although i'm not yet certain of the meaning of 8...

...I do know that I am completely smitten with a band out of Minnesota that goes by the name of Cloud Cult. I had never heard of the band until a week or so ago when I was catching up on one of my most favorite blogs - The Sneeze. If you don't read The Sneeze, you should start right this minute. I like to think of it as the Seinfeld of blogging... at it's core it's really about nothing, but it's fucking hilarious as shit. I've been a fan of The Sneeze for a couple of years, ever since I was turned on to the travesty that is Steve, Don't Eat It! Brilliant.

It was this post that caused my newfound crush. Steve at The Sneeze recommended Cloud Cult, so really, how could I pass up a chance to check them out? After all, Steve is a friend of Guster, so he has a good track record as far as musical taste goes. I managed to track down a copy of their upcoming album entitled The Meaning Of 8 (to be released April 10, 2007 - buy it!!). It sat on my iPod for about a week, and then this evening, for reasons not entirely clear to me, I was hit with the urge to give it a listen. I've played it 3 times through now, pretty much nonstop. It's that good.

Being the obsessive music fan that I am, I thought I'd do a little Cloud Cult research. God bless the internet. I was stunned to learn that The Meaning Of 8 will be Cloud Cult's 5th album!!! This is a critically acclaimed indie darling of a band that I hadn't heard of until roughly 7 days ago. Consider this: Pitchfork rated their 2005 release, entitled Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus, a whopping 8.3. Holy shit. Rest assured that will be the next "new" album that I check out.

From what I understand, The Meaning Of 8 was conceived out of a tragedy; in 2002 the two-year-old son of front man Craig Minowa passed away unexpectedly. Such knowledge only causes the lyrics to make me cry... :) During my Cloud Cult research, I noticed a lot of reviews likening The Meaning Of 8 to The Arcade Fire. I can somewhat see this comparison - Cloud Cult certainly embodies some Arcade Fire-ish elements, such as the urgency of the music and the grand instrumentation. Still, Cloud Cult projects their very own sound. And it is a brilliant sound.

Naturally, I visited Cloud Cult's homepage as a matter of course. And as if the indie pop brilliance of The Meaning Of 8 wasn't enough to win me over, I discovered that the band not only eschews major labels in favor of self promotion, but they are also dedicated environmentalists. They have this note when you click to enter their store:

Welcome,
We are happy to have you in our little Cloud Cult shop. As you probably know, we are a totally independent band. All of these Cloud Cult goodies are made with organic and/or recycled materials, and green energy credits are purchased to negate any greenhouse gases produced in manufacturing these items (that means we pay to have a lot of wind power pumped into the grid in order to provide all of the electricity we need to make this yummy stuff). We also plant ten trees for every 1,000 albums sold just to be sure any other pollutants are absorbed. We have turned away major record label interests so we can be sure we can maintain control of providing Cloud Cult music in the most environmentally friendly manner possible. By purchasing your Cloud Cult products from this website, the band receives a much higher portion of the money than if you purchase anywhere else. So please support the band by getting your goodies here. Thanks.

I command you to go forth and buy lots of Cloud Cult stuff from their website!!!!! Please also check them out live (I'm so excited for a Denver date!!!):

3/15: Austin, TX - SXSW - Showcase on 3/15 at 10pm Emo's
3/16: Austin, TX - SXSW - Daytime Fader Magazine Show
3/17: Austin, TX - SXSW - Daytime WOXY.com Show
3/17: Austin, TX - SXSW - 6pm Denver Post Show
3/30: Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
4/3: Atlanta, GA - Smith's Old Bar
4/4: Athens, GA - Tasty World (18+) $5
4/7: Elkins, WV
4/11: Washington D.C. - Black Cat (all ages) $10
4/13: Philadelphia, PA
4/14: New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
4/15: New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
4/16: Boston, MA
4/18: Chicago, IL - Schubas (21+) $10
4/19: Madison, WI
4/24: Bozeman, MT - The Filling Station (21+) $5
4/25: Missoula, MT - The Loft (18+) $8
4/26: Portland, OR - Fez Ballroom (21+) $10
4/27: Seattle, WA - Neumos (all ages) $10
4/28: Salem, OR - Willamette University (Brown Field)
4/29: Eugene, OR
5/4 : SanFrancisco, CA
5/5: Los Angeles, CA
5/6: San Diego, CA
5/10: Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
5/11: Omaha, NE
5/12: Kansas City, MO