National
Skyline - Self Titled CD
Debut mini-album from duo that includes
Hum's Jeff Dimpsey and Castor's Jeff Garber. Ex-Compound Red
guitarist Jim Minor is a
member of the touring band.
Originally formed during the autumn of 1996, National
Skyline is the brainchild of Jeff Dimpsey. To fill the down time while touring
the US in support of Hum's successful major label debut, You'd Prefer An Astronaut,
Dimpsey set about writing a 40-plus minute song. At home (Champaign, IL) during
a tour break he assembled a live band that included Nick Macri (C-Clamp, Euphone),
Derek Niedringhaus (Castor, Sarge), and Dimpsey's eventual full partner in National
Skyline, Castor's Jeff Garber. With brilliant chemistry born of friendship and
shared influences, the group rehearsed a number of times and successfully completed
writing the 45 minute song. National Skyline performed their epic in Champaign
and Chicago's premier music venues, and in the spring of 1997 hired Poster Kid/Salaryman
Rick Valentin to commit said epic to tape. Though the master tapes still exist,
the tracks were not mixed and this incarnation of National Skyline never performed
again.
After an aborted line-up in which American Football's
Steve Lamos replaced Macri, Dimpsey and Garber retreated to Dimpsey's newly purchased
24-track home studio to proceed as a duo. Employing drum machines, keyboards,
and samplers, the duo wrote a collection of songs, seven of which appear on National
Skyline's debut mini-album. Fusing Antarctica's '80s revivalist retro-goth-pop
genius with Radiohead and the streamlined gospel-empathy of U2's The Unforgettable
Fire, National Skyline offers seven tracks full of painstakingly programmed electro-nuance
and
guitar-dreamscaping.
To further complicate National Skyline's family-tree,
Garber and former Milk Magazine Co-Publisher/Compound Red member, Jim Minor,
will tour the US during the summer 2000, sans Dimpsey. 2 guitars, one DAT machine,
a massive light show, and beautiful male vocals, coming soon to a venue near
you.
 |
|
|
| |
| THIS
WEEK'S TOP TEN |
01 Green Pajamas, The -- Box of Secrets: Northern Gothic 2(more)
02 Sun Kill Moon -- April(more)
03 Tallest Man On Earth, The -- S-T(more)
04 Replacements, The -- Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash [remaster, expanded re-issue](more)
05 Stringfellow, Ken -- The Sellout Cover Sessions Vol. 1 EP(more)
06 Replacements, The -- Stink [remaster, expanded re-issue](more)
07 Various -- Soul Messages From Dimona(more)
08 Birthmark -- The Layer(more)
09 Walker Brothers -- Take It Easy With(more)
10 Clint -- Los Tipos Duros Tambien Bailan(more)
|
|
|
