The Vision of a Dying World - What You Are To Be Now You Become
by Eric Nielsen 01.16.07
We just got a copy of What You Are To Become You Become EP by The Vision of a Dying World. I had a nice listen to it yesterday driving through the desert world of the I-15 corridor. The sounds are rich, full and colorful like the artwork for the disc, done up in over-the-top psychedelic colors in the sky (my daughter likes the pink Converse on the back). It's a really pretty set of songs for such a bleak band name. This album is the opposite of Cormac McCarthy's dying world in The Road. This world is a pleasant place, an absurdly whimsical set of songs that flutter about like butterflies and bumblebees. One where the words and compositions are optimistic and playful... taking you to a better place.

We'd like to disclose that Jackson Milgaten (vocals, guitar, bass, etc.) advertises on BSD. He puts on shows as Action Jackson and is doing some very nice things for this town. He's doing a benefit for the Che Cafe next month to get cash together to upgrade their equipment. (He also mentioned his band van was broken into recently and half of their gear was stolen. I've been meaning to ask him, Why was only half of your stuff stolen? Was there only half of the band's gear in the van? Did the burglars differentiate between the expensive gear and the low budget stuff?) You can see that story further down this page.

Some might call this album alt-country, although we don't like to label that much here at BSD. There are southern references to be had throughout the instrumentation. Instruments on the disc include recorder, lap steel, mandolin, rhodes, tambourine, accordian, etc. There is also really sweet banjo and mandolin playing, although Cat Dirt is reporting on his site that that fella up and left to SF and they have a new drummer and a new sound. I can only imagine how different it is without their "multi-instrumentalist". I've got to get out to see them live to give you a heads up there. Check them out January 26th at the Che Cafe.

But anyway, the album. It's got great songs and sometimes it sounds a little bit like Tom Waits (The Nickel Plated Baby) with nice breaks, sometimes the Beatles (Smack My Face) with banjo; there is also some really layed back singing. I like the smart instrumentation choices and full tones on the acoustic guitar. There are some really great tones on the vocals.

It comes in at 8 songs and 25 minutes. It's really listenable and a pleasure to spend time with. It's really the instrumentation and the vibe that works best for me, floating through and keeping me interested. The whole piece sounds like they're on the porch on a sunny morning rolling tape, pleasantly passing the time and leads around the circle. It's nice to hear the band take their time orbiting and taking the time to craft a morning record.

Visions of a Dying World Gets Ripped Off
We just got an email from Jackson telling us about his gear getting ripped off. Here's what he had to say, "Yeah the whole gear jacking really fucked with me. The front window of my van was smashed and they just opened up the back and helped themselves to everything inside. This included our PA, my bass, my bass amp, our drums, and all the hardware and cymbals. They even took our merch! That stuff is just so personal it feels really weird to have it just taken like that. Sure we can replace it eventually. We couldn't really even afford that nice of instruments in the first place so the value of what was taken isn't that high but it's the memories and the attachment to that stuff that really makes it hurt. I mean, when they try to sell it or whatever they do with it they probably won't get that much for the stuff. I would buy it back off them if i could!"

The Vision of a Dying World Myspace