Well... I'm not sure how many people still stumble to this blog, but if you are wondering what we've been up to, look no further than Indie Muse.

Please check this one out. It's going to be a lot better and we have dedicated hosting. Both Nyman and I have joined so it's there for your pleasure.

LINK: Indie Muse.

First off, that's some nice work from Virtual Hitman Designs.

Alright, so it's been a while, but I'm gonna try to jump back into this...
since I've missed a few days here and there I'm gonna give ya a little mini-mix.
We're not trying to make up for lost ground here so I'm just jumping in.

This past week has been all about Rogue Wave for me. Their upcoming album, Asleep at Heaven's Gate, has been on serious repeat. Just when you though they couldn't get better... really... they hit you with something so eclectic and cohesive you can't help but be drawn toward it. I was worried how the shift from classic indie label, Sub Pop, to Jack Johnson's Brushfire but I'm glad to say the band sounds as courageous and spontaneous as ever. Clap hands for one of my all-time favorite bands.

Rogue Wave - "Phonytown" from Asleep At Heaven's Gate |Preorder: Amazon| 9/18/07
- Grab an exclusive ep and their new single on iTunes.

The Yellow Stereo has some more.

Bonus Killer Songs Mini Mix, hopefully there's something for everyone:

1. Jesca Hoop - "Intelligentactile 101" from Kismet |Preorder: Amazon| 9/18/07
2. The Octopus Project - "I Saw The Bright Shinies" from Hello, Avalanche |Buy: Store|
3. Jens Lekman - "Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo" from Night Falls Over Kortedala |Preorder: Store| 10/9/07
4. Stars - "Take Me To The Riot" from In Our Bedroom After The War |Preorder: Amazon| 9/25/07

Well, I'm trying this out with Mediafire, I hope it works out... tell me how I do.

Hey everybody, the summer is here.
I think after splitting up and going on our respective musical journeys, we're ready to share our findings with you. The only problem is that I have no idea what to do about hosting. The once-great EZArchive charged 9.95/yr. I know that it's hard to find a host with good bandwidth for cheap.

If anyone knows anything, please leave a comment, we just want to get the good music in you.

In light of recent exciting news, I've made a quick jump back here to let you guys hear something.

Jonny Greenwood, multi-instrumentalist of Radiohead fame is doing some insane things. Here are the wikifacts:

"Jonathan "Jonny" Richard Guy Greenwood (born November 5, 1971 in Oxford, England) is a musician and a member of Radiohead. Greenwood is also a multi-instrumentalist and often serves as the band's lead guitarist. In addition to guitar he also plays: viola, organ, piano, xylophone, glockenspiel, ondes martenot, banjo and harmonica."

He also happens to be an amazing composer (he's undoubtedly solely responsible for Pyramid Song, How To Disappear Completely, and pretty much any other Radiohead song with lilting strings and layered chords).

More wikifacts:

"Jonny Greenwood was hired by the BBC as its composer in residence in May 2004, a job which gave him the opportunity to compose several pieces for classical orchestra, piano and/or Ondes Martenot: Smear, Piano for Children and Popcorn Superhet Receiver. Smear premiered in 2004, and on 23 April 2005 Greenwood premiered his new work commissioned by BBC Radio 3, with music performed live by the BBC Concert Orchestra in London."

"Greenwood also was recently nominated for the BBC British Composer Awards, for his piece, "Popcorn Superhet Receiver". The piece was inspired by radio static and the extended, dissonant chords of Polish Composer Penderecki's Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima."

It should be no surprise to anyone that the winner of the 2006 Listeners' Award is Jonny Greenwood, who receives £10,000 from the PRS Foundation towards a commission for a new orchestral work.

Sweet.

Here is an excellent story by Robert Sandall of The Daily Telegraph. (I highly recommend reading this article)

Don't fret though, Jonny isn't going anywhere.

As quoted in The Daily Telegraph, "Despite all this extra-curricular activity, Greenwood is still "100 per cent committed to Radiohead" and says that the solitary work of composition is "nowhere near as much fun as being in a band". And he is particularly anxious to get Thom Yorke's feedback to his first BBC piece. "I'm planning to play it to him as soon as I see him." And if Yorke says he doesn't like it? "I'll believe him! He won't though. He'll find what's good about it
and highlight that.""

Thanks to lenniebudgell.com for posting Jonny Greenwood's piece Popcorn Superhet Reciever. The recording is off of the October 10, 2006 Radio 3 Broadcast, so the quality isn't perfect.

Jonny Greenwood -Popcorn Superhet Reciever - First UK Performance: 23 April 2005: BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler

i just wanted to personally say thank you to everyone who has come here. it is really quite flattering to be a part of something that touches all corners of the world, and thousands of people.

also, if you don't already know, in addition to loving music, we all make it. doty, nyman and akhil are all a part of the fabulous soma, who you should definitely check out, and i am 1/5 of the four hundred.

i also know that akhil and nyman are doing some other side projects too.

if you haven't observed the links up top, you should check out what we have to offer in the aspect of making music.

soma (akhil's, nyman's, and doty's band)
the four hundred (brendan's band)
peanut suicide (Soma's electronic side project)
the ponce de leons (ponce's solo project)
brownpower (akhil's solo project)

well i hope you enjoy what we have to offer you artistically.

there just may be a rebirth for us, so don't give up hope yet.

love you all,
brendan

Hey everybody. This is just a small note to our readers that Just Pretend will be on "indefinite hiatus." Yes, like Rivers Cuomo and Weezer we are calling it quits for now. Mostly because of lack of readership and a slew of terrible EZArchive related obstacles, we're gonna take some time, figure things out and hopefully we'll be back to help you out with your music related needs even to some small extent. We might post every once in a while. When we're back, we'll be better than ever, I promise.

Thanks to everyone who actually read our entries and even more to those who commented. Thanks to Doty, Nyman and Brendan for coming in to chill and write when I needed it. Thanks to Wendy and The Toolshed for all the help. Thanks to Vincent for helping us get started. Thanks to IndieMuse for the rest of it.

Here's a link to the soon-to-be-great blog, The Rushmore Files.

Hope to see y'all soon. I'll be playing Mario Tennis...

Let me just start out by saying that this show was COMPLETELY AMAZING! First: an amazing set with Japanese laterns and a huge landscape drawing of a Japanese village. Second: The band was dressed like ninjas (yes, ninjas). Third: Colin Meloy used the word "ninjery." Fourth: Halloween Costume Contest (a chimbley sweep won it). Fifth: Encore featuring R.E.M. songs and what I think is the Perfect Crime 1.



This was one of my favorite shows of all time. The volume of the music was perfect and they had a violin, viola, cello, double bass, and a bajillion other instruments. They played my first Decemberists song, "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect" and they also played "Red Right Ankle", "Sixteen Military Wives" and of course most of the songs from the Crane Wife. Their live versions were at times better than the studio versions. The added string parts gave me chills. It was basically everything a Decemberists fan wanted (except maybe "the Mariner's Revenge," but hey, they jammed out to some of my favorite R.E.M. songs like "Cuyahoga" and "Superman"). I was also amazing with everyone dressed up in costumes for Halloween. When they played "Shankill Butchers" a guy dressed up like a butcher was waving his cleaver in the air. They brought up all the contestants on stage and it was just such a good time. Also, I saw Mr. Meloy walking down the street before the concert, only adding to my concert experience.

Long story short: I love the Decemberists and they are awesome live. The end.

Look at our Big Huge Decemberists post (but only streaming works right now...which sucks)

BUT YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE!

MP3: The Decemberists - Shankill Butchers
MP3: The Decemberists - Culling the Fold
MP3: The Decemberists - After the Bombs
MP3: The Decemberists - Red Right Ankle

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