When we posted our most anticipated albums of 2010, there was a reason we decided to illustrate it with a Yeasayer thumbnail: It’s clear the playful psychedelic Brooklyn group’s second full-length Odd Blood, the followup to 2007 breakthrough All Hour Cymbals, could very well be a defining moment, a collection that builds on the buzz of “Sunrise,” “2080,” etc., and catapults the guys into someplace bigger. (For instance, think of the expansions made by Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, and Grizzly Bear in the past couple years). The fist-pumping disco-fueled first single “Ambling Alp” seemed to confirm these thoughts. But we upped that thumb before we’d heard all 10 tracks.
In some ways we overstate the drama. For those who’ve been paying attention, on top of the studio “Ambling Alp,” you’ve already heard live versions of almost half the collection (“ONE,” “Madder Red,” “I Remember,” and again with the “Ambling Alp”) more than once. That, and when they came through for a Progress Report we learned that they’d stocked their rented Woodstock, NY home studio with a Hammond organ, “drawers full of pedals,” gamelans, and koto drums, etc. Anand Wilder told Jessica:
We’re very computer-based. We’re not purists in any way. If a Protools plug-in can achieve the same kind of sound as an analog effect, then we’ll use it … People say Yeasayer is much better live and has more energy. But for us it’s about getting a recording we’re happy with and then replicating that in a live setting, but making the two things very distinct.
Sitting down and taking in “The Children” through “Grizelda” wasn’t a complete surprise, though it also wasn’t entirely what we were expecting. “The Children” is an interesting intro — it’s weirdly plodding with distorted sci-fi vocals, clanging percussion, and eventually smooth synthesizers and submerged horn sounds. The track initially feels like a “whatever” toss off, but on repeat listens it has a muddy slow-mo catchiness and opens Odd Blood with some tension building before the revved-up release of the early standout “Ambling Alp.” You’ve heard “Ambling” and know it’s exhortations for you to stick up for yourself, son, etc.
Those infectious character-building electro-blipped polyrhythms are followed by the (again triumphant) mid-tempo “Madder Red,” which weaves fine rocker guitars into pretty shadowed harmonies (that somehow remind us of Mr. Mister), but it’s the next track, “I Remember,” should soon become a staple at proms (and weddings) everywhere. “I Remember” has that quick, clipped nostalgia of Joe Brainard’s book-length poem of the same name. After some cascading synths and spirals, Chris Keating tears into a falsetto that involves reminiscences of making love on a Sunday, certain smells (fresh cut grass in may), etc: “You’re stuck in my mind / all the time.”
By the time we get to “ONE,” though, “you don’t move me anymore.” But, thing is, this one has the most movement to it — a joyful, riotous hand-drum Caribbean feel complete with another Bee Gees breakdown. It’s more spacey yearning on “Love Me Girl” which has an after-hours vibe even beyond the repeat entreaties to “stay up and play with me.” It’s maybe the strangest of the more straight-up songs: We get robo voices, steam-pipe percussion, a rattling Blade Runner interlude, more disco, and even a moment of what sounds like a coyote making his call against a starry western backdrop. After this, the album shifts, or perhaps dips, according to your predilection.
The toe-tapping “Rome” rattles forward, but in a less interesting way than the earlier tracks: It has rhythm and propulsion, but feels a bit empty. Yeasayer got folks hooked early on with “2080,” a song that started floating around long before we even knew what the band looked like, so when those sort of harmonies disappear in favor of pure texture, a bit of the appeal drops-out, too. Each of these latter songs = cool incidentals. Just not great individual songs. “Strange Reunions” throws twangy sitars and Queen-like claps into the bonfires. “Mondegreen” does a count-off with horny nighttime funk and a caffeinated declaration that “me and my baby” will be “making love until the morning light.” Was (Not Was) infested with some burrow owls just in time for your aerobics (and or swing-dance) routine? It’s better than we’re making that sound. Odd Blood closes on a mellow note with “Grizelda.” The airy song has a cascading vocal part redolent of the Jackson 5 trying out barber-shop psych-pop (note the iciness that enters at the 1:15 mark). It’s a pretty, gurgling exit that recaptures the earlier goosebumps.
So then, is Odd Blood the most front-loaded album of 2010? We kid. This is a complex collection, even if it’s less than 40 minutes long. There’s a lot to absorb. The other thing to remember: For all the goodness, All Hour Cymbals came with a fair amount of filler. But the band’s always been great live, which more than made up for that fact. This time through the ratio of great/good/blah is much more favorable: We love it up to and including “Love Me Girl.” The love wanes a bit with “Rome,” “Strange Reunions,” and “Mondegreen,” but if there’s anything Odd Blood‘s taught us is that love is a fickle up and down thing, so talk to us again after we’ve had more time to absorb this.
Odd Blood is out 2/9 via Secretly Canadian.
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Sounds like they are unsuccessfully trying to be the scissor sisters.
most anticipated list FAIL
definitely spotty. the good parts are GREAT and the meh parts are meh.
certainly NOT a FAIL though.
I agree with this statement entirely.
another reason it’s not a “fail” is because “fail” is not a noun, it’s a verb and “failure” is the noun.
so can all the bloggie sheep please stop perpetuating this annoying shit?
Well, I wanna hear it myself! Somebody leak this so I can feel elitist and special too!!
its been leaked for days. do you have to be an elitist to type odd blood into google?
Yeah, I’m not sure I’m digging this very much. There are some very solid parts to the album, but in other areas it seems odd and soulless. I think I need more time with it also, but so far it’s just ok.
Can’t find the leak, but the live songs sound very promising. And personally, I found the most interesting tracks on All Hour Cymbals were what you called “filler”. Hopefully this album has more “filler”
Gotta say, this is probably the best thing this band could’ve done, and easily the best album they’ll ever make. Their first just seemed like Genesis on weed. This betters that sound with real, real pop music, something that a lot of “indie” folks find much to their chagrin, but yet something I felt lurking in the first album behind a mask of “too cool.” I felt like this band was a side project waiting to become the real deal, and they have here. Perfect album? Time will certainly tell that it isn’t. But turning indie pop into bonafied radio smashatron, that it does. Any the results please me very, very much.
this album really, really sucks.
its funny cause after a few good listenes my review would be the exact opposite of this. i LOVE side b
I do so love this album so far.
its sort of overwhelming and nauseating…
Sorry guys…. Didn’t like it…
I propose:
1) Replace Rome with the far superior Phoenix track of the same title
2) Replace Mondegreen with the title track from Brian Eno’s Another Green World
The power to bastardize is in your hands.
A second side should not be nearly that spastic. That said, up through Love Me Girl I can dig it — Madder Red is particularly choice. Helps that AHC, for all I liked it, was not a monolith of untouchable quality. But these guys are a good time, even if the global/organic/sampled acoustic sound was more unique.
Does that fluttering synth sound remind anyone of the sound that plays when you beat the villain at the end of those flying ship stages in mario 3. You beat the villain and this magic wand appears and you descend with it down to the king and that sound plays.
Anyway i really really really really don’t like this album. Sounds straight from a Disney movie.
I have a question: in the age of “shuffling”, are albums meant to be heard in track order anymore?
YES
You have to read a lot of music blogs to make such a simple and irrelevant question sound so philosophical and momentous.
ive been googling forever. where do you find these leaks?
if you throw in the words “rar” or “mediafire”, click around long enough and you’ll find it
This is one of the strangest, strangest mixes I’ve heard in a long time.
Having said that, I was put off on first listen but actually found it gets better the more you digest the production. The transition from The Children makes Ambling Alp even better and I found Rome pretty catchy. Right now I find the whole thing compulsively fun.
And though the second half is inconsistent, Mondegreen is CRAZY. In a CRAZY way.
I’m glad Yeasayer took a calculated risk with this one rather than trying to make these songs sound normal.
this album is fucking LAME
This reminds me of when Bloc Party laid their sophomore turd trying too hard to be TVotR. To complete the analogy, just change these band names to Yeasayer and AnCo, respectively.
ha so true!
trying to be AC really bad indeed…oh and they moved to Brooklyn from Baltimore? My poser alarm is going haywire over here…
I always wondered what a half man/half ball sack would look like. Thanks odd blood album cover.
I am a big yeasayer fan but I gotta say they stretched a bit far on this one. though there are a few quality pop tracks here, it does fee like they are trying way too hard. the peter bjorn and john letdown award winner of 2010?
I got my hands on a leaked version of this bad boy. I’ve heard the album. It is incredible. Far better production than All Hour Cymbals, and even finer music produced. I’m shocked by the distain. Why the distain? Why the distain?!
Why the what now?
Well put. To all those who say they’re trying to sound like Animal Collective, wha?!?
Uh… *disdain? disdain? disdain?! Ouch. Three times.
*disdain
Does this album divide yeasayer fans between hipsters and hippies, in pro or anti?
At this moment I’m very impressed by the album, and in opposite to most of the people I like the upbeat songs Rome and Mondegreen…
What “The Lost Weekend” said
Listened to this twice so far. I liked it on first listen, a bit of a dull closer. Second listen I was getting into it more. I think this is a definite grower like All Hour Cymbals. That being said, if you played these two albums back to back for someone who knew nothing of the band… they would have no idea they were the same band. That’s not always a bad thing either.
Found it (Y10OB.rar). I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. Still a good listen and i love this band, but after becoming addicted to Ambling Amp and Tightrope I was expecting much more.
This album could prove to be a grower – or completely forgotten. Give it a few spins before you judge though – there’ s a lot to take in.
One will be one of the songs of 2010 for sure. There’s a few hits on here that MGMT fans will eat up. Well done yeasayer
We get it! They are trying really, really, reallllly hard to be psychedelic.
I had to reread this when I got to work and started listening because I thought I might have a bum download. Those robot voices in track 1 are definitely unexpected.
Update to my own comment: I’ve listened to this 5 times now today and I think it’s terrific (except for “I Remember,” which does, in fact, sound like Mr. Mister, who sucked the first time).
DIsagree. I think it picks up with the last few tracks. The end is sort of a MJ-homage that really fits the description they gave earlier of “being something that makes you feel not cool enough to listen to, like when white people listen to hip hop or rap music”. I think we’re gonna hear a slew of people copying Yeasayer, Neon Indian, and the like in the next part of this generation of indie/electro.
it’s funny how expectations can affect a listen. if this album came on my stereo and I had no idea who it was, I’m pretty sure I’d be blown away. actually, even with expectations, I was still pretty blown away, although I do agree with Stereogum’s notion of tracks 7-9 being not as good as the rest of the album. All Hour Cymbals might be better as a cohesive album, but Madder Red and ONE are 10s in my book. fucking amazing tracks. (oh yeah, and I also don’t think they sound much like Animal Collective…sure, there is some looped delay-heavy stuff going on, but really that’s a Brian Eno thing way before either group. Yeasayer’s percussion is way different, and IMHO more interesting, plus very different songwriting than AnCo). in the parlance of our times, Odd Blood WIN
This isnt the greatest album I thought theyd come up with but I think this album has great potential since they’re such an amazing live band. All Hour Cymbals had tons of filler yet the live versions were great. They’re kinda llike a jam band(which not a fan of) in the sense that the albums are just a basis for the brilliance of the live show. I’ve seen them a few times and really believe these songs will translate in concert. I think thats why they tour so frequently cause they pick up fans along the way. I wish more indie bands were like this.
Touring=Fans
i 100% agree. i think the first six songs are nothing short of spectacular, especially after repeated listens, but then the rest loses me. and all in all, the greatness of those tracks (madder red, ONE, love me girl imparticular) totally outweigh any doubt about the last few tracks. and its an album where you hear something new with every listen, and will probably continue to do so. i love it
Hey, I listen to this album then said the same thing that the above review said, am I in the club now?
this album is phenomenal.
ambling alp
madder red
i remember
and one
are all spectacular. the rest aren’t on that level but aren’t bad.
i don’t see how anyone could dislike. and i don’t see the animal collective comparison.
I’ve got to say, i think it’s really quite average. One and Ambling Alp are great tracks but nothing else really stands out. I’ve heard a fair few of the tracks live as well and that falsetto vocal motif from madder red is more grating than it is harmonious. There’s no sense of space and continuity in the album either- so much is happening simultaneously that there seems no room to breath a lot of the time- too many ideas spoil the yeasayer
I don’t mind a band reinventing its sound from album to album, but I do mind when the reinvention sounds like dung run through protool effects.
“One” sounds like a Culture Club song, and it sounds like it’s even being sung by Boy George. Over all I’m really enjoying the album.
For anyone still confused by how the Internet works, the leak is on isohunt.
All the songs everyone dislikes are my favorite, weird. I think it’s a much more cohesive album to the first. Better production and matured into a different sound. Still Yeasayer though, with a few more beats and upbeatness. Made that last word up, but sums up this album I think. 2010 has started well, even before it has actually started…..Impressive, bring on Radio dept next
I’m having trouble digging it past Ambling Alp. It’ll get another try soon
really digging Ambling Alp, Madder Red, I Remember, and i also really like Rome (despite popular opinion)
but ONE is one of the best songs i’ve heard in a while.
OH so *80*s! so so eighties pop! makes me want to trip some geerz in my lambo through the streets of Miami @ night.
Ball-drainingly mediocre suckage… sorry, boys. I hoped for so much more.
i like how now that animal collective has made it big, anyone using any sort of electronic percussion elements over a catchy melody gets automatically compared to them. this album sounds NOTHING like animal collective. could you really see AC putting out a song like “love me girl” or “i remember” or “madder red” (and im an AC fan, so this is not a bash on them at all)?
and to anyone who gave it one listen and dismissed it, i would recommend giving it a few more listens. but of course we are all entitled to our own opinions.
I’ve only been through it once so far; I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s a band trying some different shit; is that bad? Did everyone want them to make All Hour Cymbals Two? Because that would be the greatest tragedy. Some of you guys need to have your diapers changed. It’s only music…
I agree, if you want All Hour Cymbals thats why they wrote that 2 years ago.
I’m really surprised at all the negative responses to this album… I friggin love it! On the other hand tho, I wasn’t exactly superfan #1 of their first album. I liked it, but I like this crazy acid trip / electronic direction a lot more.
The song writing on this album seems much weaker than it was on All Hour. I was also a little disappointed they dropped a lot of the world elements they had on All Hour. That said, this album really grew on me and now it makes for a great listen from start to finish. I do wish that the songs themselves weren’t so centered on cheesy love catch-lines though.
I was unsure after the first couple of listens, but it gets better every time. That seems to be the formula for my favorite albums A bit of a cheese factor to some of the sounds, but they would kill it live. Stereogum’s evaluation is spot on, and the comparisons to Animal Collective seem contrived.
These comments are making me feel old.
This is a Vincent Clarke album. I don’t mean in the hipster, “it reminded me of him so I’m going to treat them like a ripoff” way, I mean if you told me this was Clarke’s latest project, I’d not only believe you, I’d feel a bit insulted that you had assumed I couldn’t figure it out just by listening to it.
Quavery vocals, bright, wobbly synths, icy melodrama. “Madder Red” and “I Remember” especially…for Christ sakes, “I Remember” sounds EXACTLY like Erasure. Which, I should add, I’m perfectly happy with. Stuff like this has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, and this album comes off as more substantial and less ABBA obsessed.
You all should sit down with this one again. It’s all there and it’s all good.
some unbelievable songs….and some that are just plain embarrassing….really either knock it out or blow it
give it time daniel-san
This is why premature evaluations are a terrible idea. Good albums take time to sink in. A few songs on “All Hour Cymbals” were immediate ear-grabbers, and the other half was definitely a grower. It’s the same with “Odd Blood.” There are some instant smashes, and the rest of it requires digestion. I have a feeling this will end up being far more successful than most are currently predicting.
really?
the first album had interesting parts, but this just makes me shudder. embarrassing.
some of it sounds like 80s prom music (in a bad way). some sounds like genesis (in a bad way). some sounds like rejected songs for an unreleased hippie version of dance dance revolution (in a very bad way).
I absolutely agree with you;
it is really well produced but its basically dance music and i don’t hear a real instruments on here,
i guess 80′s are back (it’s blitz was like that too)
How do you define ‘real instruments’?
what I meant is that you don’t ear and feel the sound of people playing but more the sound produced by computers and high tech equipement, which is a big change from their first record where they had a sort of tribal vibes with awesome bass lines, percussions etc…
this is more like electronic music, nothing wrong with it, but i just don’t like it very much,less emotion but more pop
At first i had no clue what to make of it because it’s a far cry from “ACH”. But after the 10th listen, its grown on me and I’m at that point where i can’t get enough.
GREAT (3/4 of an) album, if you can make songs as good Madder Red, ONE, I Remember, etc..than you can fart on half the album tracks as far I’m concerned
I’ve heard half the songs from the album. Good, not great but i think it’l take a bit of time just like AHC and most great albums do.
Bit disappointed they’ve gone for a more pop/commercial friendly sound than following that middle eastern infused sound from AHC, which made them so awesome and different to most of the other bullshit out there….
Having said that, I’m still gonna buy it when it comes out…
Too repetitive and wayyyy too much like Animal Collective.
Not a bad album but Yeasayer could’ve done better.
Madder Red is an awesome song!
This is a very good album. In my opinion, more mature and consistent than AHC. Its strengths and rewards don’t reveal themselves immediately. It seems to require careful listening, and I have no problem with that.
Congrats to Yeasayer for pushing themselves, doing something new, and taking risks.
the album art is a lot like the music i’ve heard form the album so far:
very processed, synthetic and different for the sake of being different while lacking the passion and vision that makes separates great electronic music from mediocre electronic music.
“Mondegreen” reminds me of the soundtrack to the movie Labyrinth, in a bad way.
Isn’t this band from Maryland? When did they sheep it up to Brooklyn?
i dont really see the AC comparisons overall…i mean using a lot of effects, samples, and sequenced drums doesn’t mean you automatically fall into the same sound as one band.
although, i have to say “Ambling Alp” could’ve been a discared MPP b-side…
My 2 cents:
First off, I loved All Hour Cymbals, and had very high hopes for this album. They’ve definitely gone with more of a straightforward electro-pop feel on it.
The first couple of times that I listened to it last night, I was disappointed with the excessive repetition of lyrics on some of the songs. Then I caught myself with “ONE”, “Madder Red,” and “Love Me Girl” all stuck in my head over the course of the day at work. It may be pop, but it is REALLY GOOD pop. The kind of pop that sounds slightly familiar yet original at the same time. Repeat listens with this perspective have greatly increased my appreciation of Odd Blood.
So maybe it’s not the earth shattering album of the year that I was hoping for. It will, however, land 4-5 songs on my favorites playlist, which is more than an average album. At this point, I would give it a 8/10, and I will definitely catch them live when they come around.
Are you guys serious?? This album is FU?KIN AMAZING!!!
Every track score above a 5 (on a 1-10 scale), most are 10′s. I especially love Love me Girl, Rome and Mondegreen. People trust me on this one, this album is gonna be legendary, and anybody who disagrees, I hope you’re around in 10 years when this is gonna be one of the most influential albums.
I’m really happy with the direction Yeasayer has taken with this, and I’m glad they’re moving away from the drugged-out, hippy sounding stuff they has on AHC (it was good, but Odd Blood is so much better)
Yeasayer, (if any of u guys read this) I hope you’re all as proud of what you guys came out with, as I am. I can see you guys becoming popular and successful in a couple of months (which maybe some of the snobby hipster who commented above won’t like cause then “everybody” is gonna be talking about you and you wont be as cool to theses guys)
I can not agree more!!!! This album is just incredible. A fucking masterpiece. “One” is so good, it’s beyond words. I can’t stop smiling this album is so good.
ONE is great. i think they’re way better when they take themselves less seriously and just have fun with the music. which you can clearly hear on that track.
awful. the only song with real groove is “ambling alp,” and the lyrics sound more like a motivational speaker than anything else.
a big fat pile of shit.
nice! best comment yet, just on comedic terms. But i think this definitely a grower. every time i listen to it again, i get its groove more and more. In a pitchfork tv interview the bassist says they are unapologetically going for a pure pop sound. Some albums hit you in the face with how good they are ( beach house: teen dreams anyone?), this one maybe defies expectations a bit, and it takes a while to synthesize their intentions/goals with this album.The main problem is I think they feared the sophmore slump so much that they drenched the album in as many studio-doodle sounds as they could, and in an aloofly cool isolation from true earnestness-Arty posturing so noone will think this is their coldplayification record. Unlike tvor and ac they still arent using studio production to enliven extremely strong core melodies and ideas, so that many songs sound a bit forced, overly complex, which ironically sheds more light on the hollow cores of many of the tracks. Just a bit surprised they didnt have more/better ideas for this record. That being said, its not terrible, as i said it grows on you, albeit slowly. Lets see how we all feel in a couple of weeks….
sorry, most comedic comment was aimed at the guy who compared this to bloc party trying to sound like tvor, i.e yeasayer aping animal collective.
Now, yes people are correct in saying this sounds nothing like ac, i think the comparisons are a bit more subtle than that.basically they seem to have to taken the same artistic direction as ac, i.e. a beat heavy sampley electronic sounding record( however you want to describe it).But There is little feeling of a band playing instruments here, just computers and vocals, and that was a real strength on ahc. Now some of it still sounds very good, but they seem to have jammed as much shit into every track as they could, and some of the “melodies” here dont deserve even a ten second song, let alone 4 minutes of bleeps, bloops, horns, synths, etc. Maybe its not a fair comparison, but if you are gonna make an album this ambitious, musically diverse, and complex, there have to be extremely strong melodies; a dedication, beyond the studio experimentation, to transcedent, beautiful melodies, harmonies, deep grooves, rythmes and novel ideas. I can’t hammer it home enough, nothing is terrible here, but songs have to be built on stronger foundations than this….
I think this whole CD is pretty solid from what I’ve heard so far. I think that in some aspects I’m lucky to have heard this album before the previous “Cymbals” one because I don’t have the burden of trying to figure out whether they lived up to the older stuff on this release. I’m always more indie-underground oriented, but this is a CD that I could see getting very popular and for once I wouldn’t mind that. This is very 80′s influenced, and even though that was sort of before my time its a great sound. I thought Rome kicks ass, personally. Music isnt supposed to be liked by everyone, its supposed to be an expression. I doubt this band really cares if the “purists” out there don’t like what they’re doing, even though this “purist” does…
So…just because they decide to do some experimentation, that means they’re trying to be TV on the Radio or Animal Collective? Other bands are allowed to be experimental too, you know.
I love this album. It’s very bizarre, unique, and ridiculously catchy. A lot of the comments above me seem to complain about their shift away from “All Hour Cymbals”, but that’s exactly what to expect from a band like Yeasayer. They spend some time crafting a particular sound, and then they eventually find something else to mess around with. It’s awesome that their two albums are so different from each other. It sure beats trying and failing repeatedly to re-create the sound of their first album, which many bands seem to do these days. “Odd Blood” may take several listens to fully digest the content, but it’ll definitely turn out to be one of the best albums of 2010.
Definitely a grower. Didn’t even think I wanted to download songs the first time I heard them but left them on my random play list and found they were sticking in my head. Started to feel like this was a noise that my ears had been craving but didn’t know it yet, ya know? I’m an old hippie and not a hipster, so my tastes probably lean more towards the ‘does it rock out?’ than the ‘how well is is crafted?’ category and I think it really rocks out in a smart way.