Comments

I love this! Taking the synths and the polish from their last album up a notch works. I hope the rest of the album is like this.
It sounds like a classic Strokes song (always a very good thing), but it does not sound like a classic Strokes single. It is fine, but whereas Under Cover of Darkness sounded like a particularly good classic Strokes song, this just sounds kind of like a middle of the road classic Strokes song. I was kind of hoping the single would have more punch. However, I've barely listened to this song, so my opinion might change.
Actually, I'm kind of neutral too. I know their lyrics are pretty dumb, and their songs are formulaic, but they don't sound all that far removed from a lot of bands that critics accept and like. Plus the banjo playing IS kind of cool, right? At least I think so. That said, I don't choose to listen to their music, and a lot of my friends seem to like them a little TOO much.
Their music has always been decently enjoyable, but I frankly don't feel much of a need to keep up with them after that incident. If they were better, maybe it would be more of a moral dilemma.
I don't know... Angles (not to mention Julian's solo stuff) showed that they are all too willing to mix synths into their sound. I hope you're right though.
I'm glad that Gangnam Style made it that high, even if it didn't get the top spot. Regardless of its phenomenon status, it is still just incredibly entertaining.
I agree 100% with that order.
This is a great interview. I love Dayve's honesty. I totally see how Player Piano is trying to avoid sounding like electronic music. And I wonder why no one ever mentions Slaughtered, that awesome mixtape he put out about a year ago.
I definitely think Memory Tapes is underrated. Player Piano was not that special, but Seek Magic was a pretty flawless album. He has a gift for creating catchy synth hooks. Almost all of his songs have some interesting, worthwhile tune in them. And he's also not afraid of developing his ideas outside of normal song structures and taking his songs in unexpected and exciting directions. I can't wait for his third album.
I love the Early Four Track Recordings, but I am happy that of Montreal moved on from this sound. That's a great picture of young Kevin though.
It's cool that Scott Walker is on there, but not much else about this list is cool
Memory Tapes, Beck, and Dan Deacon? I'm intrigued. Dan Deacon especially makes sense after his last album.
I'm probably the only Grizzly Bear fan who doesn't like "Knife." It's actually one of my least favorite GB songs. I'd replace that in the number one spot with Little Brother- such a haunting tune, especially when the banjo comes in on the second verse.
I went into this list prepared to be faced with 40 bands I'd probably never heard of, and-- who would have thought?-- kpop proved me wrong.
Yeah, I almost typed that. That's probably more what I'm getting at.
I don't love the format of this interview. It seems like a text message conversation rather than two people sitting down together and talking thoughtfully. Not a knock on the interviewer or Ed Droste, just an observation of the limitations of this method of interviewing.
Nice to see GD make a reappearance on Stereogum. Can't same I'm a huge fan of his solo music, but his videos are quality.
Kill the Moonlight feels like a distillation of their sound to its purest form to me (same with Transference sort of). However, I do think that Girls Can Tell has some stronger songs. 'Everything Hits at Once' has a cool angst to it that KtM, for me, never quite reaches.
The cellist in me wants to say that this is not an outlandish way to distribute music, but there is a difference between classical-style music and rock music when it comes to scores. Classical music will by and large be played by the same instruments, but rock music (Beck's music) is so much more tied to the production and the specific artists. I can play a Shostakovich cello sonata and make it sound like a Shostakovich piece, but I could never make this sound like a Beck album.
I don't like the production- kind of lame synths. I hope Britt sings more on the album.
I'm with you. Paralytic Stalks is brilliant, yet no one seems to have noticed.