I like this very much. Please note that I always disliked Florence because of her voice overshadowing the music (it was mixed too high and it was too frequent for my musical tastes). This is exactly the type of mixing/music I like instead. The human voice being just a part of the whole piece, and not the center piece.
I love the song. But then again, I almost never try to listen to the lyrics, because not being a native English speaker, is hard for me to make it up (a few times i might research a song later about it). So I usually ignore that part, and so if the actual beat/music is good, that's good for me. And this one rocks.
I'm not feeling this. In their previous albums, particularly on 936, there was a strong atmosphere. The psychedelic element was high, and it moved the listener to another state of mind. This sample just don't it at all for me. It's not because it's not "dub", but it's simply because it's missing a strong, defined atmosphere. Too many vocals too, they strive for a more pop album, but this takes away what made them unique.
I don't like that Grimes song. It's a depart from the aesthetics we had known her for. This one is too, I don't know, less interesting with that "party" sound.
The following is my honest opinion on this track. So, nothing new here as music itself is concerned. The whole construct of the piece is like plain pop, in fact, it's close to country-pop music, but with electronic instruments on the background instead. The music itself plays a very secondary role, it's barely audible, Jesus' voice completely overpowers and dominates the piece. So basically this is a very pop piece (the kind they used to have in the early '90s, but with barely audible synths or progression), that tries to convince us that it's rad/indie/experimental/etc. It's not in my view. It's something I've heard before a thousand times. The music itself only starts to become interesting, standing on its own two feet, in the last 4 seconds of the track.
Exactly! Whenever I say to my friends that I don't care about lyrics, and I like the human voice to blend with the music (or at least not stand-out as it does in most forms of music) they look at me funny. It's just that such kind of "human voice comes first" of music doesn't touch me at all. The above Caribou song is obviously heaps better than most music out there, and it does it right in terms of voice-mixing. But it doesn't touch the great heights of grand, cinematic-like music.
Love the bands you mentioned btw. :)
> you may find me in your boat in a few month’s time as well.
;-)
> What did you think of “Rival Dealer” and “Truant/Rough Sleeper” ?
IMHO, not as good as Kindred. They both had a very generic sound, like normal house/R&B/techno kind of thing, but in a more experimental tone. Unfortunately, this didn't work for me in terms of soundscape, it didn't create a strong otherwordly atmosphere and landscape in my mind like Kindred did. Kindred was like a horror movie in your ears. It had substance, it made you feel like a movie plot would, not just some notes.
I have tried to analyze over the years why I like that certain type of music, and I found that everything I like could be thought of as "cinematic". From classical music (that is the most common music for movies too), to Burial's Kindred, to OPointNever, to Forest Swords, to Salem's Kings Night, to Caribou's Jamelia, they all feel like the soundtrack of a movie that doesn't exist. You make up the movie's landscapes and feelings in your mind, while listening to the music. To me, this is an indispensable quality. If a piece of music doesn't create this in my mind, I don't consider it good music somehow. To me music is a tool that elevates me in another dimension of sorts. So it requires a very specific type of music to achieve this.
Now of course, I might be wrong about this, or I might be just too single minded, or too narrow minded. But I like what I like. ;-)
I was referring to Kindred. However I don't agree that (if according to your theory the album gets more interesting down the line) he should have released this (essentially an intro) song as first PR song. If it's not indicative of the album, then it should not have been released IMHO.
My theory is that most of the album is like that intro song though. Just normal electronic music we've heard before. He might have 1-2 Jamelia-like songs in there or not (we will know in a month's time), but that doesn't make the whole album a masterpiece in that case. It just makes it an "ok" electronic album with 2 very good songs in it. This is not enough for me, because I truly expected more out of Caribou. I felt disappointed when I heard this earlier today. That's all.
Also, Burial (that is mentioned in the article), uses thematic development big time, especially in his older EP. This song above though just doesn't have any of it almost. It has two layers next to each other, clearly separated, that only intensify with time, and a repetitive lyric. It's too simple of a music for my taste. It just doesn't take me to the heights that Jamelia did. It's not as interesting.
Ok, I remembered the word: Thematic transformation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thematic_transformation Again, Jamelia had that in a big way, and it had a big impact to me.
"Well this is the first track of the album. I say we wait to see what the other songs sound like before thinking he hasn’t progressed."
Sorry, but that would mean that he picked the wrong song to show off his new album then. Either way, bad PR. As for "he hasn't progressed", I never said that. I meant progression within a track, along surprising twists and turns that ultimately do fit together. All that have a specific word in the musical language, but it escapes me right now. Jamelia used that motif.
No, Odessa didn't either. But Jamelia did. This is why was the last track in the album. Because it was so different. I was hoping that his new album would be built around the Jamelia sound and sensibilities but instead I feel that we're getting something that we've heard before many times.
Sorry, I'm not very impressed about this track. I hope the rest of the album is not as repetitive. There is very little progression in it. The best track he ever written in my opinion was "Jamelia": https://vimeo.com/20432366 This track could be characterized as a modern-day classical music type of thing: it took you to a place and that place was changing. It was telling a story musically. It had its surprises too! This one instead, is the same thing over and over between the normal voice and the low voice, with two different types of music underneath that simply intensified over time but didn't fundamentally change. I can't get excited about this. It feels easy and uninteresting to me. As a listener, I want something with more depth and twists and turns.
I absolutely don't like his voice bare, like that. I have the same problem with other artists too, that make very atmospheric music, and then the human voice destroys all that atmosphere because it's not processed the same way the music, so it "gets on top" of the whole listening thing. I'm personally not interesting in the human voice being the central point of the music, which is why I love music where the voice blends with the music, e.g. the old Washed Out, John Maus, the old How To Dress Well. This is just plain pop in my ears. Sure, the actual music behind is two orders of magnitude more interesting than plain pop, but the singing voice, it's just plain R&B/pop. It's pushing me out of the whole atmosphere.
I don't like this music video. It's just like their previous one, only worse (less mystery/dark atmosphere). This track deserved a new idea, something interesting and intriguing. Instead, this feels like the odd cousin of the previous music video.
I love Austra's music (I always go see them live when in the Bay Area), but I think their videos leave a lot to be desired. They could take some cues from the darker tones on videos by The Soft Moon and Forest Sword. In terms of editing and especially camera framing, this video could be a lot better IMHO.
Fully agree. “Of Moons, Birds & Monsters” was the best song on the first album too. If MGMT want to make music that people want to hear, they need to stop being making boring music (you can only hear that guy sing, and sing, and sing, etc, there's no actual melody or interesting twist and turns anywhere).
I got to know Emily Reo via this legally free compilation http://getoffthecoast.blogspot.com/2010/04/eskimo-tco.html Back then at the height of chillwave, she delivered an amazing, drowsy atmosphere. I hope her new album has similar highs.
"as close as Lopatin has ever gotten to anything resembling traditional song structure”
It's actually that quality of OPN that was the most precious to me. The fact that he broke the rules, and yet, his music made some weird sense, just like a modern Chopin would. I see no progress/value in OPN doing "traditionally-structured songs". The specific track was so-so for me. It lacked the emotional highs, it felt too cold to me. It also felt like "I want to sound like Jean-Michel Jarre", while his older tracks were more like "breakthrough, fresh experimental electronic". A small distinction for some, but an important one to me. I hope the rest of the tracks in the new album offer more of an atmosphere. For example, when I hear "Replica" or "Power of Persuasion", I'm immediately getting transported to a rainy New York. Everything kind of look '80s (like in the Hills Street Blues TV series look, but as if set in NY), slow motion, while I observe the various happenings in the misty streets. It has such a synesthetic effect to me, it creates a whole world in my mind, it's a trip. This new song it creates no new images to me, apart from making me feel like an emotionless robot. I guess, there might be value to that too, but I personally prefer some sensationalism.
No wonder he's sick. If he doesn't eat at least fish and shellfish (particularly oysters), then he has compromised his health in a number of ways. And it's not just B12 I'm talking about, but a whole host of nutrients that the body needs to operate properly, that aren't found in plants (or they're found in too small quantities, or they're found in different forms).
I very much dislike this video. Yes, it looks impressive with its slow-mo and nice locations and all, but in my opinion, it's not a video that fits the genre. Here we have Toro y Moi, a child of a very experimental and interesting genre, looking and behaving on screen like Puff Daddy. I expect newer genres to push some intellectualism, progressive visuals, not try to become some kind of "soft hip-hoppers" from 10 years ago.
Chillwave is the only music I still listen to 90% of the time. For me, it's my favorite genre because it evokes images to me (I'm a synesthete). Other indie genres do it less, and others not at all. But chillwave just works for me. If I have to stay static in 2009 and never acquire new music tastes, I'm contend with that.
This band is amazing, but I don't understand why is it now that it's getting the attention of the media. Their previous albums were very good. So why now and not 3 years ago? Anyways, can't wait for the album too.
You might not agree with the following, but it's just my personal opinion.This is a classic case of a melody that is stellar, but the production of the track is very poor. The song has very nice highs, but the music itself doesn't follow the vocals, it's like background music. The music itself should have been richer and more complex, and it should have been the one carrying you through from one point to another, along the vocals. Instead, we just got a plain pop song, with overpowering vocals that almost feel acapella in some sense (a'la Florence). Too bad. I think this song could have reworked beautifully by someone like the Grizzly Bear guy or Caribou ("Jamelia"'s musical complexity comes to mind).
As for the video, it's nothing to cheer for. It's a compilation of shots. She looks pretty.
I loved their first album, and I loved even more their instrumental EP (their best work), but this song is so blah. I don't like how the voice is mixed so high compared to the music either, not ethereal at all. It just feels like boring pop. I had high hopes for their second album.
I hope their new album is just like that. I played this for my husband too, and he liked it best as well. It sounds somewhere between Peaking Lights and Lower Dens, very trippy, very modern.
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