essentials: the birth of the postal service

Here's a track that few have, but would probably love! A lot of people adore The Postal Service, but few have read back to see how they came to be... Well, here is the track that started it all.

The Postal Service is the serendipitous collaboration of Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello, who is also a pretty fantastic producer. This track is off Dntel's album Life Is Full Of Possibilities, and sparked a series of collaborations between the two that, when molded together, produced the heralded Give Up LP (that so many in our generation own) that was released in February 2003.

The track itself uses a great deal of distortion and deep (often frantic) percussion over Gibbard's bewitching vocals. It was ahead of its time and probably not mainstream enough to be appreciated by the masses, but it's nothing less than an enchanting track.

Though the follow up album has been indefinitely shelved, it is still fascinating to hear the magic between these two on this initial foray. I also added my favorite B-side of theirs, a tracked called Be Still My Heart that I've loved since the moment it hit me. Feel free to download and exploit. Enjoy!

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