The final vinyl (CD)

It's here (almost).
The true, full-length version of Modest Mouse's latest studio album will be released Aug. 4 on CD and Aug. 17 on vinyl according to the fine folks over at Interstate-8.com
Have to say that after luke-warm initial impressions of the live versions, the alubum is shaping up to be/become an expansive rock statement.
As usual - you've got the somewhat quiet ones (Autumn Beds) which devolve into loud ones (again, Autumn Beds and Guilty Cocker Spaniels), among others.
In another positive move IMO, the band's corp. site www.modestmousemusic.com has inserted what appears to be your own personal, iTunes style player that delves into the band's catalog as far back as Nasty Parlour Tricks (a truly great roadtrip album just like all the early records).
Currently I'm diggin' on "Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again" a snapshot of the band's live performance. If you don't own this album (or any live MM for that matter) it comes highly recommended. It's a much better purchase than The Moon & Antarctica's reissue (which contains only two live songs, w/bleeped lyrics).
I know Isaac wanted to remix and reissue the Moon with his own money and Sony eventually agreed to reissue the classic indie album, w/the addition of a few songs recorded during BBC radio sessions.
But again - not worth it. Go with the Baron.

MoMoPhotos

These are a few select photos from Twin Cities photographer Kyle Dreher, who shot the Mouse at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul when the band opened for R.E.M. this past winter. Show was a little flat, but the pics are pretty good.
On a related topic, I sent some questions to Modest Mouse photographer Pat Graham ...

Banjomama: Isaac and crew run through Satin in a Coffin

Isaac and the sunray:
Oi! Tom Peloso (multi-instrumentalist) and Eric Judy (multi-instrumentalist) run through a tune.

Hey.

With the impeding release of the new Modest Mouse EP, and its prerequisite single containing "Satellite Skin" and "Guilty Cocker Spaniels", it got me thinking:
What are the best back-to-back Modest Mouse songs?
For my money, "Positive Negative (You Breathe Out, I Breathe In)" and "Other People's Lives" off of Building Nothing Out of Something are, perhaps, the best one-two punch in the Modest Mouse catalog.
The tunes drip with a general malaise of melancholia. Isaac's guitar has never sounded better, and his doubled vocals sound young and fresh.
Granted, these tunes weren't released as singles, and they are the final two songs on the album. However, it's worth noting that nothing Modest Mouse has released before or since has been as stellar and originally heart-breaking as these two songs.
Check them out, let me know what you think ...

A surf. Rock. Band.

Electric guitarist Isaac K. Brock, multi-instrumentalist Tom Peloso, and multi-instrumentalist Eric Judy collaborated with Shins' lead singer James Mercer (probable payback for Mercer's vocal additions on We Were Dead ...) last spring, apparently adding some grooves to a soon-to-be released and striking surf flick "180 Degrees South".
Chances are the Surf Rock Band From The Land of Plenty aren't going to sound much like Jack Johnson. Probably just a shake of Floyd Rose and a dab of accordian and violin.

Here's a relavant excerpt from the Pitchfork (James Mercer) interview (in lieu of link):

However, one collaboration with another famous indie band that he would talk about was a film soundtrack he worked on with Modest Mouse. It's for the film 180 Degrees South, a documentary by surfing filmmakers the Malloy Brothers. Mercer explained, "Early last spring I went to Chile with a production company that was doing a documentary about a guy who travels to Chile and he runs in with these people who are doing some environmental work down there. So I was invited to come down to Chile while they were filming it because they thought that I might be able to write some music for it. I worked with Isaac Brock on it. We just kind of watched footage after I came back and got inspired and we put together some music."

In addition to Brock, Mercer worked on the soundtrack with Modest Mouse members Plummer, Eric Judy, and Tom Peloso. Mercer described the soundtrack as, "Definitely more soundscapes. I did a lot of acoustic guitar work, Isaac did some electric guitar, Eric Judy has like an accordion thing he was doing and of course playing bass, and then violin." You can hear a snippet of the mostly instrumental soundtrack in the film's trailer here.

Oh, yeah. Interview says Joe "The" Plummer is now a member of The Shins. MM Photog Pat Graham says, however, he's still a member of Modest Mouse. As is Johnny Marr. And Isaac K. Brock.
Full interview if you really want it.

Do you really live in a VW Bus?

No One's First And You're Next August

Happy St. Pat's!

Brooklyn Vegan is reporting that Modest Mouse will release an eight-song EP "No One's First And You're Next" in August.
Update: Interstate 8 says its Aug. 4.
But first, a 7-inch vinyl with "Satellite Skin" and "Guilty Cocker Spaniels" is likely to be released April 18 (out digitally April 21), the site reports. It will be the first of four 7-in vinyls containing the singles before the EP is released.

Sounds like the Mouse is maximizing its profits here ...

Though the band hasn't confirmed any other releases, New Jersey record store Vintage Vinyl reports MM will offer three more singles before releasing the eight-song EP.
"Modest Mouse will be releasing four 7-inch singles, 2 songs on each single, all leading up to the 8-song EP No One’s First and You’re Next in early August. The first 7” will be on orange vinyl, is housed in a three-panel embossed sleeve and arrives just in time for Record Store Day."

Modest Mouse will also perform on Letterman on Wednesday, Feb. 18.

Modest Mouse's previous EPs (Interstate 8, Building Nothing Out of Something, Everywhere and His Nasty Parlor Tricks) have arguably outdone their full-length studio records, so I'm interested to hear this BECAUSE it's an EP.

Interstate-8.com reports likely tracks:
1. Satellite Skin
2. Guilty Cocker Spaniels
3. Whale Song
4. King Rat
5. I've Got It All (Most)
6. Tie The Lake Down?
7. History?
8. Something else?


Others?

Brock appears on Mimicking Birds' latest?

Modest Mouse lead singer/guitarist sneaks his way on to Mimicking Birds lead singer/guitarists latest song "The Loop".

Perhaps by now you have heard of Mimicking Birds, the Portland-based easy-indie band that has seemingly appropriated a Brockian guitar part for "The Loop's" main hook. But what you may not have heard is the subtle vocal additions to the song on the Glacial Pace site.
For one reason or another, Brock's vocals show up in the form of a faint howl. Later, a creeky door closes and a few subtly textured Wicks Guitar parts seem to work their way into the mix.

Did Brock add them? I'm assuming so. Does Lacy know? I'm sure he does. What does this mean? Who the eff knows. But one thing's for sure: The Loop streaming on Glacial Pace is different than the version on MySpace. Just enjoy the music. It is my hope that Isaac Brock and the meaning of life will soon reveal themselves.