I binged this show in a few days during early quarantine. It really grew on me, especially as it started to abandon the source material. The finale really set up the series for an interesting season 2, so I'm disappointed it's not coming back :(
I can chime in on this, I work in music licensing. The show is likely paying in the ballpark of $10K - $70K per song use. Price is affected by how prominently the song is used, how famous the song or performer is, and how tough the record label/music publisher chooses to negotiate.
The National and Walkmen were great foils back in the day, but now the National tour arenas and the Walkmen haven't released an album since 2012. Very different long term career trajectories :(
King's Mouth wasn't bad at all. I listened a bunch when it was new, but haven't returned to it much. It feels breezier and lower stakes than other Lips albums, but it's some Yoshimi-esque comfort food.
I saw the Beths when they were touring the first album and I was legit tearing up the whole show. It's so powerful to see a band on the cusp of breakout success just knocking it out of the park. You could sense how excited they were to play to a sold out, adoring crowd in NYC, all the way across the world from their hometown. Good times.
Start with Holiday!! It's so much more consistent and digestible than 69 Love Songs. Charm of the Highway Strip and Get Lost are also both fantastic warmups to 69 Love Songs.
I'm sure this album works fine as a starting point, but except for a few songs it's very mellow and could take some time to soak in. I suggest starting with Painful or I Can Hear the Heart. Those are both much more immediate!
Bob's voice sounds really good on this song and Volcano! Hate to say it, but he's been pitchy at times on the recent albums, but these new songs sound like he's put in more effort to nail great takes or produce the vocals a bit more.
And W&W and ZOC are the best offerings from the new lineup. I can't make up my mind which is better, since they're so different. Love 'em all.
Yo, this album is good. I'm about halfway through my first listen and I'm finding it really pleasant. Definite Viva La Vida vibes, but not in a redundant way.
I think Scooter Braun's position is legally dubious at best. Recording contracts will often have exclusivity clauses, saying that the artist can't immediately go and re-record the songs for a different record label. As Taylor explains it, Scooter Braun is telling her that performing on this show constitutes a new recording of the song and therefore is barred under her record contract. Does a live performance for a TV program really constitute a new recording though? It might depend on the fine details of the contract, but that seems pretty sketchy to me.
Syvianbriar was the last one that felt important to me, but Aureate Gloom was enjoyable. Innocence reaches didn't connect with me at all, which was really disappointing. And then White is Relic had at least 2-3 songs I really liked.
Props to Kevin for acknowledging and apologizing for this, but Georgie Fruit hasn't really made an appearance since Skeletal Lamping, right?? Maybe False Priest? Does this mean he's retiring songs from that era from setlists?
Any reasonable contract will detail the rights that each party has in the event of a breach. Hopefully that language is favorable to Stevie in this case.
Of the three GBV albums released this year, Warp and Woof is the most accessible. It's silly and light and outrageously fun. Zeppelin Over China is a much more serious, dense affair, but it's a gift that keeps on giving if you have the patience. I'm still digesting the new one, Sweating the Plague, which I think is my least favorite of the bunch. It's somewhere in between the other two stylistically, with the seriousness of ZOC but the brevity of W&W.
I listened through the Matt Wallace mix once already this morning and it's such an incredible improvement. The album still isn't as strong for me as Tim, Let It Be, etc. but it's so much more natural sounding. There's a lot to enjoy here and I plan to revisit a bunch.
This situation is kind of similar to the Beatles' "Let It Be... Naked". I pretty much never listen to the original Let It Be anymore. I imagine this new Mats album will do that for me too.
I think Masterpiece is Big Thief's most rocking album so far, but we'll see if Two Hands dethrones it. Masterpiece has more upbeat songs with big guitar moments and squealing feedback and whatnot. It's kinda in the same vein as those early Wye Oak albums.
What are ya'll on about? I read the whole RS interview and nothing about it seemed calculated to me. The interviewer asked Swift questions and she answered them. Some questions were about politics and TS gave seemingly genuine responses, no? She expressed regret about not sharing her politics sooner, but rightly voiced concern that it may not have helped in the 2016 election anyways. It's okay if she doesn't have the most nuanced explanations -- she's an entertainer doing press for her new pop album...
Totally with you. The remix has more of a live feel compared to the original, I guess. But the original production on Monster is basically the main draw for me. It's this super loud guitar album with this glam flavor that R.E.M. never really attempted before or after. I'm not interested much in hearing a remixed version with the guitars brought down and the cool guitar effects removed.
I'm excited. I don't have the longtime emotional attachment to the band that a lot of other people seem to, and I like the songs that have been released so far. This is going to be a fun listen for me.
I saw Ben Folds live just 3 or 4 years ago. Someone shouted FREEBIRD and then Ben just went into it and actually played most of the song. It was a fun show with a lot of improvisational goofiness like that.
I hear you and agree with a lot of your thoughts, but I'll add that Clairo's "Pretty Girl" seems to have been a genuine YouTube phenomenon, and I don't think any amount daddy's money or industry influence can guarantee that sort of viral success.
I just want to say that the uproar over Janet's departure led me to revisit the back catalog. SK had never really clicked with me before, but now I am obsessed and SK is the only thing I've wanted to listen to for the past two weeks.
I'm happy to hear the album is good, but sad for what the lyrics reveal about Berman's state of mind. This lyric is so clever and so good: "How we stand the standard distance distant strangers stand apart"
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