METRIC

Spanish for 100 | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 5, 2005)
• Original Release Date: March 5, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cien Records
• ASIN: B0007VBO52
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #842,204 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Go Away, Come Home

2. Jungle with Lions

3. Fell a Bird

4. Golden Days (part 1)

5. Golden Days (part 2)

6. See Now (live @ the Crocodile)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

BIOGRAPHY:

After weathering the underground Chicago indie circuit for a number of years, Illinois native, Aaron Starkey, packed up his guitars and moved west to the temperate environ of Seattle. Meanwhile, Washington State natives Corey Passons and Ross McGilvary, both former founding members of the gritty regional rock act, Preston Mill, wanted to stretch their creative legs beyond the tried and true form that Mill established during its long, successful tenure in the Northwest music scene. A serendipitous meeting revealed a mutual affinity for English amps, thinline telecasters, heartfelt melodies, chips, and salsa. Their desire for honest, straightforward songcraft, deeply rooted in the tradition of Neil Young, Built to Spill, and The Jayhawks, further fueled the three musicians, and Spanish for 100 was born in the spring of 2002.

In the months that followed, Spanish for 100 performed countless shows and regional tours, culminating in their first full-length effort, Newborn Driving (released December 2003), produced by the notorious Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, The Shins).

It was the summer of 2004, and after a relentless performance schedule in support of Newborn, the band swept back into the studio, again with Phil Ek at the helm, recording the follow-up EP, Metric (released March 2005). However, the drum chair had been a revolving door. Though the band itself yielded a healthy cache of talented drummer friends volunteering their services toward the cause, schedules and prior commitment conflicts prevented the band from securing a permanent replacement for the job. Enter Andrew Squire, the New Mexico-born drummer whose previous work included the NYC band Pela who shared the stage with Rainer Maria, The Decemberists, Earlimart, and Sleater Kinney. Squire’s experience with dark, ambient pop, combined with his jazz background supporting the likes of Wynton Marsalis and Randy Brecker (John Scofield, Frank Zappa, Charles Mingus), as well as his involvement with traditional folk music of Mexico and the American Southwest, enabled him to survive Spanish for 100’s 342nd drummer audition.

Armed with a new drummer and a successful national radio campaign, Spanish for 100 immediately hit the road for their first self-promoted and self-booked national tour in October 2004, performing blistering sets to eager audiences from such notable clubs as Schubas in Chicago and Pianos in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome class, this is Spanish for 100., May 19, 2005

By 

M. Miller (TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: METRIC (Audio CD)

An infusion of instrumentation lays the ground for the overlying vocals as Spanish for 100 continues to reach audiences. Whether it is their similarities often noted to such bands as Modest Mouse, or just their own sense of uniqueness, this band enthuses.

And although the album is not that full in a capacity sense, having merely six songs, the band displays their aptitude to play live, or to develop in studio. Hey, sometimes it takes a little to do a lot, and I think Spanish for 100 has taken Metric and done a fair amount.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bizarre Genre-Mash Up Doesn't Become Any Less So Upon Listening, March 6, 2007

By 

Collin Anderson (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: METRIC (Audio CD)

The word-of-mouth element most likely to perk up the ears of any indie fan with Spanish for 100's second release, the Metric EP, is that it was produced by the illustrious Phil Ek. Ek's work (Built to Spill, Modest Mouse) has been key in the movement to augment controlled grit atmospherics and, more importantly, incorporate elements of country into indie music without people fleeing with their hands over their ears. That being said, emo-doing-country band Spanish for 100 might have nearly as integrated a variety of elements as Ek's most successful clients, but the elements themselves lack much sense of adventurousness. Overlong and repetitive jams ("Jungle With Lions", "See Now") feel particularly uninspired next to their tighter melodies ("Go Away, Come Home", "Fell a Bird"), especially for the latter's utilization of Corey Passons' feathery, high vocal range. The EP has moments of great clarity, beauty and urgency, but on the whole (and especially being an EP) it doesn't satiate the promise of channeled talent implicit in Ek's reputation.