Benjamin Gibbard has released a new song called “Life In Quarantine” to benefit Aurora Commons, a Seattle-based non-profit that provides a safe space for people temporarily experiencing homelessness.
The airports and train stations are full of desperate people
Trying to convince the gate agents that not all emergencies are equal
But no one is going anywhere soon
No one is going anywhere soon
Wash your hands and keep your distance. Stay safe everyone.
In episode #158 of Reply All, PJ Vogt tracks an ear-worm lost to time. I don’t want to spoil anything because the story is really good, but this episode ticked a lot of boxes for me.
A man in California is haunted by the memory of a pop song from his youth. He can remember the lyrics and the melody. But the song itself has vanished, completely scrubbed from the internet. PJ takes on the Super Tech Support case.
While perusing a thread about The Starting Line on Chorus.fm today, I noticed a comment by one Matt Metzler who had an interesting url in their bio—anberlinforever.com.
The site itself is a splash page for a series of essays about Anberlin written by Matt. The history spans 12 years, from saGoh 24/7 through the end of the group’s recording career. The essays are well written and includes a lot of great detail. The website and essays (published on Medium) feature artwork by Tyler Davis.
I reached out to Matt to extend my appreciation and ask for some background. Here’s his response:
I wrote this from 2014-15 and published it in 2015. When Anberlin announced they were breaking up, I really wanted to do something to show how much they meant to me, so I started working on this project and shared it with the guys from the band that summer on Warped Tour. I had envisioned it being a published book someday but some of the guys plus the band’s lawyer didn’t seem to want to go that direction, so it turned into a website. Stephen was so supportive all the way through, and made himself available for my questions whenever I had them.
How I missed it when it was pushed live, I’m not sure—but I’m impressed by the passion and work put into the project. Fans of the group will want to check this out.
Today's treasure of Drive Thru Records' past is a 2002 Something Corporate documentary called 'A Year In The Life.' This captures a really interesting point in the band’s career.
Something Corporate (or SoCo) formed in 1998 and released their first full length, Ready… Break, in 2000 with funding from a local venue called the Coach House. In 2001, the band signed with Drive-Thru and released the Audio Boxer EP with all new material (save “Hurricane”). That was followed by Leaving Through The Window the following year which was made up of a mixture of tracks from Audio Boxer and rerecorded songs from Ready… Break.
In a half hour, A Year In The Life documents SoCo during the recording of, and subsequent touring for, Leaving Through the Window. It takes you behind the scenes of recording with Jim Wirt (The Rocket Summer, Jack’s Mannequin, Alien Ant Farm), the recording “If U C Jordan” and “I Woke Up In A Car” music videos, their early days of Warped touring, and writing what might be the most beloved b-side ever recorded, “Konstantine.”
Unlike The Starting Line Acoustic DVD released by Drive-Thru the following year, this one came in a standard 19х13.5cm case. I’m not sure how necessary that was, really. There are no inserts or booklets to accompany the disc inside. I supposed MCA just had the money for it. I’ve included here a cleaned up scan of the front cover.
I haven't seen this one posted online previously for what I'm assuming is the same reason I had to recut it today. UMG puts out claims on any video containing footage from the "If U C Jordan" and "I Woke Up In A Car" videos, both of which this documentary goes behind the scenes. I’ve trimmed the videos from the documentary and posted the documentary below.
While "If U C Jordan" was directed by Drive Thru's own Richard Reines, "I Woke Up In A Car" was directed by renowned Canadian producer Harvey "Harv" Glazer who went on to work with acts like Kendrick, Drake, Rihanna, and more.
Production credits:
Produced by Tim Stedman
Co-Produced by Brent Kidwell
Edited by Buzz Chatman
Filmed by Brent Kidwell, Hadi Salehi, Buzz Chatman, Jeff Jackel, and Andrew McMahon
© MCA Records