Heh. I remember trying to buy the $80 version of In Rainbows a few years back. My order didn't go through, and at the time I was pissed about not getting the sweet collector's edition.
I loved the album, but I was pretty happy the next month when I was able to buy groceries.
I'd like to think of myself as a rational Radiohead diehard. That may be an oxymoron, but let's run with it. They're my favorite band, but I don't view them as being above criticism. Hail to the Thief could've lost a few songs, and The King Of Limbs could use a few more. I've never been a big fan of Climbing Up The Walls. And so on, and so forth.
I like the King of Limbs, quite a bit. I've listened to it quite a bit in the past month and half, and I think it's had time to sink in. I'm sure a lot of critics are probably holding back criticisms and giving the album more time to grow on them than they would with a different band's equally inaccessible album. And disappointment from fans is natural - I think it's easily their worst album after Pablo Honey.
But Radiohead has a lot of great music to live up to. You view this as "people are critical, but they would be more critical if it weren't Radiohead", were I see instances of the opposite occurring. Holding The King of Limbs up to the rest of Radiohead's catalog makes it look like a bit of a stinker. But looking at it out of context, it's a very good album. Imagine if The King of Limbs was a new band's first album. Would a 7 something from Pitchfork seem too high in that case? Again, I'm not a head in the sand kind of fan. I really could do without Feral. And the new Burial/Thom Yorke/Four Tet release does absolutely nothing for me. And now, more than ever, I'm sure they could potentially release a dud. Their next record could suck. But this one doesn't.
This is the first Nardwuar interview I've ever seen. Naturally I just watched like 8 more on YouTube. Dude's incredible. I think the N.E.R.D. one did the best job of showcasing his talents.
Also - Tyler's voice sounds dark and sultry when he's just talking. That's awesome.
I still can't really get into Skeletal Lamping (to me it sounds like 4 of Montreal albums mashed up with each other... no segment last long enough for me to get my hooks into), but I totally agree with people only looking to Hissing Fauna as of Montreal's "good album". I started listening to them when Satanic Panic came out, and I looovvve that album. Hissing Fauna is awesome, but things before it never even get a mention.
Well, I kinda love it now. The all-over-the-place feeling sort of threw me for a loop my first few listens, but now I'm finding more to love about each song, even if they still don't really gel.
Oh man, how I wanted this album to take me there. I remember seeing Hard to Explain on MTV one day before school in the 8th grade. It totally blew me away. First Impressions still holds a place in my heart, if not just for the first three songs on the album. I was crazy pumped for Angles too until I heard the straight up River Of Brakelights demo "You're So Right" and then read about how the entire album was recorded Postal Service style. The end result isn't horrible, but it sure is a bummer.
It's kind of a mess, small scale and large. Taken for a Fool and Under Cover of Darkness are great, catchy songs, but the rest of the tracks (and the album as a whole) kind of meander around without ever finding real cohesion or a central theme.
I just chalk it up to people being irrationally defensive about music. A lot of reasonable, non hater comments get the downvote just for not being pro-whatever band is being discussed, even if that comment is something as tame as "I'm disappointed by this band's latest song". It's kind of a bummer sometimes.
Then again having half of the comments section taken up by GIFs isn't so much better. ;)
Kinda my thoughts. I liked Phrazes for the Young though, so hopefully they'll be able to strike a nice balance between Julian's solo stuff and an old fashioned Strokes sound.
I'm not so sure. Don't get me wrong, 8 tracks is pretty short, and they did release an In Rainbows bonus disc. But I'm pretty sure this is the meat of the album. Releasing another 8 tracks would be crazy. It would be awesome, sure, but that would make for one big ass album overall.
I can vividly remember the In Rainbows hoopla and all of the late night internet insta-reviews, so I'm going to hold off on my criticisms for now. That incident taught me that my first impressions in a crazy shit storm of hype and never ending live blogs cannot really be trusted.
I like a fair share of Odd Future stuff, and the end performance freakout was great, but the song was a little weak. Not the song itself, but the sound/mixing on these late night/SNL shows is always kinda off. Still cool to see them on the TV.
C'mon, it's much more than a set of glorified b-sides. I love the album, and I can see why a lot of people wouldn't take it over OK Computer. But honestly, over the years, it remains there deepest, most emotional work in my eyes. Kid A is amazing, a sonic journey and all that. But it's kind of become a little sterile for me. Maybe just because I've listened to it a ton, I don't know. But Pyramid Song, You And Whose Army, Spinning Plates, and Life in a Glasshouse all still give me chills.
Not my favorite, but The Unseen by Quasimoto (Madlib) was "conceived and recorded by Madlib during a week long psilocybin mushroom binge"
so props for that
Yeah, what? I was never big on the Albert Hammond Jr. stuff, but Phrazes for the Young was great and I thought that only got a kind of lukewarm reception.
anyway, this sounds awesome. sooo pumped
I'll write the next eight double takes, if you'll allow it.
"A lot of people enjoyed Teen Dream, Age of Adz, Body Talk, Treats, Contra, Swan Lights, Gemini, and Halcyon Digest. Others did not."
He also described the album thusly:
"Like, if The Sunset Tree was about living in the middle of abuse, this is more of a surviving record."
which is really something I hear in the chorus
Nice to see the Crocodiles... they put out a good album this year, but their first one is still the best.
I second/third Avi Buffalo
and nominate The Soft Pack (formerly the Muslims)
Truth. The Black Keys have put out a whole lot of music in their short career, but I feel like they're only starting to get the kind of big time exposure they deserve. And if commercials and soundtracks are why, then I gotta think it's a good thing. I'm sure there's a ton to say about integrity and all that, but shit. They keep putting out tons of good stuff, and I'm glad they're making money off it/funding more of it. God knows I don't buy music anymore.
Maybe it's because I don't read reviews or talk to much about music with my friends, but I can't help but feel like you're overestimating the power of this whole group think thing again. For sure, critics will time and again start shooting out the same tacky description for an album. Even as someone who doesn't read reviews, it's hard to miss. How many times have you heard "The Social Network" and "21st century" together in the past 6 months? Or if not heard, read on the side of a bus? The shit is pretty rampant.
Still, I don't feel like it was shoved down my throat. Maybe for people who read more blogs and magazines it was. Maybe they felt some pressure from everyone they know picking it up. And that's fine. But I think that's where it stops. After that, I trust people to make their own judgments about things. Suggesting people just want to love on an album to feel a part of some sensational wave is kinda insulting.
As for me, I liked it. If I was a list making type, it might land in my top ten albums of the year, closer to the 10 end. I think all the "perfects" and "10.0's" are a little over the top (How can an album with a multi minute Chris Rock outro be perfect?), but then again, they usually are.
Information and hype are powerful forces, especially in the internet era. But maybe, despite their controversial creators and the people's crazy expectations, Maya and MBDTF generally got the kind of reviews they deserved.
It's weird, watching grown up Rivers, who now has a wife and kid, sitting in his house with his thinning hair, sing God Only Knows with that almost worried expression... it just seems like a logical emotional place for the guy who wrote Pinkerton to be at as an adult. Instead we get "The Girl Got Hot".
Still, great cover
Assholish comments about the author are out of hand, but the thing that bothers me (and a couple others) is that we straight up listened to the record without reading a word beforehand. Don't get me wrong, it's shitty to assume the vast majority of people were just going with the general press negativity when they listened to the album. It's insulting. But there are a lot of people who just straight up, media frenzy not on the radar, hated it.
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