Words and Music by Saint Etienne

are those street names imposed on the london grid, or is it a totally make believe map?

http://www.wearedorothy.com/art/song-map-unlimited-edition/

I had been shopping online for artsy maps & found this a while back, before I'd seen the album cover. I like it! Didn't buy the print though.

the print is shoreditch, i don't recognise where the album is.

That cover is hideous. I don't quite believe they are using a cheesy image like that, already available for under a fiver. Is it possibly a fake?

I think this might be the album I'm mosting looking forward to this year. Love the single and the artwork, great to have them back.

I sort of want them to sound *mature* in that reminiscing about the lea valley sort of way.

That could describe everything they have released since Good Humor, so I think you are not going to be disappointed.

turns out the cover is a rather messed-with croydon:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=croydon&hl=en&ll=51.37679,-0.093083&spn=0.013983,0.031543&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.315864,64.599609&hnear=Croydon,+Greater+London,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=15

I don't know, if any band has earned the right to use that image on their album cover, it's Saint Etienne.

poo croydon-the field mice or saint etienne?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m4oLz3xxVuc/T1ItTdzLvuI/AAAAAAAAJ5c/1k-gnyyPiVw/s1600/Saint+Etienne+Tonight+single.jpg

So our remix of the single is coming out on all formats including rather thrillingly the 12" vinyl! One mix is by us, one is by Richard X and another is by The 2 Bears so it seems we're in pretty good company.
http://store.universal-music.co.uk/restofworld/vinyl/saint-etienne-tonight-12-vinyl-single-2012/invt/0602527961545/

Their video! Our remix!
enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG_s5vkLGMU&list=UUSdQZi2ldPV8g6qLefmRtMg&index=2&feature=plcp

great job!

thanks!

The extended version of this is, like so many singles, so much better than the single version.

This is lovely.

http://www.pitchfork.com/news/46254-listen-new-saint-etienne-answer-song/

SAINT ETIENNE PRESENTS SONGS FOR THE LYONS CORNERHOUSE
http://www.cherryred.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=3643

Anyone know what's on the extra CD on the deluxe edition? None of the retailers I looked at had a track listing.

Weird, isn't it? (To have a bonus disc which is presumably meant to make you pre-order/buy early but then not tempt with details).

No doubt something that will come out again in three years time to fan club members with added bonus features and remixes for a "bargain" price...

(I do mean that with love)

Tracklisting has now been announced for the deluxe edition.

Disc 1
01 Over The Border 05:05
02 I've Got Your Music 03:46
03 Heading For The Fair 03:45
04 Last Days of Disco 03:35
05 Tonight 04:38
06 Answer Song 03:25
07 Record Doctor 53
08 Popular 03:23
09 Twenty Five Years 03:40
10 DJ 04:39
11 When I Was Seventeen 03:37
12 I Threw It All Away 03:27
13 Haunted Jukebox 04:15

Disc 2
01 Tonight (Two Bears Remix) 07:19
02 Last Days of Disco (Erol Alkan Remix) 06:16
03 DJ (Stay+ Remix) 03:45
04 I've Got Your Music (Golden Filter Remix) 07:08
05 Popular (Tom Middleton Cosmos Remix) 08:17
06 Heading For The Fair (The Time And Space Machine Waltzer Remix) 07:57
07 Tonight (Club Clique Remix) 04:43
08 Answer Song (White Horses Remix) 03:37
09 Haunted Jukebox (Summer Camp Remix) 03:26
10 I've Got Your Music (Kisses Remix) 04:22
11 DJ (Muddyloop Remix) 04:16
12 Last Days of Disco (Beat Connection Remix) 04:41

Popjustice have the new single as the song of the day. It's good but easily the waekest of the three tracks that I've heard from the album. http://www.popjustice.com/songs/saint-etienne-ive-got-your-music/

hey we're on this. we just found out! track 7 too; always a lucky number.

Found this link http://brightonmusicblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/words-music-by-saint-etienne-conversation-by-pete-wiggs/ seemingly there's a 3 disc 'super deluxe' edition! Haven't saw any mention of this before.

...Popular is genuinely funny. It flips the old pop narrative of knowing an amazing secret club where the cool cats hang out: here, the club is an internet messageboard populated by people who want to discuss Pussycat's 1976 No 1 Mississippi in depth. It's less The In Crowd than that episode of The IT Crowd where Moss joins a society of exceptional Countdown contestants.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/may/10/saint-etienne-words-music-review

"Tonight" is one of the year's best, a wonderful driving-down-the-interstate track.

Petridish xpost: no it isn't.

But the song does mention "Baby Jump."

Saint Etienne were probably the last band I actually "collected" (ie. bought the various cd singles as well as the albums). Reading the first two thirds of the Petridish review made me feel vaguely hopeful for the album, the last third didn't. Not that I've ever taken notice of one of his reviews before.

I'm probably not the only one who is more interested in hearing the bonus disc(s) rather than the album proper.

It'll be the two disc version for me ... but here's the three disc:

http://store.universal-music.co.uk/restofworld/box-sets/saint-etienne-words-and-music-box-set-2012/invt/0602537023561/?utm_source=SaintEtienne150512&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Album+Playback&utm_content=UMGUK6724-220283

Ooh, tempted. But £36 is too much for me. Would be keen to have the map though.

Not yet played disc two but so far I think my favourite thing about the release is Pete Wiggs' beard on the inner sleeve.

Emails went out for digital versions for those who bought the box set, so the third disc should show up online before too long. Going to listen when I get home!

This album is pretty great. "DJ" and "Over The Border" are the standout tracks for me. Coincidentally, they remind me of "Action" and "Finisterre" (the song) respectively, only much better.

Yeah this is really great return. Over The Border is just a perfect opener but I think it's the last four songs that really make the album. Need a bit more time to let the rest of the album sink in.

I'm surprised that I'm finding the latest single to be the weakest song.

Liking it but not loving it atm. "Over the Border" is all a bit too much jumpers for goalposts, no?

Over The Border is similar in feel to Teenage Winter but the lyrics aren't quite as clever. It's still a great song and as someone who loves New Order, Dexys and anything on Postcard I can't help but be moved by it.

A lot of it seems leaden and heavy-handed, to me.

yeah, sigh. picks up near the end, dj is nearly great. over the border as a better finnisterre is offtm tho

Map for sale separately here:
http://www.wearedorothy.com/art/song-map-unlimited-edition/

Actually that might be a different one - same idea though

There is something profoundly weird about hearing a band with actual profile singing a song about your friends that goes to the extent of actually naming them.

The remix of DJ on the bonus disc is much better than the regular version. It sounds like real club music for starters. Or it somehow recreates the effect of a loud club in a way that is quite fun. The regular version is weirdly flat and quite boring to me. It's trying to be pop but it's like they haven't listened to what's in the charts these days. In the remix Sarah's voice is relegated to being more of a sound effect or just part of the mix, rather than leading the track. It's a good, druggy number.

I've only listened once straight through but overall I dislike the vibe of this album. It's partly because lots of it seems like an eternal re-write of Mario's Cafe or Mr Donut except the playfulness of those tracks has been stripped (or sounds forced) and everything is happening in the wistful past tense. Over The Border is embarrasing. Then there is so little of the diversity that made their earlier albums so interesting. Whither the likes of Railway Jam, Cool Kids of Death, Urban Clearway, etc? It's just song, song, song, song. Too much Cracknell.

Round about Good Humor they started segregating their more interesting material onto eps, remixes or special release albums, using the "real" albums for their most formal and carefully curated songwriting. Combined with the fact that they are apparently running out of things to say, their "real" albums have now become quite boring as a result.

The second disc is really quite enjoyable though. Pretty much no duds.

There is something profoundly weird about hearing a band with actual profile singing a song about your friends that goes to the extent of actually naming them.

i can't work out whether that's my favourite song on the album because of that or because it's the best song

everything OTM - this is leaving me super cold and I quit listening after four or five tracks. A bummer.

This album reminds me of Madonna

But not of MDNA I hope (haven't listened yet)

everything sorta OTM but still wrong. "DJ" is pop. It just doesn't sound like current chart-friendly pop. And why should it?

Re "Over The Border," I agree that the whole wistful nostalgia is by now a St Etienne cliche and starting to get a bit tedious. But in a song so good and beautifully crafted, I think they can be forgiven for it.

To me WAM is Saint Etienne leaving behind their "quirky" side a bit. I miss that side too, but I've always felt that sometimes it gets on the way. Sometimes. They are so, so great at straightforward pop that I don't see any problem with them doing an that an album of just that.

Finisterre aside, I haven't immediately taken to a Saint Etienne album on the first few listens since So Tough, so I'm not going to write this off yet. In fact, walking to work yesterday I had Last Days of Disco going round in my head quite a bit, so it is starting to grow on me I think.

A nice Saint Etienne track here:

http://wiaiwya.bandcamp.com/track/steeplechase

so...I like this? "DJ" grabbed me by the collar, maybe because it reminds me of "Action."

ya i think i officially like this album

really gets better w/each listen imo. looking forward to the tour!

This is their best album since So Tough, which after years of fruitless exploration on my part is a relief.

i would give good humor a re-scr...re-listen. i feel like a lot of people aren't into it bc of st et expectations, it was my entry point and i think it's a pretty sweet album. more club 8 labrador swedish pop style than a st et album.

Good Humor is outstanding.

I like GH best of the post-ST records.

Tales From Turnpike House is by far my favourite since So Tough, there are no bad songs on that album. Agree that Words & Music just gets better and better.

aye.. there's a ballot coming up fairly soon, I believe.

Finistere for me - but admittedly I haven't heard the two last ones

Finally getting to see "What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day?"

This is what I want Saint Etienne to sound like, to be like, these days.

bought a ticket 4 the boston show - excited! have nvr seem em live

http://saintetienne.greedbag.com/

The special "US" edition that's impossible to get in the UK unless you spend tons on ebay is, um, possible to get now.

Basically, the second CD is all-new (bar two) songs, about ten in total.

Disappointed that I missed them when they were in town recently; I checked this album out after the poll and it's quite good, best I've heard since So Tough.

Heh, when those extra copies went on sale yesterday, the greedbag site instantly died and didn't come back for hours. Their limited edition fuckery is getting pretty tiresome. Four editions of the latest album, three with different track listings, two extremely difficult to buy... except on eBay, of course. It's 2012 guys... do pre-orders for the limited edition releases and press up enough to satisfy demand. It isn't hard.

That Greedbag site was horrible, and you're right, girl from spirea x, the fuckery one must endure to receive their many limited releases is absurd. This isn't the first time that they couldn't handle the surge from users when offering something new, either. Quite a lot of us in the states didn't live anywhere near where the band was playing, and then to have to scurry for a copy of an album's worth of material from a band we've been following for more than two decades. They should work that out.

I think it's things like this that make things like peer-to-peer filesharing ethically justifiable in certain circumstances.

Absolutely, especially when you know a load of these were bought just to end up on ebay. Love the band, but not going to buy the same album twice.

feel free to PM me if you are looking for those tracks.

may not last long but someone put the whole special US edition on yt; i really love 'solid gold'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfCm4Pu0AqE

I'm going to take this opportunity to remind everyone that a Masters at Work rmx of "Nothing Can Stop Us" exists:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sdeADYESwg

Don't let those "some reviews" put you off, kraudive. Most of them are favourable (and that FACT one is completely OFFTM).

― daavid, Wednesday, May 30, 2012 7:00 PM (3 hours ago)

It was the FACT review a little, yes. But more really threads like this, containing comments from obvious fans of later albums who said they were underwhelmed. Of course, I'll make my own decision when I have time.

― kraudive, Wednesday, 30 May 2012 23:00 (11 months ago)

This is a lovely Saint Etienne album. It'd be good to read what people think a year or so in. It's sounding GREAT tonight, esp next to the Daft Punk that I've put it up against a lot this week. I love that also obv.

I like it a lot too. Its similar to their old stuff both in sound and "spirit" i think, and sort of stands out bc the vibe is very 90s. Great band.

X months later and this album makes me so happy. Much better than I initially thought.

This album could practically be an ilxor (of a certain age and place). And "Answer Song" is gigantic.

Yeah.

Damn i wish i put this on my iphone now. I want to hear it again.

After sitting with this for a while, it's not as good as I first thought. There's a few very strong songs (Tonight, When I Was 17) and several similar tracks that don't hit the same peaks. Also I don't usually complain about Autotune but it bothered me on this album - one thing I always loved about Sarah's voice was that bit of vulnerability when she wouldn't hit pitches perfectly, and I feel like it got Autotuned out? Not sure I would care if I wasn't so familiar with her voice from the pre-Autotune era.

Never got into this. Usually love Saint Etienne.

Ditto. The bonus disc is everything I want from a Saint Etienne album and I think as a stand-alone album it would be up there with any of their best if you made a couple of minor changes here and there. But I can't even listen to the main disc all the way through - it leaves me feeling queazy. Hate all that record store/vinyl fetish/I heart the 70s subject matter and Crackers' delivery and the way her voice is recorded is a major turn off. There are some nice musical bits but also lots of annoying sections. I think it's pretty poor overall.

Been out of the loop for a while but I really liked this and dig the new Suede album as well./jackie_harvey

Yeah I still love this. I don't rate it quite as highly as Turnpike House but it's up there. (Suede album is also great)

this album is so beautiful

otm

this album rules and i find most of the discussion of it itt extremely confusing

I relistened to this this weekend bcz of you and v much enjoyed it, so thank you

the more I think about it ,the more I feel W&M might actually be my favorite Saint Etienne album.

i was otm in this thread

often "DJ" is my favorite track ever recorded by anybody