Update: We won! Thanks to our fans for all the support!
http://www.yvideoblog.com/blog/2008/03/21/the-yahoo-video-awards-the-results/
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WE NEED YOUR VOTE! Terrene got one of six nominations for "Best Indie Music Video" at Yahoo! Video Awards 2008. We are currently in third place, and you can make the difference! This is not some thing that anyone can enter and win - the editors at Yahoo! highlighted us, specifically, so needless to say we are honored and delighted.

Myspace seems to be effing up at the moment, and isn't letting me add venue information. So, as a workaround, here are the deets:

11/1: The Bone, Dallas, TX
11/3: KVRX 91.7 FM, Austin, TX - live on the air at 11pm, Central Time. Listen online!
11/6: Red Seven, Austin, TX

See you there!

-john

Screencap: here



Yahoo video's music section has put the wonderful new video directed by The Nee Brothers front-and-center as their featured music video of the day. Guess the editors over there liked us! Awesome, and well-deserved - the brothers worked on this video for over 4 months. Grats, guys. :)

Terrene - "Unwelcome" (Music Video)



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The Indifferent Universe will be out on August 14th, 2007. We had to delay to give the manufacturer more time to correct a printing error that created faulty CD booklets. I know, it's a bummer. But, good things come to those who wait, etc.

http://pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/43708-rip-ipunk-planeti-1994-2007

I'll never forget what a badass I felt like the first time a package from Punk Planet arrived at my doorstep full of vinyl, tapes, and CDs to review. I was only 16 in 1995, but I still remember saying aloud "wow, look at all these free records!" -- before discovering that they were mostly bad, of course. Even then, at only a year old, their review load was tremendous, as they decided they were going to review everything they got. In my similar idealism, I was 100% on board with that approach -- which I remember having something to do with criticizing Maximum Rocknroll for being too stuck-up to review some things, or give no-name bands proper consideration. We read these publications to discover new music, so why allow it to become a circle-jerk? Give the good stuff it's nice review and move on to the next thing. It was the ultimate approach to quantity over quality -- not without its setbacks, but absolutely guaranteed to provide the reader with a very comprehensive picture of what was out there.

The opportunity to review bands like Dub Narcotic Sound System, Bardo Pond, and The Make*Up was also my introduction to them, and I can easily count seeing my writing in print in a publication I respected, operating as a regular contributor at such a young age as one of the most amazing moments of my life. And what a thrill to be in the same magazine as people like Larry Livermore, with whom I ended up become acquaintances and hanging out in my home town of Tulsa, OK. In the end, my life was too tumultuous at the time to keep up with my review duties for very long and I only ended up submitting reviews for 3 issues, before moving out of the basement I was living in and back into a more normal eschelon of society, starting college, etc. But to know that I could be part of something like that was really important to me at the time, especially since I had already tried my hand at zinery and record-reviewing in high school and ended up getting suspended for "distributing inappropriate material on school grounds." That's the type of disappointment that can be really overwhelming and deep-cutting at that age, and to land on two feet with a regular spot in Punk Planet was pretty much the ultimate "fuck you" to that school and "fuck yes" to life.

I'm definitely not the punk I used to be, but I took a certain comfort in checking in on them a few times a year and seeing that they had indeed indeed published another 130+ music reviews that issue. They were still carrying the same heavy load, and still giving those hopeless musicians the simple dignity of a paragraph of acknowledgement. It was a great experiment -- a successful one in most regards -- and it really is our loss that there's nothing out there to replace it that has a similar philosophy or anywhere near the same-sized readership. 

Goodbye, Punk Planet. I'll never forget you.

So far, the reviews look really good. It's pretty early yet (the big flood will happen around the actual release date), but we're hopeful. Here's everything so-far, complete with the cherry-picked quotes!

My take: I have to laugh at a couple reactions to the press release. I guess some "similar" bands have to be mentioned so that the reviewer has a frame of reference, and I think Explosions in the Sky and godspeed you! black emperor were in there just to refer to some of the quote-unquote "spacey" moments on the record. Maybe this was a bad idea, after all, because a) if the reviewer likes those bands, they suddenly get focused on how often we do the fast-picking-with-reverb thing (not often), and b) I'm not totally sure we want to be lumped with that genre, if you can call it that, anyway.

I typically think of Terrene as being more about the layer-upon-layer of harmonies thing. Basically, that's it. I will -- quite shamelessly -- use any and every sound possible to wedge a melody into the aural plane of a song in a way that heightens the emotional impact. That's all this is, folks. Meanwhile, lots of 2nd wave isntrumental post-rock is flooding the scene that does the "wall of sound" thing to maximum dramatic effect and minimal melodic impact. I loved Young Team as much as anyone at the time, but my hope here is to invert the focus a bit. Pet Sounds got it right, and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven is never going to be topped, anyway. 

There was a time -- and I may be showing my age here -- when post-rock would refer to almost *any* rock band that was willing to complicate the idea of loud, hooky guitar music, and couldn't readily be put in the goth or shoegazer boxes, like Polvo, Sonic Youth, Pavement, et al. I think it's a little sad that the term post-rock is now short-hand for "another Mogwai band."

So, I understand our record is coming out too late to claim to be an OG. But if we're too "songy" to be whatever post-rock is now, can we be, like, post-post-rock? You can even use space-rock, like it says on our profile, even though that was more referring to our name/astronaut logo than anything. Because, seriously, if I hear another slow-tempo instrumental band with cudgelish chord intervals, no vocals, and -- just so you know they're cool -- a real-live delay/reverb pedal, I probably will smash my 12 string in their face.

Thanks!

-john

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FensePost
http://www.fensepost.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=369&Itemid=170
Terrene blends countless genres for a very unique sound.  Dylan's style of writing is sometimes reminiscent of an octave-lower Jeff Hanson (namely in "Fixed Up"), while containing a nasal-ish quality—rather than mimicking Alec Ounsworth, Dylan's voice is clear and composed.  Traces of an Elephant 6 style psychedelic pop can be found and even hints of Sunny Day Real Estate (circa How It Feels To Be Something On...) underlying more modern and mainstream pop sensibilities are present. They add in a few post-rock traits that are common in groups like Explosions in the Sky—that rapid one-note strumming that produces an epic, dreamy sound. "Mermaid" concludes The Indifferent Universe, out this July, building softly from a slow and spacious beginning to a quiet, reality-altering conclusion. From the behemoth post-rock-pop to the melancholy ballads, be prepared for Terrene to take over your non-commercial airwaves.  And be prepared for The Indifferent Universe to blow your mind.

Smother.net
http://www.smother.net/reviews/items/punk/1216/Terrene-The_Indifferent_Universe.php
Shockingly addictive indie rock that reminds you almost out of the gate of Stereolab and those great '90s era indie rock bands. But there's a monstrous amount of sonic "ummph" to this record. It's got character that's for sure, almost enough to make "The Indifferent Universe" its own individual. But beyond the guitars, bass, drums, and nicely sung vocals is an organic wildebeest that haunts you with sweeping and soaring sounds that are absolutely heavenly.

for the eardrums
http://blog.eardrumsmusic.com/2007/05/terrene-indifferent-universe.html
This band really makes me want to play Super Mario... no offense, it's just the intro to the song "Unwelcome", and the playful tones in the album in general. Terrene makes me smile. "The indifferent universe" is co-produced by Phil Ek (The Shins, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse). The cover is labelled: "For fans of Flaming Lips, Stereolab. Broken Social Scene". I think this kind of indie rock really suits anyone who likes dreamy and emotional music. thing I love the most about this album is the mellow and soothing vocal that is so characteristic for "The indifferent universe". A playful and joyous sound combined with lots of emotions. "51", "Andromeda", and "Unwelcome" are my favourites! The universe should not be indifferent to Terrene.

Aiding & Abetting
http://www.aidabet.com/issues/286/286reviews.html#TERRENE
Dreamy, excessive pop is all the rage these days, and it seems I get fifty of these albums every month. Few do it as well as Terrene, however. It's one thing to promise dramatics and then peter out at the hooks--I can't tell you how many people seem to have been sleeping in English class, or they would have a clue as how to sustain suspense through a song (or story). Terrene's writing builds from both the music and lyrics. Sometimes unevenly, which actually makes the tension that much more intense. This stuff should impress anyone who hears it. The music is more than inspiring.

Aural Fitness
http://www.auralfitness.com/2007/05/31/reviewers-voice-terrene/
Some of their songs remind me of a slightly more glued-together early Pink Floyd, with a hint of Explosions in the Sky. Yeah, it's the "Wall of Sound" theory. Lots of reverb, accompanied by a steady bass hum. The press release says they are comparable to Godspeed You Black Emperor and Sigor Ros, but you would have to be crazy to believe that, as Terrene writes lyrics to their songs (understandable ones, at that), and doesn't have many songs over 4 minutes. Where Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You Black Emperor and Sigor Ros are pushing the limits of experimental and progressive rock, Terrene seems to be taking what the aforementioned bands have accomplished and applying it to the tried and true pop/rock format. Floydian that I am, I could listen to this stuff all day.  

In America, that is. Other territories -- we're working on it.

EDIT: Album delayed from 7/17 to 8/14 due to a stupid printing error that created a bunch of faulty/messed-up CD booklets. Fun, no? This also pushes back the tour dates and stuff. Sorry, all!

Lots of great things happening to us, lately.

1) We played a sold out show on the radio (KEXP 90.3fm Seattle) a couple weeks ago.

2) We're the #18 most-played band in the Northwest!

3) Lastly but not leastly, we have awesome new glow-in-the-dark spaceman t-shirts to sell. Here's a picture of me & Julia modeling them: