1105 West Idaho Street Boise, Idaho (208)-344-8010

Next Page »

IN FLAMES ALBUM SIGNING AND MEET-AND-GREET MARCH 13 – FREE CONCERT TICKET WITH ALBUM PURCHASE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

  • Home
  • /
    • Tag: in stores
March 1, 2019 - The Record Exchange Blog - by - No Comments

In Flames will visit The Record Exchange for an album signing and meet-and-greet at 3pm Wednesday, March 13. This event is presented by 100.3 The X.

In Flames are performing at Knitting Factory later that evening and we have tickets for sale at the store!

Want a free ticket to the show and priority line placement at the signing? Purchase In Flames’ new album I, The Mask and we’ll give you one ticket (while supplies last) and a VIP line wristband! (There will be a secondary line for customers without wristbands, which will follow the VIP line.)

ABOUT IN FLAMES

At this point, In Flames are less of a band than they are a musical institution in the heavy music world. Since helping create Sweden’s legendary “Gothenberg Sound” three decades ago to their current status as heavy music monoliths, the act have constantly eschewed trends in order to forge their own musical path. This is evident on their 13th full-length I, The Mask, which sees them reuniting with multi Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Motörhead), who also produced 2016’s Battles, in order to further redefine their sound. “I think it’s very difficult for In Flames to be something we’re not and that dichotomy of melody and aggression will always be at the core of our identity,” vocalist Anders Fridén explains from a tour stop opening for Deep Purple in Mexico. “We are always open to new ideas and don’t let anything limit us,” guitarist Björn Gelotte adds. “We just ask ourselves if we will love playing this stuff live… and as long as we feel that nothing can really touch us.”

Unlike previous recordings, this time around Fridén and Gelotte holed up in Los Angeles for three weeks prior to the production of I, The Mask, and came up with a bulk of the songs during those sessions. “For Battles I wrote a lot of the material at home first but for this one, Anders and I really wanted to just get in a room together and see where it would take us,” Gelotte explains, adding that Benson would frequently drop by and act as a filter for their creativity. “I think this process worked really well because a lot of the lyrics fed off the music or Anders would come up with a really powerful line and it would inspire a riff, so there was a lot of symbiosis between us in the songwriting.” From there the duo fleshed out the arrangements with guitarist Niclas Engelin, bassist Bryce Paul Newman and previous drummer Joe Rickard and then spent two months tracking the songs. (I, The Mask is also the last recording to feature Rickard, who was subsequently replaced by Tanner Wayne, who played on the track “(This Is Our) House.”) Finally, the album was mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, who has worked with everyone from Cheap Trick to Linkin Park and mastered by Ted Jensen (Pantera, Eagles, Guns N’ Roses).

The result is a massive-sounding album that showcases why In Flames are one of the biggest metal bands in the world. From the way the guitars give way to the anthemic riffing on the power ballad “Call My Name” to the relentless riffing on “Burn” and sweetly syncopated groove of “I Am Above,” I, The Mask sees the band stretching out musically and crafting music that’s as catchy as it is crushing. As the driving force behind the act, it was important for Fridén to challenge himself on the album and took vocal lessons three days a week in order to expand his own arsenal of abilities. “I wanted to do something new and take things to another level when it came to the vocals,” he explains. “I know what I’m capable of and I feel more confident today taking higher notes and being able to push my voice in a higher register, so that’s something I really wanted to explore as well.”

Lyrically, I, The Mask is in many ways a social commentary on the state of the world when it comes to isolation, loneliness and the way technology has subverted our need for genuine human connection. “Instead of being connected we divide ourselves into all of these little groups and if you scratch the surface most people’s lives are miserable,” Fridén explains. “I thought about that and how we all carry a mask around and how in our striving to become better, I think we’re actually going backwards.” However there is also a level of hopefulness that’s inherent in the sentiment of I, The Mask, which is showcased in songs like “(This Is Our) House.” “That song is a call to arms and it’s saying, ‘We need to unite because we’re going in the wrong direction,’” he explains. “We might have ten years to stop the pollution of the planet. We aren’t going to die on the 11th year but we can’t turn it back from that and it’s a slow process of rebuilding our house, so I think it’s a strong lyrical theme and one that is unifying as well.”

Admittedly if you listen to 1996’s The Jester Race next to I, The Mask, there are marked musical differences, but through the course of In Flames’ output you can trace their evolution and hear how they managed to remain relevant by never getting complacent. “The way we write music is super challenging but it’s also super rewarding,” Gelotte explains, adding that as the band have improved as musicians it’s opened up countless sonic and creative possibilities. “We’ve never been the type of band who likes to show-off but we like to have fun making music and working with Howard [Benson] was one of the first times where we actually listened to someone from the outside – and I think it was his first time working with a band like us, too,” he adds. “The instrumentation on the album is pretty straightforward on this album, but there are so many layers in a lot of these songs that if you’re interested you can really dig into it and it will live on for a long time.”

That said, ultimately In Flames are a live band and they can’t wait to get back on the road and share this new collection of songs with fans, whether they’ve supported the band for decades or are recent converts to their sound. “I love the act of creating something from nothing and then getting to travel the world and play these songs and see how they affect people,” Fridén summarizes. “It’s extremely rewarding to hear how a certain song moves someone and then you talk to someone else and learn that it affected them in a profoundly different way. The dynamic between the creator and the fans and what they bring to the table is such an amazing feeling, so that’s a big part of our drive. To make something and share it with the world, that’s what we were meant to do.”

Tags:

Recent Posts

94.9 THE RIVER PRESENTS MAX FROST LIVE AT THE RX MARCH 6!

  • Home
  • /
    • Tag: in stores
February 6, 2019 - Live Shows , Live@RX , The Record Exchange Blog - by - No Comments

94.9FM The River presents Max Frost live at The Record Exchange at 6:30pm Wednesday, March 6. Max Frost is performing at Neurolux later that evening and we have tickets for sale at the store. As always, this Record Exchange in-store event is free and all ages.

Frost will be signing copies of Gold Rush for anyone who purchases the LP at the in-store!

ABOUT MAX FROST:

Named by both NPR and Rolling Stone as one of “10 Artists You Need To Know,” Max Frost has earned acclaim with his electrifyingly idiosyncratic sonic blend, a musical merging of soul, funk, hip-hop, pop and electronica that saw 2013’s breakthrough single “White Lies” lauded in such high profile national outlets as Interview, Billboard, Idolator and NPR Music.

Furthermore, Frost has become an in-demand collaborator in his own right, including DJ Snake’s recent hit single, “Broken Summer (Feat. Max Frost).” Most recently, Frost teamed up in a London studio with none other than Elton John for an upcoming collaboration with DJ Mustard.

Frost’s long-awaited debut album Gold Rush – which includes the breakout hit single, “Good Morning” – was released in January.

Executive produced by Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick (of Fitz and the Tantrums) with production by Mick Schultz (Rihanna, Jeremih, YG), JR Rotem (Panic! At The Disco, Nicki Minaj, Fallout Boy) and M-Phazes (Eminem, Logic, KYLE), Gold Rush further includes “Sometimes,” the latter of which was named amongst ESPN’s “Music of the Month,” with placement across all ESPN platforms throughout October 2018.

A remarkable solo performer hailed for stealing the show with his captivating one-man-band performances, Frost introduced fans to Gold Rush by joining Twenty One Pilots on the first North American leg of “The Bandito Tour.” Max celebrated joining the tour by creating his own acapella cover of Twenty One Pilots’ hit song “Stressed Out” on his Instagram.

Frost has made a series of high profile national TV appearances in recent months, including ABC’s “Good Morning America,” highlighted by live performances of both “Good Morning” and “Eleven Days,” and the nationally syndicated “Live! With Kelly and Ryan,” featuring a live take on “Good Morning.”

In addition, “Good Morning” was heard in an installment of ESPN’s “College Gameday,” while Frost recently tracked an exclusive version of “Good Morning” for the promotional campaign celebrating CBS’ Monday Comedy Lineup. “Good Morning” has previously been featured in a yearlong advertising campaign launching Pepsi’s new bubly line of sparkling waters. The song has been included in promotional spots for ESPN’s new morning show “Get Up” as well as in recent episodes of ABC’s hugely popular “American Idol” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Tags:

RADIO BOISE PRESENTS THE WHITE BUFFALO LIVE AT THE RX NOV. 14

  • Home
  • /
    • Tag: in stores
October 18, 2017 - Live Shows , Live@RX , The Record Exchange Blog - by - No Comments

Radio Boise presents the White Buffalo live at The Record Exchange at 6pm Tuesday, Nov. 14. Hear an intimate solo acoustic performance before the White Buffalo headlines Radio Boise Tuesday next door at Neurolux (we have tickets for sale at the store). An album signing will follow the in-store set. As always, this Record Exchange in-store event is free and all ages.

ABOUT THE WHITE BUFFALO

“I’ve always taken great pleasure in being difficult to categorize,” says the White Buffalo‘s big-voiced frontman, Jake Smith. Since releasing his first album in 2002, Smith has explored the grey area between genres, carving out a sound rooted in dark folk, countrified soul, cinematic storytelling and roadhouse-worthy rock. He keeps things unclassifiable on the White Buffalo’s sixth album, Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights, the most hard-hitting, electrified album of his career.

Although recorded in Smith’s hometown of Los Angeles, where he grew up listening to the country twang of George Jones and the pissed-off punk of Bad Religion, Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights looks to the passion and punch of White Buffalo’s live shows for inspiration. Smith has been a road warrior for more than a decade, doubling as his own tour manager along the way. Gig after gig, he’s built a cult following without a major label’s support, boosting his band’s international visibility with more than a dozen TV-worthy songs — including the Emmy-nominated “Come Join the Murder” — that were featured on shows like Sons of Anarchy and Californication.

“I’m kind of an island,” he says proudly. “We tour on our own and have built our own fanbase, so the idea with this album was to capture that live feel — the passion that we produce in a stage setting — in a studio performance.”

Island or not, Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights finds Smith reaching far beyond his own experience for a string of detailed, character-driven songs. Many of these tunes explore the gloomy, dangerous corners of America, spinning stories of sinners, crooks, bad decisions and broken hearts. On “Border Town/Bury Me in Baja,” a drug dealer awaits his death at the hands of the Mexican mafia. “Avalon,” a desperate, driving anthem worthy of Bruce Springsteen, finds its protagonist “wishing he could flip a switch [and] turn his life around.” “Nightstalker Blues” — an amped-up blast of harmonica-filled, guitar-fueled roots rock — revolves around the story of serial killer Richard Ramirez, whose murder spree haunted southern California during the mid-Eighties.

As the album’s own title promises, though, this is a record about balance. A record about life’s ups and downs. “I wanted to hit all the emotional spots,” explains Smith, whose voice — a booming, rumbling baritone, with a slight quaver that can sound ominous one minute and warmhearted the next — takes a tender turn during love songs like “Observatory” and “If I Lost My Eyes.”

Together, Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights offers up the White Buffalo’s strongest material to date, doubling down on Smith’s strengths while pushing his sound into new territory. Stripped-down folk. Electrified swamp-soul. Heartland rock. Bluesy boogie-woogie. It’s all here, tied together by the super-sized vocals and articulate songwriting of a bandleader whose work is sometimes moody, sometimes menacing, but always melodic

“My hope is that this album will touch people,” he says. “Make people feel. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The darkest darks, and the lightest lights.”

Tags:

4OTH ANNIVERSARY KICKOFF: JOSH RITTER LIVE AT THE RECORD EXCHANGE SUNDAY, SEPT. 24, PRESENTED BY 94.9FM THE RIVER

  • Home
  • /
    • Tag: in stores
September 22, 2017 - The Record Exchange Blog - by - No Comments

Join us for The Record Exchange 40th Anniversary Kickoff featuring Josh Ritter at 8pm Sunday, Sept. 24 at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St. in Downtown Boise). This special in-store performance, presented by 94.9FM The River, is Ritter’s only show in town in celebration of his new album Gathering (out Friday, Sept. 22).

VIP wristbands* guaranteeing admission to the in-store are available with purchase of Gathering, available in four versions:

– Standard CD

– Limited edition deluxe CD (with bonus CD of demo recordings)

– Standard vinyl (with download card)

– Limited edition deluxe double vinyl (with opaque yellow colored vinyl and etching on side D, bonus CD of demo recordings and download card)

*One wristband per album purchased. YOU MUST HAVE A WRISTBAND TO ATTEND.

TRACK LIST:

1. Shaker Love Song (Leah)
2. Showboat
3. Friendamine
4. Feels Like Lightning
5. When Will I Be Changed (feat. Bob Weir)
6. Train Go By
7. Dreams
8. Myrna Loy
9. Interlude
10. Cry Softly
11. Oh Lord (Part III)
12. Thunderbolt’s Goodnight
13. Strangers

ABOUT JOSH RITTER AND ‘GATHERING’

Josh Ritter is the definition of an experienced songwriter. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1999 Ritter devoted his life to a songwriting career, releasing albums independently and garnering word-of-mouth popularity. He eventually caught the attention of Irish-songwriter Glen Hansard (writer of the song “Falling Slowly” from the movie Once) and was invited to be the tour opener for his band The Frames. This then resulted in Josh gaining international success, with his third record “Hello Starling” becoming a charting hit in Ireland. His songs have been featured on the TV show Parenthood and in movies like The Other Woman and Typeface. Josh Ritter has so far released eight studio albums, is an author, husband, father and is considered one of the best living songwriters by Paste Magazine.

JOSH’S ARTIST STATEMENT ON GATHERING:

I had that feeling you get when the sky is suddenly dark before a summer storm – the thunderheads looming at the edge of the fields – the birds quiet. The smell of the gathering electricity in the atmosphere, the certainty of lightning.

This record is the product of a strange and interesting time. When I started writing Gathering, I felt tired of living in the shadow of my earlier self, my earlier work – but more than discouraged, I felt charged with the possibility and the freedom of cutting myself loose from my own and others’ expectations. I began with an exciting sense of dissatisfaction, and what emerged, as I began to find my voice, was a record full of storms. Some, like “Feels Like Lightning” or “Friendamine” are physical storms. Others, like “Dreams,” are mental ones. Listening to these songs now, I hear uncertainty, mania, laughter and sadness, all vying for their place on the album. I was surprised by the new voice, but I kept writing.

I still can’t tell what era these stories are from. They feel part roustabout, part psalm to me. The narrators are often outsized; big talkers who carry deep inner uncertainties and struggle to keep a strong front against the world raging around them. “Showboat,” ”Cry Softly” and “Oh Lord” all laugh through real darkness, whether alone or among others. In quieter moments, as on “Strangers,” ”Thunderbolt’s Goodnight,” or “Train Go By,” the vulnerability of the characters shines through the cracks of their exterior bluster.

As I wrote this album, I found myself painting again in a serious way. The landscapes that emerged in the paintings followed the same preoccupations with gathering storms that are in evidence on the songs.

When it came time for recording, I had more songs than I have ever had at one time. Rather than picking through them in advance (as I did extensively for Sermon on the Rocks), I opted to record everything I had over the course of two weeks. The goal was to put a ton of stuff down and think about it later. Trina Shoemaker, my band and I headed for the studio.

After the whirlwind of recording had subsided, I was left with a pile of thirty songs. I spent the next couple of months sifting through them in order to decide what songs best hung together to form the record. We did backing vocals and horns in some other studios in Nashville and North Carolina. I asked Bob Weir to sing on “When Will I Be Changed.” We had written his record, Blue Mountain, together, and working with him was deeply influential to my writing during this time.

I have been writing records for almost twenty years now. Each one has been different from the last in subject and form, but with Gathering I feel I’ve found a new electric dissatisfaction, a new way to rejoice as the storm rolls in. – Josh Ritter

Tags:

ANDERSON EAST IN-STORE PERFORMANCE SUNDAY, OCT. 8 – EAST’S ONLY BOISE APPEARANCE, PRESENTED BY 94.9FM THE RIVER!

  • Home
  • /
    • Tag: in stores
September 13, 2017 - The Record Exchange Blog - by - No Comments

Join us for a special Anderson East performance in celebration of The Record Exchange’s 40th Anniversary at 1pm Sunday, Oct. 8, at The Record Exchange (1105 W. Idaho St. in Downtown Boise). Presented by 94.9FM The River, this is East’s only Boise performance! As always, this Record Exchange in-store event is free and all ages.

Wristbands* for our VIP viewing area are now available with purchase of Delilah (CD or vinyl).

*One wristband per album preorder.

ABOUT ANDERSON EAST:

Anderson East is the humble type – the sort of man who chalks up his success to loads of good fortune. But the singer-songwriter has earned his accolades: one of music’s most compelling young artists, East is an unflinching and inimitable talent. Best exemplified on his breakout 2015 debut album, Delilah, the Alabama-native wields an unwavering and potent, ever-husky voice. And as seen on standout tracks including “Satisfy Me” and “Devil In Me,” he’s able to effortlessly spin tales of tumult and triumph in equal measure. That’s of course to say nothing of the brute force with which the man performs — fiery and forceful, as much a wily preacher as a patient poet, East has become one of music’s must-see live act.

Having recently completed a forthcoming new album with producer Dave Cobb at Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A, and releasing its first single “All On My Mind,” East hit the road this summer with Chris Stapleton on the singer’s “All-American Road Show.” What NPR Music called a ” …eclectic, fully formed debut album,” Delilah was East’s launching pad. But he’s hardly slowed down since: over the previous two years, the gritty-blues and-soul-toasting singer toured relentlessly. In the process, via his own sold out headline shows and from serving as support for monumental artists including Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell, he’s amassed a dedicated, organic fanbase.

And in addition to making his television debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers and appearing on Daryl Hall’s Live from Daryl’s House, East has also lent his talents to several notable projects. He’s been featured on Dave Cobb’s Southern Family compilation, contributed songs to both Brandi Carlile’s Cover Stories LP and crafted the original song “What Would It Take” for the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack.

Tags:

Next Page »