Wait this whole fight is a joke, right? My mind is being blown by the possibility of true irony.
If not, Scott, I hope you are ordering an amazing meta take on "Where's the Beef" right this second...
For the second time, reading something written by Julianne makes me feel like I'm reading an Ivy-league admissions essay that crams SAT vocabulary words and "advanced" grammar structures into every sentence just to distract from the complete lack of substance.
I'm not against elegant, sophisticated writing -- the internet could use much more -- but this is not that. I WANT to read what she has to say, and yet my eyes glaze over from the distracting style.
Style > Substance? Apropos given the subject of the article I suppose.
serious question -- does anyone think the leak is not how the final album will sound? i don't necessarily mind it, but the mixing makes Chris' vocals secondary -- or perhaps equal -- to the instruments. which is interesting, and i'm not necessarily against it, but i'm surprised -- his vocals were so front & center on their other output.... so i guess i'm wondering if it's a mistake in this early leak?
Is this the followup to Kid A/Amnesiac in the way that In Rainbows was OK Computer's "followup"? I'm having trouble getting into it on first listen, which is a great sign I think...
As someone who did not dig it at first, I can understand. Now I think that it is sometimes better than Sound of Silver depending on my mood.
1) I'm a big fan of Murphy's lyricism, so if you listen to the first 3 minutes, he is saying the greatest shit ever. Harping on his friends for 3 minutes while saying "Present company excepted." It's hilarious. And the 3 minute wait is worth it because of the insane explosion at 3'08". Heard it in a dance bar once and was pretty impressed by how well everyone responded to it.
2) Could take or leave SCM, but don't hate.
3) I love North American Scum, so maybe I'm wrong to answer this. Drunk Girls, however bad on the first 10 listens, is in my opinion his response to "You wanted a hit." Someone wanted a hit from him, so he wrote a shitty hit-like single and called it Drunk Girls. I think it's hilarious and explained by You Wanted a hit.
I think this album is just as good as the others, if not better. And live it was killer. Starting off with DYK and ending with Home (which has the same melody at the end) made it feel like it came full circle.
I wonder how many people will agree, but I really think this album deserves Best Album this year. A few competitors, but it's so fucking good (and I'm not even a huge fan of his earlier stuff).
I completely disagree with babyastronauts. As much as I enjoy the thorough Brooklyn coverage, there are so many interesting things happening all over the U.S. -- and the world. May be difficult to branch outside of the U.S., but I want to hear what's happening in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles (ESPECIALLY Los Angeles), Texas, etc.
More focus on diverse types of music would be nice too -- maybe that would happen naturally by expanding beyond the Brooklyn indie scene. I love the style of music, but it seems more homogenous each year.
Let's get more electronic stuff up there, rock, experimental, etc. I think you guys do a good job of throwing in a curve ball now and then (see: Kanye), but it would be nice to have more.
I know LA's music scene isn't Brooklyn, but it's pretty damn good and I've always wished there were a Stereogum for LA... which means there is probably an open market you guys could swoop in and cover.
And yes, I realize the irony that I appreciate the "more sophisticated lyrics" but got hooked on the album by a song that repeats the same word 75 times. I need the musical hooks first, the lyrics keep me coming back for more.
It's funny, I'm really enjoying reading everyone's comments because a lot of people seem to like it, but have suggestions for what to cut here and there. I had to respond to you Anguis because for me Rococo was the entire reason I gave the album a second chance. At first I thought the whole thing was second-rate, but Rococo brought me in. Then, as I gave it more spins, the complexity, emotional depth and far more sophisticated lyrics (at least compared to neon bible) started setting in. Now I'd say Modern Man, Rococo and Suburban War are some of my favorite songs.
I think a lot of us might think it's too long because we're used to such shorter albums these days, and I agree I feel like the album goes on forever sometimes, but I can't think of a song to cut!
I dunno, I'm on listen 15 or so and feel like I'm just getting the brilliance of it. I think this could be better than anything we've heard in a while... different than funeral, but certainly as exciting and emotionally charged as that album.
I realized how much I liked Suburbs when I tried putting on Funeral or NB and wanted to go back to Suburbs. Crazy.
And now I've written entirely too much.
I need to listen to it again, but am I the only one not blown away? I mean I love everything they do, but I want another "Mr. November" some day... and a record better than Boxer? Not sure if that's possible? (literally every track is amazing). But glad to see they're keeping it interesting.
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