Hello.

So there's a new Bright Eyes album on it's way called "The People's Key".

You can listen to it here: http://www.npr.org/2011/01/30/133278431/first-listen-bright-eyes-the-peoples-key

Or you can download it "illegally" like any sensible person.

Or you can go about your business and pretend this didn't happen.

So far, the jury is out on which of the above you should choose. The release statement from the label is kind of hilariously superlative. Claiming it's definitely, without doubt the best thing Bright Eyes have ever released and they're definitely not just saying that because it's the new one. Mhmm.

At the moment... I'm not convinced. There's a bad case of "kitchen sink" going on with the production. Overall the album feels somewhat schizophrenic with the only constant element being Oberst's heavily multitracked vocals, every song experiencing a completely different treatment to the one before it. Another listen or two could reveal the genius behind this but I can't silence the voice in the back of my head telling me it's not working.

Thread.

So on monday last week I sat down with an acoustic guitar and recorded some sounds for a composition I'd been thinking about for a little while.

Based on the claustrophobia of Penderecki's Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima it kind of ended up different to what I'd anticipated. Initially I'd wanted longer slides and a load of unified grotesque clusters. Turns out the technique I was using lent itself a lot better to a more chaotic arrangement.

In any case, it turned out to be quite intense. Which is good.

It's on soundcloud.

http://t.co/M7BW67l

It's quiet. Probably best not to listen to it on laptop speakers or in a noisy environment.

She & Him

So that new She & Him album that's not really new at all but I just listened to it? Yeah, that one.

I listened to it.

It's fun and all but I can't help thinking that Zooey Deschanel would be better off leaving behind an era of music that's been exhausted and just focus more on making stellar appearances in my dreams. Not to mention that her voice seems to constantly and unintentionally flirt with the idea of slipping out of tune whilst hiding inconspicuously behind an unnecessary expanse of hallverb.

Credit where credit's due: the song's are well-written. If incredibly dull when subjected to any kind of attentive listening.

Pretty sure she's a cunt in "real-world" as well but... I honestly don't know where I'm going with this.


Here's something from 4chan:





I should sleep.

You will never die, but I might.

First post.

"Judging by the name, one might imagine Mogwai’s latest, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, was going to come from a post-rock band ready to embrace their punk influences, releasing a snarling beast of an album full of tunes waiting to reach into the ears and rip off the heads of all those not hardcore enough to heed its call.

Instead, the band has released probably its most subdued yet; more focused on texture than energy. Mogwai uses the interplay of timbres as much as the melodies to make their effect, and the result is a richly nuanced album that, while lacking in the moments of unhinged glory the band specializes in, still packs an emotional wallop and an engaging listen from start to finish." - antiquiet

I think this quote shows enough to display how... well... wrong this writer at antiquiet is. Not to say that band's can't change radically at later stages in their career but even the most casual of Mogwai spectators would be hard pressed to have missed the playfully sarcastic nature of the band's titling process and make any literal connections between title and substance (did anyone expect Happy Songs For Happy People to be an outing in major key songwriting joy?). While not completely off the mark with his later comments, one does wonder whether this reviewer was in the same room while the album was playing at times. Sure, some of the album is subdued but you'd be hard pressed to find more danceable tracks anywhere in their back catalogue. I'll eat my shite if you can show me anything that matches the straightforward romping of Mexican Grand Prix, San Pedro or George Square Thatcher Death Party.

(Not really)

The reviewer from Sputnik seems to have taken a similarly lax approach to his listening, claiming it to be lacking in more inspiration than if they had stuck to post-rock-by-numbers. Not that my intention is to point out all the ignorance of other misguided reviewers (or pleasure the rectum of an assortment of already well liked bands) but it all seems rather odd. Perhaps I'm missing something. Perhaps my definitions of words like "subdued" and "vocals" are wrong. Or maybe some people just equate to no more than goose genitals.

Mindless critic bashing aside, this new Mogwai album does exhibit a different approach to previous efforts. Rather than repeating their previous mode of thematic development, here they prefer to meditate and alter rather than add, mutiply and ejaculate in a wall of noise. That's not to say the album is bereft of the staple Mogwai moments (closer You're Lionel Ritchie wouldn't be out of place on a number of previous releases) but this album demonstrates the band exploring different ways to create whilst maintaining their identity.

Unfortunately, this is not always as coherent as it could be. When considered as a whole, the juxtaposition between subdued restraint and up-beat seems sometimes at odds (San Pedro following Death Rays being the example that springs to mind). More than that though, there's just something here that stops me from feeling like I'm experiencing an engaging piece of work unfold. Yes, I'm romanticising the notion of an album as a whole but what's wrong with that?

This point aside, there is much to gain from a listen or many more. These tracks are as sonically rich as you would expect and the methods on show used to achieve this vary substantially. Despite many claiming Mogwai have been going through the motions for the last few records, it seems wholly unfair to deny them credit for the painstaking aural sculpting they put into every track.

Serious face off: I bum Mogwai big times. I sat in the booth next to several members at Nice n Sleazys once and felt like a teenage girl with a boycrush all over again. I'm not proud.

In other news, it's a sad state of affairs that when I download a .rar I sigh and feel a surge of unreasonable annoyance when I'm impolitely informed I need a password. Sure all music is free now but there is a pang of self loathing when you realised you just asked yourself "Do I really want to steal this album enough that I'm willing to spend 30 seconds looking for a password?".

And yeah, this is my first real person blog. Apologies. If it doesn't get better I'll stop. Promise.

(This is likely)