California is easily the worst song on the record, though. Initial listen, it's all about the slow builds like The Grey Ship and Red Star.
Really sick of the kind of comments that are "OMG a woman's vocals, presence etc. are not as easily accessible as, say Katy Perry = TEH FEMININE MYSTIQUE!!!" that's just kinda sub-Klondike "help! a woman is talking, I must disengage!" BS imo. But whatever. That's more about the two reviews posted at the top of the thread than anyone on this thread.
― Karen D. Tregaskin, Monday, 16 May 2011 12:34 (thirteen years ago) link
While I like this a lot sonically I actually think she's a bit blunt with the introversion, which works against her.
― Matt DC, Monday, 16 May 2011 12:40 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm kinda boggling that it could be considered inpenetrable at all really.
― Matt DC, Monday, 16 May 2011 12:58 (thirteen years ago) link
i don't want to love "california" as much as i do.
the rest of the album is fairly solid but i'm not really blown away or anything. it seemed stronger toward the beginning. might give it another listen.
― teledyldonix, Monday, 16 May 2011 17:12 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, I completely agree. I found Red State really difficult but this is such an open and honest album. Adore it.
― Upt0eleven, Monday, 16 May 2011 17:27 (thirteen years ago) link
I too do not understand the hype. Well crafted mostly yes but a bit soulless. And why do people like California? Is it the lyrics? The song is a bit one note to me.
― Hinklepicker, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Not just the lyrics but the delivery, too. I really like that song.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, forgive me for that post upthread... trying to remember what I meant by "intimate yet impenetrable" and mostly coming to the conclusion that this is something else I've posted post-bong rip and intermediating between ilx/reddit/jewel staite's twitter.
Listened to this 3 times and am really unsure what to think. The songs are just okay... I've reread that Pitchfork review twice now and seemingly still can't figure what it is that warrants this to attain a BNM, and not just simply a decent rating.
― Stay Puft Daddy (kelpolaris), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 05:45 (thirteen years ago) link
presumably they did a quick show of hands for 'so do a bunch of us dig this record' and it turned out a bunch of them dug the record
― thomp, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 08:18 (thirteen years ago) link
alternatively, cthulhu
kelpolaris it seems you spend a lot of time mystified by pitchfork
― just sayin, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 08:21 (thirteen years ago) link
I think if you make the sonic/aesthetic choices that she has you probably WANT people to think you're a bit on the inpenetrable side but the lyrics are so obvious and upfront they undercut that.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 10:35 (thirteen years ago) link
People bitch about indie rock all the time but I'd listen to a lot more of it if it sounded like this. I think it helps that the lyrics are casually brilliant and not just some afterthought.
― PG Harpy (Doran), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 10:57 (thirteen years ago) link
This girl and Gowns are like JT Leroy to me.
― THE Alan Moulder?!? (Ówen P.), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 14:01 (thirteen years ago) link
^^please elaborate
― jer.fairall, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 15:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Exploitation of one's own backstory + extreme catharsis w/out any payoff, no comedy, no anger, no epiphany.
― THE Alan Moulder?!? (Ówen P.), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 17:07 (thirteen years ago) link
this is an interesting read, maybe plays into owen p's JTL comparison? (which, ok, frankly i don't get. read sarah way back when and found it full of comedy and epiphany, no anger.) when it's working, i like california's combination of arty indifference and poetic directness. just as often, though, it doesn't work and feels simply "arty" to me - smart & well-appointed, but a bit empty. wish i found the music more engaging.
― contenderizer, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 18:00 (thirteen years ago) link
haven't heard the album though, and i'm interested enough to plan on it.
― contenderizer, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 18:01 (thirteen years ago) link
before or after the rapture?
― sarahel, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 18:02 (thirteen years ago) link
after, of course
that's not fair. that's not fair at all. there was time now. there was, was all the time i needed...
― contenderizer, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 18:07 (thirteen years ago) link
[just noticed sysiphus - cool!]
― contenderizer, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 18:11 (thirteen years ago) link
except with the letters reversed
I couldn't disagree with this more tbh. I mean, I don't think it's funny but anger and epiphanies seem to be the backbone of it for me.
― PG Harpy (Doran), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 18:36 (thirteen years ago) link
generally not what one thinks of when one thinks of j t leroy these days, i thought 0w3n was suggesting she was actually whitehouse and EMA was a fictional creation
i like this record! i think it could be seen as blank or po-faced in some way but i'm not sure it is. i don't know. i wonder if there is a dividing line between ppl who think "i've bled all my blood out / these red pants don't show that" is clunky and those who think it is funny
― thomp, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 18:57 (thirteen years ago) link
that's like my favorite lyric on the record
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 19:09 (thirteen years ago) link
it's both clunky and (a little) funny. doesn't strike me as great.
― contenderizer, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 19:21 (thirteen years ago) link
i thought 0w3n was suggesting she was actually whitehouse and EMA was a fictional creation
yeah, but that's only a small part of "one's own backstory + extreme catharsis w/out any payoff, no comedy, no anger, no epiphany." the whole description just throws me, though erika = terminator makes sense.
― contenderizer, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 19:24 (thirteen years ago) link
she is quite tall.
― sarahel, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 19:25 (thirteen years ago) link
heavily reinforced
― contenderizer, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 19:26 (thirteen years ago) link
She'll be back.
― PG Harpy (Doran), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 19:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Sorry. Have SB'd self.
guys - she's not the terminator - i've met her parents. they were pretty cool.
― sarahel, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 19:33 (thirteen years ago) link
I like the record and I don't really want to get into my reservations. I'm chuffed that people are going to bat for this.
― THE Alan Moulder?!? (Ówen P.), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 20:12 (thirteen years ago) link
Me too, and they really are: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/artist-to-watch-ema-s-spellbinding-noise-folk-confessionals-20110517
― Upt0eleven, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 22:37 (thirteen years ago) link
i don't want to be THAT GUY, but imo this record is complete dogshit and that it has so much critical acclaim is utterly baffling. I don't see how even the most generous music fan could rate this as any higher than "Deeply Average", and I guess there must be some sort of conspiracy to make it popular.. yeah
This is not good though, surely?
― merked, Tuesday, 17 May 2011 23:55 (thirteen years ago) link
haha yeah its terrible we were all just saying it was good to prank u lol
you have to admit we had you going for a minute or so there bro... lol.
― haha (Lamp), Tuesday, 17 May 2011 23:57 (thirteen years ago) link
maybe u just like shit music lol
― merked, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:00 (thirteen years ago) link
What's so bad apart it apart from it being hyped, merked?
― Neil O'Jism (Craigo Boingo), Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:01 (thirteen years ago) link
It's growing on me after me initially only enjoying 'California'... sounds more Gowns-y with each listen.
― Neil O'Jism (Craigo Boingo), Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:02 (thirteen years ago) link
I like this record. I love the song pitchfork had up awhile back, The Grey Ship.
However, after watching a clip of her performing at south by southwest, it's clear she she's taken a thing or two from the Billy Squier school of arena rock arm movement
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:06 (thirteen years ago) link
I don't think it's terrible, but it's just really feels quintessentially mediocre to me. I'm not impressed with the production, the vocals are heavily indebted to an array of notable names/whatever suits EMA's voice; and I'm having a hard time figuring out what exactly is so cathartic about this album as a listener, and not the artist.
But is it just me or are a lot of new names popping up in this thread?
― Stay Puft Daddy (kelpolaris), Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:07 (thirteen years ago) link
*not from the POV of the artist. "i wish he'd leave a mark..." is not nearly as effecting upon me as I is I assume for her to sing. I'm not lamenting the fact that I can't relate, or that I wish all music would be more associable. But that this album is being acclaimed for being a representation of an artist finally getting something off their chest.... I mean, a lot of music does that. The majority of it, actually.
― Stay Puft Daddy (kelpolaris), Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:09 (thirteen years ago) link
the fact that it's hyped means nothing. That's just the vessel that pushed me towards it. But i really don't see what people are getting from it.. weak lyrics, unpleasant/emotion-free vocal performance, dull sonics, no.. songs. I'll admit it's one of the rare times i've popped out of my "alternative music"-free bunker and actually given a moment of time to the zeitgeist act, but this is the sort of thing that'll make me stack up another layer of bricks.
i don't want to dislike indie rock, but if this is the best they can do.. like, eurgh
― merked, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:12 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, like how some people poke their heads up and listen to one new rap album every 5 years or so. good strategy, imo.
― contenderizer, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:14 (thirteen years ago) link
You've lost me. Do you think this record is good or not? Does it matter that I don't really listen to this genre? So I can't judge it unless i've seen the context in which it's grown. That sounds like a whole bunch of bollocks to me
I have heard other "alternative" records in my life, btw
― merked, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:32 (thirteen years ago) link
which ones?
― contenderizer, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:34 (thirteen years ago) link
Jagged Little PillCarry on Up The Charts
some others
― merked, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:42 (thirteen years ago) link
er, you're kidding with those, yes?
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:44 (thirteen years ago) link
no, he's right! credentials is overrated.
and gah, i said the dumbest shit upthread. forgive me. this is great, gorgeous song after song, album of the year, etc. every track from "grey ship" through "marked", beautiful in at least 3 ways. anteroom maybe = elliott bedhead smith, but shit, ANTEROOM!
said he was a fagbut you know he was a pretty mandon't you know they all look pretty to me?
― contenderizer, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 06:56 (thirteen years ago) link
The more I listen to this, the more I like it, it kind of sucks me in with repeated listenings.
(funny because I wasn't that fond of Gowns, I bought it because it was getting so much love in the Plan B office but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me.)
But I think what I like about it is the ... blankness. That there isn't the expected "payoff, comedy, anger, epiphany" - there is this blankness which can be as much of a reaction to trauma as those other responses. And perhaps it's a bit voyeuristic to expect, as a listener, that you are entitled to payoff, comedy, anger, epiphany, whatever, rather than this fierce beauty and emotional blankness that she's chosen to portray - picture of her in a homemade "emptiness" t-shirt makes me think that blankness is an aesthetic choice as well as emotional reaction.
― Karen D. Tregaskin, Wednesday, 18 May 2011 19:57 (thirteen years ago) link
But I don't hate this song. Kinda indifferent. So far based on this thread I'm not sure if that opinion is allowed!
― Evan, Thursday, 27 February 2014 02:47 (ten years ago) link
lol. it's allowed, i'm pretty sure!
i don't like the song, which could put me in a near-exclusive club. who knows?
― Daniel, Esq 2, Thursday, 27 February 2014 02:48 (ten years ago) link
i swear like two days before this revive i found myself wondering what happened to this terrible artist, guess i know now
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 27 February 2014 03:05 (ten years ago) link
The album is half Alternative Nation mixtape (bad) and half spooky PLMS vibes (good). It really sounds like two different artists to me.
― What is wrong with songs? Absolutely nothing. Songs are great. (DL), Thursday, 27 February 2014 09:48 (ten years ago) link
I have very much cooled on EMA's older stuff, both PLMS and Red State, after revisiting so I don't have a dog in this fight. I just find the change from "This is great, it sounds like the 90s" to "This is terrible, it sounds like the 90s" kinda perplexing. (I would really like if she sounded like Belly, I absolutely *loved* Belly.) I guess it's more like... use better descriptors, please.
― Bipolar Sumner (Branwell Bell), Thursday, 27 February 2014 09:51 (ten years ago) link
It's in the voice basically. I don't care at all if something sounds like something from the 90s but she has a very generic rock voice and a weakness for melodrama when she lets rip whereas in the more restrained, hypnotic songs I think she sounds fantastic. Any less derivative? Probably not, but I far prefer it.
― What is wrong with songs? Absolutely nothing. Songs are great. (DL), Thursday, 27 February 2014 10:08 (ten years ago) link
Is this gonna be her Celebrity Skin?
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Thursday, 27 February 2014 12:48 (ten years ago) link
It's gonna be her 'New Jersey'...
― Mule, Thursday, 27 February 2014 18:53 (ten years ago) link
i was alone in the citaaay
― markers, Saturday, 12 April 2014 14:45 (ten years ago) link
Only one listen in, but aside from "So Blonde," where are the songs?!
― Inside Lewellyn Sinclair (cryptosicko), Saturday, 12 April 2014 16:29 (ten years ago) link
This album makes me sad. I almost want to take back my support of Martyrs.
― Moka, Saturday, 12 April 2014 18:30 (ten years ago) link
It is *because* of Martyrs that this album (so far) makes me sad.
― Inside Lewellyn Sinclair (cryptosicko), Saturday, 12 April 2014 18:58 (ten years ago) link
I think I'm in love with her and all that I think she stands for. She just seems happy and so well adjusted and free and a real lover. She seems way more of a lover than a critic.I like to play her music alone and play it loud, maybe with a pint or two. I love how there is a seeming disconnect between the sparse electronics and guitar and the richness of her vocals. I love the subtle changes within the songs. Some parts are so amazing that you wonder if they were happy accidents instead of immaculately sequenced. Have not been this big of a fan of an artists first two albums since Le Tigre or the White Stripes.
― nicky lo-fi, Sunday, 13 April 2014 14:37 (ten years ago) link
he's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
― WE WANT FET WAP (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 1 June 2015 20:34 (nine years ago) link
blonde
http://25.media.tumblr.com/9cd48e9a89876c2b37488e88bc6bc8a4/tumblr_n1ikrphI9h1todheko1_400.gif
― Evan R, Monday, 1 June 2015 20:46 (nine years ago) link
I mean I know this song is not ~typical EMA~ but I have such a soft spot for summertime sunny day shoegaze jams that I just want to listen to it on repeat
― WE WANT FET WAP (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 1 June 2015 20:48 (nine years ago) link
guys what if this song is actually better than anything that Lush or Ride did
warm lush overdriven guitars with stoned reverby vocals, suneshine all around, crack open a beer and chill by the pool
― WE WANT FET WAP (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 1 June 2015 20:55 (nine years ago) link
song owns video owns vibe owns
― adam, Monday, 1 June 2015 21:03 (nine years ago) link
this is one of those songs that like seems like it sounds like a million other songs but when I actually stop and try to think of other songs that sound like this w/ this vibe i just draw a blank
― WE WANT FET WAP (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 1 June 2015 21:21 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfkKIH6ggcA
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 13 October 2015 21:28 (eight years ago) link
2 yrs later and still blasting "So Blonde" for zenith summertime vibes
― he not like the banana (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, 30 June 2017 15:16 (six years ago) link
New album, Exile in the Outer Ring, out August 25!
― some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Friday, 30 June 2017 15:18 (six years ago) link
the new song is good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7epnE7mxPM
― he not like the banana (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, 30 June 2017 16:01 (six years ago) link
I know nothingLasts foreverIf you don’t love me, someone will
8-)
― the ghost of markers, Friday, 30 June 2017 16:33 (six years ago) link
Love this new song!
― dance cum rituals (Moka), Friday, 30 June 2017 17:03 (six years ago) link
I've not really followed her career deeply so I don't know if this is as strong or not compared to previous stuff but this new album is A+
― boxedjoy, Monday, 14 August 2017 22:55 (six years ago) link
Haven't heard the new one but Past Life Martyred Saints is still amazing 6 years later.
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Monday, 14 August 2017 23:56 (six years ago) link
Goes for like $6-7 on discogs these days... what's the deal? Not that it's super indicative of anything except supply > demand but still... did it not age well for most people?
― Evan, Thursday, 27 August 2020 19:39 (three years ago) link
This reminds me that I once opened for her and Downtown Boys and she (and they) were extremely nice & cool
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 27 August 2020 19:51 (three years ago) link
I see her albums pretty cheap in used bins a lot as well. but in general music by non cis male solo artists tends to have diminished resale value (with some exceptions of course)
― unpaid intern at the darvo institute (Simon H.), Thursday, 27 August 2020 19:57 (three years ago) link
I'm sure her somewhat avant leanings aren't much help either
― unpaid intern at the darvo institute (Simon H.), Thursday, 27 August 2020 19:58 (three years ago) link
i still give past life martyred saints a spin every now and then -- it holds up well, though California doesn't feel like as much of a standout single as it once did (for context, it came in at #3 on p4k's eoy singles list). I don't think i've played anything from the second album since the year it came out
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Friday, 28 August 2020 03:54 (three years ago) link
perhaps "suffered" a bit from overexposure, always seemed kind of niche to me in its aesthetic
it's also quite dark so for me personally it's not something I listen to that much
― corrs unplugged, Friday, 28 August 2020 11:30 (three years ago) link
I was very impressed with the theme of the last record. really enjoyed the interviews about the kinds of ideological conversations she would get into and how the best shows were always at the boundaries between the cities and the suburbs, she had her finger on something being able to address those issues without falling into easy condemnations, while at the same time not letting the evil off the hook. what she does isn't always a kind of pop music I intuitively get, but y'know local bay area family means I root for and I thought that last one was going to be her biggest
I hope she doubles down and goes further into it now that 2020's made all those issues even less ignorable
― Milton Parker, Friday, 28 August 2020 20:36 (three years ago) link
i know i gave the full album a spin at least once but i don't recall much about it. should try it again. "california" was/is tremendous
― dyl, Saturday, 29 August 2020 03:51 (three years ago) link
I listened to this again a few months back, and its still a very impressive record in the way that Fetch the Bolt Cutters is a very impressive record, though my enthusiasm may have dimmed a tiny bit.
― A White, White Gay (cryptosicko), Saturday, 29 August 2020 04:32 (three years ago) link
PLMS takes me back to an alternate reality, somewhere in 1997, where this album sits comfortably next to Sonic Youth's Washing Machine and Cat Power's What Would the Community Think.
I think the description upthread of how she evokes both the best and the worst of the alternative 90's is otm. Her songwriting - like most of the songwriting of 90's alternative - leaves a lot to be desired, but she's great at evoking a past life. Problem for me with the follow-up albums to PLMS is that the clearer the production, the less evocative of nostalgia her songs get and her sound is all about nostalgia.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 29 August 2020 06:21 (three years ago) link