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| New! 21-song retrospective
- - - - - - - - - Download our first albumnow just six bucks - - - - - - - - - More downloads available by Metroschifter, Sunspring, and other related artists - - - - - - - - - Be our friend on MySpace so Fox can make some money off all their flashing banner ads
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New Metroschifter CD Pat McClimans, Chris Reinstatler, and Scott Ritcher have teamed up again as The Metroschifter to record the group's sixth long-playing release. Louisville label Noise Pollution issued our new CD this summer. Carbonistas contains over 30 minutes of music that we recorded in Louisville in January 2009.
LEO Weekly describes it as "eight furious tracks built around mathematical precision." The new material should please Metroschifter fans who have enjoyed our previous work in the area of distorted, thunderous, sometimes precise music, laden with personal and emotional lyrics. AP wonders "if this is the shape of rock to come or a tragic misstep on the Metroschifter's part." We're used to that kind of confusion. "Either way, they've managed to create a confounding record that demands undivided attention." We hope you'll grab it now from your choice of these fine vendors: Compact disc: Instant download:
All our records now available for downloading Lots of out-of-print stuff that has been gone for years is now available for download from the Store page, including the New Mexico Demos, Party cassette, and our songs from the Picture Disk and the split with Shipping News. Everything we ever put out is now available, either directly from us or from iTunes. Many new items and lower prices on the Store page. Price drops on items from our own label including Best Actress (full album now only $5) and Department of Energy (now $3). The Discography and Lyrics pages have been updated to include our new Carbonistas album which came out July 28, 2009. Lyrics are available Alphabetically or By Release.
Metroschifter in brief The Metroschifter released five full-length albums and several EPs between 1994 and 2000, adding a sixth a,bum in 2009. In its early years, the band included a succession of members from hardcore and indie rock heavyweights such as Rodan, Endpoint, 411, Sunspring, the Rachel's, Falling Forward, Shipping News, Transcend, Eleven Eleven, and Chamberlain. The Metroschifter has operated in innovative ways starting with their very first record. The band is from Louisville, Kentucky, but their members originally lived in different cities across the United States. Because of this, they learned their first set of songs from demo tapes that singer/songwriter Scott Ritcher mailed out to the other members. As a result, their first tour in 1994 was booked before they had even played together. Regardless, a few intensive practice sessions before the trip solidified their sound and their debut album was recorded the following week. In a similar fashion, that album, "The Metroschifter Capsule," went on sale before it was even finished. The band members and Ritcher's label, Slamdek, ran advertisements announcing the new group was releasing a record that could be ordered in advance. Fans purchased the album before it was completed, then each copy was personalized with the buyer's name on the cover and home-delivered. The Metroschifter's sound is loud, distorted, thunderous, and blazing, yet sometimes stops on impossible points to become complete silence, before diving headlong back into a mathematical, emotional storm. Reviewing the "Fort Saint Metroschifter" album, Toledo Entertainment magazine said the Metroschifter put "more curveball dynamics in 1/3 of an hour than most of their contemporaries would put in a friggin’ box set." Impact Press describes a sound that can "fly from rage to softness to downright discordant... both spacious and gracious." Mega Music said "they almost never look or sound the same way twice" and Over The Shoulder called them "so damn inventive." A reviewer at Ignition chimed, "like nothing I’ve heard before," and Outback Magazine echoed, "One of the most unique and interesting bands." Maybe Punk Planet made Metroschifter proudest: "There are very few bands that are putting out such challenging albums. It's incredible. Three cheers for the Metroschifter!" Early on, the band decided to stretch their sound, to never make the same record twice, and to make a conscious effort to test their audience. In 1996, they briefly departed from their ultra-distorted, full-throttle sound, and released an even more demanding record, the all-acoustic, country album "Generation Rx." Teleport City observed, "I've always admired Metroschifter's willingness to fuck with people," but Second Nature wasn't as smitten and barked, "After this record, Metroschifter should rename their band to something more suiting, like for instance, Crap!" Metroschifter released "Encapsulated" in 2000 which pushed the band deeper into uncharted territory. On this unique record, they assembled a cast of some of their favorite bands who each learned and recorded a new, unreleased Metroschifter song. The result was an album of new Metroschifter songs on which each song was performed by a different artist. Participants included Elliott, The Get Up Kids, Ink & Dagger, The Promise Ring, Refused, Burning Airlines, and Rye Coalition. Manatee Bound announced, "this has never been done before," while Pitchfork comically wondered if the aging members of Metroschifter were too lazy to play their own songs. All three members of Metroschifter have collaborated with each other on a variety of other projects in the time since the band was regularly active. And all members are also currently in other groups; Chris Reinstatler performs in Brett Ralph's Kentucky Chrome Revue; Scott Ritcher is in the group Best Actress; Pat McClimans leads Lafayette, Indiana's Root Hog. Ritcher also ran in the 1998 election for Louisville mayor and was a 2008 candidate for Kentucky's state senate. After taking about six years off between 1999 and 2005, they returned to the stage for a series of exciting sold-out shows in Louisville. Always trying to keep it interesting, the opening act for the first return performance was a spelling bee in which audience members competed against bassist Pat McClimans. He lost. Since their return, they have picked tiny, ridiculous ticket prices ranging from $1.79 to $2.44 in their hometown to dispel rumors they were reuniting to make money. They tried to start a new band, but it didn't feel right, so they decided to just be the Metroschifter. The Metroschifter has played over 200 shows, across 14 countries, including six tours of Europe and five tours in the United States. Scott Ritcher also recorded and toured as a solo artist in the US and Europe. The bulk of Metroschifter's and Scott Ritcher's music was issued on Doghouse Records and is available from that label or from the Apple iTunes Music Store. Many tracks are available directly from Metroschifter.com. The band's sixth full-length recording was released in July 2009, on the Louisville label Noise Pollution. To coincide with the new record, in November 2009, Metroschifter embarked on their sixth tour of Europe.
Scott also writes and performs in another band called Best Actress. The group features the vocals of Maya Weissbach, formerly of the Chicago group Music For Boating. Best Actress has a CD available from Metroschifter's own label, I Can't Believe It's a Record Company. Velocity Weekly called it one of the best albums of the year. Check out some free songs at myspace.com/bestactress or the band's website bestactress.org
More items of interest Be our friend on MySpace. Get our music directly from us or iTunes. Related bands: VRKTM / Root Hog / Best Actress Labels: Doghouse
Records, I Can't
Believe It's a Record Company, Scott Ritcher ran for Kentucky State Senate in 2008: BallotRevolution.org Chris Reinstatler's company prints t-shirts, stickers and posters:
Metroschifter is a rock band from Louisville, Kentucky PO BOX 43551 / LOUISVILLE KY 40253 UPDATED 27 JANUARY 2010
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