Friday Tunes: Three Mile Pilot & Brian Eno

Three Mile Pilot’s self-titled EP (released in 1998 on Gravity Records, home to many of my favorite bands of that time) sparked the beginning of several notable indie rock careers — featuring members of Black Heart Procession and Pinback, the mostly instrumental outfit released a few albums and EPs before going on an indefinite hiatus.

I remember stumbling across this album in a record store (I think I was in Philadelphia) and being attracted simply based on the art. In those days, the internet wasn’t a complete database of every shitty musician ever, so I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting. I knew that it looked sort of emo to me, and at the time, that was legit.

I still return to this record (now, perhaps sadly, in mp3 form) pretty regularly, but not for nostalgia’s sake. I find that it’s one of the few records in its genre from that time that holds up. Their sort of prog-ish aesthetic and original disdain for guitar (most all the initial compositions were sans guitar) still sound lovely, and their foray into piano and string arrangements, though amateur at the time, maintain their charm.

The cover of Eno’s “By This River” is one of my favorites — sparse piano, quiet vocals, it’s delicious. So happy Friday, enjoy some music that might be new / old to you.

Three Mile Pilot “On a Ship to Bangladesh” (mp3)
Three Mile Pilot “By This River” (mp3)
Brian Eno “By This River” (mp3)