For those who've heard the latest Dan Bejar album, is it just me or is it kind of incredible?
― altered boners (rennavate), Friday, 3 December 2010 23:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
where'd ya hear it? isn't it not out for a long time? I thought I lost the Destroyer love but it was revived by Bay of Pigs.
― iago g., Saturday, 4 December 2010 00:55 (2 years ago) Permalink
In complete agreement, but then I'm a Destroyer fanboy, so it was kinda predictable I'd feel this way. Although having said that, I was disappointed with "Trouble In Dreams" right from the off and never really went back to it, and that ambient single he put out a few weeks back didn't really float my boat. But this is awesome. I mentioned in the other thread how all the soft synths and horn swells and sub-disco drums and female backing vox remind me of those great 80s pop-rock bands like Prefab Sprout, but in the notes I was scribbling down yesterday I've actually written down phrases like "Lindstrom space disco" and "dubbed-out free jazz squall".
I thought I lost the Destroyer love but it was revived by Bay of Pigs
The whole album is very much along the same lines, and a truncated version of Bay Of Pigs is the closing track.
― Moogle, Saturday, 4 December 2010 10:17 (2 years ago) Permalink
Leaked already!?
'Chinatown' makes me feel very optimistic about the record. Loved Rubies and mostly everything before it, didn't feel any connection with everything he has done aftwerwards.
― Moka, Saturday, 4 December 2010 10:55 (2 years ago) Permalink
OTM with Prefab Sprout
To be fair he's only put out the two EPs and Trouble In Dreams since Rubies. By the by those EPs have the best cover art
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ksQG3-eM-4U/TNDnpjfNR0I/AAAAAAAAALc/IvRwUCXnhiU/s1600/Destroyer-Archer-On-The-Beach.jpg
― PEAVEY Ó))) (Ówen P.), Saturday, 4 December 2010 10:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
Owen, the EP for Bay of Pigs has great cover art, too, no?
― altered boners (rennavate), Sunday, 5 December 2010 08:47 (2 years ago) Permalink
And no, not leaked, press copy. And is an 11:18 version of a 13:38 song really "truncated"? More like "mildly squished."
― altered boners (rennavate), Sunday, 5 December 2010 08:54 (2 years ago) Permalink
people really need to revisit Trouble in Dreams. i felt the same way until recently and now it's one of my favorites. the first 6 songs are some of his best imo.
― Moreno, Sunday, 5 December 2010 15:18 (2 years ago) Permalink
yeah I went back to Trouble after someone (j0hn d I think?) was defending it on the other Destroyer thread... strangely, it was actually the second half that got me to come around on it ("Plaza Trinidad", in particular, is beautiful, like an angry drunk jumping onstage during a broadway musical)
― 'The Road'(a hundred less-than signs)'Taken' (bernard snowy), Sunday, 5 December 2010 15:21 (2 years ago) Permalink
Really? I still think Trouble in Dreams is ehhhhh. If you guys really recommend it, I'll revisit it soon.
― altered boners (rennavate), Sunday, 5 December 2010 21:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
("Plaza Trinidad", in particular, is beautiful, like an angry drunk jumping onstage during a broadway musical)― 'The Road'(a hundred less-than signs)'Taken' (bernard snowy), Sunday, December 5, 2010 3:21 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark
― 'The Road'(a hundred less-than signs)'Taken' (bernard snowy), Sunday, December 5, 2010 3:21 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark
Plaza Trinidad, in fact, is one of the greatest songs ever written. Thank you! It's my favorite Destroyer song and I never tire of it.
― Fruitless and Pansy Free (Dr. Joseph A. Ofalt), Sunday, 5 December 2010 21:45 (2 years ago) Permalink
becoming obsessed with "my favorite year" helped open the rest of the album up to me. beware the company you reside in!!
― Moreno, Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:14 (2 years ago) Permalink
― altered boners (rennavate), Sunday, December 5, 2010 4:12 PM (1 hour ago)
i don't think it's one of his best but imo fans of bejar should find plenty to like. "blue flower/blue flame" grabbed me immediately, but i like his stoned, meandering stuff like that
― k3vin k., Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:25 (2 years ago) Permalink
i actually think it is one of his best now. top 3 imo. wouldn't have said that a couple months ago...
― Moreno, Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:27 (2 years ago) Permalink
I like "My Favorite Year," but nothing else grabbed me about Trouble in Dreams.
― altered boners (rennavate), Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:54 (2 years ago) Permalink
Kaputt is fantastic and I was pretty put off by Trouble in Dreams, though I haven't revisited it really since its release (my previous favorite was easily Your Blues). Steely Dan Bejar is a good look for him.
― rope (lloydwabbitt), Monday, 6 December 2010 10:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
I have only heard Rubies + New Pornos. Where do I go next?
― purblind snowcock splattered (a hoy hoy), Monday, 6 December 2010 10:13 (2 years ago) Permalink
The other direction, as fast as you can!
― Lightning Is For Babies (Johnny Fever), Monday, 6 December 2010 10:37 (2 years ago) Permalink
Or, you could try fan-favourite "Streethawk" or MIDI-heavy "Your Blues".
― PEAVEY Ó))) (Ówen P.), Monday, 6 December 2010 11:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
ty
― purblind snowcock splattered (a hoy hoy), Monday, 6 December 2010 11:29 (2 years ago) Permalink
almost like he got andy mackay on this. loving the late era roxy music avalon vibes of "song for america"
― kamerad, Friday, 10 December 2010 23:24 (2 years ago) Permalink
From the Merge press release...
"These are some of the themes alluded to or avoided in the album Kaputt and here are 22 things you might want to know about it. Straight from Dan Bejar himself, in absolutely no linear order.
Kaputt by Malaparte, which Bejar has never read… Kara Walker, specifically the lyrics she contributed to the song “Suicide Demo for Kara Walker”… Chinatown, the neighborhood bordering on Bejar’s… Baby blue eyes… 80s Miles Davis… 90s Gil Evans… Last Tango in Paris … Nic Bragg, who played lead guitar on every song, again… Fretless bass… The hopelessness of the future of music…The pointlessness of writing songs for today… V-Drums… The superiority of poetry and plays… And what’s to become of film? The Cocaine Addict… American Communism… Downtown, the neighborhood bordering on Bejar’s… The LinnDrum – Avalon and, more specifically, Boys and Girls… The devastated mind of JC/DC, who recorded, produced and mixed this record from fall of 2008 to spring of 2010… The back-up vocals of certain Roy Ayers and Long John Baldry tours… Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence…"
― Iago Galdston, Friday, 10 December 2010 23:53 (2 years ago) Permalink
wtf does 90s Gil Evans mean
― tylerw, Friday, 10 December 2010 23:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
here is the cover art
― World Series champion San Francisco Giants (Bee OK), Saturday, 11 December 2010 02:20 (2 years ago) Permalink
I don't know if everyone has already done this, or doesn't care to, but but I just made a playlist of all the Bejar songs from New Pornographers (incl those written with Carl) and it is really amazing...I am thinking put together they are better than any single Destroyer album. Is that kooky talk or possible?
― Iago Galdston, Saturday, 11 December 2010 03:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
sorry for the double but
― Iago Galdston, Saturday, 11 December 2010 03:47 (2 years ago) Permalink
they are very good songs yes. probably not "better than any single destroyer album" but pretty great. the ones on Electric Version especially -- Testament to Youth in Verse, so great
on the later NPs records they are about the only songs I liked tbh
― dmr, Saturday, 11 December 2010 04:22 (2 years ago) Permalink
this album is in-sane
― in my world of Hmong ppl (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 13 December 2010 19:53 (2 years ago) Permalink
I honestly can't stop listening to it. I'm going to overplay it before Christmas at this rate. I think I'm already half there!
― rihanna refurbished my dick (rennavate), Monday, 13 December 2010 21:52 (2 years ago) Permalink
really liking this so far
― kanellos (gbx), Monday, 13 December 2010 22:15 (2 years ago) Permalink
I like it in a "Dan Bejar can do no wrong" kinda way but it's a pretty weird album. I'm not going nuts over it so far. But like I said on the other thread I'm more of a Streethawk/This Night/Rubies kinda guy with Your Blues ranking toward the bottom. People who think Your Blues is his best album will love this.
Track 3 is my favorite so far, the one that has that rubbery New Order / Bunnymen bass line and is a little more propulsive.
― dmr, Tuesday, 14 December 2010 20:54 (2 years ago) Permalink
has anyone used 'yacht' as an adjective w/r/t this record yet
― thomp, Wednesday, 15 December 2010 10:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
too morose to be yacht rock imo
it's ~smooth~ but in sort of a diff. way
― dmr, Wednesday, 15 December 2010 17:58 (2 years ago) Permalink
i guess what i like is that its kinda yacht-y and balearic but still very much destroyer. like i just listened to some twin shadow track and it sounds slavish in comparison
― kanellos (gbx), Thursday, 16 December 2010 01:32 (2 years ago) Permalink
I didn't love this on first listen, but it's growing on me. I guess I miss the more dense/feverish/epic songs (Your Blues being my fav album), not that the smoother/easier ones aren't nice, mind you. Bay of Pigs feels like the meeting point of the two, and I love it. Seems that this may be his last record for a while, judging from this: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/12/catching-up-with-destroyer.html
― Charlesburg, Friday, 17 December 2010 04:41 (2 years ago) Permalink
Also, I came across this, which is interesting: http://www.danielbejar.com/
What's the source of the distorted guitar figure just after halfway through 'Savage Night at the Opera'?
― thomp, Friday, 17 December 2010 14:20 (2 years ago) Permalink
yo i heard a rumor p4k is gonna give this joint a 10.
― Mordy, Friday, 17 December 2010 14:21 (2 years ago) Permalink
It sounds a lot like the main riff from "Enola Gay" by OMD.
I just finished my review for Onethirtybpm and gave it 92%.
― Moogle, Friday, 17 December 2010 17:49 (2 years ago) Permalink
i expect this to get pretty favorable reviews all around, tbh.
― kanellos (gbx), Friday, 17 December 2010 17:50 (2 years ago) Permalink
that's pretty funny
― if nothing else this thread will result in some great display names (Edward III), Friday, 17 December 2010 18:07 (2 years ago) Permalink
― if nothing else this thread will result in some great display names (Edward III), Friday, 17 December 2010 18:08 (2 years ago) Permalink
don't think i've ever written this on ilx before but o_O
― tylerw, Friday, 17 December 2010 18:17 (2 years ago) Permalink
haha otm. knew i recognized that from somewhere
savage night at the opera is the best track by far imo
― dmr, Saturday, 18 December 2010 16:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
― Mordy, Friday, December 17, 2010 7:21 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark
LOLZ don't start this again. There was the same rumor floating around about Rubies. But this is possibly better than Rubies...
― rihanna rennavated my dick (rennavate), Saturday, 18 December 2010 20:54 (2 years ago) Permalink
Unless of course, it's an actual rumor.
― rihanna rennavated my dick (rennavate), Saturday, 18 December 2010 20:55 (2 years ago) Permalink
lol, obv I was making a poorly formed Rubies joek
― Mordy, Saturday, 18 December 2010 20:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
That's what I thought lolz.
― rihanna rennavated my dick (rennavate), Saturday, 18 December 2010 21:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
'too morose to be yacht' otm
― The Macallan 18 Year, Saturday, 18 December 2010 21:08 (2 years ago) Permalink
Sigh. I wish Chicago had better college radio options.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, 27 January 2012 19:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
i listened to 'destroyers rubies' after getting into 'kaputt' and i loved it. its more like 'heaven is a truck' or 'five years' than the 80's soft rock and sophistipop feel of 'kaputt'.
― Michael B Higgins (Michael B), Friday, 27 January 2012 19:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think "Your Blues" is the closest thing in his catalogue to this record
― Number None, Friday, 27 January 2012 19:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
nyc has pretty shitty college radio actually, but we listen to the university of washington's station at work via internet
― iatee, Friday, 27 January 2012 19:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
nyc radio so bad it's not even funny
― iatee, Friday, 27 January 2012 19:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
cosign the similarities between your blues and kaputt
― the star of many snuff films (Edward III), Friday, 27 January 2012 19:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
― the star of many snuff films (Edward III), Friday, 27 January 2012 19:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
This was the first Bejar I got into, bought Rubies shortly after and love that just as much.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Saturday, 28 January 2012 07:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
Anyone into this who hasn't heard the vinyl bonus track "The Laziest River" or, especially, his collaboration with Tim Hecker "Archer on the Beach" really should check it out. I love Kaputt but those two songs took things to another level for me.
― AnotherDeadHero, Saturday, 28 January 2012 11:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
his collaboration with Tim Hecker "Archer on the Beach"
Whhhaaaat
― Number None, Saturday, 28 January 2012 12:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah I had NO idea about that either, just googled it!
http://stereogum.com/564282/destroyer-archer-on-the-beach-feat-tim-hecker-stereogum-premiere/mp3s/
― future debts collector (Le Bateau Ivre), Saturday, 28 January 2012 12:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
the cover art to that and Bay of Pigs are sweet. can imagine having them up on a wall. also: kaputt.
― kid steel (cajunsunday), Saturday, 28 January 2012 13:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
His hair is unFerryesque though...
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 28 January 2012 13:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
Has anyone heard/loved the live version of "It's Gonna Take an Airplane"--sped up and with a bassline straight out of "All Along the Watchtower"? His show was easily the best I saw in 2011.
― BubbaM, Saturday, 28 January 2012 14:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
Blow Monkeys.
― Sick Mouthy (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 6 February 2012 10:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
saw him on the rubies tour and "it's gonna take an airplane" was the highlight of a pretty boring set
wish I had checked out a recent show cuz he's more interesting the further he strays from a standard rock band format
― I GUESS THAT CINNABON GETTIN EATEN (Edward III), Monday, 6 February 2012 15:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
seeing Destroyer tonight at Brooklyn Masonic Temple, w/ full band and still doing the Kaputt material I think, should be good
missed them last year at Webster Hall
― dmr, Monday, 18 June 2012 16:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
A buddy said they killed it Sat night in DC.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 18 June 2012 17:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
sweet
― dmr, Monday, 18 June 2012 18:31 (1 year ago) Permalink
I found this J. F*scher Washington City Paper interview with Dan interesting (although I have not read many interviews with him)
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2012/06/15/once-you-break-with-rock-music-its-hard-to-find-your-feet-again-a-chat-with-destroyers-dan-bejar/
This band that I am going on tour with is different from the one that toured last year for Kaputt, and for the first time ever, [we're] kind of consciously trying to learn a bunch of back-catalog stuff in addition to stuff from the new record. We probably know twice as many songs as any Destroyer formation has ever learned. And doing that, it’s interesting to see how the older songs knock up against the new ones. They’re a fair bit different, but I guess I see it outside of thematics. It’s really noticeable in the sense of space on the Kaputt songs, in, like, an effort to flatten out as many chord changes as possible. There’s a vocal delivery required in the older songs that seems divorced from the way I was singing on the Kaputt record.
...
I don’t know what I’m cast off into from Kaputt, but it seems to be a kind of void or something. Once you break with rock music, the kind of music I listened to for so long, it’s hard to find your feet again. [Laughs] I don’t know, I’m really enjoying playing with the group, more than I ever have, but at the same time I feel more distant from rock music, or even pop music, more than I ever have. It’s weird. Maybe Kaputt was like the kiss-off.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 18 June 2012 18:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah, that show in dc was tremendous - great versions of "suicide demo," "bay of pigs" as the encore, etc. i dunno if i'd describe the way they perform as emotionally detached, exactly, but it isn't far off - it was kind of interesting to watch them play the older, more self-consciously clever stuff ("english music," notably) with that kind of demeanor
― scream blahula scream (govern yourself accordingly), Monday, 18 June 2012 19:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah I'm curious to hear what non-Kaputt stuff they'll play and how it will come off
― dmr, Monday, 18 June 2012 19:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
Could be wrong but I'm pretty sure he played a new song at the dc show. Third song in the set with a "be my baby" beat? Anyone recognize this?
― Moreno, Monday, 18 June 2012 19:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
saw them a couple weeks back in portland. just an amazing show. was blown away most by "rubies" as the closer iirc.
― Clay, Monday, 18 June 2012 20:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
is 'english music' really more 'self-consciously clever' than anything on kaputt?? what a weird notion
― thomp, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 13:40 (1 year ago) Permalink
yes it is
― hot knives, wind was blowin' (Ówen P.), Tuesday, 19 June 2012 13:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
"write your english music, run free" is as self-consciously clever as good music gets
― hot knives, wind was blowin' (Ówen P.), Tuesday, 19 June 2012 13:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
european blues
― diamanda ram dass (Edward III), Tuesday, 19 June 2012 13:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
This band that I am going on tour with is different from the one that toured last year for Kaputt,
Interesting, because the press release line, via Merge and others, is that this is the Kaputt band. Who is different?
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 13:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
how was the sound at brooklyn masonic? the shows i've seen there have sounded pretty poor.
― mizzell, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 14:05 (1 year ago) Permalink
i don't really understand what separates 'english music' from 'song for america'. i feel like if anything kaputt is more self-conscious. or at least more difficult to parse or reduce, which seems 'cleverer' to me.
― thomp, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 14:35 (1 year ago) Permalink
I thought it sounded great. it's the first time I've been to the venue so I don't have anything to compare it to. a friend said the sound was much better than the last time she was there.
the show was excellent imo. would have liked to hear English Music or something else from Streethawk or This Night, but we did get three tracks from Rubies (European Oils, Looter's Follies, Rubies) that sounded amazing. better than on the Rubies tour. horn section gave it this collapsing, wasted cabaret vibe that I was really into. Looter's Follies was probably the show highlight for me.
the show opened with Your Blues (which starts out a cappella, pretty striking), there was also a new track that was listed on the setlist as Heartswarms
from Kaputt I think they played the title track, Downtown, Kara Walker, Blue Eyes, and Savage Night
Bejar was the most comfortable and non-stage-fright-y as I've ever seen him I think.
― dmr, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 15:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
Heartswarm is a Swan Lake song.
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 16:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
ah, thanks. I've only heard Beast Moans, not the second one.
― dmr, Tuesday, 19 June 2012 16:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
http://pitchfork.com/tv/youtube/18-city-of-music/310-destroyer-performs-libbys-first-sunrise/
― just sayin, Sunday, 5 August 2012 11:25 (10 months ago) Permalink
Cool thx.
― Zing Can Really Hang You Up the Most (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 5 August 2012 12:54 (10 months ago) Permalink
i'm actually a little embarrassed by how much i liked that
― catbus otm (gbx), Sunday, 5 August 2012 22:08 (10 months ago) Permalink
literally watching the end of the party through smoke
― ○ (gr8080), Sunday, 5 August 2012 22:44 (10 months ago) Permalink
time itself is unable to decay the classic from this album
― omar little, Monday, 6 August 2012 02:58 (10 months ago) Permalink
was just listening to part of this today. still so good
― k3vin k., Monday, 6 August 2012 03:02 (10 months ago) Permalink
This is pretty much an Al Stewart album. Not bad.
Wow.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 20 December 2012 15:43 (5 months ago) Permalink
i haven't listened to this since EOY lists last year.
― besides Sunny Real Estate (dog latin), Thursday, 20 December 2012 15:44 (5 months ago) Permalink
still love this album, pretty much all of it. and uh yeah, otm about al stewart!
― tylerw, Thursday, 20 December 2012 15:49 (5 months ago) Permalink
holds up well
Time Passages >>> Year of the Cat
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 20 December 2012 15:49 (5 months ago) Permalink
Al is awesome. so is Kaputt, still. still listening to it tooooooons and recent live show was fantastic.
― Jamie_ATP, Thursday, 20 December 2012 16:31 (5 months ago) Permalink
i had never heard of al stewart before, but thx thread!
― well if it isn't old 11 cameras simon (gbx), Thursday, 20 December 2012 18:42 (5 months ago) Permalink
Shintaro Sakamoto's "How to Live With a Phantom" kinda has a Kaputt thing goin on, I like it. Solo record by the ex lead singer of Yura Yura Teikoku on Other Music's record label.
― dmr, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:15 (4 months ago) Permalink
not as world-weary though. but mad smooth.
― dmr, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:20 (4 months ago) Permalink
kaputt is still so fucking good
― bish (bosch), don't kill my vibe (rennavate), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 21:23 (4 months ago) Permalink
yup, definitely one of my favorite records from the last years. saw them live in a small club a few months ago and it was so good.is there a new record on the way ?
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 24 January 2013 12:11 (4 months ago) Permalink