In 1996, I went to see Sloan and Thrush Hermit play on their One Chord to Another tour at “The Barn” at UPEI. It was one of the greatest concerts I’ve ever seen. When Sloan’s last album came out, I wrote about it here on Acts of Volition.
Now, seven years later, their new album, Action Pact has been released (today, August 19), I’ve had the honour of working on the redesign and redevelopment of the official Sloan website. Along with the rest of the team at silverorange, we’ve developed the new site with the fans in mind. Fans can post show reviews in the Tour History and post photos of the shows they’ve seen. The response has been great.
On the geeklier side, the site is valid XHTML strict with a completely table-free CSS-based layout (big ups to Daniel B. who did most of the design and CSS work). The site makes use of The silverorange Weblog Platform and the silverorange Photo Gallery System. As a result, it was easy for us to generate RSS feeds for the regularly updated content on the site, including the news (RSS) and recent photos (RSS).
Check out the new site at SloanMusic.com.
And so the line between work and life fades even more.
a
Comments
Alan - August 20, 2003 8:26 am
Did Danny B. do the "sloan" logo/wordmark shown above? Very nice, very 1973. I was immediately impressed.
Steven Garrity - August 20, 2003 11:52 am
No, we can't take credit for the Sloan wordmark - it's been with the band longer than we have.
Alan - August 20, 2003 12:34 pm
Very nice application of it on the grey background. I am buying their music at lunch.
dave moses - August 20, 2003 3:32 pm
congrats to the folks at s/o. the site looks great and me big sloan fan.
dave moses - August 20, 2003 3:33 pm
except i wish the audio/video was quicktimed instead of realmediaed.
yours truly
the crybaby
Matt - August 20, 2003 4:17 pm
Very nice design! I, too, was at that fantastic Sloan concert at the Barn a few years ago. I've always liked the band. A buddy of mine at CBC in Halifax did a hilarious piece called "Sloan Moms," interviewing the band members' parents about their music and "grunge" lifestyle.
I like the first single, looking forward to the album.
eanws - August 20, 2003 5:29 pm
Great website, design and usability.
When will silverorange be making available their photo gallery system?
Laters
Melda - August 20, 2003 11:17 pm
Ahhhh, Patrick.
Mandy - August 20, 2003 11:22 pm
The site looks fantasic. Great job. You silverorange boys always do great work, looks stunning.
As for Sloan, these guys are terrific. There hasn't been a Sloan song yet that I haven't loved.
Steven Garrity - August 20, 2003 11:57 pm
Glad you guys like the site. We've added a few more RSS feeds (details and explanation over at the silverorange labs).
Gene - August 22, 2003 3:03 pm
Nice site and a very cool project. I saw them on the <i>One Chord to Another</i> tour as well, but in the Dinwoodie Lounge at the University of Alberta. As much as I like the new material, I always wish they would play more of <i>Twice Removed</i> (one of my all-time favourite albums).
mike m - August 26, 2003 7:28 pm
The Sloan website looks great.
Finally got a chance to pick up Action Pact today. Sounded good on first listen, but like most CDs I'll take a couple more listens before really deciding where it ranks within Sloan's offerings.
I somehow missed the Barn show. I'm not sure why, as One Chord to Another would have been in heavy rotation in my discman at the time. I love 4 Nights, and they sound like a solid live band.
Another CD I picked up today that I can highly recommend is Warren Zevon's - The Wind. Some of the songs take on an even more powerful meaning given that he's terminally ill with cancer. However, his trademark warped sense of humour is still sprinkled throughout. Toward the end of his cover of Knockin on heaven's door, he starts singing "open the door, open the door"