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oceanographer bio
The five Denton, Texas boys that make up Oceanographer started making noise together in the summer of 2002. Singer Jeremy Yocum, viola player Eric Elterman and drummer Bradly Brown had already been kicking around tunes as a trio for several years, though the group's roots go back even further than that—Yocum and Elterman have been in bands off and on since they met in high school. At first Oceanographer was known mostly for quiet, dreamy and atmospheric sets with a definite acoustic leaning, but the addition of guitarist Stephen Kimbrell and bassist Ryan Goolsby brought more volume and energy to their sound. Their live sets at the time were praised for their "slow, pretty and quiet meanderings" by Mundane Sounds and "the sweated-over details in the group's songs" by The Dallas Observer—the same publication that nominated Oceanographer for "best new act" in the 2004 Dallas Music Awards (six months after the band relocated to New York City). In 2003 they completed their first recording, Twenty String, released on Oceanographer's label One Mountain and distributed through the Los Angeles label Pehr. Twenty String shows track-by-track the gradual progression from Yocum's bedroom folk songs to a fuller sound crafted together by a group of musicians working collectively.
The progression continues on the band's second release, On Leaping From Airplanes. The record, begun in Texas, was finally completed in New York City after a 15-date tour of the West Coast and the band's move en masse to Brooklyn. Airplanes reveals the band's shoegazer roots and post-rock instrumental tendencies. While the first record prompted comparisons to Damien Jurado or Mojave 3, most of Airplanes is more reminiscent of Mogwai or early Verve, and a handful of tracks explore catchier hooks and shorter pop song structures. Throughout the record Oceanographer maintains the lush atmospheric backdrop that wooed their Texas audiences three years ago. Pre-release copies are available from the band's website and at shows while the band weighs label options and hammers out the details for an in-store release.
on leaping from airplanes - $9.99
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