VAST - April (out & nationwide tour)

[halo19]

The album is titled April and will be released on September 19th (unless they push the date). I'm a bit disappointed that a couple of songs are recycled from Nude (the news was that 456 wouldn't let the final versions get used for T&C.), but neither suck and I'm going to buy it anyway. I hope we get a new single along the way.

Album cover:


Track listing:
1. You're Too Young
2. Sunday I'll Be Gone
3. One More Day
4. I'm Too Good
5. I Am A Vampire
6. She Visits Me
7. Tattoo Of Your Name
8. Be With Me
9. Having Part Of You
10. I Can't Say No To You

There's acoustic previews of the songs as an online download, but I'm trying to wait for the real thing (as I did last time).

As for the tour: 2blossoms.com/tickets/

[a Nick O!]

Judging from that album cover, Jon's started the process of doing away with a logo all together, starting with both ends of the word and presumably fading it inward over time.

[halo19]

The latest details I've heard are:

Apparently that might not even be the retail version's artwork, which is complete by the end of the month (interesting fact: none of the download releases use that logo).
Six songs not on the original download will appear on the final version. It got pushed back to October 17.

[halo19]

...only to get pushed back even later. The album art was done by fans who submitted artwork for the album, I guess the winning contestant. Deadline was a few days ago. Meh, how I wish it were already out today. More VAST is a good thing. I don't know how the future of the stuff will do commercially.
Part of that has to do with this quote from Jon:

We have been on the radio a little because back in 1999 we were on Elektra and they paid the radio to play us. I learned of this after the fact and I would never give a radio station one dollar to play us now.

There are new dates:
www.2blossoms.com/tickets/

Oh, and I hope they really do add dates after January. No Texas? That can't be true. And Nick, there is a St. Louis show in there (Apr. 9).

[a Nick O!]

I'm there, dude. Thanks.

(Would you expect them to sell it out? Asking because I may not get around to getting tickets for awhile.)

And funny you should mention them tonight, because tonight at the (Dweezil) Zappa Plays Zappa show, beforehand our PA was playing what I could have sworn Jon used to make the sample for "Touched," which I've never heard before.

[halo19]

What type of size venue is the Creepy Crawl? I guess I'd base it somewhat on that, seeing as it's all ages and such. I don't really know, but I think it would take at least 2-3 months to sell out, if it does.

[a Nick O!]

Hmm...
Living Things played there recently. Eighteen Visions headlined there in '05 before they relocated. Let's check their shedule: Small-time underground punk/metal bands I've heard of...Agent Orange...Rehab/Authority Zero...Fear Before the March of Flames...the Queers...Pillar...All That Remains/Misery Signals...Anberlin/Bayside/Meg & Dia.

[halo19]

I found this as the default pic on the VAST myspace page:

[halo19]

This one will seek the forum moving...

I changed the title to poke fun at my initial worry that the album seemingly is never going to be released (and initially, I alluded the "upcoming G'N'R" album). I was relieved tenfold though when I finally went to the official VAST site:

"All the touring we did in early 2007 got in the way of finishing the album on time. The version we released two months ago didn’t seem right to me so I spent all of June and July mixing the album again. The only song I had mixed on previous albums was "Lost" on "Nude". Some other VAST records have a more commercial sound but the sound on this record reflects how I want the songs to be heard.
The theme of "April" is loss. Some people may think all VAST albums are about loss but I would say the first album was about conflict, the second about longing for freedom, and the third about beauty. These songs were written during a time in my life were I was going through the deep loss of my lover and the loss of all my money from bad deals and bad labels. The result was that I was down and didn't treat myself very well.

I put all those feelings into this record and it’s something I’m very proud of. While it’s true that I will always feel most proud of my latest effort, I do however feel that this record comes from my heart and that in itself makes it a success if only artistic. I only have a few albums like this in me. This and my first album are my favorite albums to date.

I also am happy with the beautiful artwork Angel Royster created for it. The manufacturer told me recently that this is one of the best packages they have ever made. I only want to sell small quantities of the thicker booklet for environmental reasons.

We also want to do things a little differently this time. We want to show more support for the smaller and independent stores out there that care about music and not toasters. It’s unfortunate that this decision could limit peoples exposure to the music but I don’t want to be just another person who makes excuses for why they are doing something they know is wrong. You will not be able to buy this record in Wal Mart or Target. These stores hurt local business which is something I know about first hand. When I was a kid, my mother owned a small record store that was put out of business by large chains.

Thanks again for all your support over the years. It’s inspiring to know that people all over the world can hear and own my music instantly. I hope that "April" lives up to your expectations. "

-Jon Crosby

Although I feel like writing Jon and saying, "Some people have limited access to those places, and music can be sold at the likes of Starbucks and such, so it CAN be a necessary evil! And Target ain't that bad, nor is Best Buy or Circuit City which value electronics including CD's." Oh, and quit being such a pussy and come to San Antonio during the next tour. It's a great place.

UPDATE: Okay... So I checked out the VAST message board, and there was an announcement that the limited edition is now available to order online and that it may be released widely on October 16th (same day as Thrice; f***in' A!). New thread to come.

[halo19]

Hah, so Jon led me to believe this would only be sold in independent music stores. But if you search it on Amazon.com, you can find this album there avaliable for pre-order.

I've got the record now. So what's it like?

While I was used to VAST albums having acoustic tracks and such, I wasn't expecting Jon to carry such a thing through an entire album . I didn't notice any choir samples this time out. In some ways it reminds me of Music for People in that it's a more stripped down effort. But this time around Jon doesn't even sound anything like the '80's alternative rock stuff he resembled on that album. The recording of the record is top-notch and is something that would still redeem a few crappy songs.

I believe there's a trumpet on the chorus (!!) of "Frog," something I really wasn't expecting. Particularly on "I'm Too Good" and "I Am a Vampire" there is actually kind of an Americana sound, particularly in the bass. I suppose that's a taste of what's to come. Plenty of the "more mellow" stuff adds in some strings, which is probably the most typical thing to the previous VAST records this time around.

My only complaint is that some of the melodies in the choruses and such are starting to sort of sound same-ish. That aside, I think it's one of the finest releases of 2007 (gives Modest Mouse, NIN, White Stripes and Common some competition; I didn't realize how many records from this year I already have). It's gotten better each time although I wasn't expecting a whole album to sound like this.

[halo19]

So we have new tour dates. Apparently they're adding more and a worldwide one will begin January of next year.

upcoming:
October 27th 2007
Cactus Cafe
Austin,TX

November 30th 2007
The Door
Dallas, TX

December 1st 2007
Tipitinas
New Orleans, LA

December 2nd 2007
Smiths Olde Bar
Atlanta,GA

December 3rd 2007
Zydeco
Birmingham ,AL

January 26th 2008
The Grail
Coeur d'Alene, ID
21+

January 30th 2008
Red Devil Lounge
San Francisco CA
21+

January 31st 2008
Galaxy Theatre
Santa Ana CA
all ages

February 1st 2008
The Knitting Factory
Hollywood CA
all ages

February 4th 2008
Launchpad
Albuquerque NM
21+

February 14th 2008
Highline Ballroom
NYC NY
all ages

Also, there will be a music video contest for making April videos, where the top 12 entries will appear on a VAST DVD. They also have a contest of making a 30-second video for the album via YouTube. I'm not really into fan-made music videos but sounds nice enough to me.