It seems so many of my posts have been overtaken with a political edge. I hope that is okay with you all, it seems so much in my life has been revolving around politics.

I saw The Fountain tonight. My two friends and myself joined four other brave souls in seeing it. The theater was quite empty, needless to say. It made me quite sad to see those empty seats because the movie was quite spectacular. I am not entirely sure I was able to understand a great deal of it, but I think that is alright. I recommend it to anyone who has ever wondered "what if we could live forever?" or anyone who hasn't, really. I need to think more about this, to decipher what this means on a larger scale. I think...

So what have I been listening to you ask? Well, I have been replaying The Fountain's soundtrack a bit, but I also have this band called Memphis playing. I think I am a little late on this, but I think I still need to talk about it. (I hope it gets the cred it deserves.)

So I am certain most of you know who Stars are. Ya know, the great Canadian "indie" band fronted by Torquil Campbell - a little synth/pop/etc. setup... ah, click here for more about Stars. Okay, so Memphis, besides being one of the hardest bands to find on the net, way to go naming yourself a US city associated with country music) they have put together something that seems even harder to find these days - music that bounces but doesn't "pop."

I have seen a couple reviews/discussions on these guys and in all instances Memphis have just been compared to Stars. This is something which happens far too often; a bands lead produces a side project and it is compared with their main work, but what these people don't realize is if they wanted to make music like/comparable to what they do everyday, why would they want a side project? Besides, I don't even think they are the same in any way. Sure Torquil Campbell is there, but besides a name, I see/hear nothing of Stars.

Memphis isn't just Torquil Campbell; Torquil is joined by Chris Dumont who had some vague association with Campbell a long time ago, before Dumont decided to take a nap in Central Park, or something like that. The two make sweet southern/norther, Canadian/American music that, like I said before, bounces. It is not pop at all, in any way. Segments of the album touch on the ill-lost "emo" music of my past in "A Ghost Story." (I hate to use the phrase "emo" because of its poor connotation, but I use it here to strictly to signify an emotional story told through a song.)

However, emotionality is not the focus of this album - it is only a step along the pathway. The brass leading the way unto gentle dreamy strings melded together by lustrous vocals - This is the soundtrack to discovery. Each song moves us further to our place in this chaotic world, or as Memphis puts it in the title to their album, "A Little Place In The Wilderness".

Unfortunately, this album is only available in the US as an import for a fine price of about $24. Is it worth it? Damn right it is. Get it on Amazon here.

To prove it, here are a couple tracks from this wonderful album:
I dreamed we fell apart [mp3]
Incredibly drunk on whiskey [mp3] (a more pop-like song)

Like I said, Memphis' website is a task to find. Here it is for you. www.memphis.ca

Labels: Indie