The Else Explained

The Else
Type:Studio album
Artist:They Might Be Giants
Cover:TheElseCover.jpg
Released:May 15, 2007
Recorded:2006 - 2007
Studio:Kampo Studios, Manhattan
Avatar Studios, Manhattan
Loho Studios, Manhattan
Collyer Brothers Studio, Brooklyn
Soy Bomb Studio, Sullivan County
The Boat, Los Angeles
Genre:Alternative rock
Length:38:12
Label:Idlewild, Zoë Records
Producer:The Dust Brothers
Pat Dillett
They Might Be Giants
Prev Title:Venue Songs DVD/CD
Prev Year:2005
Next Title:Here Come the 123s
Next Year:2008

The Else is the twelfth studio album by rock group They Might Be Giants, released by Idlewild Recordings on May 15, 2007. The album was produced in part by the Dust Brothers, along with Pat Dillett and the band.

The Else was first available for download through the iTunes Store on May 15, 2007. The CD version was released in stores on July 10, 2007, with initial runs accompanied by a full-length bonus disc of rare material, Cast Your Pod to the Wind (the title being a parody of jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi’s 1962 hit "Cast Your Fate to the Wind").[1] On September 11, 2007, the band released a gatefold vinyl LP of the album. Cast Your Pod was made available separately on iTunes in July 2009.

"Contrecoup" was originally written and recorded in 2005 as part of a challenge issued on the Next Big Thing in which lexicographer Erin McKean implored John Linnell to use the words "contrecoup", "craniosophic", and "limerent" in a song so that the words could be added to or remain in the dictionary.[2]

A video, created by Mizushima Hine, for "With the Dark" was released on the band's YouTube page on June 7, 2007. Two additional videos, for "The Shadow Government" and "I'm Impressed", were also later released. A full-length video for "The Mesopotamians" was released on Stereogum.com on October 2.

"Careful What You Pack" was originally written for the soundtrack of 2009 film Coraline, but it was not used in the film.[3]

Track listing

Cast Your Pod to the Wind (bonus disc)

Personnel

They Might Be Giants
Backing band
Additional musicians
Production

Reception

The album reached #9 on the Billboard Top Digital Albums chart.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: They Might Be Giants Plot July For Next Disc. 2007-04-13. Jonathan Cohen. Billboard.com.
  2. News: Liu . Jonathan H. . Save the Words! . en-US . Wired . 2023-10-23 . 1059-1028.
  3. Web site: Orchids and hemlock . Gaiman . Neil . Neil Gaiman . 2007-07-10 . Neil Gaiman's Journal . 2015-06-24.
  4. Web site: Top Digital Albums. 2007-07-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20070929204229/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=400&cfgn=Albums&cfn=Top+Digital+Albums&ci=3083941&cdi=9256291&cid=05%2F13%2F2007. 2007-09-29. dead.