I can buy "fascinating, if flawed" but for a satire I just didn't think Vox Lux had much to say about its themes: violence, celebrity, music, any of it. I thought the first half was decent, but I really disliked the second half. Natalie Portman's performance was really over the top and didn't feel grounded in anything human or connected to the character from the first half of the movie. It just felt so cynical and dismissive of its subject matter.
I really like the soundtrack but IMO the movie was just okay. Is that a hot take? Can it be, given that I've had ten years to think about it?
Also, does anyone know why the movie version of "Under Your Spell" has never been on streaming? I like the '09 version just fine, but I remember the movie version being slightly more hi-fi (though you do lose the bridge). Is this just your usual J Jewel fuckery?
Yep. Some of the other songs got new arrangements to incorporate the back-up singers and the new band, but Digital Witness was the only one that got run through the Daddy's Home filter. The songs that are meant to go hard still went hard... Marrow, Cheerleader, Los Ageless, etc.
At least you got Year of the Tiger! Apparently didn’t make the festival cut. I get that she has enough songs now that she has to make choices and wants to emphasize the newer stuff but the lack of Cruel in the setlist is… yeah.
I read this comment like five times. It makes me so happy. And as someone who was seeing her for the fourth time, yeah, that was some good St Vincent we got Saturday. I thought her live show peaked in S/T-era but the new band just took everything to a whole other level.
Nah she’s probably all in favor of that.
But really it can be true that her fathers punishment was justified and that it was traumatic for her family.
Also, I always thought the song was addressed to her younger siblings, about their father. So one of them would have been roughed up? But IDK I also think y’all are being too literal with all this
“Year of the Tiger” is one of her most underrated songs.
Interestingly at Pitchfork she mostly avoided Strange Mercy - only played “Cheerleader” (amazing new arrangement) and even Actor got more real estate on the setlist.
This set was unreal, and Blue Stage was perfect for Yves. All of their newer material hit hard but “Lifetime” was the MVP for me, just an incredibly moving performance. And the guitarist went OFF.
Not there tonight but joining the fun tomorrow! Really looking forward to watching the haters eat humble pie when St Vincent serves a heaping portion to y’all’s faces!
Yeah, I owned a few too many of these sorts of CDs when I was in middle school, and Fuel's was pretty damn good by comparison. Anyone remember Default? Probably for the best that you don't, honestly the name escaped me too but what do you know they're the top-listed "Fans Also Like" band for Fuel on Spotify. Anyway, that band was the first time I bought a CD based on the single ("Wasting My Time," it's, um, not a 10) and realized in horror that no matter how much I listened there was not one other passably decent song on the whole album.
Things We Lost is a masterpiece but maybe a bit one-sided in its presentation of Low. I’d recommend C’mon as a primer - a mid career record that shows their range nicely
Also just now realizing that all of the comments I'm replying too are six hours cold but whatever I was busy today and I want to be part of the Kacey discourse
Yeah, I didn't think it was that serious. And I'm not a Ruston fan at all so I'm not taking up for him, but the only people who would be shook by this are people who have never talked shit about an ex or heard someone else talk shit about their ex. The lyrics are obviously very cutting but even if we accept that Kacey is telling the truth - that among other things their relationship fell apart because Ruston was jealous or insecure about her success - that is a thing that happens to even non-rich-and-famous couples. It's not like she's accusing him of cheating on her or god forbid abusing her. Does it make him seem like a great guy? Obviously not. Does it make him seem maybe a bit sexist? Yes, but he is a man, and basically all men are some level or another sexist, and basically all women who are in relationships with men have to deal with that. None of which is exculpatory, its just saying, literally millions of relationships have fallen apart because of these very issues, and so I don't think the takeaway is that Ruston is a uniquely terrible person.
I think a lot of us were pleasantly relieved that Deafheaven wasn't a complete disaster. I know I was. But I'd still say its more good than great. Definitely not on par with the last three albums.
Tyler's album is very good. I thought I wouldn't like it as much as Igor, being more of a pop guy than a rap guy, but I actually like it more. Uses his pop smarts in clever ways and all of the features are great.
Gonna go with Endless. The gang vocals are hardcore fan-service, and I appreciate that service, but the way they flip between the syncopated, almost rapped delivery and the melodic hooks gives me such a rush. Also gotta acknowledge Don't Play. When so much of the album had come out already I did go in afraid that there wouldn't be much surprise left. Don't Play immediately put that fear to rest.
Indigo, Turnstile, and JBrekkie seem like top 10 locks for me too, beyond that, who knows how it will shake out. I actually feel like my list-in-progress is like a 20-way tie for 10th place. 2021 has birthed loads of albums I could heartily recommend, but the center of the Venn diagram where my personal enjoyment of the album, some kind of critical or popular impact, and just the sense that the artist is on some next-level shit - the center where my AOTY picks have historically lived - feels empty.
I thought about catching the Wilco/Sleater-Kinney show in Boston, would've been my first post-pandemic show too. But alas I'm a casual-at-best Wilco fan (though I was impressed last time I saw them live) and the new Sleater-Kinney was a dud. So I'm going to let Michelle Zauner welcome me back to live music next weekend.
But it’s the kitchen sink approach to percussion (and those sick little bass fills) that really put it over the top. More rock albums should be this fun to listen to.
Exactly. There is still cause for concern and caution. But right now it seems like requiring vaccination (or negative tests but ideally we're moving toward just requiring vaccination outright) and masks is the best option. In a month's time, we might realize even that's not good enough, but for people's livelihoods and also psychological well-being it feels important to try to bring live events back. I respect any artist who feels like its too early and prefers the route of caution, but Neil's boiler-plate corporate greed rant feels just as out of step with reality as the folks who want to pretend the pandemic is over.
I've always preferred Homogenic and even Post, but spend enough time around the Bjork nerds and you'll realize this is absolutely the fan favorite. I think I just prefer her more aggressive side, which only really comes through on "Pagan Poetry" (masterpiece). If, however, you like Bjork as balladeer and sound-scaper, this really is as good as it gets. I remember listening on my laptop in college and the way this album would transform those shitty little speakers into some kind of otherwordly music box... absolute genius.
Bjork's live performances are so good, watching videos of her concerts on YouTube was what took me from fan to stan. The ROH performances for Vespertine, specifically, are just transcendent. She's the only artist who can get away with a live release for every era, and actually the fact that Cornucopia didn't get a film (or Greatest Hits, or Vulnicura) seems criminal to me. Not only does she always create a visual feast, but the way she reinvents the old songs with the new sound palettes, and just THAT VOICE in real time, coming out of a person, is astonishing. Like at Cornucopia she was in her 50s, definitely well past her prime, but her singing was still like uncannily powerful.
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