Monday, April 10, 2006

The Never has just released their fourth album called ANTARCTICA. It's a storybook album: a full length CD literally coupled with a fully illustrated storybook by Noah Smith! The story is centered around a young, naive, boy named Paul and his journey to find the owner of a large grey object he found behind his home in the country. Antarctica is a plea for everyone young and old to remember the simple things of childhood. The book also serves as a reminder to appreciate the world and the beauty it has to offer. (An illustration from 'Antarctica, courtesy Chapel Hill News)

I am so grateful to the lovely Melissa of "Hello, Melissa" fame for introducing us to the musical talents of "The Never"! My 14-year old in particular is a huge fan and has been since she heard their 3rd album last year. Their latest album,"Antartica", which my delighted daughter has an autographed copy of, (again, courtesy the thoughtful Melissa), is a storybook album which literally includes a storybook (with cool illustrations by band member, Noah Smith) and for a fun listening experience the listener is supposed to turn the pages of the book in time with the music which I think is so darn cool!

About the music: in how many ways can I say wonderful??? It truly, truly is a lovely listening experience! They have been described as "part Beach Boys, part Weezer, part Pink Floyd and part Queen", but I know that's kinda hard to imagine without being able to listen to them, so why don't you take a walk over to "The Never" website and listen to samples of their music on the jukebox?

I love the melodies and I think the guys harmonize beautifully together.I also love the cool intstrumental riffs on many of the songs employing the violin, the mandolin and so on. Some of my favourites on the "Antartica" album are: Summer Time,Summer Girl/Old Man Winter, Antartica, The Sharpest Place, Snow Starts to Fall...heck, I love them all!!!

Will soon attach a picture of my daughter wearing her highly coveted "Antartica" t-shirt! Thanks, Melissa!

Photos from the Antarctica release show on March 26th courtesy "outofideas" at flickr.com

10 comments:

hellomelissa said...

thanks for the plug! i'm glad that you and n enjoyed it so much. and i'm sure the guys are happy with the free publicity! :)

Anonymous said...

I listened to the music and I loved it! I tried looking for it online but Amazon or Chapters doesn't sell their albums. Where did you buy a copy of their album Lotus?

Thanks Lotus for the recommendation and thanks hellomelissa for recommending it to Lotus! :)

hellomelissa said...

hey sasgirl-- you can buy the album at www.trekkyrecords.com

and you're welcome for the recommendation! i can't rave enough about these guys.

Anonymous said...

hey lotus lol

haha i love the never they are one of the best bands out there!! And yeah that t-shirt is my favorite t-shirt at the moment

:)

Anonymous said...

Nice mix of vocal harmonies and instrumentals. A bit soft for my tastes but obviously these guys have broken out of the local scene and are approaching a national level. Nice to see committed musicians achieving their goals.

Lotus Reads said...

hellomelissa: you're quite welcome and the pleasure is all mine. This album is our family's favorite at the moment - we are really enjoying it!

sasgirl - glad you like the music. Melissa sent Nina the album, but I will be going to trekkyrecords myself to buy a copy for one of Nina's friends. Wouldn't it be nice if Amazon could sell them?

Oz, yeah, I did think you'd find it slightly mellow 'cos you're a rocker all the way. Their previous album had a couple of really nice rock tunes, so they can do it. I think this was a deliberate attempt to sweeten the harmonies and I for one love the change of pace. Thanks so much for stopping by, Oz!

Susan in Italy said...

Thanks for this Lotus! I just listened to some of The Never and they're really cool. An actual indie band on an indie label.

Lotus Reads said...

So glad you liked it, Susan. I really wish the band the very best - I hope they get the exposure they're so deserving of.

Since we're speaking music, one of my favorite genres (besides alternative pop/rock) is "World Music". I would love to have some recommendations of Italian bands from you when you have the time. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Lotus, you should check out French Cafe and Italian Cafe by Putumayo.

My husband loves French and Italian music and we totally recommend these CDs! You can get them at HMV or Chapters.

We also love the Italian music in the movie Cinema Paradiso , beautiful music for a beautiful movie!

Susan, I would love to hear your recommendations too!

Lotus Reads said...

Thanks for the suggestions, sasgirl. I remember now, I used to have the Putamayo collection of Hawaiian music. I will go to their website and look for more.