Tag: Editors

Editors – Unedited: Deluxe Edition Box Set


Tom Smith
“We’ve been picking through the archive recently, looking back at our 3 records, many many b-sides and some material that has never seen the light of day.  It’s been addictive.  We can’t leave it alone, much like picking a scab, and we’ve decided to package it all together and share it with our fans, officially. We’ve raided the vaults, searched through old CD-Rs, cassettes and photo albums and gathered it all together.  We’d like you to have this music on any and every format we can produce and also share some photos and memories of the last 6 years in a volume that you can keep forever.”

Includes:
Exclusive stunning 12″ 100 page photo-art book (a collection of lyrics; 200 images of artwork, band and live show photographs)
The Back Room (original album CD, LP and download)
An End Has a Start (original album, CD, LP and download)
In This Light and On The Evening (original album CD, LP and download)

You Are Fading B-Sides

You Are Fading I
 You Are Fading II
No Sound But The Wind
Last Day
Heads In Bags
Find Yourself A Safe Place
Let Your Good Heart Lead You Home
An Eye For An Eye
Disappear
Crawl Down The Wall
For The Money		 Every Little Piece
Open Up
Some Kind Of Spark
Release
Banging Heads
Come Share The View
The Diplomat
Dust In The Sunlight
You Are Fading III You Are Fading IV
This House Is Full Of Noise
Camera (original demo recording)
From The Outside
Bullets
Time To Slow Down
A Thousand Pieces
I Buried The Devil
Alone
A Life As A Ghost
The Picture		 Colours
I Want A Forest
Thousands Of Lovers
Forest Fire
Human
No Sound But The Wind (Live at Werchter 2010)
You Are Fading
These Streets Are Still Home To Me (Version 1)

———————

Some of those B-Sides are simply stunning personal favorites including “You Are Fading,” “The Diplomat,” and “Dust In The Sunlight.” I’d say this is a must have for Editors fans.

Purchase Here: http://www.sonymusicdigital.com/editors/details/5705033

Concert Review: Editors

Bands: The Dig, The Antlers, Editors
Venue: House of Blues Boston
Date: February 18, 2009

Act One – The Dig – Love this band, man. When I saw them twice back in September, they rocked. The bassist/singer again stood out as an absolutely slick musician, keeping a great rhythm to compliment his singing. The amplification at the House of Blues really did push the pulse over the limit and, in fact, made all the instruments sound louder and more impacting than at the Middle East. “Penitentiary” and closer “Just Wanna Talk To You” stuck out to me as the two best songs from the band’s 30 minute set. The audience took notice of the band’s genius, as I heard a few people next to me comment on how good they were.

Act Two – The Antlers – Okay, so the Antlers. I’d say they were a good fit for pre-Editors opening band. As opposed to Hot Hot Heat, the band that performed before Editors in 2008, the Antlers relied on epicness. Keyboards, guitar, no bass, and loud ass drums. Most songs started out sort of slow, but by the end the band was in a full out jam and things really came together. The singer’s voice is powerful and as one kid said “angelic,” so definitely I got to say I didn’t mind them at all. Would I listen to them again? Probably not. They are probably great on record, too, considering bitchfuck and friends gave their last album a really high rating.

Act Three – Editors – This band has been a consistent favorite of mine for the past couple of years. Their live performance on this night definitely proved why. The light show is fantastic as always and as expected. That’s nice and all, but at the end of the day all four members gave it their all and gave the audience a great time. Classics like “Blood,” “Munich,” “Bones,” “Racing Rats,” “Escaping the Nest,” and “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors” simply got the audience into a frenzy as did new tunes like “Papillon” and “Raw Meat = Blood Drool.” In fact, the entire set didn’t really have a disappointment in it. Tom smoothly and effortlessly moved from synths to guitar to piano. It’d be a disservice not to mention his stage antics. He loves his mics, that’s for sure. Chris played a mean lead guitar as the guy next to me consistently noted. By the way, you don’t need to remind the dude that he has synesthesia by shouting “colors” after every song and demanding multiple picks. Russell’s a fun guy. The band added in several quirks that really pushed the limits on what I thought they could do live. I really realized how much fun I had watching Editors during the encore. I started to really miss what I had just listened to. That usually means I had a great time.

Set List
In This Light And On This Evening
Lights
An End Has A Start
You Don’t Know Love
Bullets
The Boxer
The Big Exit
Blood
Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
The Racing Rats
Escape The Nest
Like Treasure
Bones
Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
Bricks And Mortar

—-ENCORE—-

Walk The Fleet Road
Munich
Papillon
Fingers In The Factories

Note: Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see the kiddie masses listening to good music. It’s kind of messed up to see them outnumber every other age group. I was once a kiddie who saw Editors so I can’t hate, but that was at a sit down venue. I don’t mind it; it’s sort of shocking since I’m used to being the youngest at most shows, 18+.

Grade: A – Definitely a Top 10 show.

Classic CD Review: An End Has A Start

Band: Editors
Release: 2007
Label: FADER (US); Kitchenware (UK)

1. “Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors” – A++
2. “An End Has A Start” – A+
3. “The Weight Of The World” – A+
4. “Bones” – A+
5. “When Anger Shows” – A+
6. “The Racing Rats” – A++
7. “Put Your Head Towards The Air” – A++
8. “Escape The Nest” – A++
9. “Spiders” – A+
10. “Well Worn Hand” – A

Comments: I don’t get how a song like “Smokers” could be criticized to any degree. It’s a complete song, replete with harmonies, prolonged guitar solos, and pounding drums. In fact, it’s one of my favorites of all time. Editors, you know, don’t conceal their roots too well. Comparisons to post-punk fathers as well as revivalists are abound in various critical works. Big chunks of Editors’ sound = reverberated heavy high notes. If you are not fond of these repetitive ditties, you might be easily irritated by this album. Also, Tom’s deep voice is not kind to everyone’s ear. Ian Curtis or Paul Banks or whatever other comparisons exist are essentially void because all these vocalists are their own animal. Also, I think Editors have “moments” in their music, especially present in this album, that are absolutely clutch and experience-changing. These “moments” turn good songs into great ones and great ones into classics. While the band hasn’t exploded in such a manner as the Killers did (pop songwriting can only get you so far in today’s environment), I’m sure the band’s general following has both seen periods of increase and decrease (with the latter potentially due to the band’s latest effort In This Light and On This Evening, which is heavily darker and more electro based). Chris might have been riding the coattails of a spectacular January 2008 concert (Orpheum Theatre) when he commented “there’s no doubt in my mind that this band will be huge within the next few years.” Taking a 180 degree turn sound-wise is something that simply may not make that possible, but the freedom to change and improve is, itself, a testament to what Chris said next, “They are a great example of how a band can achieve such tremendous success, yet still be attached to independent label and not have to sacrifice their integrity.” Getting back to the album itself…”The Racing Rats” is an awesome song for all the hunnies to dance to despite its depressing lyrics. Let me not forget to mention that in some instances like in “Put” there is a wildly atmospheric element existing above what we know as pop. Okay so the last song is cheesy and could sound okay in Aladdin or some shit: “I don’t want to go out alone anymore.” But it’s Tom’s baritone that makes it somewhat interesting and surprisingly guilty-pleasure esque. It ends basically prematurely, making me wonder when the eff the build-up is going to happen?! It never happens, which is sad, but I’ll deal. Whatever though, this LP is one of my favorites of all time.

Grade: A+ (98)

Why They Are My Favorites

Why are my favorite bands my favorite bands? I think a fairly big reason is because I like a very large catalog of songs from them AND their songs tend to never get old or boring (on record and live). I’m interested in finally rationally concluding who my favorite bands are based on the logic of how many songs I truly love from each AND their best live performance rating.

The Top Ten
1. Black Lips – 42 + (10) = 52
2. Jay Reatard 35 + (10) = 45
3. Walkmen – 33 + (10) = 43
4. King Khan & BBQ Show – 30 + (10) – 40
5. No Age – 23 + (10) = 33
6. Radiohead – 23 + (9) = 32
7. Arctic Monkeys – 23 + (9) = 32
8. Animal Collective – 22 + (9)  = 31
9. King Khan and the Shrines – 16 + (10) = 26
10. Editors – 17+ (8) = 25

Not Far Behind:
X. Sunset Rubdown – 14 + (9) = 23
X. The Rifles – 13 + (9) = 22
X. Pains of Being Pure at Heart – 10 + (9) = 19
X. Peter Bjorn and John – 18 + (0) = 18
X. The Lovely Feathers – 10 + (8) = 18
X. The Libertines = 17 + (0) = 17

Glen

CD Review: In This Light and On This Evening

Band: Editors
Label: Kitchenware Records
Release: October 12, 2009

1. “In This Light and On This Evening” – 9.4
2. “Bricks and Mortar” – 9.5
3. “Papillon” – 10
4. “You Don’t Know Love” – 9.6
5. “The Big Exit” – 9.5
6. “The Boxer” – 9.8
7. “Like Treasure” – 9.7
8. “Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool” – 9.8
9. “Walk The Fleet Road” – 9.6

Comments: I’ve been anticipating this album in what seems like forever. Editors aren’t my 8th favorite band for shits and giggles! Their brand of post-punk/dark-wave has always struck a chord with me. Things get 20X darker on this album, though. Goodbye sweet melodies and accessible pop guitar riffs, and hello destructive drum patterns and rave-esque forces. Goodbye to the electric guitar (synthesizer/drum only). Immediately, I realize a lyrical theme: Tom seems to question the role of God. In the opening track and then on “Papillon,” Tom says “Darlin…if there really was a God here he would have raised a hand by now.” Is he talking about God being here on earth or God’s presence in general? I guess that’s up to us to decide. The first five tracks are purely robotic, almost dance numbers. “The Boxer” sounds more compatible with Editor’s past work, but fittingly there is a new raw layer of synths. Editors do the same thing that Animal Collective did with Merriweather Post Pavillion and that’s revolutionize a genre. Animal Collective changed the way we look at psychedelic pop. Editors have changed the way we should look at atmospheric modern day post-punk. Only top albums have this quality and that’s what this is…a top album. HOLD ON A SECOND GLEN. I must have been feeling good when I wrote this. It’s awesome, but not that awesome damnit.

Grade: 9.7