Comments

Yeah. I'm with you. I think I may never actually listen to it. It's just too twisted up like a bedsheet I know I will never be comfortable with. I understand the struggle from both sides, and I respect both sides of the conflict between Kevin and Charles, but it just strikes of utter stupidity and underhandedness to me. Kevin is a good songwriter, but I will never trust anyone that tells me he is a "good guy". I see nothing here except greed, pride, and foolishness. He's selling a dollar for a penny just to screw his "friend". It's almost like the entire mess is designed to make Kevin look like a villain, and I don't know how that couldn't be obvious to him and why he would let it happen. He is willing to play Scar to Charles' Mufasa. It just doesn't make sense. It doesn't matter how good the music might be, drinking it from this dirty cup is just going to make me feel ill.

TLDR

This is where I'm at too. A part of me is sad, because I secretly was hoping that Sufjan would swoop down like Peter Pan and help pull me out of the disappointed tunnel I am in currently walking through. But it's not surprising to turn around in the dark and realize he is down here right along with us. It makes sense. And comiseration is empowering as well. Ever since my first listen to "America" I have felt like Sufjan's doubts and lack of faith are not so much in God, but in his frustration with realizing that so many other proclaimed faiths in God were actually veiling pursuits of selfishness. The throw up of hands and saying that everything is meaningless, is terribly biblical and it mirrors Solomon's same statements in Ecclisiasties, but I feel like Sufjan is more in line with someone like Jeremiah, who is called the Weeping Prophet. A man called to proclaim a message of Love and Redemption to a nation that no longer wants to listen. You could also say it's a similar situation to Jesus standing on the hill over looking Jerusalem and weeping because he wanted so much for them to have what they had rejected, and then shortly after they kill him.

I agree. I feel like it's actually a major part of the formula that will be missing. There are some great "big name" artists out there, but at a certain level of major label influence the songwriting and production is done by committee and there are a lot of artists and influences involved. Song Exploder is refreshing because it digs into so many very personal details of the writing process and the number of people involved is typically small. I'm afraid major label scriptwriters will try to replicate that same "genuine" songwriting process narrative and it will feel dirty.

Seriously. I was poised to hate this, especially after I realized he was playing "Creep" on a uke. But this was very endearing, and I am shamed by my original assumptions going in.

It's not a bad song. It's a good song that doesn't fit on the album.

I'm relieved to know that other people have done this as well. I reluctantly made my own playlist of 9 tracks shortly after it was released, but I've always been a bit ashamed of it. What does your playlist look like? Here's mine. (Which carries the cheeky title of Easier to Find) 1. Quiet Light 2. Where Is Her Head 3. Hairpin Turns 4. So Far So Fast 5. I Am Easy To Find 6. You Had Your Soul With You 7. Her Father In The Pool 8. Light Years 9. Rylan This order seems to not only keep the best tracks, but also seems to keep up the energy, which I feel is really the main struggle that the album is dealing with right now.

Signing in to say that I too miss Pinback. We need more bands that were more into Math in school than they were into English and Art.

Oh, and Moonface - This One’s for the Dancer & This One’s for the Dancer's Bouquet (Probably I missed this one because I'm still deeply lost in its massive labyrinth trying to find my way out. But this is a solid adventure into so many unmapped places. And what you will find inside is some of the best lyrics penned this year. Seriously, look up the lyrics to "Minotaur Forgiving Knossos". In fact, maybe those lyrics themselves explain Spencer Krug's own acceptance at why he will never be a "Rock Star". But those are some powerful lyrics guys! Read them! This is why music was invented.)

For my own sanity, I have to mention several albums that are not showing up on very many list here. Typhoon - Offerings (Too many members bombastic concept album indie rock that would have killed in 2008, but is now so out of style that it was never even reviewed by any major music site. But check out the songs "Rorschach" and "Remember" and the whole album is equally great.) Son Lux - Brighter Wounds (Think Sufjan if he had kept mining the vein he struck for Age of Adz. Electronic-based, cryptic, massive, yet beautiful in very unique ways. Check out "Dream State" and "Aquatic" for an example of the stylistic range this album extends.) The Glands - Double Coda (Heartbreaking time capsule of '90s slacker rock buried in a cardboard box and lovingly resurrected after the frontman's death a few years ago. So much greater than the sum of its parts. Listen to "Possibilities", please, and seriously tell me if you can think of anyone that is making music that sounds like this in 2018.) Okkervil River - In The Rainbow Rain (My heart aches for how great this album is. Will Sheff is one of the greatest songwriters of the past 20 years. And he's come a long way in that time. This album is fresh, optimistic, fun, and powerful. "Love Somebody" is one of my favorite tracks of the year. But check out "Don't Move Back to LA" for an example of how to write a song.) Hovvdy - Cranberry (This proves that lo-fi guitar folk rock is still a wide open field. Songs like, "Brave", "Float", and "Swing". The titles are so unassuming. The songs are equally so, but they are not lazy or lacking in energy if you let them wash over you like an incoming tide at sunset.) MØ - Forever Neverland (Why is "Blur" not the song of the summer? Was it because it was released in October? That's hardly fair. Can it be next year's song of the year?) Laura Gibson - Goners (Despite the fact that I keep mispronouncing the name Goners in my head as if it were the word Boners with a G, I still think this is one of the best female singer-songwriter albums of the year. It's perfect right up until the final song which takes it to an entirely different level. The first time I heard "I Don't Want Your Voice To Move Me" I was stunned and speechless for the next 20 repeats. 40 plays later and it still makes me cry and clench my fists. That's why we listen to music, right?) Also (for those people doing the Ctrl-f search-for-favorite-band-and-be-sad thing, like me: Jungle - For Ever Eels- The Deconstruction King Tuff - The Others Kurt Vile - Bottle It In Gregory Alan Isakov - Evening Machines Santigold - I Don't Want Roo Panes - Quiet Man Neko Case - Hell-On The Tallest Man On Earth - When The Bird Sees The Solid Ground

That Typhoon album is so good and yet it was literally ignored by every major music media platform. Not poorly received, simply not received at all. It's weird how that happens sometimes. There are so many other factors to showing up on these lists that simply have nothing at all to do with making a great album.

Yes. Headphones. "Make Me Feel" comes alive inside my head. And it redecorates while it's there like it owns the place.

I love how Sufjan uses his fame as a gift he can share with his friends. The attention he draws is just a fruitcake that he passes around the room at a Christmas party.

I agree. But also, I'll just say it. He should have covered "All Star". That's what everyone was secretly hoping for when they found out he was covering a Smash Mouth song. This feels like a bait and switch.

The Books were peerless and are still untouchable. Since their split, Nick Zammuto has done some amazing things. But I'm extremely pleased to see that Paul is also still working on music.

I'm right there with you. I tried so hard to love that album when it was first released, but it was such a muddy mess, I couldn't get stuck inside of it ever because I was so distracted the whole time. Why was that album mixed so poorly?

This has been my theory for a while. Great artists, particularly musicians, NEED a contrary creative vision with good taste in close proximity telling them when they are taking things too far. This is all over the place. Just look at The Beatles with Paul and John. Those guys were good alone, but they needed Each Other to be great. My favorite example is the vital role Matt Sharp played in Weezer. But also Scott Kannberg in Pavement is a good example as well. Someone who brings friction and strife and it's because they are the anchor keeping a creative vision growned in the real world. I personally have always thought the Pumpkins anchor was Iha. The Smashing Pumpkins were my first musical obsession and I have a place in my heart for each of the original four members. And I hate to say it, but I think Darcy is the most expendable. Leaving her out is a terrible decision for marketing, but not necessarily for art.

I missed that EP somehow, and you are right about "Burning Up". Hot Chip is at their best when they make me want to drive my car far too fast down an empty highway at night, and that that seems to be the sole purpose of this song.

"Electric Lines" is fantastic. These nerds are so cool.

Holy cow. I had completely missed this album somehow, and I'm listening to "Electric Lines" right now, and it's BEAUTIFUL. This Hot Chip on a completely different level.