The Vision of a Dying World
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The Vision of a Dying World

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"How The West Was Won"


By Derek Shaw

A dust storm is drifting down from Las Vegas, taking a breath of fresh air as it approaches the shore. It’s gritty and dirty like the soundtrack to a warped spaghetti western flick. With a unique blend of artsy Americana and country-tinged rock, The Vision of a Dying World ushers in a soothing wave of soulful melody.

For once, here’s a band that indulges as much as it divulges, a poetic authenticity both startling and touching. Most self-professed artists are either imposters or so abstract that their meaning becomes too difficult to decipher. The Vision of a Dying World is self-aware enough to realize they’re among many talented acts in San Diego.

Brothers Milgaten, Jackson and Keith, are typical siblings: loud and loving, but equally competitive. Sometimes they even bicker onstage, making it evident that the group is comprised of not just family members, but also lifelong friends. They’ve known guitarist Jeremy Scott since childhood, and his mild mannered, quiet genius helps balance the outspoken Milgatens. They moved from Nevada together and teamed up with Jona Tellez-Giron, whose percussive style is laid-back and understated, just like his mellow personality. (The departure of mandolin/accordion player Matt Davidson would have been a serious blow to most groups. His uncanny talent is indisputable, but his background presence also prevented the band from becoming a more dynamic live act.)

As the name suggests, The Vision of a Dying World has a fascination with the bleak and desperate, but the lyrics are so lighthearted and sardonic that their tragic vaudeville is easy to digest. It’s a ray of light over the smoggy horizon — a conscious recognition of cultural illness with a refreshing, often comical take on its decay.

Rather than crying in a corner like an emo band, these boys would likely usher in the apocalypse with smokes and a case of beer. They approach life with the same zest and self-deprecating satire as their catchy music. It’s brilliantly composed and thoughtfully written, yet ironic and amusing in its freewheeling delivery.

“We have lives outside the band unlike a lot of other musicians,” lead guitarist Keith Milgaten says. “It’s part of keeping it fresh … you can’t take yourself too seriously.”
With contagious hooks and four-part harmonies that would make the Beach Boys blush, their new album titled The Grammar Lamb is an artistic leap forward from their previous records. The sound is infused with surf rock, cabaret and indie, which make it more diverse, energetic and vibrant.

The Vision of a Dying World still employs a quirky quintessence; think of it as folk-bred storytelling with thick instrumentation and experimental sound effects. Yet, the band now showcases a highly stimulating performance supercharged with two electric guitars and buckets of sweat.

Whereas before you wanted to sit down and sip on coffee while being serenaded, The Vision of a Dying World now evokes giddy laughter, bouncy legs and flailing arms in tune with their jaded gospel. The fun inherent in their music has become more apparent onstage.

“Now we play loud without worrying about interfering with leads or stepping on each other’s toes,” says Scott.

“Before we worked in more of a songwriter context … now Jeremy and I write with the band in mind,” Jackson Milgaten adds. “After becoming friends with so many hard rockers in town, we wanted to be able to play with that same energy and intensity.”

Jackson’s unyielding support of other bands has earned him the nickname “Action Jackson.” He promotes shows and even started his own label with Craig Barclift of The Power-Chords. Single Screen Records issued The Grammar Lamb as its first release and followed up with a release by The Sess.

The Vision of a Dying World was recently nominated for a 2007 San Diego Music Award for “Best Alternative Group,” and they’ll hit the dusty trail this fall.

Check out www.thevisionofadyingworld.com

- 944 magazine


"AMERICA'S FINEST: Music gets better as mankind descends"

Album: "And the Grammar Lamb"
Distribution: Single Screen Records
Album art: This is what member Jeremy Scott doodles on burrito wrappers when everyone else has passed out and he realizes he forgot to fit that Yorick/AT&T/blues brother/gramophone metaphor into his last tune.
San Diegoness of sound: You know how a few years ago when you were still going to tons of Golden Hill house parties, everyone was getting into playing every instrument ever and scanning Craigslist and eBay minutely for three-and-a-half-string electric xylophone ukeleles? These boys followed through with that urge and make music that makes clear that they read a book every once in a while and understand the importance of transcribing the heartbeat into sound.
visiondying-b.jpg Style: Folk. No, wait, circus campfire surf. Um, indie? Whatever. "Genre" is so '90s. We think in terms of social networking now, and Vision should be in Bob Dylan's, Neil Young's, Red Elvises' and T-Rex's top eight.
As big as Pinback? Right. But you'd rather hear them in someone's basement while sprawled upon a mildewed couch and playing cats cradle with a barista on her day off instead of at an amphitheatre anyway.
Best song: At the moment, a few bars of "Cadillac Bears" is really making the happy neurons fire, and it's about the remains of the love we shared was picked apart by a pack of wild bears. Who knew we could be so genuinely excited about that?
Overall: I can't tell you how many times the phrase "I hate music" comes out of my mouth on like an hourly basis, and it's not exactly that I mean it, it's actually just a defense mechanism to deal with the sadness of how that word gets tossed around these days for a short hookup with the Gap-jeans-selling single of the week. Then I put these boys on and realize it's not that I hate music, it's that despite all these CDs and iPods and stereos all over the place, I just haven't heard music for like a really long time. Then I put on these boys and realize music is nothing less than time travel and flying and lucid dreaming combined. But maybe I just get carried away.
Our advice: Don't stop. - sign on san diego


"What You Are To Be You Now Become"

The Vision of a Dying World
What You Are To Be You Now Become
Self-released
Well-written and catchy folk with a very unique personality.

The Vision of a Dying World - What You Are To Be You Now Become

Upon reading the name The Vision of a Dying World, you might imagine something in the vein of those dreaded names Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco. Yet upon listening, your fears would be proven completely and utterly false. The sound is along the lines of the more recent work from Piebald, but more folk-oriented.

The four-man folk band from San Diego delivers terrific, sometimes bizarre, lyrics and a deft knowledge of the many instruments used on their eight-song album, What You Are to Be You Now Become.

With the slightly-off vocal harmonies that kick-start the album in "Wishing Well," one immediately has a sense that the album is not of the usual folk fare. The song sets a tone for the rest of the album, presenting a catchy, albeit brief, chorus and instrumentation that gives it a happy feeling.

This sound is fairly typical throughout the album, with a couple exceptions. With "Smack My Face," the band produces a darker tone. There is uneasiness behind the twanging banjo and melodic accordion of the song that is just hard to describe.

In sharp contrast exists "The Beaver King," which is, quite possibly, the most bizarre song ever written. The song itself is catchy and bright, almost bordering on the pop side of things. It has the largest set of lyrics of any song in the album, but behind the light beat, banjo and electric guitar that fleshes out the song, the lyrics are purely strange. More or less, the voice behind the song states that he hates beavers and that someday he will become "The Beaver King" and put them through "An American beaver Holocaust." It's strange, but comical in its happy attitude.

When listening carefully to the lyrics throughout the album, you can hear some of the more morbid lyrics sprinkled in various places. It's not until one finishes listening to the album that it is far more remorseful than happy, speaking often of death. Yet amongst it all, the band pushes forth a sense of contentment behind the ideas of impending doom.

What You Are to Be You Now Become isn't for everyone. If you enjoy folk or well-written lyrics, I suggest you give it a listen. If you prefer something a little more standard, steer clear. I thoroughly enjoy this album and will continue listening to it for years to come.

Nate Williams
nathanmw@ou.edu - independent clauses.com


"...and The Grammar Lamb"


The Vision of a Dying World is back with yet another album of acoustic, post-apocalyptic, carnival campfire music for fans of Okkervil River and The Danielson Famile. Another album showcasing their clever and idiosyncratic mix of folk and pop that is not entirely unrivaled, yet strangely difficult to pin down. With four impressive releases in the last three years, these California boys are destined for a life of financial success and public esteem beyond their wildest fantasies. - cormac
- 75 or Less.com


"The Grammar Lamb"

Oh it’s good. Trust me.

My favorite little-knowns are back at it again. I’m sure that there is a following somewhere in this country for my friends from The Vision of a Dying World, but unfortunately for me (more for them) they severely underheard in the great northwest. TVoaDW have moved slyly on to their second full length. Their eclectic and psych-folky debut Feelin’ Alive caught my ear and my snapping fingers with its catchy beats and unconventional tunes. And here they are again… with choral chants, surf pop tendencies, chimes, irresistible chorus lines, and tongue in cheek lyrical turns, The Grammar Lamb shines… no… glimmers… no… destroys!

Typical of the current indie pop scene, TVoaDW is made up of the prerequisite members. The drummer (ghost member Jona Tellez-Giron), the bassist/vocalist (alternating with rhythm guitar: Jackson Milgaten and Jeremy Scott), the guitarist/BGV (Keith Milgaten), and the one we’re all waiting for. The crazy uncle (Mat Davidson). You know the type. The guy who wanders around on stage taking off the electric and hooking up his banjo or dulcimer or accordion or just clapping his hands. The big difference is that it really isn’t a gimmick, like so many self-proclaimed indie saviors. Each handclap or foot stomp is truly lending itself, in unabashed simplicity, to the creation of the tune. Take the eerie “on the trail” tune “Life to the Living Dead.” Echoing of the trashiest of Tom Waits tracks, TVoaDW employ the use of what sounds like bongos, a triangle, claps, stomps, and a bizarre track of spooky howling and zombie “ooh, ahh”s. Other than these musical implements, we’re given a disparate guitar line and a jagged marching banjo. This is not folk a la Woody Guthrie, think Sufjan and Tom Waits locked in a room for a few hours and then recorded on scratch demos. Beautiful… and just different enough.

The Grammar Lamb seems to have taken the guys into new territory. Gone are the days of songs about beavers (“Beaver King”). Instead, they have moved up the food chain and crafted a tune entitled “Cadillac Bears.” Continuing to tackle their namesake (Apocalypse/Armageddon), the new album is replete with end times symbolism. From the tutu clad female skeleton dancing a hole in the earth on the back cover to the ominous song titles (i.e. “Awoken by a Scene from the End Times,” “One Day You’re Gonna Die Laughing,” and “Hell is Waiting”). Here’s the catch. Nothing about this album smacks of the paranoia inducing echoes of Andrew Bird. It’s a healthy dose of clever apocalypticism, of sarcastic eschatology.

Best track? “Hell is Waiting”

Most Creative Use of Sound Effects in a Broadway Tune: “Horns Become Handles”

Most Impressive Number of the Word “Wish”: “Wishing Well”

It’s Andrew Bird as an upstart early twentysomething. Tom Waits with a smiley disposition. It’s wonderful and not nearly given enough credit.

www.thevisionofadyingworld.com

www.myspace.com/singlescreenrecords - CdReviews.com


"Discovering the Undiscovered"

Name: The Vision of a Dying World
Location: San Diego, CA
Listed Influences: Talking Heads, Simon and Garfunkel, T-Rex, Vashti Bunyon
Actually Sound Like: A leisurely Sunday drive out into the country.
Available to Buy: The band's full debut album is out Aug 18th via CD Baby.
The band has been nominated for best Alternative band at the San Diego Music Awards. Vote for 'em here. - Filter Magazine


"Feelin' Alive (Revived)"


Rating:
4.2 / 5
Label:
n/a
Website:
www.thevisionofadyingworld.com
Unless you’re T.S. Eliot, it’s customary to imagine the soundtrack to the end of the world in Wagnerian terms. Mention the apocalypse, and immediately people begin thinking of crashing percussion, roaring horns, weeping woodwinds, fat women in blonde wigs and Viking helmets performing glass-shattering coloratura solos… okay, okay, maybe not that last part, but you get the picture. Some of the last instruments you would associate with the end are the banjo, mandolin, and acoustic guitar.

But hey, if musicians did nothing but follow convention, they’d still be making melodies with sheep's guts and turtle shells. And with their peculiar blend of biblical reference, absurdist fantasy, and folksy sound, The Vision of a Dying World are anything but conventional.

Feelin' Alive sweeps its listener through twilit seascapes and chimerical dream vistas into goofy romps and touching introspections, from crowded cities to lonely rooms, from abstract prophecy to confidential confessions. Equal parts revelry and revelation, it manages the riotous energy of the kaleidoscopic and the carnivalesque while avoiding the gawdy pitfalls of either in a wicked binge of mostly acoustic sound. Its closing piece, the aptly named “Have a Nice Day,” even ends with a waggishly whispered address to the audience after an extended silence.

It maybe not be the whimper that Eliot envisioned, but it sure sounds a lot better. - Silent Uproar.com


"what you are to be you no become ep"

i said it after i listened to The Vision of a Dying World 2006 San Diego Music Award Nominated album "Feelin Alive(Revived)"- "banjotastic!"

Jackson Milgaten is "Action Jackson"- a promoter here in town- and a good one.

Vision of a Dying World espouse a "live by the banjo, die by the banjo" kind of philosophy. now, i've seen them since their multi-instrumentalist left the band and they sound totally different than this record, it's a lot more "rock". But this record like "Feelin Alive(Revived)" is chock a block full of:
-whistling
-accordion
-banjo(!)
-mandolin
-recorder
-organ
-lapsteel
-rhodes(?- an instrument?)

i've seen them called (nominated as?) folk/americana, but as far i'm concerned, this is indie pop of the multi-instrumentalist indie blogger nation variety. locally, the clear comparisons are kite flying society and old man hands. those three bands ought to go on tour together. it makes sense because kite flying society could actually generate advance payment(maybe.) and jackson from vision has connects in las vegas and phoenix. see, i generate good ideas like that, all day, for other people, for free.

i thought the lyrics at times were a little much at times. i felt like the lyrics to "the beaver king" (i am their best friend/i won't cry/ when the world passes by/ on this beaver trend). What the fuck guys?

so, if you are a fan of kite flying society, living in the southern california/southwest area, you ought to check out this cd. also- fans of old man hands- you would like this cd. habitat types- you should probably check it out. freaky folk fans might give it a listen and just generally i think the wider provinces of indie blogger nation- blogs like aquarium drunkard(los angeles), sixeyes, gorilla v. bear- they might all dig on this. also for fans of: Iron and Wine, Wilco, Vashti Bunyon, Sufjan Stevens, Neil Young, and Gram Parsons.

ode to rugby is also the "title" track (in that it contains the title within the lyrics). it's my fav cut on the record. - cat dirt sez


"How The West Was Won"


By Derek Shaw

A dust storm is drifting down from Las Vegas, taking a breath of fresh air as it approaches the shore. It’s gritty and dirty like the soundtrack to a warped spaghetti western flick. With a unique blend of artsy Americana and country-tinged rock, The Vision of a Dying World ushers in a soothing wave of soulful melody.

For once, here’s a band that indulges as much as it divulges, a poetic authenticity both startling and touching. Most self-professed artists are either imposters or so abstract that their meaning becomes too difficult to decipher. The Vision of a Dying World is self-aware enough to realize they’re among many talented acts in San Diego.

Brothers Milgaten, Jackson and Keith, are typical siblings: loud and loving, but equally competitive. Sometimes they even bicker onstage, making it evident that the group is comprised of not just family members, but also lifelong friends. They’ve known guitarist Jeremy Scott since childhood, and his mild mannered, quiet genius helps balance the outspoken Milgatens. They moved from Nevada together and teamed up with Jona Tellez-Giron, whose percussive style is laid-back and understated, just like his mellow personality. (The departure of mandolin/accordion player Matt Davidson would have been a serious blow to most groups. His uncanny talent is indisputable, but his background presence also prevented the band from becoming a more dynamic live act.)

As the name suggests, The Vision of a Dying World has a fascination with the bleak and desperate, but the lyrics are so lighthearted and sardonic that their tragic vaudeville is easy to digest. It’s a ray of light over the smoggy horizon — a conscious recognition of cultural illness with a refreshing, often comical take on its decay.

Rather than crying in a corner like an emo band, these boys would likely usher in the apocalypse with smokes and a case of beer. They approach life with the same zest and self-deprecating satire as their catchy music. It’s brilliantly composed and thoughtfully written, yet ironic and amusing in its freewheeling delivery.

“We have lives outside the band unlike a lot of other musicians,” lead guitarist Keith Milgaten says. “It’s part of keeping it fresh … you can’t take yourself too seriously.”
With contagious hooks and four-part harmonies that would make the Beach Boys blush, their new album titled The Grammar Lamb is an artistic leap forward from their previous records. The sound is infused with surf rock, cabaret and indie, which make it more diverse, energetic and vibrant.

The Vision of a Dying World still employs a quirky quintessence; think of it as folk-bred storytelling with thick instrumentation and experimental sound effects. Yet, the band now showcases a highly stimulating performance supercharged with two electric guitars and buckets of sweat.

Whereas before you wanted to sit down and sip on coffee while being serenaded, The Vision of a Dying World now evokes giddy laughter, bouncy legs and flailing arms in tune with their jaded gospel. The fun inherent in their music has become more apparent onstage.

“Now we play loud without worrying about interfering with leads or stepping on each other’s toes,” says Scott.

“Before we worked in more of a songwriter context … now Jeremy and I write with the band in mind,” Jackson Milgaten adds. “After becoming friends with so many hard rockers in town, we wanted to be able to play with that same energy and intensity.”

Jackson’s unyielding support of other bands has earned him the nickname “Action Jackson.” He promotes shows and even started his own label with Craig Barclift of The Power-Chords. Single Screen Records issued The Grammar Lamb as its first release and followed up with a release by The Sess.

The Vision of a Dying World was recently nominated for a 2007 San Diego Music Award for “Best Alternative Group,” and they’ll hit the dusty trail this fall.

Check out www.thevisionofadyingworld.com

- 944 magazine


Discography

Self Titled- 2004, Feelin Alive (Revived) (2005), What You Are To Be You Now Become (2006), The Grammar Lamb (2007), Skelephone Call From the Eastern Side (2007)

Photos

Bio

The Vision of a Dying World was formed in Las Vegas, NV by brothers Jackson and Keith Milgaten in 2003. After recording an endless amount of demos and playing scattered local shows, the two put out a self titled EP in 2004. Shortly after, they relocated to San Diego, CA with child hood friend Jeremy Scott. They spent the better part of the summer and fall recording their first full length album, "Feelin' Alive (Revived)", and toured regionally for the first time. "Feelin' Alive (Revived)" was nominated for Best Folk/Country Album of the year at the 2006 San Diego Music Awards and San Deigo City Beat called it "one of the best releases to come out of San diego since The Castanet's "Cathedral". Soon the band became a quartet (drummer Jona Tellez-Giron was now a full time member of the band) and began working on a new EP. "What You Are To Be You Now Become" was released to much critical praise and several regional tours ensued including one with folk-punk darlings Andrew Jackson Jihad. Of What You Are To Be... 30Music.com said, "this enigmatic band is able to quietly and subtly turn even the most tragic experience into something harmonious and inspirational" and Indieville.com gave it an 8 out of 10. The band also began to get opening slots for national touring bands like The Robot Ate Me, Peter and The Wolf, Dear Nora, Kind of Like Spitting, and Viking Moses. 2007 saw the release of their second full length "The Vision of a Dying World and The Grammar Lamb" of which CDReviews.com said, "think Sufjan and Tom Waits locked in a room for a few hours", a nomination for Best Alternative Band at the San Diego Music Awards, extensive regional touring and local shows, and opening slots for the likes of The Drones, King Kong, Devastations, The Teeth, Honeycut, White Magic and Sean Hayes. In the fall another EP entitled "Skelephone Call from the Eastern Side" was recorded and is set for release on December 14th followed by a tour with Tuscon, AZ based alt alt country outfit Golden Boots.