The Middle East were a musical collective from Townsville, Australia, which formed in 2005. Fusing various influences from post-rock to folk to ambient, various members have at different times played in other North Queensland based groups such as Joseph Liddy and the Skeleton Horse, The Forest, and We Are Buildings. After completing several East Coast tours, they released a split EP in 2006 with local Cairns band Sleeping in Trains. Their debut album The Recordings of the Middle East was released on 24th April 2008, shortly before the band announced their first split. They reconvened eight months later, and in the autumn of 2009 released their album in the United States as an abridged EP, also called The Recordings of the Middle East. Their song "Blood" is featured in the films Accidents Happen, It's Kind of a Funny Story. and Crazy, Stupid, Love, as well as in an episode of the Australian television comedy-drama series Offspring and an advertisement for European bank BNP Paribas. At the start of their appearance at 2011's Splendour in the Grass music festival, the band announced that their set that night would be their last show ever, thanking fans in attendance for making their finale special for the band.
