| Colin Meloy's Early Work to Be Released
These days, Colin Meloy fronts the Decemberists. But that wasn't always the case. During his college days, at the University of Montana in Missoula, Meloy was in a band called Tarkio. The band, which took its name from a small town in Western Montana, was comprised of Meloy, Gibson Hartwell (guitar), Louis Stein (bass), and Brian Collins (drums). There was a self-titled debut, followed by an LP, I Guess I Was Hoping For Something More (1998), and an EP, Sea Songs for Landlocked Sailors (1999). In an interview with Amplifier, Meloy said: "We [Tarkio] had aspirations of being able to base ourselves as a band out of Missoula, Montana, like Low is from Duluth and Modest Mouse is from Issaquah [Washington], but I think we pretty quickly discovered that the reason why those bands succeeded was that were within an hour's drive from a major metropolitan area." All of the band members weren't able to leave Missoula, and Meloy relocated to Portland, Oregon with hopes of starting another band.
Leap in guitar sales as Arctic Monkeys fuel trend
SALES of guitars in the UK have risen by 18 per cent over the past year to £120 million, as the popularity of rock bands such as Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys persuades the nation to get strumming. The number of guitars sold has more than doubled since 1999 as City bankers hunting trophy guitars and young would-be rock stars flock to guitar shops such as those in Londons Denmark Street. .
The Water Cooler: They should go to 11 - and start with 1
Nigel Tufnel, to put it kindly, seldom has come across as the sharpest guitar pick in the box, but he clearly has his admirers at the University Interscholastic League. A brief review, for those of you unfamiliar with the legendary Spinal Tap lead-guitar player: Tufnel, being interviewed for "This Is Spinal Tap" — a 1984 chronicle of the band's American tour — explained to filmmaker Marty DiBergi why the volume switch on his guitar's amplifier went to 11, rather than the customary 10. DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder? Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not 10. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at 10. You're on 10 here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on 10 on your guitar.
The Velvet Teen - Cum Laude!
Eschewing the alt-rock intricacies of Out of the Fierce Parade and mostly down-tempo, piano-centric orchestrations of Elysium, the Velvet Teen once again redefine themselves and their sound on their latest triumph, Cum Laude!. Cum Laude! not only treads new ground for the group, but does so with formidable aplomb, wrecking any notion that this band can be pinned down.
In contrast to Elysium’s six extended tracks, Cum Laude! favors shorter, quicker, and more dynamic compositions. One of the first things you’ll notice on it is the heavy vocal filters, which, ironically, only embolden Judah Nagler’s croon. Nagler has never been stronger and here his voice simply rises above the glitch-heavy rock like a heralding of something prophetic and radical. Opening track "333" attests to this when Nagler belts out, "I took the pain out of my pen / I took my self out of my selfish ways / and wrote all...I took the greed out of my grin / and sunk my teeth into my work instead / and they followed."
Although produced with the same sparkling precision as Elysium, Cum Laude! is a hybridized beast of a supremely varied parentage.
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