fair to midland album download . Fair to Midland are a band formed in Sulphur Springs, Texas in 1998. Anyone who thinks the phrase ?it's all been done before? carries real weight clearly has yet to encounter Fair to Midland. Dark, heavy, moving, cryptic, progressive art rock collides with flourishes of old- school country, Americana and Delta Blues in their sound. These Lonestar boys genre-defying and boundary obliterating ocean of sound righteously upends the old phrase ?fair to middling? from which their Texas-ified moniker was drawn. Anyone who thinks the phrase ?it's all been done before? carries real weight clearly has yet to encounter Fair to Midland. Dark, heavy, moving, cryptic, progressive art rock collides with flourishes of old-school country, Americana and Delta Blues in their sound. These Lonestar boys genre- defying and boundary obliterating ocean of sound righteously upends the old phrase ?fair to middling? from which their Texas-ified moniker was drawn. Arrows & Anchors, the five-piece band's first album in partnership with eOne Music, is meaner, sadder and altogether more desperate of an affair than its predecessors. ?It's a very bitter album,? offers vocalist Darroh Sudderth. ?The last album had some light at the end of the tunnel in some of the subject matter. This one doesn't have that quite so much.? This particularly invigorating yet undeniably gut-wrenching collection of songs is the product of a string of years of career strife since the group last poked their head into magazines and record shops. Arrows and Anchors follows a change in record label, a change in management and one (? maybe two,? Sudderth laughs) changes in booking agent. All of that change and upheaval definitely played a role in the creative process; artistic lemonade from business lemons. There has never been a lack of faith from the diehard admirers who have steadily adopted the band as their own in growing numbers since Fair to Midland's initial pair of self-released albums, The Carbon Copy Silver Lining (2001) and inter.funda.stifle (2004). Both were explorations into the furthest reaches of the musical psyche that earned them praise from critics, fans and fellow musicians. Fair to Midland are a true ?band's band.? So much so, in fact, that eclectic musical connoisseur and multiplatinum recording artist , best known as the frontman for , signed them to his Serjikal Strike imprint, which released The Drawn & Quartered EP (2006) and the band's third full-length album, Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True (2007). A killer live show and intensive roadwork as a headliner, at prestigious festivals such as Coachella, Download, Rock AM Ring and Rock IM Ring and together with bands like Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Flyleaf and has brought the band's skillful and adept approach to art rock infused prog-metal to international attention. There are a few of their by now trademarked tongue-in-cheek dalliances to be sure but for the most part Arrows and Anchors is Fair to Midland's most cynical offering. By the same turn, it's a performance album with a laser-like focus on the raw passion and intensity. In an age of overly processed heavy music, the band partnered with producer Joe Barresi (, Coheed and Cambria, Melvins) who sequestered them into his self-appointed House of Compression in Pasadena, California and wrenched out top-tier performances. The recording captures an authenticity and a sincerity that's lacking in most modern records. ?We always want to work with someone who is interested and enthusiastic to work with us,? Sudderth explains. ?Because at the end of the day they're going to spend that much more time wanting to make the record their own, as well. We didn't want to worry about everything being immaculate, pristine and polished. This is absolutely a performance-driven record.? Arrows & Anchors is also a testament to Fair to Midland's personal chemistry and unique collaborative perspective. Some songs were written together. Others were demoed out by a particular member ? say keyboardist Matt Langley or his six string cohort, Cliff Campbell ? right down to the programmed drums. ?Or maybe I brought a completed song where I programmed whatever instruments I can't play,? Sudderth elaborates. It was a very open process. The bizarrely creative and inspired vocals and guitar work in Fair to Midland play against the counterintuitive and monstrously rhythmic backbeat of drummer Brett Stowers and bassist Jon Dicken. Matt Langley's ethereal electronics enhance everything else. The group's canvas is as expansive and breathtaking as the state of Texas itself. Fair to Midland is one of the rare bands who expertly walk the fine line between accessibility and integrity, between open lines of communication and introverted psychic exploration. ?We're not gifted songwriters,? Sudderth says with genuine self-effacing humility. ?So we have to be really resourceful and that's a talent in and of itself. We do our best.? Fair to Midland's current lineup consists of Darroh Sudderth (vocals, banjo, mandolin, bass), Cliff Campbell (guitar), Matt Langley (keys), Ryan Collier (bass), and Logan Kennedy (drums). In November 2011, the band released their first DVD, Welcome to the Dirt, consisting mainly of band shots and fan footage of live shows. The DVD is distributed exclusively through their own merchandise site. The profit from this release helped fund a professional video recording of the band's show at The Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan on December 17. This footage will be released worldwide on DVD on March 27, 2012. Arrows & Anchors will also be released on double vinyl on March 26, limited to 250 copies. Download Fair to Midland - Arrows & Anchors (Deluxe Edition) (2011) Album. 1. Heavens to Murgatroyd 2. Whiskey & Ritalin 3. Musical Chairs 4. Uh-Oh 5. Amarillo Sleeps On My Pillow 6. A Loophole In Limbo 7. Typhoid Mary Sends Her Best 8. Short-Haired Tornado 9. The Upset At Bailey Bridge 10. Rikki Tikki Tavi 11. Golden Parachutes 12. Bright Bulbs & Sharp Tools 13. Coppertank Island 14. Three Foolproof Ways to Buy the Farm 15. The Greener Grass 16. Pour the Coal to 'Er (Bonus Track) 17. Rikki Tikki Tavi (Live) [Bonus Track] Arrows & Anchors. On Fair to Midland's fourth full-length effort, and their debut for Entertainment One, the Texas prog metal quintet up their musical ante considerably. Given the four years that elapsed between Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True, Fair to Midland have taken their root-hooky, heavy, and immediate sound and shifted its focus considerably. Arrows & Anchors' 15 tracks clock in at nearly 55 minutes, with only one cut -- ten-minute closer "The Greener Grass" -- being over five minutes in length. Their melodies have become much more complex, their vocals more extensively layered with lush harmonies, and their guitar volumes remain at 11 on the volume scale though Matt Langley's keyboards are a more central part of their attack. For those who were fans of the hooky melodies on Fables from a Mayfly, this may provide a challenge upon first listen, but it ultimately gives way to immense satisfaction with just a modicum of patience. "Heavens to Murgatroyd" opens the set as a 44-second intro, with a church organ and a preacher incoherently ranting before sledgehammer guitars, thrumming basslines, and double-timed drum introduce the death metal riff at the beginning of "Whiskey & Ritalin," but these just as quickly give way to an intricate, harmonic lyric line driven by a keyboard and double-tracked vocals. While it never loses its power, the cut's numerous textures and dimensions create a labyrinthine path for the listener to follow; it is a blueprint for the album as a whole. "Musical Chairs," with its acoustic piano intro, is quickly displaced by a full band assault, albeit one led by lush insistent keyboards. The use of a hammered dulcimer and a banjo interspersed with bone-crushing guitars on "Amarillo Sleeps on My Pillow," with its bluesy, country vocal by Darroh Sudderth -- whose ability to move between nearly sweet and tender vocals and spirited HM growls is startling -- is the most beguiling cut on the set. (For a more jarring example, check "Rikki Tikki Tavi.") "Coppertank Island" sounds almost like Katatonia fueled by keys and drums instead of guitars, though the latter are certainly present. The two final numbers, "Three Foolproof Ways to Buy the Farm" and the aforementioned "The Greener Grass," close on a more nebulous, experimental note that doesn't quite seem to fit with the rest of the album's precision and calculation, but this is a small complaint. For all the musical adventure and the growth it reflects, Arrows & Anchors is Fair to Midland's finest effort to date. Fair to midland album download. Formed in 1998 by Andrew Darroh SUDDERTH (vocals, banjo and mandolin) and Cliff CAMPBELL (guitar) Texas based FAIR TO MIDLAND self-released their debut album 'The Carbon Copy Silver Lining' in 2001 with Nathin SEALS on bass, percussionist Brett STOWERS and drummer Jason PINTLER. The follow-up, 'inter.funda.stifle', was recorded with Matt LANGLEY who played guest keyboards on the debut now as a fulltime member and STOWERS now occupying the drum throne following PINTLER's departure from the band in 2003. Released in 2004 'inter.funda.stifle' drew the attention of Serj TANKIAN of SYSTEM OF A DOWN who subsequently signed them to his Serjical Strike Records label, six tracks from the album were re-recorded with 5 new tracks to form their third album 'Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True', recorded in 2007 with Jon DICKEN now on bass and produced by (famous for producing such artists as FRIPP & SYLVIAN, KING CRIMSON, TOOL, MUSE and COHEED AND CAMBRIA). 2001 The Carbon Copy Silver Lining. 2007 Fables from A Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True. 2011 Arrows & Anchors. I'm slightly surprised that no one has written a review for this album yet. I first heard of Fair To Midland when they where signed to Serjical Strike records as I'm a fan of System of a Down and had a habit of tracking what the band members where up to when they went on hiatus. The first album I heard from Fair To Midland was Fables from a mayfly ( I'm to lazy to write the rest of the title). I fell in love with the shift in styles, vocals and cryptic and poetic lyrics. I pateintly awaited the release of Arrows and Anchors ever since Fables. Adn though there are some very noticeable differences, I really enjoy this album. Some may be tuned away upon first listen by the fact that this is a heavier album, not just in sound but in production also. Yet the melodic passages, turns of phrase ( I found myself contempleting the philosophical inclanations of short phrases such as " I could be kicking the bucket, but you should know I never had very good aim" " Is shooting for stars like darts in the dark?" and " if failed attempts where a lottery ticket, you could be I'd be raking it in." just to name a few), and stylistic shifts still remain. Fair To Midland has simply taken what makes them so good and expanded the use of keyboards, growls and subtle electronic touches. Just as Good as Fables but different enough, Fair to Midland could've played it safe, instead they take what fans already love about them and try some new tricks. If you like this torrent show some gratitude to site and please make a donation. If you do Odin will grant you power and more spicy music! FABLES FROM A MAYFLY - WHAT I TELL YOU THREE TIMES IS TRUE. FAIR TO MIDLAND Fables From A Mayfly - What I Tell You Three Times Is True ratings distribution. FAIR TO MIDLAND Fables From A Mayfly - What I Tell You Three Times Is True reviews. Collaborators/Experts Reviews. I first picked this up at a record store on a whim during a road trip that summer, having never heard of the band but intrigued by the album cover, band and album name, and some of the song titles; all of which suggested a fresh new group whose music was steeped in American folk. That turned out to be sort of true, but the opening blast of “Dance of the Manatee” dispelled any notion this was some sort of rustic, acoustic- strumming, introspective urban folk band. Clifford Campbell opens the first song with a jolt of torrid guitar, then settles down in a fast-paced but controlled tempo just long enough for Darroh Sudderth to warm up his voice before launching into a soaring and explosive vocal rant that fluctuates between heavy folk, metal shrieking and throaty, guttural rap for a fist-pumping rush that returns again and again, offset only by barely-restrained stanzas of freak-out bass, thundering drums and melodic interludes before skidding to an abrupt halt just about the time my blood pressure reaches party stage. An innovative, energetic, and wholly inspiring 4:10 worth of art rock straight out of Nowhereville (aka the lazy burg of Sulphur Springs, a sparsely-populated blip on the map of northeastern Texas). I have to admit the band doesn’t really stray all that far from this recipe for the rest of the album, but I’m not one to quibble when five guys who are obviously having a blast click so tightly and with such sonic precision. “Kyla Cries Cologne” brings more of the same before the band slows down just a bit to show off their close-up skills on guitar and bare keyboards on “Vice/Versa”, again only for a short while before Campbell and especially Sudderth cut loose again. The band shows their poetic and rustic side with the galloping American anthem “The Wife, the Kids, and the White Picket Fence”, followed up by a couple more rockers complete with cryptic lyrics in “April Fools and Eggmen” and “A Seafarer's Knot” before showing off their unique heavy folk chops with the tense and melodic “A Wolf Descends Upon the Spanish Sahara”. For another face to their music Sudderth tones down his voice into human range to open “Walls of Jericho”, but he can’t resist showing off his falsetto range on the choruses here either. "Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes" is the slowest and most restrained tune on the album, but even here Campbell and drummer Brett Stowers can’t restrain themselves completely, and keyboardist Matt Langley plays around with a little nineties new-wave funkiness in between Sudderth’s staccato rants. Like most of the rest of the band’s lyrics I have no idea what Sudderth is singing about, but as the road whizzes by and my ears are filled with the energetic tones I don’t really care either. Like several other tracks on the album, “Upgrade^Brigade” is a remake off their second album ‘inter.funda.stifle’, but under the tutelage of producers David Bottrill and Serj Tankian this version sounds richer, more densely packed with sound and much tighter than the earlier one. Finally the band winds down with the spacey, almost ambient “Say When”, belied only by the torpedo voice of Sudderth and Campbell’s whiny guitar chords. A great ending to a thoroughly enjoyable album. I never cease to wonder at the creativity demonstrated in melding of musical styles more than a half-century after disc jockeys like Alan Freed introduced eager American audiences to that unique blend of Southern blues and rural country known as rock and roll. Fair to Midland are just the latest marvel in that evolution. This is a very highly recommended album from an up-and-coming band, one that should appeal to metal, art rock, progressive folk and just plain rock ‘n roll fans. Four stars. This band started out by releasing two albums on their own and by pleasing the locals of their home state of Texas. They did so well there, that they decided to try their luck in other parts of the country, but did not fare so well (I'm guessing because their music is quite complex). It got to the point that the band was going to break up and call the whole thing a failure, but right at the last minute, they caught the attention of Serj Tankian (the lead singer from "System of a Down"). He signed them onto his label and was available for advise and became the executive producer for this album. Soon they were opening for bands like Muse, Smashing Pumpkins, and so on. So, if I was to compare the music to other progressive bands out there, I would have to say this music is as versatile and inventive as dredg at their best. There are not a lot of instrumental breaks or solos here, except on the instrumental interludes. But the band works together flawlessly and flow from so many styles and meters without a hitch. The biggest draw for this band and their biggest thing they have going for them is their versatility and the vocals of Darroh Sudderth. His range matches the versatility of their style point for point. He has a slight warble in his voice when singing softer or more folk style songs that makes him believable in those passages, but he can switch to an amazing falsetto that's just as strong as anything, and still pull off a low guttural heavy rap as good as Serj can and sound just as authentic. Then there is the feeling of the music. There is so much variety within each song, but each song has it's own feeling and personality. As you listen and become familiar with the tracks, you notice each one does have an overall direction. "Say When" is a beautiful ballad overall with nice harmonies but still has room to put in an amazing guitar hook and solo. The interlude that follows at the end of "April Fools and Eggmen" is a nice sounding instrumental that sounds like something from a rhythmic renaissance style song, then this gives way to the sudden explosive riff that heads off the amazing "The Seafarer's Knot" one of my personal favorites on this album. This is really good progressive rock to play while on the road. The overall tone is quite heavy, but it changes so much that I think it would be attractive to a wide audience. Really great music, high quality performance especially form the vocalist, but it is obvious that the entire band is talented. This is a band that needs more recognition for sure. This album is definitely an excellent addition to any prog rock collection. 4 strong stars. Latest members reviews. There is something to be said about the importance of this album, this is a piece of art that was refined and cleaned for the purpose of well mixed listening. A few of these songs, such as "Kyla Cries Cologne" are re-recordings from a previous album called Inter.funda.stifle The album opens . (read more) Post a review of FAIR TO MIDLAND "Fables From A Mayfly - What I Tell You Three Times Is True" You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not. MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE. As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums. You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).