Milemarker (band)
Encyclopedia
Milemarker is a post-hardcore
group originally formed in Chapel Hill
, North Carolina
. A longtime part of the Chapel Hill and Chicago
underground music scenes, Milemarker slowly gained in popularity for their eclectic stylings and unique sound, which shifted from an experimental electronic format to heavier alternative rock in more recent years. Their 2005 US tour after the release of Ominosity featured heavy drums following winding guitars and vocals alternating from contemplative and narrative to shrieking and visceral. From 2005 to 2008, although the band did not officially break up, circumstances prevented the band from further recording and touring. In 2008, the band played a show with the original line up of Al Burian, Dave Laney, and Ben Davis, and had a 12-date tour in Europe before playing at a musical festival in Lärz, Germany. There has been no known tour since this one.
Milemarker often used word play
and ironic
lyrics in their songs. Examples include "Frigid Forms Sell You Warmth" ("there's a product line attached to every form of suicide") from 2000's Frigid Forms Sell; "A Quick Trip to the Clinic" ("died of pneumonia that I got on the walk to get my flu shot") from 2001's Anaesthetic; "From Russia With Love" ("everybody loves a good Red Scare
") from 1999's Changing Caring Humans; and "Virtual Sex" ("it's not too personal to get personable with the personnel") from 2005's Ominosity. The title of the band's six-song EP
Satanic Versus—including three tracks recorded by Steve Albini
—is itself a play on Salmon Rushdie's book "Satanic Verses
". Milemarker also often employ a satirical or introspective slant toward social issues such as materialism ("Frigid Forms Sell You Warmth", "A Quick Trip to the Clinic", "Shrink To Fit"), technology ("Internet Relay Chat
with the Central Intelligence Agency
", "Server Error", "Ant Architect", "Virtual Sex"), and women's roles ("Food For Worms"), and have also referenced Orwellian
("New Lexicon") and apocalyptic ("Tundra", "Sun Out") themes.
Challenger, a more hard rock-oriented side project of Milemarker consisting of original members Al Burian and Dave Laney and newcomer Tim Remis, released their debut album Give People What They Want in Lethal Doses in 2004 [].
Post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
group originally formed in Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. A longtime part of the Chapel Hill and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
underground music scenes, Milemarker slowly gained in popularity for their eclectic stylings and unique sound, which shifted from an experimental electronic format to heavier alternative rock in more recent years. Their 2005 US tour after the release of Ominosity featured heavy drums following winding guitars and vocals alternating from contemplative and narrative to shrieking and visceral. From 2005 to 2008, although the band did not officially break up, circumstances prevented the band from further recording and touring. In 2008, the band played a show with the original line up of Al Burian, Dave Laney, and Ben Davis, and had a 12-date tour in Europe before playing at a musical festival in Lärz, Germany. There has been no known tour since this one.
Milemarker often used word play
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
and ironic
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
lyrics in their songs. Examples include "Frigid Forms Sell You Warmth" ("there's a product line attached to every form of suicide") from 2000's Frigid Forms Sell; "A Quick Trip to the Clinic" ("died of pneumonia that I got on the walk to get my flu shot") from 2001's Anaesthetic; "From Russia With Love" ("everybody loves a good Red Scare
Red Scare
Durrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...
") from 1999's Changing Caring Humans; and "Virtual Sex" ("it's not too personal to get personable with the personnel") from 2005's Ominosity. The title of the band's six-song EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Satanic Versus—including three tracks recorded by Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
—is itself a play on Salmon Rushdie's book "Satanic Verses
Satanic Verses
The Satanic Verses was a purported incident where a small number of apparently pagan verses were temporarily included in the Qur'an by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, only to be later removed...
". Milemarker also often employ a satirical or introspective slant toward social issues such as materialism ("Frigid Forms Sell You Warmth", "A Quick Trip to the Clinic", "Shrink To Fit"), technology ("Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...
with the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
", "Server Error", "Ant Architect", "Virtual Sex"), and women's roles ("Food For Worms"), and have also referenced Orwellian
Orwellian
"Orwellian" describes the situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free society...
("New Lexicon") and apocalyptic ("Tundra", "Sun Out") themes.
Challenger, a more hard rock-oriented side project of Milemarker consisting of original members Al Burian and Dave Laney and newcomer Tim Remis, released their debut album Give People What They Want in Lethal Doses in 2004 [].
Discography
| Album | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Ominosity | 2005 | Eyeball/Stick Figure Records |
| Satanic Versus | 2002 | Jade Tree Records/Day After Records |
| Anaesthetic | 2001 | Jade Tree Records |
| Bomb Threat/From Russia With Love 7" | 2000 | 208 Records |
| Frigid Forms Sell | 2000 | Jade Tree Records/Lovitt Records |
| Sex Jam 7" | 1999 | Bloodlink Records |
| Changing Caring Humans | 1999 | Stickfigure Records |
| Split 7" w/ The Blood Brothers | 1999 | Boards Don't Hit Back Records |
| Future Isms | 1998 | Stickfigure |
| Non Plus Ultra | 1998 | Paralogy |
| Receiver 7" | 1998 | Clocked Out Records |
External links
- [ Milemarker] at Allmusic
- Milemarker at Last.fmLast.fmLast.fm is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It has claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m ....
- Milemarker at MusicBrainzMusicBrainzMusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...
- http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyloaf/2010/11/30/a-very-long-qa-with-al-burian-of-milemarker-challenger-and-burn-collector/ Interview with Al Burian