The rains in DC are not ceasing, and if they keep up much longer, I am probably going to actively seek out just how big a cubit is. While my aversion to umbrellas means I end up sitting down with wet pants everytime I go outside, the rain brings some upsides. For instance – April showers bring May flowers (leaving me and my new found allergies in a pollen induced stupor), and these day make the rainy, springtime soundtracks permissible. Antarctica’s double-disc masterpiece “81:03″ (the run-time of the album), has long been a favorite rainy day soundtrack of mine. The record sonically recreates the warm-embrace of sitting in front of a window and watching water tumble out of the cold grey skies. 

The band which formed out of the ashes of Christie Front Drive (a sonic transformation second only to Wes Eisold’s Some Girls to Cold Cave shift), blends the synth and programming influences of New Order with Robert Smith’s guitar work from the early Cure records. The sum is a sound that’s atmospheric, and lugubrious in the best possible way. The band lasted all too briefly from 1995 – 1999, after which two of the five members went on to form the similar sounding, but more synth-heavy Ova Looven.

MP3: Antarctica -Tower of Silence