/09/06 Paris 11/09/06 Verona 16/09/06
London 18/06/07 Dusseldorf 21/06/07 Copenhagen 26/06/07 Nijmegen 28/06/07
It took a while for Welcome To The Night Sky to grow on me aswell. There were a few tracks I thought were great, but the rest I was unsure about. Give it a chance, and it will blow you away!
I think it will too. I already love archeologists....
I think it will too. I already love archeologists....
i liked archeologists a lot better once i read the lyrics... i had trouble hearing any words besides the "belly of a whale" part, and i thought it was a bit repetative.... but they're really lovely, now that i know them!
The archeologists found
Some winged boy's remains
Stained by the fire and clouds
In the belly of a whale
The day the lightning came.
The belly of a whale....
Packed up and shipped to London
Discard, discard, the rotted parts
Preserve the heart and the lungs.
i'm not sure what it means, but i love the imagery!
~~*~~ ...i surfaced and all of my being was enlightend... ~~*~~
Comments
I have to say...I'm hooked! (insomnia is amazing!)
It's really hard to get hold of though...Where can i get the rest of their stuff?
I don't mind D/loading but I like to hold the CD in my hand too
Wembley 18/06/07
If there was a reason, it was you.
O2 Arena 18/09/09
hey, ceg, i forgot to reply to your emails about the wintersleep shows...i know...me? forgetful?!?!
awesome setlist! i'm happy they played caliber and i can't imagine what a feeling it must have been for the crowd to be singing home and then the band to go into it because of that! awesome! i had the cd with me on my last trip to ireland a few years ago and it was weird that as i was making my way back into halifax on the airbus, home came on...it was kind of freaky...
so glad to be back home....:)
wintersleep!
also, i'm pleased to read all the positive reaction here for the band. it's been some time since i checked this thread, so it's good to see people are catching on to them. such a good group of guys...they deserve all the success and compliments.
p.s. loel!
just re-posting this quote from ceg for you urbanhippie. you actually have the second cd. you can order other wintersleep stuff at this site, but it looks like the first one is out of stock at the moment. :(
edit: but there is a limited pressing of the first one on vinyl there...
looks like you can still get the first disc on their own store site, urbanhippie. maplemusic is out of stock, but there's no disclaimer about that here...
http://www.wintersleep.com/store/category.aspx?id=albums
audiodave - the link is not working... :( can you re-post it? i'd like to read the article....
omg, dire!!!! look what i found on their website! LYRICS!! a few, anyways...
http://www.wintersleep.com/art4.htm
http://www.wintersleep.com/art3.htm
holy crap.... Drunk on Aluminum .... stunning....
hey mookie - i knew you'd get around to replying..... eventually....
it was amazing to hear Caliber - but i think Listen Listen Listen was even more special.... i think it has taken the lead as my fave wintersleep song... ok, favorite slow wintersleep song...
lol... there were a few people from my company's Halifax office at the seminar this week... i told them all how much i loved wintersleep - they kinda laughed and rolled their eyes, and said they'd seen them a million times... hahahaa.... i love that they're so new to 'us', but you Halidonians are practically sick of 'em!
far from sick of them over here my friend!
it's just been nice to watch their progression from playing shows on monday nights to crowds of 20 people or so to selling out shows and getting recognition in so many places, then on to opening up for the hip and PJ. it seems surreal.
...and what's a halidonian?
The person who filmed them must have been standing right in front of me, because this was my exact view of the show....
check 'em out! you can really get a sense of how much fun the guys were having... the crowd is louder than them sometimes, and the guys can't help but show their excitement... Paul can't keep a straight face through most of it!
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvJb1Mg-zlg
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF8wPFH8ap0
it's like a torontonian, but more nautical....
http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/music/cd-reviews/wintersleep-welcome-night-sky/
Wintersleep - Welcome to the Night Sky
Labwork
Published October 4, 2007 by Jason Lewis in CD Reviews
Many bands mix loud-quiet-loud tactics with shoegaze sensibilities, but few do it with the intricacy of Wintersleep. With a keen ear for pop melodies, they tear open epic anthems with the roar of frantic, rapid-fire guitar work. Straight-up rockers are split in two with seesaw riffs and cataclysmic drum fills. Even after using a phase pedal at full wash, they can still hold their heads high.
Vocally, front man Paul Murphy sounds a bit like Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder without the cheesy operatics, or like Rheostatic Martin Tielli without the squelch. He’s got a sweet lilt that lends itself to the band’s pitch-perfect atmospherics and has just enough edge to play off the ragged edges of Wintersleep’s powerhouse singalongs. Whether he’s telling tales of urgency or slipping into mantra-like choruses, the results are equally engaging.
All of this comes together on album closer “Miasmal Smoke & the Yellow Bellied Freaks.” With an indie-rock build of the highest calibre, this eight-minute opus is the topper on an album of brilliant tension. It’s engaging, it’s massive and it’s beautiful. It’s everything you have come to expect from Wintersleep and more.
I don't wanna think, I wanna feel
Dublin 23/08/06 Lisbon I 04/09/06 Lisbon II 05/09/06 Paris 11/09/06 Verona 16/09/06
London 18/06/07 Dusseldorf 21/06/07 Copenhagen 26/06/07 Nijmegen 28/06/07
I'm not sure i agree with the Eddie comparison.... actually, just on the way out to lunch today, my coworker, who had never heard them before, said they sounded like Alice In Chains, which I think is a better comparison... but still not quite... Paul's voice just isn't deep enough to be like Ed's...
this pretty much sums it up for me!
I uploaded one of the vids to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luiifnf_jdc
The other song is 11 min. Too big.
Thanks MJ! that's awesome.... pretty good sound quality too!
damn, i wish the other file wasn't so big! 11 min? was it Nerves Normal?
Where's that credit card.......?
Wembley 18/06/07
If there was a reason, it was you.
O2 Arena 18/09/09
get Welcome To The Night Sky while you're at it!
archeologists?
It was beautiful
Wembley 18/06/07
If there was a reason, it was you.
O2 Arena 18/09/09
yep, that's the other song. If you get Pando i can send it to you.
http://www.pando.com
do you want to try http://www.yousendit.com or http://www.sendthisfile.com?
don't have to download any software...
my email is vedder4prez@hotmail.com
Wintersleep has been one of the bigger names to come out the Halifax scene in the last few years. While I certainly enjoyed a lot of the work they did on their two previous untitled albums, I don't think they blew me away. Well, after spending time with their latest, and first titled, album, Welcome To The Night Sky, you might as well give me a bad fake Irish accent and cast me opposite Jeff Bridges, because I am indeed blown away this time.
Recorded in Halifax at Sonic Temple studios by Tony Doogan, it was mixed in Glasgow at Castle Of Doom Studios, which, I have to say, is a rather excellent name for a studio. I don't know if it's the UK influence, but Paul Murphy's vocals have more of a lilting, deliberate quality than I remember from the band's previous work. But I think it's a good match for the album's vivid tales of astronauts and excavating whale bones. You always have the feeling that Murphy is holding back, and that creates a tension that takes the songs up a couple notches.
More often then not, when the songs need to be turned loose, the band does heavy lifting. The consistent drumming and fuzzy guitars of Drunk On Aluminum build steadily until breaking into a full shoegazey gallop and then stopping completely. A brief guitar flurry feels like a whole new song before things get quiet again and Murphy finishes the song off. It's quite a ride to open the album. Archaeologists continues that ride with a bouncy bassline and some floaty ambient vocal ad-libs which provide an unstoppably toe-tapping backdrop for a tale about the remains of a winged boy being found in the belly of a whale. It could be some kind of religious metaphor, but honestly I have no idea. I do know it's the first time I couldn't get the lyrics "belly of a whale, belly of a whale, belly of a whale" out of my head.
I think most people will agree the album's centerpiece is Weighty Ghost, which is clearly the catchiest song about losing one's identity I've ever heard. Organ, strummed guitar, handclaps, and community backing vocals are not only a break from the band's heavy, electric sound, but it's also the perfect recipe for a sing-along inducing crowd pleaser at future Wintersleep shows. The catchy, more straight-forward rockers Oblivion and Laser Beams build up to the epic album finale Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks. Ordinarily I might tend to regard an eight minute plus song with such an obscure title as a little self-indulgent, but it works here.
The melodic choruses on Welcome To The Night Sky probably make it more accessible to the average listener, but I doubt their longtime fans will have any issue with that. For me, I just think it's a great album, 10 varied, and excellent songs that I've listened many times already and I'm not tired of it at all. Check it out for yourself.
here's the link... you can even listen to Drunk On Aluminum there!
http://www.herohill.com/2007/10/reviews-wintersleep-welcome-to-night.htm
lol! that bit made me laugh!
sometimes i wish they'd had access to that kind of production for "wintersleep", because it doesn't quite capture that larger than life sound they have live, but i guess that would be difficult to do anyway. it's still a gem as it is.
sounds like an obscure, self-indulgent, Wintersleep song title...
i know! i seriously can't describe how freakin' amazing they sound live!
and the funny thing is, that all the live videos posted on youtube sound awful! and the louder they play, the worse it sounds on those crappy camera/video/phone mics! when in reality, the louder they play, the more heart-poundingly, head-swimmingly, beautiful it is!!
Good thinking. I'll upload it tomorrow.
Absolutely no idea when they'll get here, but nevermind. I'm still excited.
I don't wanna think, I wanna feel
Dublin 23/08/06 Lisbon I 04/09/06 Lisbon II 05/09/06 Paris 11/09/06 Verona 16/09/06
London 18/06/07 Dusseldorf 21/06/07 Copenhagen 26/06/07 Nijmegen 28/06/07
I don't wanna think, I wanna feel
Dublin 23/08/06 Lisbon I 04/09/06 Lisbon II 05/09/06 Paris 11/09/06 Verona 16/09/06
London 18/06/07 Dusseldorf 21/06/07 Copenhagen 26/06/07 Nijmegen 28/06/07
Nerves Normal, Breath Normal is what made me fall for them in the first place....
Listen, Listen, Listen made me fall even harder...
Listen, Listen, Listen HAS to be my favorite...:D
I heard their second album first and am completely obessessed...:) The first album is also great, but I think the third may have to grow on me a bit more...
Here's hoping they decide to visit this side of the pond in the near future....
Wembley 18/06/07
If there was a reason, it was you.
O2 Arena 18/09/09
I don't wanna think, I wanna feel
Dublin 23/08/06 Lisbon I 04/09/06 Lisbon II 05/09/06 Paris 11/09/06 Verona 16/09/06
London 18/06/07 Dusseldorf 21/06/07 Copenhagen 26/06/07 Nijmegen 28/06/07
Wembley 18/06/07
If there was a reason, it was you.
O2 Arena 18/09/09
i liked archeologists a lot better once i read the lyrics... i had trouble hearing any words besides the "belly of a whale" part, and i thought it was a bit repetative.... but they're really lovely, now that i know them!
The archeologists found
Some winged boy's remains
Stained by the fire and clouds
In the belly of a whale
The day the lightning came.
The belly of a whale....
Packed up and shipped to London
Discard, discard, the rotted parts
Preserve the heart and the lungs.
i'm not sure what it means, but i love the imagery!