This record has the interesting accolade as the first record we listened to after my wife and I got engaged. I proposed one Saturday in our living room, and after the excitement, I thought this would be a nice record to play as we phoned our various friends and relatives to tell them the news. Vicky had enjoyed it when I'd played it before (which can't be said for many of my records), so that was one of the reasons for choosing it. It's also an incredibly calm but positive album. There's some elements of classic EITS in there, but they're not the majority; it sits both within my EITS collection, but also outside it.
I've not seen the film Prince Avalanche, nor do I really know anything about it. I do know that I ordered it into Banquet as soon as they announced the pre-order because I'm a big Explosions fan. That was before I'd really found my feet with soundtracks-as-albums, so it was perhaps a gateway drug into that world. I also know next-to-nothing about David Wingo, but I assume it's his influence that makes this sound very different from EITS's regular albums. That, along with the nature of writing a soundtrack I suppose.
The other unusual thing here is that the song lengths are a fraction of what we've come to expect from the band (although recent albums have seen shorter songs and, as a result, more songs). That then draws the attention to the few longer songs (all still sub-five minutes) as you realise that they've had more time to build and do things - the pair on the first side, Alone Time and Hello, Is This Your House? really shine, as does the closer Send Off.
Like so many of the albums I have soundtracks for, I do hope to one day see the film they were written for. It's always a slightly strange experience. For now, I still get plenty of enjoyment from this as an album and all the nice memories I have associated with it. My only complaint is that the labels aren't stuck on the exact centre of the vinyl, so it makes a god-awful noise when it ends.
Format: 12", gatefold sleeve, picture sleeve
Tracks: 15
Cost: £14 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 07/09/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code
