Classic or Dud: Eleventh Dream Day

That could've been on the "Great First Lines of Great Albums" thread.

There's an overwhelming past tense being used here. They didn't actually split up, or did they?

I've seen several similar shows since then. Fave albums include "Prarie School Freakout," "Ursa Major," "Lived to Tell," "El Moodio," and their last one. They were definitely among the first (only?) indie-rock bands to pair that sort of primal Neil Young guitar mentality with punk. As shockingly simple as that seems, I haven't heard any other band quite like Eleventh Dream Day.

Yo La Tengo is a pretty good comparison. And actually as with that band, my favorite Eleventh Dream Day stuff is far and away the tracks where they stretch out, get a little psychedelic. Like there's this great track on El Moodio, "Honeyslide", which is in that vein. I never cared too much Yo La Tengo but I dug stuff like "The Evil That Men Do" and, as Alex mentions, their more spaced-out stuff as on May I Sing With Me. When either band is churning out more generic rock is where they lose me. I thought Ursa Major was a pretty good, low-key album. That big, long atmospheric track which opens up Eighth, that's good. I'll disagree with jack in that the Chicago post-rock thing probably did them some good, gave them some new ideas to play with.

I always compared them to the Dream Syndicate and/or Christmas.

Revive, y'all.

Huh:

Comedy Minus One’s next project is an album from one of our all-time favorite bands, Chicago’s Eleventh Dream Day. We will be releasing the record “New Moodio” (cmo025) on May 14th, 2013 in as a limited run of 500 LPs.

If the title “New Moodio” sounds slightly familiar, it should. “New Moodio” is Eleventh Dream Day’s “lost record,” a parallel world version of 1993′s “El Moodio.” It is also the snapshot of a band at its peak.

Recorded and mixed in just a few days with Brad Wood in the fall of 1991, there is an urgency and excitement that courses through these songs played by a band empowered by freedom and possibility.

El Moodio rules. That's hardly some messed up by major label fiddling album, so I'm curious about this.

Ditto. And wasn't Moodio recorded after Atlantic forgave the band's debt to the label?

I dunno, but it was a major step in the founding of Thrill Jockey, since Bettina was their A&R rep who got them signed to Atlantic in the first place.

Way back machine: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-04-02/entertainment/9304020090_1_yo-la-tengo-band-eleventh-dream-s

Aha! Cool, thanks for posting that. Not sure where I read about Atlantic's debt forgiveness.

I'd call "New Moodio" a great lost classic, but that's awkward, considering "El Moodio" itself is something of a lost classic. I will say, however, that bar one or two tracks whose "El Moodio" versions I prefer, this is an awesome alternate album, and should be heard ASAP by anyone who remotely likes Yo La Tengo and Television and would like to hear an album that combines those two acts with an extra dollop of amped-up intensity. In other words Tyler, you know this album, right?

http://soundcloud.com/comedyminusone/eleventh-dream-day-thinking

Not quite 11DD but -- Janet Bean's collaboration w/James Elkington the Horse's Ha have a new album, and I said a few things. (It's very good!)

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18374-the-horses-ha-waterdrawn/

Oh nice, the album's also streaming at the NYT. Enjoy!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/arts/music/pressplay.html?ref=arts&_r=0

need to check this one out, sounds up my alley...

https://soundcloud.com/thrilljockey/eleventh-dream-day-isolation

Anyone heard their latest, "works for tomorrow"?

It's great!

Not that things matter so much in the studio, but it's their first official two guitarist album since "El Moodio."

Freakwater have their first new album out in 11 years, and they're touring the US.

Zeros And Ones is totally underrated. I think I prefer later EDD now.

Riot Now! totally kills as well

Hearing that Wink O'Bannon may have died ... his brief tenure in the band (before hiatus) was incredible. I think that's Wink in this awesome (and rare) live set of the era:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Wm8u1nARw

I posted it on the obituary thread, but this was his song. I used to listen the hell out of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYmk_lk6gxE

This band is just so good. Blasting "New Moodio" right now, so much awesomeness.

The new one, Since Grazed, is such a wonderful slow burn. I consistently like their 21st Century albums more.
https://eleventh-dream-day.bandcamp.com/album/since-grazed

i've always loved this song (well i have loved it since 2006 anyway), i get the sense that it's not that typical of their sound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V45d0ffL7w

I have a zillion cassettes from the 80s gathering dust in various spots in my home, I'm going to cull the few keepers and bin the rest. Listening to Beet for the first time in ages today, really loud. That's a keeper. I should get it on a better format. I love how all their solos seem like they just can't get them loud enough.

This was always a band on the periphery for me, but I picked up Since Grazed and really dug it. I know its not entirely representative of their catalog, but it inspired me to dig in more and, coincidentally, I stopped by a local shop and picked up used copies of Lived To Tell, Ursa Major and Eighth. Think I need to pick up some of their 2000s era Thrill Jockey stuff next.

Only other one I have is El Moodio, that's really good too. I haven't heard the mellower, post-rockier ones. Sometimes I just get a nostalgic hankering for that pseudo-Velvets/Yo La Tengo guitar charge. Also found in the same pile, Dream Syndicate Live at Raji's. I know what I'm doing tonight.

still love el moodio, tremendous record

Man I've really enjoyed diving deeper into their catalog, so many gems. I think I need to break down and get CD copies of El Moodie and Beet on discogs or something.

"Beet" is one of those records that back when I used to dj I would throw on and guaranteed I'd get a bunch of people asking "whoa...what is this?"

I always liked the live promo album for that, called of course

https://www.discogs.com/release/3520489-Eleventh-Dream-Day-Borscht

Still really enjoying digging into these guys, really solid catalog.

Of the albums I've heard so far, this is probably how I'd rank them

Prairie School Freakout
Lived To Tell
Ursa Major
Riot Now!
Since Grazed
Eighth
Works For Tomorrow
Zeroes and Ones

this band should be on a level only slightly below yo la tengo

i.e. profitably touring

they are awesome

^^ otm

They should definitely have at least that level of recognition and appreciation.

For a long time my default favorite show of all time was EDD with Ira sitting in on second guitar. I never though to google it, but I just found this one song from that set:

https://soundcloud.com/pat-daly-1/eleventh-dream-day-w-ira-1

Oh shit, I found this full set of EDD with Ira just a few days later!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5HJD8riqok

!!

I'll have to check that out later

Still Grazed is an excellent record

this band should be on a level only slightly below yo la tengo

i.e. profitably touring

they are awesome

If we're judging 21st century work, EDD >> YLT.

Ever since I heard Prairie School Freakout new, one of my dreams was that EDD would back up Neil Young on an album. I guess there's still time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=200n9UOoRzU

awesome

Greil Marcus reprinted his review of Ursa Major today. Good one.
https://greilmarcus.substack.com/p/the-days-between-stations-columns-ab6

Yep