Taken - Between Two Unseens EP (2004)

TAKEN - BETWEEN TWO UNSEENS EP

Released July, 2004

Goodfellow Records

TRACKLISTING

1. Arrested Impulse

2. The Duke

3. Treaded Paths

4. Eternity Was On Our Lips

5. Swirling Memories

Taken's final release, the "Between Two Unseens" EP, sees the band at the pinnacle of their sound. Much like Skycamefalling's final 2 song EP which showed the world what they would have sounded like had they stayed together, "Between Two Unseens" shows the stellar capability that these five guys had of making incredible music. It really is a shame that this is their final release, because this by far overshadows any of their previous work, even when it's only a meager five songs, and 24 minutes in length. However if you have ever listened to Taken, or are a fan of progressive hardcore, ala Fordirelifesake, then "Between Two Unseens" is a great recommendation. The special edition with the Bonus DVD containing one of the band's final shows at Chain Reaction is a great touch. Such a shame this is the last thing we will ever hear from them. 

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Frodus - Flexi 7"

Frodus "Promotional Flexi 7" Vinyl

Label: Tooth & Nail

1997

A promotional flexi 7" that came with the Muddle fanzine. This was recorded by Jonathan Kreinik in Nathan's parents garage. He sums it up in his recording diary entry here:

So we join Frodus once again, the late summer of 1997, with new bassist and old friend Nathan Burke on the team, ready to record some demos for their upcoming full length on Tooth and Nail, which will eventually yield two songs for a flexi-disc in Muddle Fanzine. Nate's parents have a nice detached garage at their house in McLean, VA and, happily, neighbors who seem to have lived around Nate's music career for some time. He has neighborhood fans.

I brought the Boombox out to the garage. Music like the Juniper record but much more refined at this point. So it looked like this: the Otari MX-5050, the Tannoy PBM6.5s, the Behringer Composer Compressor, the Crown Amp, maybe the Effectron and Midiverb2, but I somehow doubt that, and of course the Mackie 1604VLZ. Mic selection was the basic set: the 57, the 58, the 58 copy, Crown PZMs, the Audio Technica Lecturn mic, and probably some borrowed things like more 57s and 58s. We did everything, unbaffled in that garage. Sound was totally flying all over the place. Big wash. Bass in the corner, Marshall in another corner, drums on the other side of the room. I think the PZMs were on the floor in front of the drums and I probably close mic'd the kick and snare and stuck the lecturn mic above Jason's head. Maybe. The sound was an untamed beast.

Everything was straightforward. The only problem was the monitoring, which obviously had to be done on headphones. Even with nearfields, the room was so reflective that playback was totally reverbed out. Should've set up outside but I liked being in there and I don't think I had long enough cables anyway. Once it got dark we put the V4 and 4x12 cabinet, covered in the Frodus [van] covered with a blanket as well for isolation, since it was after 10pm. The V4 totally overheated in there, I think, but it worked. Vocals were also done in there. I think we mixed in the garage, but may have had to mix it elsewhere due to the aforementioned garage reverb problem.

The songs that appear on this flexi are the Misaligned Men of Flomaton (spelled Flomation on the flexi) and Invisible Time Lines. Some aspects of both turned out better on the flexi than on Conglomerate International LP. There's something about these recordings, partly because I recorded them rather than Bruce, but also all the factors that went into it: the garage, the van, the summer weather, being practically outside, and just being stoked to be doing it. Nate hated the bass sound, but I kinda hated his bass sound and really didn't know what to do with it. Knowing how little we had to work with in that space, I really like this. Enough already.

(Jonathan Kreinik, 1997)

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Incubus - The Odyssey EP

INCUBUS - THE ODYSSEY EP

In 2004, Incubus created four, albeit very similar, songs that are featured on the Halo 2 Soundtrack (Volume 1). The songs are collectively known as "The Odyssey". The original was called "Follow (1st Movement of The Odyssey)". There are also three remixes of the song: 2nd Movement of the Odyssey, 3rd Movement of the Odyssey, and 4th Movement of the Odyssey. As the songs numerical value for "Movement of the Odyssey" goes up, they become more and more dissimilar to the original track as well as longer (with one exception). The track "Follow (1st Movement of the Odyssey)" was the only track to appear in game. It is played during the final few minutes of gameplay in the Halo 2 level The Arbiter.

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Motion City Soundtrack / Limbeck 7" Split

Motion City Soundtrack / Limbeck 7" Split

Released 2004 on Vinyl Nerd Records

Limbeck/Motion City Soundtrack 7" Split is a 7" split featuring the bands Limbeck and Motion City Soundtrack. It was released in 2004 by Vinyl Nerd Records. Each band covers one of the other's songs, Motion City Soundtrack doing Limbeck's "The Sun Woke the Whole States" (from Hi, Everything's Great.) and Limbeck doing Motion City Soundtrack's "Perfect Teeth" (from I Am the Movie). Each record is individually numbered up to 1000 with many different color variations.

Track listing

1. "The Sun Woke the Whole State" (by Motion City Soundtrack) (Limbeck cover)
2. "Perfect Teeth" (by Limbeck) (Motion City Soundtrack cover)

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Explosions In The Sky - The Rescue (Travels In Constants Vol. 21)

Explosions In The Sky - The Rescue (Travels In Constants Vol. 21)




Released on Temporary Residence Limited
October 11th, 2005



The album was recorded and mixed in just two weeks. The band wrote no new material for this album prior, and then spent eight straight days writing and finishing a song each day. The rest of the two weeks was spent mixing. The album is Volume 21 in the "Travels in Constants" series and was originally only available for purchase via mail order and at the band's shows.

The Rescue was inspired by a time the band was on tour, and its van broke down on the road. The members had to wait eight days (hence each track title) for the transmission to be replaced in the van (as described in dialog during the song "Day Three"), and they went flat broke after the payment. They had to spend those eight days in the attic of someone kind enough to let them stay. They described "Day Eight" as "a goodbye."





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Texas Is The Reason / The Promise Ring 7" Split

TEXAS IS THE REASON / THE PROMISE RING

Originally recorded to accompany a U.S. tour in 1996, Milwaukee's PROMISE RING team up with the New York City-based TEXAS IS THE REASON for a split 7" that still goes up for serious loot on internet auction sites everywhere.  THE PROMISE RING offer a slightly out-of-character track called "E. Texas Ave" that packs more punch than pop, while TEXAX IS THE REASON contribute a mournful number called "Blue Boy" - the final track they recorded before breaking up, still exclusive to this EP only.

The Promise Ring

1. E. Texas Ave. 

Recorded at Salad Days, MA

Engineered & Mixed by Brian McTernan

Mastered by Michael Sarsfield at Frankford Wayne, NYC

Graphics by John Yates

Live Photo by Justin Borucki

Texas is the Reason

2. Blue Boy

Recorded at Salad Days, MA

Engineered & Mixed by Brian McTernan

Mastered by Michael Sarsfield at Frankford Wayne, NYC

Graphics by John Yates

Live Photo by Justin Borucki

Released by Jade Tree Records (1996)
Split EP - 7" Vinyl

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Small Brown Bike / Cursive - 7" Split

Small Brown Bike / Cursive Split EP

1. My Unanswered Whys (Small Brown Bike)

2. Nostalgia (Cursive)

Makoto Recordings - MKR 23

Released June 2001

Issued in fold-out sleeves and on green vinyl.
Hand-numbered limited edition of 2000.

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