Now that Rolling Stone “surprise find” and recently NPR-approved instrumental quintet My Education has released ‘Bad Vibrations’, its fourth and finest record in a soon-to-be 10-year career of composing wordless cinematic soundscapes, the group is ready to bite the high-gas-price bullet and hit the road for a summer tour. The tour just kicked off in the band’s hometown of Austin, TX and will take them across the southwest plains they set purely transcendental music to, up the bungalows of the west coast, to ultimately set their return through the torrential Midwest.

My Education has also recently completed the mesmerizing, if not haunting, new music video to “Bad Vibrations.” What better way to capture the sheer dream-like qualities of its ethereal compositions than through a black and white, soft focus filter.

Watch “Bad Vibrations” video:

Download “Sluts and Maniacs” MP3 – the band’s latest single which may or may not represent the decapitated personages in Bad Vibrations’ striking album art.

‘Bad Vibrations’ showcases My Education’s sonic flights as sharply honed, highly melodic mini-epics. Layers of guitar swell and sway over propulsive rhythms while viola spins yearning melodies ever skyward, sprinkled with delicate color by vibraphone and keyboards. Book-ended by ambient passages pillowing heavy-lidded acoustic strumming languid strings and lap-steel, ‘Bad Vibrations’ is certainly the finest summation of My Education’s highly textured and emotive music yet. Recorded at Bubble Studios by engineer Chris “Frenchie” Smith, who has worked with Built To Spill, Meat Puppets, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, ‘Bad Vibrations’ is out now on Portland, OR imprint Strange Attractors Audio House (Cul de Sac, Kinski, Sub Arachnoid Space).

Formed in Austin in 1999 by Brian Purington, Eric Gibbons and Sean Seagler, three refugees from San Angelo, TX, My Education flirted briefly with the idea of vocals but soon decided they were never necessary to begin with and became a purely instrumental outfit.

With the addition of keyboardist Kirk Laktas (Stars of The Lid, Ultrasound, etc.), viola virtuoso James Alexander (Cinders) and Floridian transplant guitar god Chris Hackstie (Saturated, Loring), the lineup stabilized and their first album 5 Popes was recorded at the Bubble with Chris “Frenchie” Smith (Sixteen Deluxe, Young Heart Attack) at the helm.

After three years of blood, sweat, and tears My Education finally completed their second CD, ‘Italian’, which was released on Thirty Ghosts Records on April 26th, 2005. Rolling Stone Senior Editor David Fricke soon chimed in with critics all over the world in their admiration of this fine record, which has been described as everything from “…swirling and swaying and leading your ears and your soul into a trippy, calm world, where the sky is glowing a beautiful shade of pink and the sun is always setting on a cold winter’s eve” (Joseph Kyle, mundanesounds.com) to “careening around mischievously, like the score to a fictional film” (Chris Elkjar, trust-me.ca) and “slow-cooked noise bombs (that) left everyone in a daze” (Audra Schroeder, Austin Chronicle.)

My Education 2008 summer tour dates:

Dates could be added or changed! Go to My Education’s Official Website for the latest tour dates and information.

06/28 Austin, TX @ End Of An Ear
07/04 Albuquerque, NM @ Atomic Cantina
07/05 Tucson, AZ @ Plush
07/06 Phoenix, AZ @ Modified Arts
07/07 San Diego, CA @ Beauty Bar
07/08 Los Angeles, CA @ The Silent Movie Theatre Live Sunrise Film Score
07/09 San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock
07/10 Arcata, CA @ Jambalaya
07/11 Portland, OR @ Towne Lounge
07/12 Olympia, WA @ The Voyeur
07/13 Seattle, WA @ Funhouse
07/14 Missoula, MT @ The Palace
07/16 Denver, CO @ Old Curtis Street Bar
07/17 Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
07/18 Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory
07/19 Dallas, TX @ Hailey’s

“A likely contender for the year’s best post-rock album.” – The Silent Ballet

“…My Education composes wordless songs through vast, gorgeously orchestrated soundscapes. From squealing electric guitar wails to screeching viola yelps, the band’s music has all the vocals it needs, drawing its narrative tension from ambient discord. Each track on the group’s new album, Bad Vibrations, offers a buildup and release that’s equally commanding and cathartic. But with all the musical strife, much of the album proves tranquil and soothing in its atmospheric nature, as the band paints a beautiful musical picture with layers of brooding instrumentation. The album’s title track places a simple, rhythmically strummed and picked acoustic guitar against a rich orchestra of floating strings and ambient keyboard dips and swells. The composition creates a vivid aural landscape, lending the song an ethereal feel. This lush tapestry of sound proves mesmerizing for its eight-minute entirety.” – NPR

Strange Attractors Audio House

Myspace
My Education Official Website