Oceansize

[grif]

Any views on Oceansize would be most welcome as i'm toying with the idea of buying one of their albums.

[Jem]

They're a kind of no compromise Mancunian mix of Muse and Cardiacs. It can be very heavy going, but once you get into the mindset, it's f***ing fantastic music. I love 'em. The last 2 albums particularly. I had them in mind when I wrote Pocket Sun and Dear Dead Days especially.

The "reviled" bit of DDD is very Oceansize.  

[Steve]

Go for it I don't think you can go wrong with any of the albums. Everyone into Position  has a good collection of quite mainstream/melodic sounding tracks (Music for a Nurse - was featured in an Orange tv ad! and New Pin).

But then again their first album (Effloresce) has Catalyst, Amputee, it's probably more 'progressive' sounding than the second as goes off into quite a lot of extended song forms.

Frames (the most recent one) is also good although I dont think there's as many stand out tracks, Trail of Fire, Unfamiliar, Sleeping Dogs and Dead Lions (so awesome) have really strong choruses/hooks whilst still not being afraid to go a bit mental at times, especially Sleeping Dogs.

They always put on a good live show too, I've seen them twice (Leeds and Mansfield), they always seem very energetic and banter with the crowd a lot.

[johninblack]

A rather good band imo. One of the more difficult bands to describe as they have so many influences in their music. I guess if you were to describe them as similar to Muse/PRR/Radiohead/Placebo/Perl Jam/Audioslave etc. etc. you probably still won't have a clue what they sound like. Lots of obvious influences but truly quite original. I would certainly recommend them to you and indeed everuone else, a real class act.

[rogerg]

the Cardiacs rock.

[Neil Palfreyman]

I would certainly recommend them.  As others have said they are quite hard to describe - the starting point is "lots of guitars" but they're carefully layered and placed in the mix to create a sort of "guitar wash" - quite ambient in places but also pretty heavy (I know that sounds like a contradiction but you'll know what I mean if you listen.)

I bought Frames and Effloresce and love them both.  I'm eagerly awaiting the Feed to Feed live boxed set.

One word of warning; I first heard them when I saw them live supporting Porcupine Tree at the IndigO2 last year and I wasn't that impressed with them live.  But I gave them a chance and bought the album and it grew on me to the point where I wil certainly buy more and give them another go live when I get chance.

[Neil Palfreyman]

Just noticed this post from the Oceansize Forum:
   
Feed To Feed - The Facts & Pre-Ordering

The name of the band speaks volumes about their music. The emotional depth of their compositions can only be compared to the size of an ocean. Oceansize is currently one of the most innovative bands and they appeal to the ever growing need of music lovers to look beyond formatted three minute pop songs.

Described as 'progressive death indie' Oceansize were founded in Manchester in 1998 and from the beginning their compositions were uncompromising and daring. After releasing 3 full length albums and an EP to critical acclaim, Oceansize turned their heads back to the roots of the band - and played in full, each of their highly sought after album's back to back, over three consecutive nights on home turf in Manchester.

Documented here in a lavish 7 disc box set, are 3 DVD's and 4 CD's that will immortalise those 3 historic & unforgettable nights forever. Limited to only 5000 copies worldwide, Feed to Feed is soon to become a highly prized collector's item.

Tracklist:

Thursday 16th October 2008: 'Effloresce' (2003)

1 - I Am The Morning
2 - Catalyst
3 - One Day All This Could Be Yours
4 - Massive Bereavement
5 - Rinsed
6 - You Wish
7 - Remember Where You Are
8 - Amputee
9 - Unravel
10 - Women Who Love Men Who Love Drugs
11 - Saturday Morning Breakfast Show
12 - Long Forgotten

Encores:
Paper Champion / One Out of None

Friday 17th October 2008: 'Everyone into Position' (2005)

1 - The Charm Offensive
2 - Heaven Alive
3 - A Homage to a Shame
4 - Meredith
5 - Music for a Nurse
6 - New Pin
7 - No Tomorrow
8 - Mine Host
9 - You Can't Keep a Bad Man Down
10 - Ornament/The Last Wrongs

Encores:
Drag the 'nal / Dead Dogs an' all sorts / As the smoke clears

Saturday 18th October 2008: 'Frames' (2007)

1- Commemorative _ _ _ _ t-shirt
2 - Unfamiliar
3 - Trail of Fire
4 - Savant
5 - Only Twin
6 - An Old Friend of the Christy's
7 - Sleeping Dogs and Dead Lions
8 - The Frame

Encores:

Voorhees / I Haven't Been the Claw for Ages

Release Dates:

(As listed on internet sites)

UK: 13 July 2009
Germany: 27 July 2009
North America: 28 July 2009

Technical:

Video format: Assumed to be PAL due to being shot in the UK by a UK production company.
amazon.com lists NTSC but this could be an error.
Region lock: Unknown.
play.com lists as Region 2 but this could be an error.
Audio formats: Stereo & 5.1 on the DVDs.
play.com lists only stereo but this is a confirmed error in the listings.

Pre-orders:

Play.com - Don't ship outside of Europe
£47.99

hmv.com - Ship worldwide
£49.99

amazon.de
€45.99

Will this sell out?

5,000 of these are being produced. That's the same number as Frames Live for reference. We don't know, but it should be around for a little while after release at least.

[grif]

I finally got round to ordering Everyone into Position and should have it by early next week, I've also ordered Gathering Speed by Big Big Train as I listened to The Difference Machine the other day for the first time in ages and thought it was pretty damn great.

[Neil Palfreyman]

I don't normally buy downloads preferring the physical release but at £1.95 for the whole 24min EP this was too good to resist:

//http://www.play.com/Music/MP3-Download-Album/4-/3937251/Music-For-Nurses/Product.html

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Listening to: Oceansize - One Out Of None