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“We play a waiting game”
iLiKETRAiNS came to our attention precisely when they were most needed. Post-rock was on its knees, not out of fault of any band(s) in particular, there was still fine work to be found, but rather a natural fatigue. The genre was never geared toward longevity. Its compositional style was hard to sustain over an album, never mind a career while the absence of vocals denied certain bands the personality that might have distinguished them from their peers.
Enter iLT, arguably one of the most distinctive bands of the last decade. iLT had the clever idea of adding vocals to their music, music which to me was still compositional in structure rather than songs as we know them. iLT also had the clever idea, well, of being clever, period. Their lyrics were more like history lessons – little vignettes about doomed politicians and heroic explorers. It was as though someone had married the eccentric obsessions of British Sea Power with the dynamics of Explosions In The Sky and the icy majesty of Joy Division .
Now they need our help. Having set up their own label, written and recorded their second full-length, they seek our support in getting the album mastered. To this end they have gone down the rather ingenious route of Pledge Music, a kind of ‘advances in arrears’ process. And actually it works beautifully simply – we pledge our support, no money is taken and then when a certain milestone is reached the album is ours and the payments are processed. More interestingly, there seem to be all manner of different types of pledges ranging from the bog-standard download through to the physical product and beyond to all manner of limited editions, autographed copies, the stunning vinyl box set or even getting to spend the day playing chess with Bobby Fischer in Reykjavík. Okay, I made the last one up but check out the link, there are goods and services of a ‘similar’ nature.
The record is called ‘He Who Saw the Deep’ and I think the pledge idea is superb. Not only does it give us the jump over the people who might eventually buy it in the stores, it’ll also open the door to all manner of downloads and other goodies. Most importantly, we need bands like iLT. Don’t we? It’d be a crime not to hear another album from them. Here we get the opportunity to play our part in helping to bring the album to fruition. We can be actively involved for once, rather than passive consumers of an end product.
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~Pledge your support via the link below. Album review to follow.~