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Milo Greene - What's The Matter |
7th November 2012 |
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The Act: MILO GREENE
The Tune: 'WHAT'S THE MATTER' The Format: DOWNLOAD SINGLE The Label: fierce panda The Release Date: NOVEMBER 19TH 2012 The Brief Bit: MILO GREENE are five softpop dreamers from the West Coast of America. The digital single release of 'What's The Matter' is their first tickle of the UK underbelly, and precedes their eponymously-titled debut album release, due on fierce panda on January 21st 2013. They recently appeared on 'Letterman' and toured back home with The Walkmen, and were anointed The Guardians New Band Of The Day on October 30th. The Extended Truth, Of A Kind: Milo Greene is not real. However, the fictitious character that is Milo Greene is very much alive. His makers perceive him as an intellectual entrepreneur. In his poised and dignified manner, he keeps things close to his vest and lets everyone know who's boss. He is exactly the type of man you want to represent you in any business venture...and that is exactly why he was created. In the DIY music world, having proper representation is key. Ergo, lacking an actual manager, college classmates Andrew Heringer, Robbie Arnett and Marlana Sheetz concocted a virtual one - Milo Greene - to promote their individual musical efforts. It wasn't until 2009 that the three began creating music together. While house sitting in the isolated Northern California foothills, the trio wrote and recorded a handful of songs. Seeking a name for their new venture, they thought it only natural to pay tribute to the fake manager / booking agent that had represented them throughout those college years: so they called themselves Milo Greene. Eventually Heringer and Sheetz moved to Southern California, where Arnett was living. There they added Graham Fink and Curtis Marrero. The newly-formed fivepiece made a habit of escaping to desolate West Coast locations - with a fire to build instead of a TV to watch and dogs to hush instead of an internet to surf - all of which inevitably brought a pastoral feel to their meticulously-planned music. Even when they upped the technological stakes for recording their debut album with co-producer Ryan Hadlock (Blonde Redhead, The Gossip, The Lumineers), those sessions took place at Bear Creek Studio, a converted circa-1900 barn in the countryside around Seattle. Throw in the fact that four out of five members of the band were lead singers in previous bands and it's little wonder that Mile Greene come across as a decidedly humane group, or in their words, "A collection of voices that live and breathe simulataneously with the breadth of an omniscient, collective consciousness." In other words in a group of four ex-lead singers Milo Greene has no front person, no focal point. Rather, the Milo machine wields four-part harmonies over sprawling, percussive arrangements with hazy, half-tangible, fully yearning melodies. Lead-off single 'What's The Matter' is a prime example of their deceptively gentle sun-dappled dizziness but it fits perfectly into the 'Milo Greene' plot. The themes explored on their imminent debut album are timeless: a quest for permanence, a longing for virtue, a need for reciprocity in all that is good. These people are not Van Halen. The fictituous Milo Greene, they muse, is British, and well-versed in art and history, with eclectic tastes in music. The kind of guy who wears a three-piece suit even when it's hot, and has a record player in every room. Milo Greene (the band) think Milo Greene (the character) would be a big fan of their sounds. Even if only because he's so very vain... Website |