i mean, his voice is pretty arthur russell-y in addition to the other artists you mentioned.
i've been liking everything he's put out, but none of it as of yet quite compares to "confirmation." this song is great though.
i haven't listened to "dark lane" yet, but i think the difference between drank and abel is that as time has gone on the weeknd's music feels less hyper-personal (if it ever was) and more like a kind of autofiction, whereas drake's music feels like it comes from a place so deeply burrowed inside his own psyche that we are continually getting peak galaxy brain levels of nakedly, unadorned drake, the person and persona merged into one. it's not always a pretty sight, and then he goes and says some shit about rihanna getting in the way of his friendship with chr*s br*own. it's hard to root for the guy.
meanwhile, abel is on some cyber dystopian anti-villain kind of shit, with music that whirrs and strobes and pulses to illuminate the menacing, brooding figure he portrays. it's thrilling—like he's the villain opposite ryan gosling in a lost drive sequel, creating the r&b answer to that film's johnny jewel-cribbing soundtrack. "after hours" indulges that fantasy in a way that doesn't ever leave me wondering who abel tesfaye is (or really caring), and i think that's the point.
it's hilarious because morons like this dude are so completely out-of-whack obsessed with defending their own misogyny that they spiral into pathetic and embarrassing meltdowns in an attempt to deflect and rationalize—i don't hate all women! just this one, for her physical appearance. and her sisters because they're industry plants who can't actually play instruments and don't write their own songs despite all evidence that suggests otherwise!—in the comments section of a post about a band's new music video. get a grip, you fucking baby.
I would say they run slim/fitted. Definitely not baggy or the kind of shirt you want to shrink much. I'm stocky and have an XL in a Desire shirt and it fits snugly. But very comfy and thin/soft material.
stereogum does not realize that the video she described for "delete forever" is the one that's been out for...a month now. so obviously this interview was done a while ago, the men in this thread can chill out now.
you're right, "kerosene" was my favorite song of the week and in my rush to make a satirical comment i neglected to count that this week's top 5 includes two women.
i'm sure i don't need to explain to you that anti-poptimism, or just anti-pop thinking, often insidiously masks otherwise misogynistic takes on music.
do people regularly comment that one week's top 5 is better than the previous week's? i don't see it regularly enough to call it a common occurence so can't help but read the original comment as women-stacked top 5s are inferior to the boys making their rock music but whatever.
always felt like SITHOL had a lot in common with deerhunter's "cryptograms" in its ebb and flow from pure experimentalism to art rock/pop. and it sounds like the new one will filter those experimental elements through a more pop-focused lens, based on the single and what he's been playing live.
has a visual presentation of an artist's new album/era been as exciting as yves' in recent memory? feel like he's hitting a perfect synthesis of transgression and camp and glam to create something as flamboyant as it is dark.
tommy was announced december 2014, slated for release "in time for valentine's day." first single "just like you" dropped right before valentine's day 2015 when johnny originally announced that the album had been pushed back.
in an essentialist way, yeah sure, but that's not what she even did. she wrote a tweet that objectively stated big thief are not good and called it a "critical statement" without backing anything up. and then told people not to question her on it lol.
not to mention her take entirely erases the context of who big thief and their fan base are (a woman-fronted rock band whose primary songwriter is said woman; lots of women fans.)
the whole "i LecTuRe mY cHaRgEs about the difference between 'not liking something' and 'something not being good'" is fucking laughably unself-aware in this context.
tbh the release of “time rider” earlier this year had me worried more about “dear tommy” than ever. it’s nice enough but feels like a somewhat toothless retread of “lady” meets “these streets will never look the same,” and after all the years of hype it seemed as if the prospect of diminishing returns was setting in. haven’t listened to “closer to grey” yet (night time is the right time) but just excited to hear something entirely new.
i don't doubt that it's extremely tough as a musician, even for a legacy indie act, but the performative entitlement and complaining are kind of rich coming from him (i mean, look at the recent photo of his back patio in LA on IG—a person who is struggling financially does not live there.)
between whining about taylor swift not knowing who he is, pitchfork's review of their last album, and a bunch of other shit on social media, he comes off as kind of insufferable.
also, feels significant to note that from what i've read, janet's career in tv location scouting began with her being brought on "portlandia." she was their location scout for essentially the whole series. i know that's not the same thing as being the show's star/co-creator and the level of visibility that brought carrie, etc. but it feels important to note that the two of them were still working together heavily in the interim between SK records.
it sounds to me that her career in tv is something she got into because she was interested by the work and wanted to pursue something supplemental to her career as a musician. obviously, even with being in a well-renowned and quite popular indie band, as well as playing with a variety of other beloved acts, someone has to think of the longevity and ebbs and flows inherent within that kind of career and find other work they're passionate about, or just to make ends meet, if need be.
i've seen some comments reacting to the guardian piece projecting some sort of major socioeconomic distinctions between the lives of carrie, corin, and janet, and while that may hold some truth, i think it's kind of speculative and condescending. if janet couldn't make a bulk of the recording sessions, i would imagine it's because there was another project she was invested in, not that she just couldn't take off work.
"i've spent all of my time now chasing a fading frontier..." ;_;
what's weird about this is that WHEAD is a great album and when i saw them in omaha two weeks ago it was one of the best performances i've seen them put on over 10 years of seeing them play live.
yeah, the grammys do fucking suck, but the expection that a nominated performing artist should just play the game and shut up and do as they're asked by that institution is exactly one of the reasons why.
I definitely agree that the "fading" motif ties WHEAD to FF—I'm also catching little hints of HD within the record. To me the final notes of "Death in Midsummer" recall the ending coda of "Don't Cry." "Futurism" feels like a spiritual successor to "Memory Boy" and the chorus of "Plains" calls to mind the back half of HD. And without ever feeling like retreads.
If anyone caught the livestream last night on Instagram, the band was rehearsing much of the album—"Nocturne" seems like it'll fit nicely into their sets as a sprawling closer. Speaking of which, that piano refrain that comes in during the second half of the song makes me FEEL things. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it's just so beautiful, a little bit melancholy, and anthemic.
For as much as he gets portrayed as the cynically eccentric curmudgeon, reading Bradford talk about Deerhunter and Moses and Lockett and Josh really warms my fucking heart.
Fading Frontier is a beautiful album; but it's always felt incredibly sad to me. Despite all the existential doom-and-gloom thematically of WHEAD?, you can feel the pulse of DH in these songs. It sounds like the joy of creation, celebrated and made manifest.
Listening to Deerhunter albums front-to-back has truly been one of the great gifts of my life and I cherish this man and these boys and always will. :')
Deerhunter's trajectory from Cryptograms to their little masterpiece Microcastle to the definitive, unrivaled Halcyon Digest was so exciting and intoxicating because it was unexpected—an "ambient punk" band pushing their sound to unexpected heights and a charismatic frontman coming into his own as one of the great rock 'n' roll songwriters of a generation in real time. The output was damaged and queer and beautiful and wholly brilliant.
Monomania felt like a rejection of the more populist stylings of the previous two records, and perhaps the industry as a whole. It was an exorcism, all bile and howling, and a shedding of skin with Josh Fauver leaving the band.
Fading Frontier feels fragile and more delicately lonely in the aftermath of Bradford's accident, but less concerned with trying to outrun the past. Almost like a band reconfigured and reborn, crawling out of the ether, and trying to learn to stand.
Which is all to say, I don't know that Deerhunter can ever top HD, because it was of a moment. Lightning never strikes the same place twice. It seems like Bradford has less to prove these days. I've loved the past few records for different reasons, and these new songs sound low-key beautiful. I'm excited to hear the rest. (Also, does “Death in Midsummer” mark Deerhunter's first honest-to-god guitar solo put to tape? I know there are plenty of songs with leads and riffs, but I can’t think of another actual SOLO solo save for MAYBE Lockett in “Back to the Middle?”)
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