mmmmm that coda
― Spottie, Friday, 3 June 2016 06:51 (seven years ago) link
Visuals for lake by the ocean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsSu0bRZEHM
― Spottie, Friday, 3 June 2016 06:59 (seven years ago) link
WE WILL CLIMAX WITH REASON
― r|t|c, Friday, 3 June 2016 13:30 (seven years ago) link
[fans self] damn that is game
― r|t|c, Friday, 3 June 2016 13:31 (seven years ago) link
the arrangements on these songs are wild
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 3 June 2016 13:47 (seven years ago) link
there's so much detail yet it's so coherently woven into a composed surface that it sort of feels like watching sand shift
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 3 June 2016 13:51 (seven years ago) link
also psyched for this record bc i need new records with amazing drumming in my life rn
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 3 June 2016 13:52 (seven years ago) link
distracted by the clearly-not-Chris-Dave old dude on drums in the video, so here's some Chris Dave: https://www.instagram.com/p/BFiUAcbPiGf/
― sam jax sax jam (Jordan), Friday, 3 June 2016 19:11 (seven years ago) link
chris dave is so good
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 3 June 2016 19:14 (seven years ago) link
i thought i knew what he was doing in that video and it turns out: i didn't
The new song is good; reminiscent of 'Stop the World' from BLACKsummers'night — think I prefer 'Lake by the Ocean' though.
― Austin, Sunday, 5 June 2016 16:54 (seven years ago) link
trying to determine what the timpani and choral vocals remind me of. rotary connection? they give it such a haunted feeling
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Sunday, 5 June 2016 17:31 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, definitely a semi-spooky Rotary Connection "baroque soul" vibe to this new tune.
― Austin, Sunday, 5 June 2016 18:39 (seven years ago) link
http://pitchfork.com/features/interview/9901-maxwell-hostage-of-love/
this interview makes me very excited to hear the album
possibly more excited than the album will make me
good album cover though
― StillAdvance, Monday, 13 June 2016 14:48 (seven years ago) link
though tbh, the first single sounds very much like post-00 maxwell. hes really become kind of a sade artist. he basically does one thing, does it well, but doesnt really shift much anymore, not in the way he did from UHS to embrya. i think his melodies used to be stronger too, which might just be as a result of not working with stuart matthewman anymore.
― StillAdvance, Monday, 13 June 2016 14:58 (seven years ago) link
imo this album is way different texturally from any of his other work. melodically it is recognizably maxwell ofc
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 15:04 (seven years ago) link
also he totally still works with matthewman
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 15:05 (seven years ago) link
I prefer post-00 Maxwell so I am excited
― Evan R, Monday, 13 June 2016 15:06 (seven years ago) link
matthewmann worked on the new one? he wasnt on the last one.
"melodically it is recognizably maxwell ofc"
i think his melodies changed quite a bit after now. what ive heard of the new one - just whats on YT - sounds very much in line with the last album.
― StillAdvance, Monday, 13 June 2016 15:14 (seven years ago) link
I think now and BLACKsummer'snight share a lot more than now does with embrya. his compositions have shifted yeah but I think they're generally more open and uh dimensional? since embrya, not to take away from how awesome and immersive that album is. i think the more useful songwriting relationship to observe re: maxwell is how his songs with hod david have evolved
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 15:25 (seven years ago) link
I think the Matthewmann stuff has a much looser, jammy feel. The songs have room for extra flourishes, solos, etcetera.
In contrast, the Hod David stuff feels much more (to use a word that may have negative connotations) inflexible. There are still strings and horn charts, but everything has its specific part to play and that's it.
Both sounds have their pros and cons.
― Austin, Monday, 13 June 2016 16:34 (seven years ago) link
Am I the only person who much prefers Now to Embrya? I feel like that record doesn't get much respect even though it is incredible
― Evan R, Monday, 13 June 2016 16:42 (seven years ago) link
Embrya is his worst.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2016 16:44 (seven years ago) link
never said it was a GOOD move from UHS to embrya
― StillAdvance, Monday, 13 June 2016 16:47 (seven years ago) link
Ha, I didn't know other people struggled with Embrya, too. It's always spoken of so reverentially
― Evan R, Monday, 13 June 2016 16:49 (seven years ago) link
"Cococure" is the only thing that sticks imo
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2016 16:50 (seven years ago) link
drowndeep is one of his best songs imo
― J0rdan S., Monday, 13 June 2016 16:52 (seven years ago) link
it ends up being R&B muzak after the half way mark or so IIRC but cmon, that opening stretch is terrific!
― StillAdvance, Monday, 13 June 2016 16:53 (seven years ago) link
reminds me of that bit in prince's movie star - 'environmental records... supposed to make you horny but just makes me wanna go to the bathroom'
"know these things" is also amazing
― J0rdan S., Monday, 13 June 2016 16:57 (seven years ago) link
embrya is amazing and i'll hear nothing against it
urban hang suite is his "worst" imo
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:03 (seven years ago) link
embrya is sort of like "what if voodoo took place underwater"
i like embrya but that's an extremely generous interpretation
― J0rdan S., Monday, 13 June 2016 17:05 (seven years ago) link
"..and crabs ate the remains..?
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:09 (seven years ago) link
lol yeah it's an exaggeration
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:12 (seven years ago) link
We can agree, I hope, that each record improved on the last. Now was the breakthrough; "Fortunate" helped.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:13 (seven years ago) link
the minimizing of urban hang suite here feels like revisionist history to me
― J0rdan S., Monday, 13 June 2016 17:15 (seven years ago) link
"urban hang suite is his "worst" imo"
WTF?!
embrya is more like what might happen if maxwell heard way too many ambient records, read way too many new agey spiritualism books, and never heard voodoo once (which he couldnt have done anyway, its more like he spent more time than anyone should have done with prince's karma sutra album).
― StillAdvance, Monday, 13 June 2016 17:16 (seven years ago) link
idk embrya is so much about inhabiting a groove, which i think grounds it and makes it accessible even as it digresses and blurs
it's really important to look at those scare quotes imo when i talk about uhs
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:18 (seven years ago) link
also i think i'm really in the minority re: thinking urban hang suite is his "worst," i'm pretty sure that record is settled in its canon and i can't do much to revise its place in history
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:19 (seven years ago) link
I don't think it's his worst, but the first two records are his least interesting to my ears
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:20 (seven years ago) link
yeah i think that is what i am really saying
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:34 (seven years ago) link
i could buy the argument that now is his best record but i always understood it as his less interesting & adventurous coming off embrya
― J0rdan S., Monday, 13 June 2016 17:43 (seven years ago) link
Embrya was a life changing album for me.
I rank it with Kid A and Kind of Blue.
― Austin, Monday, 13 June 2016 17:47 (seven years ago) link
And RE: Now
It is probably his most interesting album, lyrically. It is a pretty brutal breakup album bookended by two "happy" songs.
― Austin, Monday, 13 June 2016 17:49 (seven years ago) link
my man
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:50 (seven years ago) link
anyway i think now is both conservative and expansive if that makes sense. "symptom unknown" sitting near "temporary nite" sitting near "get to know ya."
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 13 June 2016 17:52 (seven years ago) link
Now was my favorite until 2009.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2016 18:18 (seven years ago) link
usually when i listen to now i end up listening to this woman's work 50 straight times
― J0rdan S., Monday, 13 June 2016 18:23 (seven years ago) link
My order would probably go
EmbryaNow BLACKsummers'nightUrban Hang Suite
They're all solid 8/10s for me but I'm still waiting for his masterpiece.
― Kitchen Person, Monday, 13 June 2016 19:05 (seven years ago) link