Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Collapsible Lung Unboxing (MSSS Series, Part 2)

Read the Air For Free unboxing post by clicking HERE.

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Hello my favorites!

Today we're looking at Collapsible Lung! One of my all time favorites, it's the first Relient K album I listened to. The vinyl itself is packaged in a cardboard jacket along with the easily recognisable lung artwork on the front.


Since before getting this record, I only had the album digitally, so I didn't know what the back looked like. It's very interesting and shows three brown dots with different pictures inside them. The one on the left shows an internal part of the lung, the center one shows a map, and the one on the right depicts a house. I don't know if these pictures have any meaning but they look pretty cool nonetheless! 

The vinyl itself is a cherry red, which I really love! It goes well with the beige and black artwork. The only thing that made me sad was the lack of an insert. Inserts are probably my second favorite part of records themselves, the first being the actual vinyl.


The track listing is the same as the CD, and is as follows:

SIDE A:
Don't Blink
Boomerang
Lost Boy
If I Could Take You Home
Can't Complain
Gloria

SIDE B:
PTL
Disaster 
When You Were My Baby
Sweeter
Collapsible Lung 

I know this wasn't really a well received album, but it does have its gems (Don't Blink, Can't Complain, and Collapsible Lung specifically). In the end I just hope you enjoyed reading this little post! I wish you all the best.

Don't Blink, 
Sahara 

PS: Saw a sneaky tweet from SMLXL Vinyl saying the gold MMHMM vinyls are back in stock! Go grab one now if you don't have one @ smlxlvinyl.com


Saturday, January 21, 2017

Looking For America: PART 2!



Hey guys! So, the second leg of the tour starts TODAY in Fresno, California!

I'll be keeping you updated on Twitter, and hey, don't forget! If you want to see your pictures in the tour photo gallery, send them, along with the city and state the show was in, and your name to thefreshestblogintheworld@gmail.com!

Don't blink,
Sahara

PS: I will be sending out the FIRST Lyric Club email on February 1st! Keep an eye out for it if you signed up!

Monday, January 16, 2017

Artist Spotlight: Phangs

Hey guys! Today I want to do something a little different than what I normally do. Today, I want to talk about one of my new musical faves, Phangs. 



                                    Image result for phangs cul de sac



Phangs is a fresh and super dreamy pop project created by Jake Germany. As Phangs, he released his first song called Cul De Sac in August of 2016, and just last week he released two new tracks, originally supposed to be from his self-titled EP, PHANGS.

His website's about page describes Phangs as dream pop "blanketed in layers of synthesizers" and "steady pulsing percussion". The Phangs sound makes me want to put on a warm sweatshirt and go for a walk in a park; it has a homey feeling, which makes it even easier to connect to the music.

The stripped version of Cul De Sac took me by surprise. To be honest, I don't know what I was expecting, but this just blew me away. The stripped back instrumental allows the falsetto vocals to be the star, making the song sound even more light and cozy.

One & Lonely -- while being equally cozy -- makes me think of bubblegum and cotton candy, even if the song is about an unraveling relationship. My favorite part probably being the chorus when Germany sings "Don't go, don't leave me here."

In closing, I want to say how incredibly excited I am to hear more Phangs music, especially Always Been U (feat. R.LUM.R). Jake Germany is an extremely talented person and I'm so proud to support him and his music. I wish him all the best and I'll definitely be there to snag a copy of his first album, whenever it drops.

Don't blink,
Sahara

Watch the music video for Cul De Sac (Stripped):



Thursday, January 5, 2017

2016 RECAP: New Music and Touring and Videos... Oh My!

made by Imogen from The Owl City Fan Club Blog 


Welcome back! And if this is your first time here, welcome to the blog! If you want to learn a little more about me and why I started this blog before you read this post, click HERE.

So, how about we "kick-off" the new year with a recap of what went down in 2016? Sound good? Let's go!

There was some buzz at the start of the year after the release of the new album's title. During a show in December, the guys revealed the name of the record would be Air For Free.

On Valentine's Day, a digital single called Look On Up was finally released after being played at various shows. Unfortunately, it did not make the album.

April 13th, the lead single from Air For Free, titled Bummin' (one of my favorite tracks), was released.

Originally rumoured to be released in May, Air For Free was released on July 22nd as digital download and vinyl, and later on August 20th, released as a CD. It debuted at No. 44 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums, and sold around 9000 copies in its first week.

There are 16 tracks, and according to the Air For Free Wikipedia page, a pregap piano version of Marigold (CD release only). I have yet to get the CD, but once I do, I'll be sure to let you know if I find it.
https://twitter.com/relientK/status/754518202374250496

The following day, the band played an album release concert in Akron, Ohio with Cardboard Kids as show openers (CK is a really great band and I highly recommend them, check 'em out).

The guys played a total of 12 songs from the newly released album, including Mountaintop, which was made into a music video.

Matt Hoopes starring as "The Navigator" and Matt Thiessen starring as "The Climber". Released September 1st. https://youtu.be/sSi0HplL05A

Written by Rob Fee and directed by Ryan Hamblin, the video follows Hoopes the Navigator and Thiessen the Climber as they, well, climb to the top of a mountain! They (as themselves) watch the video back, take notes and, at some points, look really confused and bored. There's also a campfire involved. Not sure if they were roasting hot dogs or marshmallows, though. But, in my opinion the video really embodies adventure in a fun and playful way (note the lions, tigers, bears, and bats), while the running theme of budget cuts is still going strong after its appearance in the Pressing On music video almost 16 years ago. One of my favorite parts is the ending where we see Matt Hoopes write a note for help and attach it to a little plastic bird. The nature shots were breathtaking, and a big round of applause to Jacob Smithson who edited all together so beautifully.

While we're on the topic of fun and adventure, let's wrap up this post with talk about one of the most adventurous things that's happened this year: The Looking For America tour!

It was announced in May via Relient K and Switchfoot's social media accounts, and a video on Switchfoot's YouTube channel that the two groups would be touring across North America, each promoting their new albums, Air For Free and Where The Light Shines Through.



The tour started September 17th and ran through November 26th, allowing the bands to stop in a total of 50 cities. I was able to snag some tickets and VIP passes to the October 22nd show (which also happened to be Jon Foreman's birthday), and let me tell you, it was amazing.

Almost a week later, on October 28th, the guys dropped a three song Halloween EP entitled The Creepier EP...er.

"The Creepier EP...er" Released October 28th, 2016, Mono VS Stereo 

It features two new songs called The Halloween Blues and The Cup, as well as one formerly unreleased track called Halloween in Owatonna. (Check out the original performance here).

Then on November 21st, it was announced there would be a part two to the Looking For America tour, now called the Still Looking For America 2our, starting January 21th, 2017 and going through February 18th, 2017. Another video was released on Switchfoot's YouTube channel with more details and a list of dates.

So, there we have it! Started with a new single and ended with a full on two part North American tour. I hope some of you got to go too! Last year's had its ups and downs, but overall it's a year that I hope I never forget.

Don't blink,
Sahara

UPDATE: Thanks to Chris from the comments, the Marigold intro pregap track is on YouTube! Check it here: https://youtu.be/Xpzoj-LNTcY