Simple Math
Encyclopedia
Simple Math is the third studio album
from Atlanta-based indie rock
band Manchester Orchestra
. It was released on May 10, 2011 through independent label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings, itself distributed by Sony Music Entertainment
. The album was recorded with Dan Hannon
who also produced the band's first album
, and co-produced their second
.
Andy Hull
, the band's lyricist and vocalist, has said that Simple Math is a concept album
, telling a story from his own perspective; "It's a story about a 23-year old who questions everything from marriage to love to religion to sex. Sometimes even for myself, it’s difficult to decipher which one I’m actually talking to. Everything I’ve written in the past has been about those things. This album is the most realized form of my questioning.” A week prior to its official release, the entire album was available for streaming
on their official website.
Lead by the title track
and single
"Simple Math", the album was a success for the band, obtaining praise from music critics and debuting at a career-high number twenty one on the Billboard 200
and number eight on the Billboard Rock Albums chart with opening week sales of 18,000 units.
which debuted the album at number eight on the Billboard Rock Albums chart and number twenty one on the main Billboard 200
. The album also entered the Billboard Alternative Albums chart at number five as well as the Billboard Tastemaker Albums chart at number nine. The Tastemaker chart is not decided by record sales, but compiled by ranking new albums based on "an influential panel of indie stores and small regional chains." Overall, this marked an improvement compared to its predecessor Mean Everything to Nothing
(2009), which reached number thirty seven on the main Billboard chart and number eleven on the Rock Albums chart. In Canada, the album reached a peak of number fourteen on the Alternative Albums chart and also number seventy eight on the main Top 100 Albums Chart
.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a weighted average
of 73, based on sixteen reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Adam Pfleider of AbsolutePunk called the album a "shocking absorption" and awarded a near-perfect rating of 95%. He noted that, "in a year that's produced an overwhelming amount of great music, Simple Math is another outstanding painting worth the public's attention. When Hull sings "Believe me, all is brilliant," it really is once again for this band." BBC Music
journalist Mike Diver also gave a favorable review. Despite stating that, "it's 10 songs aren’t all of the level needed to propel its makers into the biggest indie-rock leagues", he was of the opinion that Simple Math, "contains some of their finest songs yet. There are moments of real beauty, though the prettiest arrangements come complete with necessarily ugly imagery." Drowned in Sound
critic Robert Cooked wrote, "What’s great about Manchester Orchestra is that they don’t quite fit into a box. Sadly, this makes them another one of those bands that don’t sell as many records as they deserve to." Awarding a score of seven out of ten, he added that the album is an "intelligent slab of thrilling, stadium-sized rock that does away with the genre’s dumb clichés. It’s hard not to get a kick out of hearing such an independent spirit raging through this album, even if commercially, Simple Math doesn’t quite add up."
Ben Patashnik of Rock Sound
magazine was full of praise as he awarded the album nine out of ten. He claimed that, "they're always a breath away from total fucking chaos or lullaby-soft crooning. And throughout, the highs are tinged with a sadness and the lows with hope, making Simple Math a complex and rewarding album that soars above the pack." Spin
writer David Menconi, in a favorable review said that Andy Hull
has "been making shockingly precocious records for years. But his band's third full-length is an old-fashioned magnum opus of a concept album, detailing a nervous breakdown with epic glam-rock gestures. Hull's greatest skill is making his emotions sound as extravagant as they feel, especially when he screams." Adam Knott, contributing writer for Sputnikmusic
awarded the album a "superb" 4.5/5. He opined that "although situated largely in the seemingly mundane where its predecessor concerned itself (perhaps excessively) with abstract universalities, Simple Math might actually be the superior record. Its centrepiece, as with Mean Everything To Nothings "I Can Feel A Hot One", is the most explicit illustration of the band's overflowing emotion, but the same level and intensity of fire can be found even on its most flippant tracks."
Manchester Orchestra
Session musicians
String ensemble
School choir
Production
, Simple Math, utilizes the title track and was filmed 22 – 26 February 2011 in Guntersville, Alabama
and 27 February in Albertville, Alabama
, with cast members from nearby Huntsville, Alabama
joining the band members onscreen.
The story begins with the band’s frontman, Andy Hull
, swerving to avoid a collision between his truck and a hapless deer (a link to another of the album's songs) crossing an otherwise-empty country road. His knee-jerk altruism, unfortunately, leads to an infinite rollover...which in turn results in a slo-mo "tumble down Memory Lane," if you will, and the flashing of his preadolescence before his eyes, highlight reel style. In this flashback-cum-dream state, he hearkens back to the attentive father with whom he never truly connected and the unrequited feelings for a girl in whom he was interested—and considers that part of the difficulty and lost opportunities in his relationships may have been his own doing.
The engrossing visual cornucopia seems to indicate at least one fringe benefit of not buckling up: detonating filles and forestation; rampaging toy trucks; paterfamilias whose torsos transmogrify into airbags; the ubiquitous, glassy-eyed head mount of a hapless ungulate; backwoods hunting-interruptus; gravity-bound and -defying beverages; and the crashing, spin-and-sing rockers, themselves, are part and parcel of the video’s hectic inventiveness and sprightly, surreal charm.
(“Underwear”) and The Hundred in the Hands
(“Commotion” and “Pigeons”), as well as the viral video, “Dogboarding.” See Production Team
and Cast
information below.
In a recent online interview, Hull describes the video’s conception and M.O. In it, he expresses his preliminary meeting with The DANIELS (one of whom he discovered to be a fan), as well as his initial amused confusion at the video’s thematic thrust.
“...It was kind of incredible filming it, having no idea what these dudes were doing...just having full trust in them…At the beginning, I feel like you get this vibe that the dad’s kind of an a------, and by the end you realize I’m the a------. My dad’s been there the whole time. I was just too young to see it...”
Cast
...and Manchester Orchestra...
was released and premiered on IFC.com on Tuesday, 12 April 2011. The cinematic prestidigitation of the Kwan-Scheinert team, as well as the haunting, wistful music of the band, received praise:
“...Brilliant, awesome, stupendous, tour de force...they are all massively overused phrases...But then, very occasionally, something comes along which fully justifies these descriptions, and a few more. The video for Manchester Orchestra’s ‘Simple Math” by [The] Daniels is one of those occasions…”
“...The clip is both exorbitant and overtly dramatic—plus it looks like it cost a mint to create, which it very well might have since the band is on Columbia Records
— but it's money well spent...”
“...With...‘Simple Math,’ they have created their best work yet, and easily the best music video I’ve seen thus far in 2011. This video has already garnered heaps of praise as well as comparisons to works of Michel Gondry
and Christopher Nolan
for its technically incredible, emotionally powerful storytelling...Manchester Orchestra’s muscular post-emo
indie rock provides just the right amount of emotional punch to accompany the stunning imagery. This is one you’ll want to watch again and again...”
"...DANIELS haven’t just made a brilliant music video, they’ve made an impressive short film, and when paired with Manchester Orchestra’s raw, cacophonous punch, it makes for an intriguing, intelligent, incredible accompaniment."
(VMA’s), taking its place under the categories of “Best Special Effects” and “Best Editing
.” The video lost out to “E.T.” (Katy Perry/Kanye West) and “Rolling in the Deep” (Adele), respectively.
(MVA’s) “Best Indie/Rock Video – International.”
On Tuesday, 8 November 2011, it was announced at the ceremony in London that the video had won both the Indie/Rock award and “Video of the Year” .
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
from Atlanta-based indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Manchester Orchestra
Manchester orchestra
Manchester Orchestra is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2005. The group is currently composed of rhythm guitarist-singer-songwriter Andy Hull, lead guitarist Robert McDowell, keyboardist and percussionist Chris Freeman, bassist Jonathan Corley, and drummer Tim Very...
. It was released on May 10, 2011 through independent label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings, itself distributed by Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
. The album was recorded with Dan Hannon
Dan Hannon
Dan Hannon is a Producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, and musician. Dan just recently finished production of the "Simple Math" LP, to be released May 10, 2011, for Sony/Favorite Gentlemen artist Manchester Orchestra...
who also produced the band's first album
I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child
I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child is the first full-length album from Atlanta musicians Manchester Orchestra. It was released via Favorite Gentlemen/ Canvasback Recordings on October 14, 2006.The song "Wolves at Night" is featured in the video game NHL 08....
, and co-produced their second
Mean Everything to Nothing
Mean Everything To Nothing is the second studio album by the Atlanta-based indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. It was released on April 21, 2009 through independent record label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings and produced by Joe Chiccarelli and Dan Hannon....
.
Andy Hull
Andy Hull
Andy Hull is an American singer, guitarist and song writer for the indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. He also has a side project Right Away, Great Captain, as well as co-founder of a side project with friend and folk musician Kevin Devine by the name of Bad Books.Hull was born in Atlanta, Georgia...
, the band's lyricist and vocalist, has said that Simple Math is a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, telling a story from his own perspective; "It's a story about a 23-year old who questions everything from marriage to love to religion to sex. Sometimes even for myself, it’s difficult to decipher which one I’m actually talking to. Everything I’ve written in the past has been about those things. This album is the most realized form of my questioning.” A week prior to its official release, the entire album was available for streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
on their official website.
Lead by the title track
Title track
Title track may refer to:*Title track, a recorded song having the same name as the album or movie it comes from*Title Track, a song on the album The Stage Names*Title Track, a song on the album We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes...
and single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
"Simple Math", the album was a success for the band, obtaining praise from music critics and debuting at a career-high number twenty one on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and number eight on the Billboard Rock Albums chart with opening week sales of 18,000 units.
Track listing
Commercial performance
Simple Math was a moderate commercial success for the band. Opening week sales reached 18,000 units according to Nielsen SoundScanNielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
which debuted the album at number eight on the Billboard Rock Albums chart and number twenty one on the main Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. The album also entered the Billboard Alternative Albums chart at number five as well as the Billboard Tastemaker Albums chart at number nine. The Tastemaker chart is not decided by record sales, but compiled by ranking new albums based on "an influential panel of indie stores and small regional chains." Overall, this marked an improvement compared to its predecessor Mean Everything to Nothing
Mean Everything to Nothing
Mean Everything To Nothing is the second studio album by the Atlanta-based indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. It was released on April 21, 2009 through independent record label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings and produced by Joe Chiccarelli and Dan Hannon....
(2009), which reached number thirty seven on the main Billboard chart and number eleven on the Rock Albums chart. In Canada, the album reached a peak of number fourteen on the Alternative Albums chart and also number seventy eight on the main Top 100 Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
.
Critical response
Simple Math received positive reviews from music critics. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a weighted average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
of 73, based on sixteen reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Adam Pfleider of AbsolutePunk called the album a "shocking absorption" and awarded a near-perfect rating of 95%. He noted that, "in a year that's produced an overwhelming amount of great music, Simple Math is another outstanding painting worth the public's attention. When Hull sings "Believe me, all is brilliant," it really is once again for this band." BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
journalist Mike Diver also gave a favorable review. Despite stating that, "it's 10 songs aren’t all of the level needed to propel its makers into the biggest indie-rock leagues", he was of the opinion that Simple Math, "contains some of their finest songs yet. There are moments of real beauty, though the prettiest arrangements come complete with necessarily ugly imagery." Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
critic Robert Cooked wrote, "What’s great about Manchester Orchestra is that they don’t quite fit into a box. Sadly, this makes them another one of those bands that don’t sell as many records as they deserve to." Awarding a score of seven out of ten, he added that the album is an "intelligent slab of thrilling, stadium-sized rock that does away with the genre’s dumb clichés. It’s hard not to get a kick out of hearing such an independent spirit raging through this album, even if commercially, Simple Math doesn’t quite add up."
Ben Patashnik of Rock Sound
Rock Sound
Rock Sound is a British magazine which champions rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts.-History:...
magazine was full of praise as he awarded the album nine out of ten. He claimed that, "they're always a breath away from total fucking chaos or lullaby-soft crooning. And throughout, the highs are tinged with a sadness and the lows with hope, making Simple Math a complex and rewarding album that soars above the pack." Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
writer David Menconi, in a favorable review said that Andy Hull
Andy Hull
Andy Hull is an American singer, guitarist and song writer for the indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. He also has a side project Right Away, Great Captain, as well as co-founder of a side project with friend and folk musician Kevin Devine by the name of Bad Books.Hull was born in Atlanta, Georgia...
has "been making shockingly precocious records for years. But his band's third full-length is an old-fashioned magnum opus of a concept album, detailing a nervous breakdown with epic glam-rock gestures. Hull's greatest skill is making his emotions sound as extravagant as they feel, especially when he screams." Adam Knott, contributing writer for Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
awarded the album a "superb" 4.5/5. He opined that "although situated largely in the seemingly mundane where its predecessor concerned itself (perhaps excessively) with abstract universalities, Simple Math might actually be the superior record. Its centrepiece, as with Mean Everything To Nothings "I Can Feel A Hot One", is the most explicit illustration of the band's overflowing emotion, but the same level and intensity of fire can be found even on its most flippant tracks."
Personnel
The following personnel contributed to Simple Math:Manchester Orchestra
- Andy HullAndy HullAndy Hull is an American singer, guitarist and song writer for the indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. He also has a side project Right Away, Great Captain, as well as co-founder of a side project with friend and folk musician Kevin Devine by the name of Bad Books.Hull was born in Atlanta, Georgia...
— lead vocals, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, lyricsLyricsLyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of... - Robert McDowell — lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocals - Jonathan Corley — bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Christopher Freeman — percussion, organ, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, backing vocals
Session musicians
- Len Clark — drums
- Benjamin Homola — drums
- Timothy Very — drums
- Daniel DewittWinston audioWinston Audio was an indie rock and grunge rock band based in Atlanta, Georgia that formed in 2001 and has existed in several incarnations since its creation...
— tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate... - Brad Fisher — trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
String ensemble
- Eddie Horst — conductor
- Ben Talmi — string arrangements
- Greg Martin — additional string arranging
- Justin Burns — violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Joy A. Christy — violin
- Kenn Wagner — violin
- Sheela Iyengar — violin
- Olga Shpitko — violin
- Sou-Chun Su — violin
- Wesley P. Collins — violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Tania Maxwell — viola
- Joli Wu — viola
- Karen Freer — celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Charae Krueger — cello
- Daniel Laufer — cello
School choir
- Lyndsey Laborde — choir vocalsChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
- Eli Hannon — choir vocals
- Jake Hannon — choir vocals
- Emily Ammons — choir vocals
- Grace Ammons — choir vocals
Production
- Dan HannonDan HannonDan Hannon is a Producer, engineer, mixer, songwriter, and musician. Dan just recently finished production of the "Simple Math" LP, to be released May 10, 2011, for Sony/Favorite Gentlemen artist Manchester Orchestra...
, Manchester OrchestraManchester orchestraManchester Orchestra is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2005. The group is currently composed of rhythm guitarist-singer-songwriter Andy Hull, lead guitarist Robert McDowell, keyboardist and percussionist Chris Freeman, bassist Jonathan Corley, and drummer Tim Very...
— producersRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Joe Chiccarelli — mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
- Vlado Meller — masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Lowell Reynolds — engineering
- Brad Fisher — engineering
- Billy Hume — additional engineering
- Graham Hope — mixing assistant
- Brian Manley — designDesignDesign as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
, layout - Carson Donnelly, Jay Harren — A&RA&RArtists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
Chart positions
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... (Billboard) |
78 |
| U.S Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
21 |
| U.S Rock Albums (Billboard) | 8 |
| U.S Alternative Albums (Billboard) | 5 |
| U.S Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) | 9 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue # | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
May 9, 2011 | Colombia Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company... , Favorite Gentlemen |
CD, digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
88697743412 | |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
May 10, 2011 | 774341 |
Synopsis
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, Simple Math, utilizes the title track and was filmed 22 – 26 February 2011 in Guntersville, Alabama
Guntersville, Alabama
Guntersville is a city in Marshall County, Alabama, United States and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the population of the city was 8,197. The city is the county seat of Marshall County. Guntersville is located in a HUBZone as identified by the...
and 27 February in Albertville, Alabama
Albertville, Alabama
Albertville is a city in Marshall County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 21,160.- History :...
, with cast members from nearby Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
joining the band members onscreen.
The story begins with the band’s frontman, Andy Hull
Andy Hull
Andy Hull is an American singer, guitarist and song writer for the indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. He also has a side project Right Away, Great Captain, as well as co-founder of a side project with friend and folk musician Kevin Devine by the name of Bad Books.Hull was born in Atlanta, Georgia...
, swerving to avoid a collision between his truck and a hapless deer (a link to another of the album's songs) crossing an otherwise-empty country road. His knee-jerk altruism, unfortunately, leads to an infinite rollover...which in turn results in a slo-mo "tumble down Memory Lane," if you will, and the flashing of his preadolescence before his eyes, highlight reel style. In this flashback-cum-dream state, he hearkens back to the attentive father with whom he never truly connected and the unrequited feelings for a girl in whom he was interested—and considers that part of the difficulty and lost opportunities in his relationships may have been his own doing.
The engrossing visual cornucopia seems to indicate at least one fringe benefit of not buckling up: detonating filles and forestation; rampaging toy trucks; paterfamilias whose torsos transmogrify into airbags; the ubiquitous, glassy-eyed head mount of a hapless ungulate; backwoods hunting-interruptus; gravity-bound and -defying beverages; and the crashing, spin-and-sing rockers, themselves, are part and parcel of the video’s hectic inventiveness and sprightly, surreal charm.
Background
Produced by Gaetano Crupi, Jr. of Machina Pictures, the project fell under the auspices of the "interchangeable" California-based directing team known as the DANIELS—Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert. The duo was previously best known for music videos for the bands FM BelfastFM Belfast
FM Belfast is an electro/electronica band from Reykjavík, Iceland.Its members include Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir, Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson, Árni Vilhjálmsson and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason....
(“Underwear”) and The Hundred in the Hands
The Hundred in the Hands
The Hundred in the Hands is an American electropop duo formed in 2008 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. The band consists of Eleanore Everdell and Jason Friedman...
(“Commotion” and “Pigeons”), as well as the viral video, “Dogboarding.” See Production Team
Production team
A production team is the group of technical staff who produce a play, television show, recording, or film. Generally the term refers to all individuals responsible for the technical aspects of creating of a particular product, regardless of where in the process their expertize is required, or how...
and Cast
Casting (performing arts)
In the performing arts, casting is a pre-production process for selecting a cast of actors, dancers, singers, models and other talent for a live or recorded performance.-Casting process:...
information below.
In a recent online interview, Hull describes the video’s conception and M.O. In it, he expresses his preliminary meeting with The DANIELS (one of whom he discovered to be a fan), as well as his initial amused confusion at the video’s thematic thrust.
“...It was kind of incredible filming it, having no idea what these dudes were doing...just having full trust in them…At the beginning, I feel like you get this vibe that the dad’s kind of an a------, and by the end you realize I’m the a------. My dad’s been there the whole time. I was just too young to see it...”
Production Team and Cast
Crew- Directors — Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (DANIELS)
- Producer — Gaetano Crupi, Jr.
- Production CompanyProduction companyA production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, and video.- Tasks and functions :...
— PrettyBird - Executive ProducerExecutive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
— Candice Ouaknine - Rep — Danielle Hinde
- Director of Photography — Jackson Hunt
- Art DirectorArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
— Sophie Kosofsky - Assistant DirectorAssistant directorThe role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
— Justin Gaar - FX Supervisor — Jimmie Bradford
- Commissioner — Bryan Younce
- Casting — Hollywood Huntsville
- Production CoordinatorProduction coordinatorA Production Coordinator is a unionized position in stagecraft under the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and is governed in Los Angeles by ....
— Charles White - Label — Columbia RecordsColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
Cast
- Boy — Caleb Wimberly
- Father — James (Jim) E. Zieliński
- Girl — Lexi Williams
...and Manchester Orchestra...
Video Premiere and Reception
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was released and premiered on IFC.com on Tuesday, 12 April 2011. The cinematic prestidigitation of the Kwan-Scheinert team, as well as the haunting, wistful music of the band, received praise:
“...Brilliant, awesome, stupendous, tour de force...they are all massively overused phrases...But then, very occasionally, something comes along which fully justifies these descriptions, and a few more. The video for Manchester Orchestra’s ‘Simple Math” by [The] Daniels is one of those occasions…”
“...The clip is both exorbitant and overtly dramatic—plus it looks like it cost a mint to create, which it very well might have since the band is on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
— but it's money well spent...”
“...With...‘Simple Math,’ they have created their best work yet, and easily the best music video I’ve seen thus far in 2011. This video has already garnered heaps of praise as well as comparisons to works of Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
and Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...
for its technically incredible, emotionally powerful storytelling...Manchester Orchestra’s muscular post-emo
Emo
Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...
indie rock provides just the right amount of emotional punch to accompany the stunning imagery. This is one you’ll want to watch again and again...”
"...DANIELS haven’t just made a brilliant music video, they’ve made an impressive short film, and when paired with Manchester Orchestra’s raw, cacophonous punch, it makes for an intriguing, intelligent, incredible accompaniment."
MTV Video Music Awards (VMA's)
On 20 July 2011, it was announced that the music video was a Finalist for two MTV Video Music AwardsMTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
(VMA’s), taking its place under the categories of “Best Special Effects” and “Best Editing
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
.” The video lost out to “E.T.” (Katy Perry/Kanye West) and “Rolling in the Deep” (Adele), respectively.
UK Music Video Awards (MVA's)
On 18 October 2011, “Simple Math” also made the “Shortlist” as a finalist for the UK Music Video AwardsUK Music Video Awards
The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music....
(MVA’s) “Best Indie/Rock Video – International.”
On Tuesday, 8 November 2011, it was announced at the ceremony in London that the video had won both the Indie/Rock award and “Video of the Year” .