HAPPY NEW YEAR, FRIENDS!

Well, our 4 MONTHS, 4 ALBUMS journey is almost at an end!  It's been a very unique and memorable experience for us, and we hope it has been for those in attendance as well!

Tomorrow night, 1/20/12, we will finish things off by playing last year's Preludes live, in it's entirety.  We hope you can join us at Deep South The Bar in Raleigh along with the amazing Jack The Radio, Decades, and Crowfield!  Music starts promptly at 9pm, and it's only $5 to get in!  If you're itching to prep those singing-along muscles, head over to Bandcamp where Preludes is currently streaming in full!

After the show tomorrow night, we'll be taking the longest break from local Triangle NC shows in IWTDI's history.  We don't know how long it'll be, but you probably won't see us again until Vexations is released.  We've got a lot of things to do to prepare for that- from shooting music videos, booking tours, finishing artwork- all kinds of fun stuff.  Fret not, we'll be back (and to those of you outside of central-NC, we're still touring- dates are currently stacking up on the shows page as we speak!) - but all the more reason to come shake it with us tomorrow in Raleigh!

Be well, and we'll see you soon!

-IWTDI

OK, here we go- split into two sections:

I'm usually pretty good at being objective about music, and I usually don't include too many albums made by friends in my year-end lists.  My friends really outdid themselves this year, though.  I've separated these from the master list, but the following 6 albums come with my highest recommendation- and it just so happens all the music was made by some amazing individuals I am honored to know:

(Each artist name links to a song, as does each album title- two songs per release)

Farewell Continental - Hey, Hey Pioneers!
Des Ark - Don't Rock The Boat, Sink The Fucker
Wesley Wolfe - Cynics Need Love Too
Hammer No More The Fingers - Black Shark
The Trophy Fire - Modern Hearts
Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun - Wildfire

There were tons of great reissues this year (Achtung Baby, Smile, Siamese Dream, etc), as well as incredible soundtracks (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Moneyball, Contagion)....
BUT! here are the best of the best for 2011.  Get these.  Now.

MY TOP 15 ALBUMS OF 2011
1. Gotye - Making Mirrors
2. Bon Iver -Bon Iver
3. Big Talk - Big Talk
4. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
5. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien
6. Dutch Uncles - Cadenza
7. Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
8. Tycho - Dive
9. Kimbra - Vows
10. Washed Out - Within And Without
11. Street Chant - Means
12. The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient
13. Tune-Yards - Whokill
14. Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
15. The Sea And Cake - The Moonlight Butterfly

I also made a Spotify playlist with songs from each of the above albums (except for the few not available via the service)- http://specifyspot.com/playlists/john-bookers-best-of-2011

Join us this Friday, December 16th for our final show of an eventful year- performing Horror Vacui in its entirety live at Casbah in Durham!

We're halfway through our "4 Albums in 4 Months" extravaganza- after this and January's Preludes performance, there will be no more Triangle-area IWTDI performances for quite some time.  So come rock out, say hi for the holidays, and warm up with us this Friday in Durham!

Need a refresher to help you be ready to sing along with us?  Stream the album now at Bandcamp!

And thanks again to everyone for the kind words regarding our latest music video, "Control"!  It's now available on YouTube for all your embedding needs, etc.!

Our new music video for "Control" has premeired via Alternative Press!

We'd like to thank Jason Arthurs for once again bestowing upon us his genius as a director, as well as Lizzie Pearson-McLaughlin for her help, and Ava Richesin for being our little fort-building star!

Click here to watch the video!!

Our southeast tour kicks off this Thursday in Wilmington, NC- see all the dates listed below.  We'd love to see you!

In other news, we're offering a 15% off sale in our webstore- just in time for the holidays!  Just enter the code IWTDIXMAS when checking out from http://iwtdi.myminto.com/

SOUTHEAST TOUR 2011

12.1.11 REGGIE'S, WILMINGTON, NC

12.2.11 TIN ROOF, CHARLESTON, SC

12.3.11 NEW WORLD BREWERY, TAMPA, FL

12.4.11 WILL'S PUB, ORLANDO, FL

12.5.11 BURRO BAR, JACKSONVILLE, FL

12.7.11 THE JINX, SAVANNAH, GA

12.8.11 BACKSTAGE LOUNGE, GAINESVILLE, FL

12.9.11 GRAVEYARD TAVERN & THE BASEMENT, ATLANTA, GA

12.10.11 THE RADIO ROOM, GREENVILLE, SC

12.16.11 CASBAH, DURHAM, NC

Tomorrow, 11/17/11, we will bring you the second in our series of "album-shows"- The Beached Margin/Done Waiting, live at Tir Na Nog!

The Ethnographers will kick things off around 10pm, followed by IWTDI performing our 2 EP's from start to finish.  The show is part of WKNC's Local Band Local Beer shows at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh, NC and as always- it's completely FREE (and 21+)!

Get (re)acquainted with the music, and then join us for this one-time-only show!

A lot of you have been asking, so it's time to fill you in on the status of IWTDI's upcoming album, Vexations.  After a couple premature dates being set, the release has been pushed back to an unspecified time in 2012.  We apologize to our fans for the delay, but this is not your typical case of "the label doesn't want to put it out" or "it's taking longer than expected".  The record is completely finished- mixed and mastered.  IWTDI, our label, and our management all agree that we need to give the next steps of planning all aspects of release as much careful time and attention as possible.  We're all thrilled with the album and just don't want to screw anything up.  So, in the coming months, we'll be doing all the behind the scenes work necessary to get this thing ready for the world, and as soon as we're able to set the firm release date, we'll let you know.

As a "thanks for being patient with us" gift, we're organizing an exclusive 13-song collection of unreleased and rare material spanning our whole career- available only to those who joined our "2011 Subscription Club"(or those who do so SOON- hurry, the offer will disappear before the end of the year!).  You'll obviously still receive Vexations a bit before the general public, but to hold you over, we'll be sending subscribers a download of Unreleased & Rare Vol 1 next month, along with a special version of "liner notes", detailing the stories behind each tune.

A brief side-note: we had a blast last weekend performing our first album live in its entirety!  We have three more "album shows" over the next few months, and a southeast tour in December.  After that, we really will be disappearing for a while, gearing up for the impending release of the new album.  Please come show your support for these final few shows between now and January- we'll be hibernating for a bit after that!

Thanks again for your support.  We are incredibly eager to share our proudest achievement, Vexations, with you all in 2012!

FRI SEP 16: GUIDO'S SPEAKEASY, FREDERICK, MD
SAT SEP 17: THE REPUBLIC, RICHMOND, VA
SUN SEP 18: DYNASTY, WASHINGTON, DC
MON SEP 19: PIANOS, NEW YORK, NY
TUE SEP 20: THE BUG JAR, ROCHESTER, NY
WED SEP 21: THE MONKEY HOUSE, WINOOSKI, VT
FRI SEP 23: REX THEATER, PITTSBURGH, PA
SAT SEP 24: SAINT ANDREW'S HALL, DETROIT, MI
SUN SEP 25: THE MIXTAPE, GRAND RAPIDS, MI
MON SEP 26: CARABAR, COLUMBUS, OH
FRI SEP 30: THE JEWISH MOTHER, NORFOLK, VA
SAT OCT 1: RALEIGH AMPHITHEATER, RALEIGH, NC

We are pleased to announce that this fall/winter, I Was Totally Destroying It will be performing each of our albums live, in their entirety.  Once a month, starting in October, we will play an NC Triangle-area show, playing our albums from start to finish.

We have decided to do these shows for many reasons- selfish fun being at the top of the list.  Not to mention, we love a challenge- and what a challenge this will be!

Saturday, October 8 - Performing "I Was Totally Destroying It" @ The Pinhook, Durham, NC
w/ Gray Young, and special surprise guests!  *Also, our friend James Hall's 40th birthday celebration!

Thursday, November 17 - Performing the 2 EP's "The Beached Margin/Done Waiting" @ Tir Na Nog, Raleigh, NC
w/ The Ethnographers

Friday, December 16 - Performing "Horror Vacui" @ The Casbah, Durham, NC
w/ Jessica Long & The New Kind, Minor Stars

Friday, January 20 - Performing "Preludes" @ Deep South The Bar, Raleigh, NC
w/ Jack The Radio, This House On Fire

All of this is leading up to our forthcoming album, Vexations, to be released spring 2012 on Greyday Records.  These shows are a way to look back and celebrate the first 5 years of the band (that's right- we turn 5 in January!), while also laying some of these songs to rest.  We currently have a catalog of over 80 songs, and with our growing excitement about of latest material, it's inevitable that we'll need to retire some songs from live performance to focus on our current work.  We'll still mix it up quite a bit, as we always do, but after 5 years and a lot of changes, it feels like we're entering a new phase with IWTDI, and a lot of things are due for reevaluation.

We hope you'll join us for these shows- they will certainly be unique!  We'll be playing approximately 10 songs that have NEVER been played live, and many more that rarely see the light of day.  It's a fun experiment for us, and while we know these aren't like the legendary, iconic albums that often deserve such events, it seemed like a great way for us to add some variety to our hometown shows for the next couple seasons, and a great way to let our fans and friends have something more special than just your average rock show to enjoy with us.   

So we hope you'll come hear some songs live for the first (and possibly last) time, and party down at some unique, fun shows - with some stellar support acts, we might add!

Hope to see you out,
I Was Totally Destroying It

Thanks to The Big Takeover magazine for these kind words about Preludes!  Have you checked out the record yet??  It'd be swell if you did that!  We're heading back out on tour this fall, we'll be playing a lot of these songs and we'd love to see you- check out the shows page!  We're constantly adding dates, so keep checking back.

Here is the review from the current issue of Big Takeover:

I WAS TOTALLY DESTROYING IT PRELUDES
BY JACK RABID

IWTDI have been a commercially viable emo/indie-rock guitar band for four years, but having mastered the form on two pervious LPs, they seem itchy on Preludes to break out bigger.  While they haven't changed their slant, the production/arrangements are cleaner, leading them more towards anthem-oriented modern rock like the multitudes that filled MTV's 120 Minutes through the late '80s and early 90s, palatable to major label "alternative" divisions after U2's ascension. (Note, IWTDI sideline as a U2 tribute band.)  But not all those bands were slick or bad.  And whenever this Chapel Hill five hew to aggressive styles, like the standout "Wrecking Ball", Metric-esque "Regulators", or guitar bite of local legends Superchunk (sometimes with co-singer Rachel Hirsh's Cure-like keyboards) on "When Chaos Comes", "Control", and "Twenty-Thousand" (all featuring James Hepler's breakout drums), they make one anticipate a coming follow-up, Vexations.  (greydayproductions.com)

Hello and welcome to the brand new iwtdi.com!  Take a look around- lots of new stuff, and hopefully much more user friendly than our old Blogger site.  However, if you're ever looking for any of our super-old blog updates, you can still head over to iwtdi.blogspot.com and sift around.

We've got some other new things on the horizon, including a 45+ date fall tour that will take us all over the eastern half of the US (and Canada!).  Seriously, if you live east of Omaha, we'll likely be in your town (or verrrry close by) this September/October/November.  Stay tuned!  West Coast- we'll see you again in early 2012!

Until then- don't forget about Atlanta next weekend (Star Bar w/Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun) and our only NC show on the books- Deep South The Bar- July 31st (once again with TTM,TTS)!

Aaaaaaand we're DONE. Album #4 is tracked and will be mixed in a couple of weeks. I'm a bit dazed and ineloquent right now, but the whole band seems to agree that this is the best record any of us have ever been a part of- and we couldn't have done it without our GENIUS producers, Joshua Cain & Ed Ackerson. Thank you, guys.

We also owe a huge thanks to our home-away-from-home, MPLS, and the wonderful people who populate this beautiful city: Tommy Rehbein, Justin Pierre, Brittany Nelson, Lindsay Hutton, Ashley Ackerson, Amber Corbet, Jared Gudnason, Kelly Conant, Farewell Continental, Dan Mariska & his band, The Triple Rock Social Club- to name just a few!

We'll post some more pictures and some video from the session, eventually. And expect more details on the album in the next few months.

Now: we drive 20 hours!