Being a fan of smaller, independently run bands has always had its benefits, like witnessing them in an intimate venue, always playing their heart out for you, and just a plain love of making music, among other reasons, of course. Unfortunately though, a lot of these bands eventually break down and call it quits, but luckily more often than not, a surviving member or two usually pair back up together to form another group with new members, at times, even a supergroup. (Wired All Wrong) In this case, there was National Skyline, who had members of well-respected Champaign, IL bands, such as Castor and Hum. (Hum) Castor had at the time an emo feel to them, and Hum had that spacey meets dreamy rock feel with just enough guitar feedback to satisfy one’s shoegaze fetish. Hum had at times a very radio friendly sound that did garner them some much due praise in the mid to late 90’s, but regardless of either band’s success, neither made it out of the 90’s.
Take 1 part bass from Hum (Dimpsey) and then add the singer/guitarist from Castor (Garber, who later helped to shape Year of the Rabbit) to form National Skyline. Being at times a minimalistic, atmospheric sounding band that twists knobs to produce electronic effects most likely made it rather difficult to fit into any one specific marketable genre, and most likely wasn’t too radio friendly either in early 2000 and 2001, but luckily, for us, they did produce three albums, with one being more of an EP. You’ll quickly realize Thom Y. wasn’t the only one perfecting this sound back in ’00.
R.I.Y.L-Radiohead (Kid A era), The Notwist, ON (Ken Andrews)
Definitely on point with the Radiohead comment. There’s no doubt that Radiohead has done some interesting things in their career, but they aren’t as trend-setting and innovating as everyone makes them out to be. Great pick with the songs selected. They remind me of a dreamier version of the Postal Service. This album was released a few years before PS dropped Give Up, right?
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