The trials of occupanther

The album's second most affecting track, horn-sprouting "Branches", further illuminates the protagonist's heartbreak through ominous minor sevenths, "Exit Music for a Film " triad-inversion segues, and a canny reference to the Jackson Browne-penned classic "These Days". Yet despite all the shag-carpet throwbacks, Midlake's new one rises above retro pastiche to probe its central character, the lovelorn, calendar-confined Van Occupanther; spacey production and allusive songwriting mark the album as a present-day artifact.

Skip to content Search query All Results. AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully. Blues Classical Country. Electronic Folk International. Jazz Latin New Age. Aggressive Bittersweet Druggy. Energetic Happy Hypnotic.

Romantic Sad Sentimental. Sexy Trippy All Moods. Drinking Hanging Out In Love. Introspection Late Night Partying. Rainy Day Relaxation Road Trip. Romantic Evening Sex All Themes. We Gathered In Spring It Covers The Hillsides Chasing After Deer You Never Arrived Rich reserves of wistful melody, dreamy horns, rolling guitars and plaintive pianos reflect its elusive, idiosyncratic narratives: a couple long to be robbed by bandits so they can start anew, an outcast scientist ponders his pariah status, a woman chases a frisky deer, a river leads who knows where yet leaves you little choice but to follow… Formed in the small town of Denton, with roots in the University of North Texas College of Music, Midlake attracted an early follower in Simon Raymonde, Bella Union Records owner and former Cocteau Twin.

So when writing this album, of course those sounds came out in the music. Since then, their influence has perhaps been felt in the breakthrough of many a band or singer at one with the stuff of beards, bucolic yearning and blissful West Coast harmonies, from Fleet Foxes to Band of Horses, The Low Anthem, Jonathan Wilson, Matthew E White and beyond. In , they ventured into darker psych-folk thickets for The Courage of Others and backed John Grant on his lustrously spiky breakthrough album, Queen of Denmark.

Since then, Pulido and various Midlake members have embarked on a new musical project with a cast of all-stars, including members of Grandaddy, Franz Ferdinand, Band of Horses and Travis. All of this serves to reminds us what fertile seeds were sown with The Trials of Van Occupanther: a modern classic, made of vintage craft and timeless magic.

Tags rock denton indie texas Denton. Vulkan Arena. Nalen Stora Salen. Pumpehuset, Kransalen. Columbia Theater. TivoliVredenburg Ronda. Mojo Club. The Roundhouse. Newcastle University Students' Union. Assembly Rooms. Albert Hall. The Denton, Texas five-piece Midlake did pretty well for themselves with their debut Bamnan and Silvercork.

While no one would label that record brilliant, or even fully realized, it did have enough vision and scope for critics to group Midlake with some pretty good company that included The Flaming Lips, Grandaddy, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Mercury Rev.

Midlake does a lot with The Trials of Van Occupanther , but perhaps the most notable accomplishment is the ease with which they have graciously acknowledged those influences while simultaneously telling them to eat their musical dust.