Explosions In The Sky - How Strange, Innocence (Anniversary Edition) '2000

Tracks list

 How Strange, Innocence was recorded a year before Those Who Tell the Truth
Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, the eventual
breakthrough for Austins Explosions in the Sky. But this 2005 Temporary
Residence release is the first many will hear of it, since the original pressing
was only a few hundred CD-Rs. Its an interesting listen for fans of the group,
as it incorporates the layered guitar melodies and deliberate volume shifts of
later EITS work but unfolds with a brittle uncertainty that reveals the bands
brief lifespan at the time. Sometimes it sounds like a recital, as if Chris
Hrasky, Michael James, Munaf Rayani, and Mark T. Smith, having learned their
parts painstakingly and over time, were debuting the songs for an audience of
proud parents. In A Song for Our Fathers, brittle electric guitar notes find the
melody over brushed snare and a stoic bassline until the song locks into a
louder but still lingering groove, like a sleepwalking Pixies, while Time Stops
builds from a gentle stroll to a storm of crash cymbals, shadowing vintage
Bedhead in the din. The songs here are long — nothings under five minutes
— and Explosions in the Sky overuse some of the same effects that give
their material strength. Magic Hours, for example, is only a preamble to Time
Stops, glimmering, then building, then exploding at the usual pace. But despite
some predictability, How Strange, Innocence shows remarkable tact for a band
that was so unseasoned during its recording. As the ambitious Snow and Lights
proves, they were already hashing out the pacing issues, heroic scope, and
striking melodic sense that would define later releases. ~ Johnny Loftus

Tracklist:
1 01. Explosions In The Sky - A Song For Our Fathers (Remastered) (05:44)
1 02. Explosions In The Sky - Snow And Lights (Remastered) (08:17)
1 03. Explosions In The Sky - Magic Hours (Remastered) (08:33)
1 04. Explosions In The Sky - Look Into The Air (Remastered) (05:25)
1 05. Explosions In The Sky - Glittering Blackness (Remastered) (05:28)
1 06. Explosions In The Sky - Time Stops (Remastered) (09:55)
1 07. Explosions In The Sky - Remember Me As A Time Of Day (Remastered) (05:18)

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