Emergency & I

Emergency & I
Studio album by The Dismemberment Plan
Released	October 26, 1999
Genre	Post-hardcore, Indie rock
Length	45:07
Label	DeSoto Records
Producer	J. Robbins and Chad Clark
The Dismemberment Plan chronology
The Ice of Boston (EP) (1998) Emergency & I (1999) Change (2001)

Emergency & I is a 1999 album by Washington, D.C. indie band The Dismemberment Plan, issued on DeSoto Records. It was produced by J. Robbins and Chad Clark. Reviews for the album were generally very favorable.

On January 11th 2011, Barsuk Records reissued the vinyl edition of Emergency & I, which includes an oral history of the band conducted by The A.V. Club's Josh Modell.^[1]

Background

In 1998, The Dismemberment Plan signed a record deal with Interscope Records. Emergency & I was recorded during the band's time with Interscope and was meant to be the first of the two albums they would record with the label.^[2]

However, when Geffen Records and A&M Records merged into Interscope in 1999, Universal Music Group announced that they would cut numerous artists from Interscope.^[2] The Dismemberment Plan were one of the artists affected by the cut. In turn, the band decided to release Emergency & I on their former label DeSoto Records.^[3]

Track listing

All music composed by Travis Morrison, Jason Caddell, Eric Axelson and Joe Easley.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"A Life of Possibilities"	4:34
2.	"Memory Machine"	2:43
3.	"What Do You Want Me to Say?"	4:18
4.	"Spider in the Snow"	3:50
5.	"The Jitters"	4:19
6.	"I Love a Magician"	2:38
7.	"You Are Invited"	4:52
8.	"Gyroscope"	2:29
9.	"The City"	4:26
10.	"Girl O'Clock"	2:54
11.	"8½ Minutes"	2:57
12.	"Back and Forth"	5:07

Bonus tracks on the 2011 vinyl[4]
No.	Title	Length
13.	"The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich"	2:22
14.	"Since You Died"	4:28
15.	"Just Like You"	4:43
16.	"The First Anniversary Of Your Last Phone Call"	4:42

"A Life of Possibilities", "What Do You Want Me to Say?", "Jitters" and "The City" are all also featured in remixed form on A People's History of the Dismemberment Plan with bonus tracks "Just Like You" and "The First Anniversary Of Your Last Phone Call" being on The Ice Of Boston EP.

Personnel

• Eric Axelson – bass, keyboards
• Jason Caddell – guitar, keyboards
• Joe Easley – drums
• Travis Morrison – vocals, guitar, keyboards

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
Consequence of Sound	link
One Thirty BPM	95% link
Pitchfork Media	(10.0/10) [1] (2011)
PopMatters	(10/10) link
Robert Christgau	A- link
Rolling Stone	link
Sputnikmusic	link
Tiny Mix Tapes	link

Emergency & I has received mostly positive reviews.

Pitchfork Media gave the album a 9.6 out of 10 (they gave the reissue a perfect score of 10/10), with a short review that read simply, "If you consider yourself a fan of groundbreaking pop, go out and buy this album right now. Now. Get up. Go."^[5] Ned Raggett of Allmusic wrote "The band's third full album is a firecracker, showing their at once passionate and sly approach to music—take in everything, put it back out, and give it its own particular sheen and spin—is in no danger of letting up."^[6] In a retrospective review written in 2011, Zachary Houle of Popmatters wrote "Just in terms of a sheer personal enjoyment factor, I would almost argue the case for a new rating: the Spinal Tap-esque 11. Emergency & I is just a relentless record, full of youthful abandon and insightful penetrations into the technology-addled brain. I just can’t get enough of it."^[7]

Emergency & I was ranked the best album of 1999 by Pitchfork Media and was ranked #16 on Pitchfork Media's "redux" version of the Top 100 Albums of the 1990s list.^[8][9] In addition, the website ranked the track "The City" #64 on their list of the Top 200 Tracks of the 1990's^[10]

References

1. ^ Modell, Josh. The Dismemberment Plan to reunite for East Coast tour, issue Emergency & I on vinyl. The A.V. Club. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b} Segal, David. Archive: The Dismemberment Plan's dalliance with Interscope Records. Washington Post. 20 February 1999. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
3. ^ McMahan, Tim. LazyEye Interview: The Dismemberment Plan. 9 March 2000. Retrieved 15 June 2011
4. ^ The Dismemberment Plan Music. The Dismemberment Plan. Retrieved 15 June 2011
5. ^ DiCrescenzo, Brent (1999-10-01). "Dismemberment Plan: Emergency & I". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/2338-emergency-i/. Retrieved 2009-09-26. 
6. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Emergency & I - Review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r442522. Retrieved 2009-09-26. 
7. ^ Houle, Zachary. The Dismemberment Plan's "Emergency & I": A Record of Colossal Possibilities. Popmatters. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
8. ^ "Pitchfork: Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork Media. 2003-11-17. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5923-top-100-albums-of-the-1990s/. Retrieved 2009-09-26. 
9. ^ Pitchfork Staff Lists: Top 10 Albums of 1999. Pitchfork Media. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 14 June 2011
10. ^ Pitchfork: Staff Lists: The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 100-51. Pitchfork Media. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2011

External links

Emergency & I at Allmusic