:
'
.. .:.... . ' '
______________ : ________ : '
\ / .. .:. .. \ / : :
\ /_________ \ / . .. ... .. . :
.\ / /___ /\ \ / ______________ ___ _.
: \ / / \ / \ \/ / \ \ \ \ \
. ...:..\ / _______/ \/ \ ___/__ / / / / /
: /\ / / \ \/ \ / / / . sH!
' / \/ / / / \ / / . ... .:.... .. .
:/ _______/ / / / _______/__ ___ __
.\ / / / / / / / / / / /
\ / / / / / / / / / / / .
. \ /\______/ / / / / \___ / / :
\/ ____ \ / / / / / :
\ / \ /\____/\ / / : :
________\/ \ / \ / / : '
\ / \/ \ /\ / : . ..:.. .
\ / \/ \ /
\ / \ / . '
: \/ F A N G \ / : '
____ \ / . . .. .. .:.. .
\ / presents \ / .
. \/ \/ :
: .
..:.. ,
: Artist......: Blitzen Trapper
: Album.......: 100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions :
: Label.......: Yep Roc Records .. .:.. .
Genre.......: Rock :
Catnr.......: YEP-3083 .
' Source......: CD ,
; Rip.date....: 2024-06-04
Str.date....: 2024-05-17
Quality.....: 267kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo . :..
.:. Url.........: http://blitzentrapper.net '
' ,
________ ________
\ / \ /
\ / \ /
\ / # title time \ /
\/ \/
1. Ain't Got Time to Fight 3:30
2. Dead God of the Green Arising 2:31
3. Cosmic Backseat Education 3:19
4. Hesher in the Rain 3:24
5. Cheap Fantastical Takedown 3:37
6. So Divine 2:11
7. Planetarium 3:54
8. Hello Hallelujah 2:44
9. Long Game 3:20
10. View from Jackson Hill 2:22
11. Upon the Chain 2:49
12. Bear's Head/At the Cove 5:27
______
\ / ________ Runtime 39:08
,\ /... . . .... .... \ / ' Size 78.71 ______
:\/ ', \ / , \ /
' '... ..\ /.. .. .....:. .. .... .. . ..\ /.
: Release Notes: \/ , \/ ,
' '
,: There are numbers so vast they exceed the scope of human :,
: reckoning, concepts so immeasurable they surpass our capacity to :
:' understand. On their radiant new album, 100Æs of 1000Æs, ':
,: Millions of Billions, Blitzen Trapper make peace with the :,
: unknowable, surrendering themselves to forces beyond their :
:' control as they explore the infinite with a broad mind and an ':
,: open heart. :,
: :
:' Inspired by singer/songwriter Eric EarleyÆs fascination with ':
,: Buddhist texts and meditation (the title comes from a phrase :,
: that appears over and over in the Mahayana sutras), the album :
:' offers a captivating take on rebirth and transcendence, and the ':
,: circularity of existence, navigating its way through the space :,
: beyond dreams and reality, beyond gods and mortals, beyond life :
:' and death. The songs here are as sincere as they are surreal, ':
,: rooted in rich character studies and deep reflection, and :,
: unfolding like a riddle-filled journey that asks many questions :
:' and offers no answers. The production is intoxicating to match, ':
,: blending lo-fi intimacy and trippy psychedelia into a :,
: mesmerizing swirl of analog and electronic sounds. Add it all :
:' together and the result is a gorgeous, sprawling collection ':
,: wrapped in lush layers of synthesizers and washed out electric :,
: guitarsûa poignant, expansive exploration of perception and :
:' purpose that manages to look both forwards and backwards all at ':
,: once. :,
: :
:' ôThis whole project grew out of a box of old four-track tapes ':
,: from the Æ90s that I found recently,ö Earley explains of 100Æs :,
: of 1000Æs, Millions of Billions. ôThe tapes were full of songs :
:' IÆd written and recorded back when I was 19 or 20 years old, ':
,: and the sound and the spirit of those recordings got me excited :,
: to start writing music again, to go back to working the way I :
:' did when I was first starting out.ö ':
,: :,
: Launched roughly two decades ago in Portland, OR, Blitzen :
:' Trapper garnered early attention with a series of self-released ':
,: albums before breaking out internationally with a pair of :,
: critically acclaimed LPs (2007Æs Wild Mountain Nation and 2008Æs :
:' Furr) that would cement their status at the forefront of the ':
,: modern indie folk revival. Rolling Stone hailed the bandÆs :,
: ôhazy, psychedelic Americana,ö while NPR praised their :
:' ôexplosive live performances and infectious roots-rock ':
,: swagger,ö and The New York Times compared their songs to Tom :,
: Petty, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young. Dates with Fleet :
:' Foxes, Wilco, and Dawes followed, as did festival appearances ':
,: at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk, and Coachella, among :,
: others. In the years to come, the band would go on to release :
:' six more similarly lauded studio albums, culminating with ':
,: 2020Æs Holy Smokes Future Jokes, which Mojo proclaimed ôsound[s] :,
: like the Beatles at Big Pink.ö :
:' ':
,: ôHoly Smokes introduced me to The Tibetan Book of the Dead, :,
: which kind of served as a gateway into the world of Buddhism for :
:' me,ö Earley recalls. ôI started digging deeper and reading the ':
,: sutras after that, which is what really drew me into the :,
: practice.ö He found himself particularly fascinated with :
:' BuddhismÆs teachings on the self and the freedom that comes ':
,: with learning to let go of the artificial constructions that :,
: surround it. ôBuddhism tells us that suffering comes from :
:' clinging to illusions, to rigid ideologies, to the idea of an ':
,: individuated self,ö he explains. ôThe doorway to ridding :,
: yourself of all that is meditation, and I found that a lot of :
:' these new songs started flowing very naturally from the state ':
,: of consciousness I was getting myself into during those :,
: meditation sessions.ö :
:' ':
,: At the same time Earley was learning to be present through :,
: meditation, he was also reconnecting with his past through those :
:' old four-track cassette tapes; in a mirroring microcosm of ':
,: circularity, he found that the songs fit in with the newer ones :,
: heÆd written, and he reworked, updated, and finished them with a :
:' clarity of perspective that comes with experience gained over ':
,: time. The performances were loose and freewheeling, fully :,
: arranged and fleshed out but never overworked, and the carefree :
:' sense of spontaneity called to him. ôWhat struck me the most ':
,: was just how casual and off the cuff it all was,ö Earley :,
: reflects. ôI was working without any thoughts of the music :
:' industry, without any expectation of releasing or touring, so I ':
,: was just capturing anything that popped into my head and moving :,
: on. There was a raw, time capsule quality to it, and it reminded :
:' me of why I fell in love with making music in the first place.ö ':
,: :,
: Invigorated by the energy of those tapes, Earley borrowed a :
:' friendÆs four-track machine and headed out to guitarist Nathan ':
,: VanderpoolÆs studio in rural Washington, where he began roughly :,
: two months of on-and-off sessions with Vanderpool and drummer :
:' Brian Adrian Koch. It was a slower process than normal for ':
,: himùin part because he was splitting his time between recording :,
: and working with PortlandÆs homeless population, which had :
:' increased significantly since the pandemic. But the pace proved ':
,: to be a perfect fit for the tracks, which incorporated sonic :,
: elements from the original tapes into the newly written songs :
:' drawn from EarleyÆs journey into Buddhism, as well as his ':
,: experiences working in the shelter system. ôThe work I do :,
: outside of music inevitably finds its way into all of my songs,ö :
:' he explains. ôI think the shelter in particular has broadened ':
,: my perspective about humanity, about the variety of desires we :,
: can have and the suffering we endure.ö :
:' ':
,: That sense of empathy is clear from the outset on 100Æs of :,
: 1000Æs, Millions of Billions, which opens with the effervescent :
:' ôAinÆt Got Time to Fight.ö Warm and lilting, the track searches ':
,: for meaning and joy in a world that can seem determined to beat :,
: it out of us at every turn. Like much of the record, the song :
:' carries weighty considerations beneath its playful exterior, ':
,: grappling with the emptiness that threatens to consume us should :,
: we ever lose sight of the only true currency that matters in :
:' this world: love. The bittersweet ôCheap Fantastical Takedownö ':
,: follows two vampires at a crossroads in their relationship, :,
: uncertain if eternal life is a blessing or a curse; the dreamy :
:' ôPlanetariumö (featuring Anna Tivel and Eric D. Johnson of ':
,: Fruit Bats/Bonny Light Horseman) finds comfort and peace in :,
: learning to see the self as the cosmos and the cosmos as the :
:' self; and the urgent ôCosmic Backseat Educationö revels in the ':
,: simple pleasures of art for artÆs sake. ôI remember lying in the :,
: backseat of my parentsÆ car as a kid and just listening to the :
:' radio, which I think is where I got most of the education that ':
,: IÆve used in my life and my career,ö says Earley, who selected :,
: an abstract collage by Guided by VoicesÆ Robert Pollard for the :
:' albumÆs cover art. ôWeÆre so brainwashed to have these goals ':
,: and milestones that we all chase, but music is inherently :,
: purposeless outside of joy. If you can learn to see that same :
:' purposelessness in life, it frees you up to enjoy every ':
,: moment.ö :,
: :
:' Earley plays with that notion throughout the record, balancing ':
,: the joy of purposelessness with the fear of nothingness in equal :,
: measure. The perpetually off-kilter ôDead God of the Green :
:' Arisingö tracks a deity reborn on Earth as she learns to share ':
,: her gifts with the natural world; the breezy ôSo Divineö follows :,
: a human reborn into a heavenly realm that becomes its own kind :
:' of hell with no further awakening to be found. ItÆs not all ':
,: spiritual beings on the albumùthe hypnotic ôHesher in the Rain,ö :,
: for instance, centers on a heavy metal drummer longing for a :
:' love he left behind, while the soulful ôUpon the Chainö draws ':
,: on the real-life story of EarleyÆs uncle, who escaped from a :,
: chain gang and drove home in a stolen station wagonùbut in many :
:' ways, the distinction between man and god is a meaningless one. ':
,: WeÆre all inextricably connected, and no matter what state we :,
: may find ourselves in at any particular moment, weÆve been here :
:' before, and weÆll be here again. ':
,: :,
: ôWith each successive death and rebirth, we learn more of love, :
:' more of life,ö Earley explains. ôThe beings we live with and ':
,: love have been with us for hundreds of thousands of years, for :,
: millions of billions of lifetimes.ö :
:' ':
,: ItÆs more than we can fathom, and itÆs all weÆve ever known. :,
: :
:' ':
: '
'.. ..'
.. . :........... . . . . ............: . .
______________ ______________
\ / \ /
\ / GREETS: \ /
\ / \ /
\ / iPC BOSS HiT2000 1way UKi i8 RNS \ /
\ / MANDY DV8 pLAN9 BUTT \ /
\ / \ /
\/ ____ ____ \/
\ / F A N G \ /
\/ \/