I haven’t written much about music here and I think I might in the coming future. What I really should be writing about is design and yet here I go with my music plug.
Bishop Allen (wikipedia) is a small band out of New York City that has decided to go without a record label and just do the work themselves. So far it seems to be working great as they have not starved to death after almost 3 years as a band. They only have one album out called Charm School but every song on it is amazing.
A lot of bands put out good albums though and there seems to be a difference between a band that puts out a good album and a band who can continue to produce good music. With only one album I was afraid Bishop Allen might not be up to the challenge.
This year though they are planning on releasing an EP every month of 2006. That about 4 songs for 12 months or 48 songs in a year. I was skeptical if they could hold up their quality in such a small time frame. 2 EPs and 8 songs in to the year and they have yet to hit a bad note. I’m actually amazed that they have kept up the quality of the songs they are putting out.
These songs are fully finished. They don’t feel like demos or rough stuff they are working on for an album. Each song is a gem that I listen to in wonder.
If Bishop Allen keeps up this quality they are quickly going to jump to my number 2 band of all time right behind Cake, another band that has stood the test of time.
Each EP is only 5 bucks and they have even offered up a several free songs on their site so you know what you getting. You need to buy these EPs.
January - Corazon.mp3 February - Vain.mp3