29-09-2012, 13:17
online listen
now that was interesting
dare I say it, hearing some Nick Cave in some of this
3 like tracks,including the clip
doesn't quite make the grade overall though
good potential
1.5 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Straight At The Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7JCF2TqqUc
released Sept 25th, 2012
![[Image: 61FXh-T411L._SL500_AA300_.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61FXh-T411L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
Bio - from allmusic
Indiana-based Murder by Death first caught the attention of Thursday's Geoff Rickly while playing a gig together one
night in their hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. Rickly promptly brought the band, then called Little Joe Gould, to
the attention of his friend Alex Saavedra (Eyeball Records owner), and the group was signed immediately. The band
was comprised of vocalist/guitarist Adam Turla, drummer Alex Schrodt, bassist Matt Armstrong, cellist Sarah Balliet,
and pianist Vincent Edwards. They issued a 2001 self-titled EP as Little Joe Gould before the band eventually
decided to change its name to Murder by Death, taken from the 1976 Robert Moore mystery of the same name. The
bandmembers felt the new name better represented their ominous sound, which combined elements of artists like Nick
Cave & the Bad Seeds, Johnny Cash, and the Decemberists.
Their first full-length, Like the Exorcist But More Breakdancing, was released on Eyeball in August 2002. Touring
early on with bands like Cursive, Interpol, and the American Analog Set, the band did a summer 2003 split with Volta
Do Mar before following up that fall with the well-received Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them? The
record was something of a concept album based around the Devil waging war on a small Western town. A benefit 7"
appeared at the year's end in memory of Ten Grand's Matt Davis, and the band continued to turn heads nationwide on
tours with the likes of Lucero, the Weakerthans, William Elliott Whitmore, and Rasputina.
Edwards amicably parted ways with the group in mid-2004 to go back to school, and when his touring replacement also
left by the year's end, the remaining members of Murder by Death decided to just carry on as a more rock-oriented
quartet. Balliet, though, picked up keyboard parts along with her cello. After extensive touring, the bandmembers
went back to college for a bit while writing their third album. Murder by Death eventually issued In Bocca al Lupo
on their East West imprint, Tent Show Records, in May 2006. Another concept album, this one was produced by J.
Robbins (Against Me!, Dismemberment Plan), and explored themes of sin and redemption, somewhat inspired by Dante
Alighieri's The Divine Comedy. Touring continued through the summer, including a headlining stint with Langhorne
Slim opening.
In March 2008, Murder by Death released Red of Tooth and Claw on Vagrant Records. The band followed up again in 2010
with its fifth studio album, Good Morning, Magpie. Two years later Murder by Death returned with Bitter Drink,
Bitter Moon, which found the band taking part in a crowd-sourcing campaign through Kickstarter for the vinyl release
of the album. The campaign would find them becoming the third highest-earning band since the site launched.
Album Review - from allmusic
The night can be a scary place sometimes, with myriad dangers masked by a shroud of darkness that requires us to
simply take a deep breath and head into the unknown. Most of the time, what's actually out there is fairly mundane,
and the things we fear are living inside of our minds, tricks dreamt up by our subconscious to scare us. It's these
imagined parts of the darkness that Murder by Death call home, peeling back the shadows to show not what is actually
lying in wait in the darkness, but what we secretly wish was there. On their sixth album, Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon,
Murder by Death continue in the tradition of their previous albums, delivering 13 ominous tracks of the band's brand
of "whiskey devil music." While it's hard to deny the sinister nature of lyrics like "Lost River"'s opening salvo,
"Hush now creature, don't you cry/I know a place where a body can hide," Bitter Drink feels more exuberant than the
band's earlier work, upping the tempo and grandeur of the songs in a way that shines a little light on the band's
darkness without snuffing it out completely. This rollicking clash between light and dark gives the album a kind of
macabre tent-revival feeling. You can almost imagine a dilapidated tent appearing in a vacant lot overnight, its
occupants inviting all who'll listen to enter and hear the tales they've picked up on the long and lonely road
before disappearing without a trace the next day. This level of immersion alone makes Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon
worth the time it takes to give it a listen, and the fact that the album is filled with killer songs to slam bourbon
to is really just icing on the (probably arsenic-laced) cake.
Track Listing
1. My Hill
2. Lost River
3. Straight at the Sun
4. No Oath, No Spell
5. I Came Around
6. Hard World
7. Ditch Lilly
8. The Curse of Elkhart
9. Ramblin
10. Queen Mab
11. Go to the Light
12. Oh, To Be an Animal
13. Ghost Fields
now that was interesting
dare I say it, hearing some Nick Cave in some of this
3 like tracks,including the clip
doesn't quite make the grade overall though
good potential
1.5 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Straight At The Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7JCF2TqqUc
released Sept 25th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
Indiana-based Murder by Death first caught the attention of Thursday's Geoff Rickly while playing a gig together one
night in their hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. Rickly promptly brought the band, then called Little Joe Gould, to
the attention of his friend Alex Saavedra (Eyeball Records owner), and the group was signed immediately. The band
was comprised of vocalist/guitarist Adam Turla, drummer Alex Schrodt, bassist Matt Armstrong, cellist Sarah Balliet,
and pianist Vincent Edwards. They issued a 2001 self-titled EP as Little Joe Gould before the band eventually
decided to change its name to Murder by Death, taken from the 1976 Robert Moore mystery of the same name. The
bandmembers felt the new name better represented their ominous sound, which combined elements of artists like Nick
Cave & the Bad Seeds, Johnny Cash, and the Decemberists.
Their first full-length, Like the Exorcist But More Breakdancing, was released on Eyeball in August 2002. Touring
early on with bands like Cursive, Interpol, and the American Analog Set, the band did a summer 2003 split with Volta
Do Mar before following up that fall with the well-received Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them? The
record was something of a concept album based around the Devil waging war on a small Western town. A benefit 7"
appeared at the year's end in memory of Ten Grand's Matt Davis, and the band continued to turn heads nationwide on
tours with the likes of Lucero, the Weakerthans, William Elliott Whitmore, and Rasputina.
Edwards amicably parted ways with the group in mid-2004 to go back to school, and when his touring replacement also
left by the year's end, the remaining members of Murder by Death decided to just carry on as a more rock-oriented
quartet. Balliet, though, picked up keyboard parts along with her cello. After extensive touring, the bandmembers
went back to college for a bit while writing their third album. Murder by Death eventually issued In Bocca al Lupo
on their East West imprint, Tent Show Records, in May 2006. Another concept album, this one was produced by J.
Robbins (Against Me!, Dismemberment Plan), and explored themes of sin and redemption, somewhat inspired by Dante
Alighieri's The Divine Comedy. Touring continued through the summer, including a headlining stint with Langhorne
Slim opening.
In March 2008, Murder by Death released Red of Tooth and Claw on Vagrant Records. The band followed up again in 2010
with its fifth studio album, Good Morning, Magpie. Two years later Murder by Death returned with Bitter Drink,
Bitter Moon, which found the band taking part in a crowd-sourcing campaign through Kickstarter for the vinyl release
of the album. The campaign would find them becoming the third highest-earning band since the site launched.
Album Review - from allmusic
The night can be a scary place sometimes, with myriad dangers masked by a shroud of darkness that requires us to
simply take a deep breath and head into the unknown. Most of the time, what's actually out there is fairly mundane,
and the things we fear are living inside of our minds, tricks dreamt up by our subconscious to scare us. It's these
imagined parts of the darkness that Murder by Death call home, peeling back the shadows to show not what is actually
lying in wait in the darkness, but what we secretly wish was there. On their sixth album, Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon,
Murder by Death continue in the tradition of their previous albums, delivering 13 ominous tracks of the band's brand
of "whiskey devil music." While it's hard to deny the sinister nature of lyrics like "Lost River"'s opening salvo,
"Hush now creature, don't you cry/I know a place where a body can hide," Bitter Drink feels more exuberant than the
band's earlier work, upping the tempo and grandeur of the songs in a way that shines a little light on the band's
darkness without snuffing it out completely. This rollicking clash between light and dark gives the album a kind of
macabre tent-revival feeling. You can almost imagine a dilapidated tent appearing in a vacant lot overnight, its
occupants inviting all who'll listen to enter and hear the tales they've picked up on the long and lonely road
before disappearing without a trace the next day. This level of immersion alone makes Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon
worth the time it takes to give it a listen, and the fact that the album is filled with killer songs to slam bourbon
to is really just icing on the (probably arsenic-laced) cake.
Track Listing
1. My Hill
2. Lost River
3. Straight at the Sun
4. No Oath, No Spell
5. I Came Around
6. Hard World
7. Ditch Lilly
8. The Curse of Elkhart
9. Ramblin
10. Queen Mab
11. Go to the Light
12. Oh, To Be an Animal
13. Ghost Fields
