cloud cult :: feel good ghosts

minnesota band cloud cult are one of the leaders, in the music industry, in eco-friendly practices. in addition to the types of green tour practices of, among others, jack johnson, cloud cult's albums are self-released (earthology records), recorded in the basement of an organic farm owned by craig minowa, the band's primary singer & songwriter, and all of the band's products are fashioned from one hundred per cent post-consumer recycled materials. additionally, in a recent chat with spinner.com, minowa mentions his plan to replace the merch table at the band's live shows with a digital download center; he says:

We'd be able to sell the album for a greatly reduced price... People could have it right on their iPod, and there's no ecological footprint.

this, gang, in the (sort of) humble opinion of anyone's guess, is a great idea. i know of some folks, some musicians, who lament the extra remove digital products place between producers of music and its consumers. but there's no question the manufacturing of cd's can be a costly process. (important note: which isn't to say digital is, as minowa would have it, without footprint; the electricity used to power the download center and the individual players likely comes from coal- or petroleum-fired power plants.) and since more and more us immediately rip the songs from physical cds as soon as we get them home, anyway, cloud cult's plan makes tremendous sense. you can read more about minowa and cloud cult's environmental practices in this interview with grist, the environmental news & commentary site.

the particular album minowa refers to in the above quote is the band's latest effort, feel good ghosts (tea-partying through tornadoes) - note the ecological disaster, and the rather blasé attitude many of us have, still, disturbingly, towards the causes and increased frequencies of those disasters, made graphic on the ablum's cover above - which is now available for download (10$ for download; 12$ for download and cd) on the band's website. it is, the album, like much of their excellent earlier work, a pleasing mix of styles and sweep, combining rock and electronica and folk and pop and orchestral string arrangements and... well, i think it best, really, if you simply give it a listen. here are two of my personal favorites from the record. & if you happen to like them too, please support the band and its example.

cloud cult - when water comes to life



cloud cult - everybody here is a cloud



and also, before you run off, have a listen to a track from cloud cult's fine 2003 record, they live on the sun, which minowa wrote immediately following the death of his 2 yr old son (sorry, don't know how or why he died):

cloud cult - fairy tale



catch cloud cult's famously good live act on 13 may at the bottom of the hill. other tour dates (including 16 april at the middle east in cambridge, dana) here.