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The Else

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The Else album cover
The Else
Studio album by They Might Be Giants
First released May 15, 2007 (iTunes)
July 10, 2007 (CD) 		Tracks 13 Previous album Here Come The ABCs
Label Idlewild/Zoë Length 38:12 Next album Here Come The 123s

The Else is the twelfth album by They Might Be Giants, released digitally via iTunes on May 15th, 2007, and on CD July 10th.

Contents

[edit] Purchase

Seller Format Price Purchase!
Amazon_icon.jpg Amazon CD $17.98
$13.99! 		Purchase.gif
Amazon_icon.jpg Amazon MP3 $8.99 Purchase.gif
Amazon_icon.jpg Amazon Vinyl $15.98
$15.18! 		Purchase.gif
ITunesicon.gif iTunes AAC $9.99 Purchase.gif
Tmbgicon.gifTMBG Merchandise Store CD $14.00 Purchase.gif
"The Else Rehearsals" - A photo by Marcel Dzama
"The Else Rehearsals" - A photo by Marcel Dzama

[edit] Description

TMBG sat down to begin work on the album in early 2006, and spent over a full year recording, writing, and producing it. John Flansburgh:

We were very lucky that we could approach this project without deadlines or release schedules hanging over our heads. We wanted to be sure this was an album that was our best effort from beginning to end and I am very excited to report I believe we've actually done it!

During the band's 2006 tour, they previewed three songs from the new album, Bee Of The Bird Of The Moth, Careful What You Pack and The Cap'm. No other songs from the album were performed until May 2007, on TMBG's "warm-up tour" for the album.

The album was collaboratively produced by Pat Dillett (TMBG's producer since 1996's Factory Showroom), The Dust Brothers, and They Might Be Giants themselves. The album's title was revealed in late February 2007, during a phone interview by Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child with Marty Beller. Artwork for the album was created by Marcel Dzama, the artist behind TMBG's 2003 Bed, Bed, Bed book. Dzama has also created many promotional photographs for the album, such as "The Else rehearsals." The photographs are included with the album's CD release. The first pressing of the CD also includes a full-length, 23-track bonus disc entitled Cast Your Pod to the Wind.

[edit] Releases

[edit] iTunes Release

iTunes Music Store banner promoting the album
iTunes Music Store banner promoting the album

On April 27, 2007, TMBG revealed via a MySpace bulletin that The Else would first be released via iTunes on May 15, seven weeks before its July CD release. According to a disclaimer posted to their MySpace profile, the band made the decision to release it early on iTunes "out of consideration for their fans that feel they cannot wait." Following its May 15 release, the album reached the following peak positions on the iTunes album charts:

It also reached #9 on the Billboard Top Digital Albums charts that week.

The album was released in the U.S. iTunes Store on May 15th, 2007 and has been put up on the UK and Canadian stores as of July 12th, 2007.

[edit] CD Release

The July 10 CD release of the album, hailed as a "deluxe CD" by TMBG's MySpace bulletins, includes photographs by Marcel Dzama and a full-length bonus disc, included with the album's first pressing. The bonus disc includes 23 tracks which, according to TMBG's MySpace bulletins and a recent newsletter, consist of new rarities and "hi-fi versions" of podcast favorites, along with "many previously unreleased studio recordings in brilliant CD quality sound!" The bonus disc does not, however, contain any tracklisting, publishing information or the like.

On July 11, 2007, the CD reached its peak position of #17 on the Amazon.com Bestsellers in Music list.

In its first week of release, the CD reached #118 on the Billboard 200 chart, #15 on the Billboard Tastemakers chart, and #130 on the Billboard Comprehensive Albums chart. The album spent two weeks on the Billboard 200, before falling off.

[edit] Vinyl Release

Side two of the vinyl edition of The Else
Side two of the vinyl edition of The Else

In a June 4, 2007 MySpace bulletin, John Flansburgh revealed that The Else would also be released as a gatefold vinyl LP by Rounder Records. The last TMBG albums to be released on LP were Apollo 18 in Germany (1992), and Flood in the US (1990).

The vinyl LP was released Tuesday, September 11, 2007, and is currently available for order at the Rounder Records store for $13.99.


[edit] CMJ Charts

A chart showing the performance of The Else on the CMJ charts.

Whereas the album had limited success on the Billboard charts between both releases, it had a successful run on the College Music Journal (CMJ) Radio 200 and Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) charts. It spent 8 weeks on the Radio 200 (of which 5 of those weeks were in the top 10), peaking at #5. It also peaked at #6 on the CMJ Triple A chart, a chart on which it spent 5 weeks.

[edit] Track Listing

  1. I'm Impressed (2:39)
  2. Take Out The Trash (3:14)
  3. Upside Down Frown (2:17)
  4. Climbing The Walls (3:15)
  5. Careful What You Pack (2:40)
  6. The Cap'm (3:11)
  7. With The Dark (3:17)
  8. The Shadow Government (2:37)
  9. Bee Of The Bird Of The Moth (3:31)
  10. Withered Hope (2:54)
  11. Contrecoup (3:11)
  12. Feign Amnesia (2:29)
  13. The Mesopotamians (2:57)
CD artwork for The Else
CD artwork for The Else
CD artwork for Cast Your Pod to the Wind
CD artwork for Cast Your Pod to the Wind
Back cover inlay for advance copies of The Else
Back cover inlay for advance copies of The Else

[edit] Bonus Disc Track Listing

Full article: Cast Your Pod To The Wind (Bonus Disc)

  1. Put Your Hand On The Computer (1:57)
  2. I'm Your Boyfriend Now (2:40)
  3. Why Did You Grow A Beard? (1:08)
  4. We Live In A Dump (1:40)
  5. Brain Problem Situation (2:55)
  6. Sketchy Galore (2:21)
  7. Microphone (2:04)
  8. Vestibule (1:58)
  9. Greasy Kid Stuff (1:40)
  10. Metal Detector (Live) (3:42)
  11. Employee Of The Month (1:24)
  12. Homunculus (2:15)
  13. No Plan B (Live) (1:40)
  14. Morgan In The Morning ID (1:06)
  15. Kendra McCormick (0:51)
  16. Yeah, The Deranged Millionaire (1:23)
  17. My Other Phone Is A Boom Car (0:28)
  18. I Hear A New World (2:09)
  19. (She Was A) Hotel Detective In The Future (2:04)
  20. Haunted Floating Eye (1:24)
  21. Scott Bower (1:23)
  22. The Mexican Drill (1:10)
  23. Cast Your Pod To The Wind (1:25)

[edit] Trivia

  • I'm Impressed was the first single from the album.
  • "Se aprovechan" is written on the front of the suitcase. The phrase is Spanish for "They avail themselves". It refers to the painting of the same name (Se aprovechan) by Francisco Goya depicting soldiers literally "availing themselves" of possessions from dead bodies.
  • The typeface used on the digital version cover is Los Feliz, by Christian Schwartz for Emigre Fonts. The CD's font for "THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS" and "THE ELSE" is Agency FB Bold Condensed. The script font on the disc and bonus CD is Bodoni Poster Italic.
  • The album art was shot outside a cabin in the Catskills.
  • This is TMBG's only album in which every song is longer than 2 minutes and in which the accordion makes no appearance.
  • Released by Longtime Listener/Inertia in Australia.
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