Amplifier - Planet of Insects || live @ 013 Tilburg || 27-05-2011 (1/3)

From Last.fm:

As most of Manchester sleeps, three men work through the night in a giant Victorian mill building. As the dawn breaks and the city begins to stir they continue to sweat and toil in an unlikely continuance of the giant red-brick edifice's industrial past. But replacing the roar of looms, belts and flywheels they -- Sel Balamir, Matt Brobin and Neil Mahony -- make music with guitars, drums and bass. Sel has arrived in Manchester from London, Matt from Wales and Neil from Ireland. Together they are Amplifier and they are giving life to The Octopus.

Ostensibly The Octopus is the third album by the band, but to Sel, Matt and Neil is it much more. It has taken them three years to make and they've financed it themselves, without any record company support (or interference), and so the results of their labours are huge in scale and panoramic in scope.

For a start, its 16 songs run together into a concept piece lasting just over two hours and so spreads across two CDs or three discs of vinyl.

Songwriter and spokesman Sel is under no illusions: "A record company would have insisted we release it as two separate albums. We talked about doing that ourselves -- because we'd probably make twice as much money -- but to us the aesthetic way it's received is more important. Putting it out like this is a statement."

That statement extends far beyond the music, to include the commitment and self-belief that have fuelled the band since they came close to splitting following the release of their second album, Insider, in 2006.
"It got to the point after Insider that we were going to quit but once we made that decision we just said, 'Okay, but we'll carry on -- but just like the olden days when we were just doing it for fun. Once we made that decision everyone was there again.
"This is just the three of us in a room, maybe starting at 2am and just playing all through the night, then listening back to it, enjoying it. All the things that sounded pleasing were good and became what it is. That's it -- but that wasn't even a plan."
No plan but slowly, bit by bit, the idea came together... Not only the music for The Octopus -- but also a book written by Sel (a special edition, limited to 500 copies and dedicated by hand by the band, will be available as a 70-page CD book detailing The Octopus). The book goes some way to explaining The Octopus referencing the human condition, infinity and entropy, everything and nothing. It's at least as big a trip as the music itself.
More...http://www.last.fm/music/Amplifier

http://www.amplifiertheband.com/

http://www.013.nl/

http://www.last.fm/event/1847009+Ampl...