Wednesday, June 06, 2007

MacGyver This - The Phoenix Foundation

Although you've probably not heard of New Zealanders The Phoenix Foundation (anyone out there remember MacGyver?) before (or maybe you have and you're way more hip than the rest of us), I'm pretty sure you'll be hearing from them a lot this summer. Besides having just released their third second (thanks Rich) album Horsepower on June 5th in the US, they also wrote the score for the soon to be released (June 12th) film Eagle vs Shark (I ended up on Team Shark if you take the quiz and are interested - I'm a "dangerous person" who is "awesome at video games" and "on the hunt for love." - How about you?). (I've used way too many parentheses in this paragraph and am going to move on to the next one now which will be completely devoid of their (parentheses) use.)

As I was saying before all of the punctuation interruptions, The Phoenix Foundation is trying to make their break in the States with the release of their latest album along with the soon to be released film score. It's a rather languid affair for the most part with a couple notable exceptions, including Bruiser (Miami 4000) [please note the unavoidable use of parentheses due to their use in an official track title], the 6th track which has a shredding guitar solo and a robotic interpretation of something which I can't identify and which is available below. Besides that one track smack dab in the middle of the album, and another somewhat upbeat track Gone Fishing near the end, the rest sounds like a heat-melting day sitting on a beach chair embodied in a song. That's simply the best way I can explain it. So choose a comfy spot in the shade, and give them a spin.


The Phoenix Foundation - Bruiser (Miami 4000) : Horsepower

The Phoenix Foundation - Sally : Horsepower

Visit their website, their label Young American Recordings, and become their friend on MySpace.

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MacGyver Theme song
(thanks to MacGyverLand)

6 comments:

Rich said...

When I posted on them and did some snooping, I thought that Horsepower was their first album and was just now getting a U.S. release. That wrong?

Sean said...

Rich, We're actually both wrong. I checked again, and it's their second full length album, but I believe the first never made it to the US. Thanks for double-checking my facts.

Rich said...

Man, talk about confusing. Here's what it says on their Wiki:

Their first full length album Horsepower was released in mid 2003 to critical acclaim, an...

Their second album Pegasus was released in early 2005 and again gathered further plaudits.

Gotta love how screwy this stuff gets with international releases that make their way to the U.S.

Sean said...

When they flush their toilets down there it goes the opposite way...maybe it works the same with their record releases.

Alison said...

Horsepower is indeed their first full-length album, which was followed up by Pegasus (not yet released in the US, but available online at NZ music sites and soooo worth it; it's an awesome album). They're a great band, really nice bunch of guys, and deserve heaps of fame, money and women! If you're in NY, Philly or Boston, go see them live this weekend!

Sean said...

Alison, thanks for stepping up with the definitive answer. From now on, you are the Phoenix Foundation guru around here.