Old Blood is an album by Mayday

Mayday (American band)

Mayday is a band from Omaha, Nebraska, on the Saddle Creek Records label, led by Ted Stevens, also of Cursive and Lullaby for the Working Class.-Band members:*Ted Stevens*Tiffany Kowalski*Daniel J...

, released May 14, 2002. The album was recorded in May and November 2001 at Presto! Recording Studios

Presto! Recording Studios

Presto! Recording Studios is located in Lincoln, Nebraska, and run by brothers Mike Mogis and A.J. Mogis. The studio began in the brothers' North Platte, Nebraska basement and around 1995 moved to the basement of a Lincoln home. First known as Whoopass Recording Studio, the name was later changed...

 in Lincoln, Nebraska

Lincoln, Nebraska

The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....

. Mayday features the vocals and compositions of Lullaby for the Working Class

Lullaby for the Working Class

Lullaby for the Working Class was an indie folk rock band from Lincoln, Nebraska, active from the mid-to-late 1990s. Fronted by Omaha, Nebraska singer-songwriter Ted Stevens , the group also featured multi-instrumentalist and producer Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, his brother, producer A.J...

 frontman Ted Stevens

Ted Stevens

Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...

. Ted is joined by the remaining Lullaby members, including Mike

Mike Mogis

Mike Mogis is a Nebraskan producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist who, along with his brother A.J. Mogis, founded Presto! Recording Studios ....

 and A.J. Mogis, whose talents extend from behind the mixing console as players on the recording.

The instrumentation of Old Blood is referential to the Lullaby staples of guitar, vibraphone, strings, and banjo, extending the formula with piano, organ, tympani, and loads of guest vocals. The resulting sound is both raw and ornate. Revisited themes of spring, rebirth, solidarity, florescence, and distress establish a unity of imagery amidst sporadic changes in song dynamic. The songs were selected from a long and arbitrary collection of demos that have been in the works for years. The name "Mayday" is significant in that Stevens and friends have held a small concert billed as Mayday each May 1 for the last six years.

Stevens has spent the last couple of years playing in Cursive

Cursive (band)

Cursive is an American indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska, on Saddle Creek Records.-History:The band was formed in 1995 by Tim Kasher, Matt Maginn, Steve Pedersen , and drummer Clint Schnase. In 1997, they released Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes. After a couple years of touring, the band...

, as well as backing up Bright Eyes, Dave Dondero, Azure Ray

Azure Ray

Azure Ray is an American dream pop duo, consisting of musicians Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink. The pair met at the age of 15 at the Alabama School of Fine Arts...

, Simon Joyner

Simon Joyner

Simon Joyner is a singer-songwriter from Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Considered by some to be the forefather of the burgeoning Omaha music scene , he has profoundly influenced the music of Bright Eyes. Joyner also collaborated with John Darnielle, of The Mountain Goats, and Beck listed Joyner...

, and The Good Life

The Good Life (band)

The Good Life is an indie rock band on Saddle Creek records.Started as a solo project of Cursive's frontman Tim Kasher, The Good Life quickly grew to become its own established group. The original intent of The Good Life was to provide Tim Kasher with a vehicle to perform songs that did not fit...

. As Lullaby, Ted, Tiffany, Mike and A.J. released three albums on Bar/None Records

Bar/None Records

Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey.-Early history:Tom Prendergast started Bar/None in early 1986. Having previously worked in pirate radio and booked and promoted bands in his native Ireland, Prendergast moved to Hoboken in 1982 and started Pier Platters...

 and a host of vinyl releases for Saddle Creek.

For even more Mayday, scroll backwards at the beginning of the first track to reveal several more songs buried in the CD's pregap

Pregap

The pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents . The pregap is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence...

.

This album is the 44th release of Saddle Creek Records

Saddle Creek Records

Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Conor Oberst and Justin Oberst in 1993 . Conor soon turned over his role in the company to Robb Nansel...

.

Track listing

1. "Cinquefoils"
2. "Come Home"
3. "Captain"
4. "Tone/Atone/Atonal"
5. "Lullaby For The Sleeping Elephant"
6. "I Know Moonlight"
7. "Confession"
8. "Pilot"
9. "Temple/Temporary/Extempore/Tempo"