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Thursday, April 23, 2009

News Three Mile Pilot is Coming to Portland

Posted by Ezra Ace Caraeff on Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 11:11 AM

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One of the hardest tasks of anyone—music critic or not—is to justify your favorite music. The act of explaining something that is so personal and dear to you oftentimes can be significantly more difficult than it should be. In my case, this explaining process usually involves some flailing of the arms and copious use of the word "rad," or (given my previous alcohol intake) "radical."

So, I will be very deliberate when I say this:
Three Mile Pilot is coming to the Doug Fir on July 22nd.
Three Mile Pilot is one of my favorite bands ever.

There, that wasn't so bad.

During their brief run, Three Mile Pilot created something entirely unique; a staggering artistic process that combined deconstructed post-punk songs with a very dedicated visual presentation (the propeller-shaped ten-inch record, the burlap packaging). They never sounded like any another band on the planet, and their live shows (video projections that ghosted their faces, bull horns, and the occasional appearances by Jim French and his odd selection of horns) still resonate with me today.

It's been over a decade since their breakup—the members formed two separate (yet not equal) bands in their downtime, Black Heart Procession and Pinback—and while there were always rumors of a new album (they are signed to Touch and Go), never has there been any definitive word. Perhaps this is the start of a full-scale reunion, or perhaps it's just a West Coast tour. Regardless, this is damn exciting news.

Never heard Three Mile Pilot? Here is your chance.
"Circumcised" is a jittery early song, capturing the band at their peak. Meanwhile, "Longest Day" might be the first openly vulnerable song in their catalog, and it's certainly the closest they would ever come to writing a love song. It also offers the first glimpse of what was to come, a few years later, with the Black Heart Procession. Enjoy.

LISTEN:

Three Mile Pilot - ""Circumcised"


Three Mile Pilot - ""Longest Day"

Photo: tokyostatic

 

Comments (3) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
The Myspace page isn't their official, it's set up by fan(s)
Oh and they had a couple of tracks floating around in 1998, never recorded, Pall plays keyboards(!) on one, they're absolutely awesome... bootlegged, of course, off a Casabah gig in 1998. I wish those survived, but I haven't heard them played live this January, so probably not.
Posted by Gegenschein on April 23, 2009 at 7:47 PM · Report
2
i was VERY surprised that there wasnt ANY 3MP action to be found at the pinback/mr tube show a few months back.

i mean, WTF would have kept them from pounding out a few songs for the die hard fans?

regardless, i will be there in july, without a doubt.

all hail three mile pilot!

Posted by zzzupwitdat on April 29, 2009 at 6:22 PM · Report
3
This is the show of the year for me.
Posted by hotsauce on May 11, 2009 at 12:07 PM · Report

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