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Halloween, Alaska Live Session Video and Interview

Post a Comment May 20, 2009 – 11:41 pm | Permalink |  Print This Post |

Having earned widespread acclaim for its atmospheric brand of synth-driven indie, “Champagne Downtown” sees Halloween, Alaska crafting its most distinctive and disarming set to date. Songs such as “In Order” and “Gone With The Wind” are complex and thoughtful, rich with simmering textures and literate lyricism. Melding an expansive range of inventive sounds with anthemic indie-rock hooks, “Champagne Downtown” straddles the boundary between the electronic and the organic to create a novel rethink of what pop music can mean in a new millennium.

Halloween, Alaska is comprised of James Diers (voice, keyboards, guitar), Matthew Friesen (bass, sampler), Jacob Hanson (guitar, keyboards, voice), and David King (acoustic and electronic drums) – the latter also serving as the enigmatic drummer with modernist jazz giants, The Bad Plus. Though founding keyboardist/programmer Ev has since left the official touring line-up, he remains on board for recording and assorted sound manipulation. “Champagne Downtown” was recorded by Ev and mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Tchad Blake (Peter Gabriel, American Music Club, Latin Playboys).

Halloween, Alaska came together in 2002, encompassing members of such esteemed local outfits as Love-cars, 12RODS, and Happy Apple. The band self-released its eponymous debut in 2004, drawing critical praise and nationwide exposure when two tracks – “Des Moines” and “All The Arms Around You” – were featured on the Fox series, The O.C. Popular demand saw “Halloween, Alaska” reissued the following year by East Side Digital, prompting a further flood of accolades.