Sunday 17 March 2013

Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate)


Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) is an emo band formed by Keith Latinen in 2006 in Fenton, Michigan as a a solo project. Soon after Cathy Latinen (his wife) joined and became the only other full-fledged member of the band. The two also run the amazing label Count Your Lucky Stars together. Despite the two being the only members technically, they frequently collaborate with others to form a full line-up.

E!E!(IWALE) are known for carrying on the legacy of the great 90's emo bands, such as Mineral and American Football. However, despite revitalising this sound, they do not exactly replicate it. Keith's voice is very distinct. It often ranges from being whisper-quiet to searingly high, and is actually somewhat reminiscent of Jónsi from Sigur Rós, though put through an emo filter and made distinct. His lyrics are also beautifully poetic. The guitars are very clean, gentle, and melodic, which I suppose is fairly prototypical of many emo bands. E!E! also integrates some very noodle-y sensibilities, with a lot of entwining between the numerous guitars. Throughout this, they also manage to incorporate many dynamic changes, through crescendos and climaxes in addition to the soft, quiet parts. Oh, and they're also sad all the time.

1. Our Love Has Made Us Pariahs
2. You Have To Believe That Life Is More Than The Sum Of Its Parts, Kiddo
3. Lilly, I Have Something Important To Tell You
4. They Will Throw Us To The Wolves
5. K.O. K.O. (The Most Of My Worries Are The Least Of Your Concerns)

1. Year Of The Rabbit
2. Idk, My Bff Jill

1. Everything Is Connected and Everything Matters
2. What Safe Means
3. Rally The Troops! Poke Holes In Their Defenses!
4. It Was Your Heart That Saved You
5. How To Stay Afloat In A Sea Of Change

25. Jacob's Song

1. How To Make Love Stay
2. Keep What You Have Built Up Here
3. What Safe Means
4. It Happened Because You Left
5. Rally The Troops! Poke Holes In Their Defenses! Line Our Coffers With Their Coffins!
6. It's A Plague And You're Invited
7. Everything Is Connected And Everything Matters (A Temporary Solution To A Permanent Problem)
8. The Next Step To Regaining Control
9. With Your Greatest Fears Realized, You Will Never Be Comforted
10. I Am A Snail, And You Are A Pace I Cannot Match
11. An Idea Is A Greater Monument Than A Cathedral 

1. Actually, I'm Just Wearing Your Glasses
2. It Was Your Heart That Saved You
3. So How Many Points Do You Have 'Till You Gain, You Know, The Ultimate Power?
4. Archival Footage

1. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - Documenting Thirty Days 
2. football, etc. - Fightin' Phoenix

1. Our Love Has Made Us Pariahs
2. You Have To Believe That Life Is More Than The Sum Of It's Parts, Kiddo
3. Lilly, I Have Something Important To Tell You
4. They Will Throw Us To The Wolves
5. K.O. K.O. (The Most Of My Worries Are The Least Of Your Concerns)
6. Year Of The Rabbit
7. Idk, My Bff Jill
8. How To Stay Afloat In A Sea Of Change
9. I knew this because as I drove, the hole that was me and my life was getting smaller and smaller and was being filled with New Hampshire, or maybe it was the idea of New Hampshire, but who cares, as long as it was filling up the hole.

1. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - If We Had Found You Any Later, You Would Have Drowned
2. Into It. Over It. - Buffalo, NY
3. Into It. Over It. - Brenham, TX

1. What Had Taken Years To Put Together Was Destroyed In One Moment

1. Our Love Has Made Us Pariahs
2. You Have To Believe That Life Is More Than The Sum Of It's Parts, Kiddo
3. Lilly, I Have Something Important To Tell You
4. They Will Throw Us To The Wolves
5. K.O. K.O. (The Most Of My Worries Are The Least Of Your Concerns)
6. Year Of The Rabbit
7. Idk, My Bff Jill
8. How To Stay Afloat In A Sea Of Change
9. I knew this because as I drove, the hole that was me and my life was getting smaller and smaller and was being filled with New Hampshire, or maybe it was the idea of New Hampshire, but who cares, as long as it was filling up the hole.
10. Jacob's Song
11. So How Many Points Do You Have ‘Till You Gain, You Know, The Ultimate Power?
12. It Was Your Heart That Saved You
13. Archival Footage
14. Documenting Thirty Days
15. If We Had Found You Any Later, You Would Have Drowned
16. What Had Taken Years To Put Together Was Destroyed In One Moment
17. Actually, I'm Just Wearing Your Glasses
18. Girls Will Not Frighten The Frost From The Grave

1. The Loneliness Inside Me Is A Place
2. Water
3. Everything Rests On Your Small Shoulders
4. I Swim Like A Minnow

1. The Only One Who Could Ever Reach You
2. Everything Familiar Has Disappeared! The World Looks Brand-New!
3. When You Are Done Living On Borrowed Time
4. I Would Have Stolen You A Whole Orchestra

1. Annabel - Decisions, Decisions
2. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - The Horror Of Riovanes
3. Joie De Vivre - Vicodin Lite
4. The Reptilian - Eddie's Lane

1. The Wholesome Sea Is At Her Gates... Her Gates Both East And West

1. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - Everything Small Is Just A Small Version Of Something Big
2. Mountains For Clouds - Does It Really Antimatter?
3. Two Knights - Solo Swimming
4. Driving On City Sidewalks - For You, Celeste

1. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - We Were Not Small or Great but Grown
2. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - It's a fate we can't escape. Someday we will all pass away.
3. Rika - Skutner

1. Arrows - All Passwords are Brisbane
2. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - Turbo Stasis
3. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - We Did Not Need to Open It to Know It Was There

1. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - When We Did Not Move or Speak, There Was No Proof That We Were There at All
2. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - You Promised You'd Stay Here With Me
3. Malegoat - Call Down 
4. Malegoat -  The Midnights Lie Around

1. You Weren't Ready Yet. Your Ears Could Hear, But Not Your Heart

1. I Would Have Stolen You a Whole Orchestra (Stability Version)
2. Rally the Troops! Poke Holes in Their Defenses! Line Our Coffers With Their Coffins! (Original Version)

1. Dikembe - I Watch A Lot Of Jackie Chan Movies (Acoustic)
2. The Hotel Year - Settle The Scar
3. Modern Baseball - Voting Early
4. Old Gray - The Foxes Begin To Starve
5. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - The Hour of Pearl
6. Pentimento - It Happens To The Best Of Us

1. Ribbon
2. I Was Somewhere Cold, Dark... And Lonely
3. We Are People Here. We Are Not Numbers
4. A Keepsake
5. You Have to Be So Much Better Than You Ever Thought
6. Stay Divided
7. Foxfire
8. Things Not Worth Fixing 
9. If It's Bad News, It Can Wait
10. It's So Much Darker When A Light Goes Out Than It Would Have Been If It Had Never Shone
11. The Promise That Life Can Go On No Matter How Bad Our Losses

1. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - Since You Left Home On Your Journey, Things Have Changed Around Here
2. Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - Some Doors Aren't Locked. They Open Without A Key
3. Joie De Vivre - It Can Be Comforting
4. Joie De Vivre - April, 2009

11 comments:

  1. Will we eventually be forgotten?

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  2. thank god you exist.

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  3. please please!!! japanese bonus tracks of the you eventually be forgotten :)
    and thanks for everything!

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  4. Just wanted to stop by here and say that I was at their final show, last night and it was so very bittersweet.

    Let their work be forever more immortalized!

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  5. "Oh, and they're also sad all the time." Sad music is all my soul needs <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. Check this out
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DiNQMZznAY&feature=youtu.be

    ReplyDelete