If you're looking for a thing from SVIIB that SVIIB is best at, you're not going to find it in Chairlift (and vice versa). They're not exactly apples and oranges, but very different to my mind.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, February 28, 2012 5:24 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Oh, absolutely. I completely agree with you, and it wasn't what I was getting at in the slightest. Rather, the Chairlift record was the first record of 2012 that I enjoyed and played the hell out of, and I'm finding myself preferring this much more.
― Turrican, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 17:35 (1 year ago) Permalink
"scavenger" and "white wind" are astonishing
the lyrics to "scavenger" are a lot more...specific and vicious than i expected from SVIIB!
― lex pretend, Tuesday, February 28, 2012 9:30 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
'White Wind' is one of my favourites on the album, definitely. I also find 'Reappear' incredibly beautiful.
― Turrican, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 18:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
on the first couple listens this one seems a bit flat to me, but i need more time i guess.
same here. decent and pleasant enough, couple really strong tunes, but Disconnect and Alpinisms were both top 5 records of their respective years for me, and i cant really see this doing the same. seems a bit SVIIB-by-numbers. and the changes they HAVE made (bit more Secret Machines-y bass throb, less gazey/hazy guitars, fewer overlapped-to-the-heavens vocal harmonies) aren't really to my liking as much as, say, "connjur" or "my cabal" or "iamundernodisguise" or the more stunning songs from Disconnect. "white wind" is really really good though, that's an early favorite for sure.
― ilxor, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 04:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah I am missing the overlapped-to-the-heavens vocal harmonies a bit; I was thinking about that earlier today. I really hope they've got someone else singing with them when they tour.
― I have one thing to say: "Roxanne Shanté" (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 04:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
!!!!!
"Low Times"!!
― Vaseline MEN AMAZING JOURNEY (DJP), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 19:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
The thick-range steeliness of the sound oddly puts me in mind of parts of the second Garbage album - perfectly constructed walls of sound etc.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 22:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
they were super great live last night
just total command of a space, sonically
― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 22:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
Was it just two of them?
― I have one thing to say: "Roxanne Shanté" (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, 29 February 2012 23:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
My god, I love the harmonies on that final track.
― Turrican, Thursday, 1 March 2012 00:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
filled out with a drummer and a keyboardist/backing vocalist, both great, drummer especially great i thought
― Whiney vs. (BradNelson), Thursday, 1 March 2012 00:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
P R E D A T O R
― lex pretend, Thursday, 1 March 2012 19:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
I FINALLY HAVE THIS!!! (sorry, I've been avoiding the thread because I didn't want to have my impressions spoiled)
3 songs in, and it's Album of the Year for me. I mean, I knew it was going to be, but I just wanted to check.
It's just... how can just one band take *everything* I love, and smoosh it into one glorious and amazing mixture. Mid 80s New Order (I think they thought it wasn't obvious enough on the last album, so they had to ramp it up to 11 on this album) and Pornography era Cure and big My Bloody Valentine guitars and the swirling harmonies, and just... YES.
OK, the harmonies aren't as baroque as the last 2 albums, which is an obvious loss, and makes me a bit sad.
Who else expected the drum break on Low Times to go Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut DUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUT - come on you guys, missed a trick.
GOD I LOVE THIS BAND SO MUCH.
― White Chocolate Cheesecake, Saturday, 3 March 2012 11:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
I like it a lot after an underwhelming first listen.
"When You Sing" is an epic closer.
Has Kevin Shields ever sued anybody for copyright infringement?
― Jessie Fer Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Sunday, 4 March 2012 13:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
But they do SO MUCH MORE than just straight MBV copyright infringement, they take that sound and meld it with so many other things that it becomes one more element in the mix, rather than a straight up rip. I mean, if Shieldsy was gonna sue anyone, Ringo Deathstar would be far more at the top of his summons list.
― White Chocolate Cheesecake, Sunday, 4 March 2012 19:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
Excellent WCC.
I was going to refer to "Shieldsy" too but i bottled it.
I played a sus 2 instead
Love to you all
― Jessie Fer Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Sunday, 4 March 2012 20:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah SVIIB is increasingly and deservedly its own beast album for album. The touchstones are inevitable, the synthesis and extrapolation was not.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 4 March 2012 20:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
The last time I saw him, he commandeered my table and spilled wine all over me. I can call him Shieldsy if I like! :-P
― White Chocolate Cheesecake, Sunday, 4 March 2012 20:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
I mean, if Shieldsy was gonna sue anyone, Ringo Deathstar would be far more at the top of his summons list.
Otm but I mean you cannot deny how much of a straight rip "When You Sing" is
― Joan Cusack clumsily running into a water fountain (Stevie D(eux)), Sunday, 4 March 2012 22:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
3 songs in and this is soooo much better than the last one
― call all destroyer, Sunday, 4 March 2012 22:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
Technically, it'd be copyright infringement of the Weatherall remix of My Bloody Valentine, so you'd have a hard time proving anything! And considering that remix is one of my favourite things OF. ALL. TIME. I'm just happy that it exists.
― ...I KERNOW BECAUSE YOU DO (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Monday, 5 March 2012 18:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
I am really digging this, although it feels like the album doesn't really shift into gear until "Low Times"
― Vaseline MEN AMAZING JOURNEY (DJP), Monday, 5 March 2012 18:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
(my main complains-v-much-in-character comment is "plz use more syncopation")
― Vaseline MEN AMAZING JOURNEY (DJP), Monday, 5 March 2012 18:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
xp to Kate yeah, I feel p much the same. Like, it's shamelessly blatant and yet I dont give one single rat's ass--it's just heavenly
― Joan Cusack clumsily running into a water fountain (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 5 March 2012 19:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
Can you pls not use my government name? Thanks.
― ...I KERNOW BECAUSE YOU DO (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Monday, 5 March 2012 19:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
ack shit sorry, will (not) do
― Joan Cusack clumsily running into a water fountain (Stevie D(eux)), Monday, 5 March 2012 19:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
i love that this is a co-release by Vagrant and Ghostly.
its like my teens and my twenties collaborating to make me happy in my thirties
― ⚓ (gr8080), Monday, 5 March 2012 20:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
^^^ otm, I had to laugh when I saw both logos on the back
― stan this sick bunt (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 5 March 2012 20:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
Actually, having compared these two, I think that When You Sing is more like the original than the Weatherall remix, but i love them both.
Christ that was so amazing live. Especially the bits where Benjamin whipped out the hollowbody bass to play the Peter Hooky bits on the new material. Words cannot... just, wow. They're so HUGE sounding live. I was skeptical about live drums, but it's totally kicked it up another level and somehow made it even more dancey?
Also LOL at the Knife's support set.
― ...I KERNOW BECAUSE YOU DO (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Friday, 9 March 2012 00:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
incredible show, my ears are still ringing. didn't feel the lack of the third member - certainly didn't stop them sounding even more expansive and BIGGER.
i thought, compared to the last time i saw them, that the guitars were more dominant in the mix to the vocals; but while the voice wasn't as prominent, alejandra's personality was way more in the spotlight. felt a couple of times she was still unsure of what to do as ~the frontwoman~ but it was almost as though, instead of being layers of sound, she was conveying her songs more sharply. this was only a subtle thing i felt, though.
― lex pretend, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
CANNOT WAIT UNTIL SHOW HERE IN APRIL
― Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Friday, 9 March 2012 00:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
What he said.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
My right ear is chiming like a bell, I blame that last encore of Sempiternal.
They've always had more guitars than vocals! they're a shoegaze band, after all! I think it's just the last venue was so tiny that it couldn't handle the power of Benjamin's pedalboard. It definitely felt *bigger* than many times I've seen them, but that was the live drums, I'm sure.
Extra keyboardist/vocalist did fill up a lot of the space, but I'm still going to do a *sniff* over missing Claudia because she was always so lovely (and she would always say hi to me.)
― ...I KERNOW BECAUSE YOU DO (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Friday, 9 March 2012 00:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
They are just my favourite fucken band in the world, that are still existent. They just take little bits of EVERYTHING I LIKE and mix it all together in the most WCC-friendly fashion.
Radiowho?
― ...I KERNOW BECAUSE YOU DO (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Friday, 9 March 2012 00:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
― lex pretend, Friday, 9 March 2012 00:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
the endings to "white wind" and "low times", so sudden they left me gasping
P! R! E! D! A! T! O! R! That! is! What! You! Are!
Man, I did not want to cross Alley by the end of that song.
― ...I KERNOW BECAUSE YOU DO (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Friday, 9 March 2012 01:03 (1 year ago) Permalink
Listening to Low Times now, and just remembering how MASSIVE that burbling synth breakdown into the ending sounded. (Also how it sounded like Forest Families by The Knife crossed with New Order.)
― ...I KERNOW BECAUSE YOU DO (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Friday, 9 March 2012 01:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
Holy shit, they're playing Amsterdam next sunday! Must re-organize my agenda...
― willem, Friday, 9 March 2012 09:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
(ugh sorry 'bout "their"...)
― willem, Friday, 9 March 2012 09:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
No, that was a joke. There was no support band, but someone stuck on Silent Shout on random while SVIIB set up their keyboards, so we were joking "oh, hey, it's like a Knife support act but without the masks."
If you can in any way see them, this tour, do so. They are sounding SO HUGE.
― ...I KERNOW BECAUSE YOU DO (White Chocolate Cheesecake), Friday, 9 March 2012 09:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
Ah, I was a little bit afraid of it being an injoke after I posted my exlamation mark larded post.. :-)
Will definitely try to go!
― willem, Friday, 9 March 2012 10:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
I've been a bit obsessed with 'When You Sing' for the last couple of days, possibly the best pastiche of that sound I've heard.
― Chewshabadoo, Saturday, 10 March 2012 01:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
Katy Perry twitter promotion
― owenf, Saturday, 10 March 2012 10:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
lol:
― ⚓ (gr8080), Saturday, 10 March 2012 12:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
I've been trying to figure out which, exactly, song it is that When You Sing rips off pays homage to. And it's such a weird thing because, although it does manage to sound like it's totally Soon, it's about 3 or 4 different MBV songs all mixed together, with bits and pieces of elements taken from many different songs.
It just does that sound SO WELL. And it manages to capture the bits of that sound that I really really liked, the density, the interlockingness, the dancefloor dynamics of it, rather than just being a copycat of a specific MBV song, it's like they've completely captured the entire aesthetic on a conceptual level. It's not even that magpie thing we were discussing with Radiohead, where they try to do something, do it wrong, and then end up with something brilliant by accident. It's like SVIIB took MBV's entire aesthetic and almost managed to go one level up, and do something even better with it.
― Masonic Boom, Saturday, 10 March 2012 17:05 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think of Saint Etienne when I hear "When You Sing"
― van smack, Saturday, 10 March 2012 17:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
I agree about how well it captures the essence, but takes it up a notch. I think the drums have a much better sense of groove than Shields drum programming ever managed on Loveless. Plus the EQing on the production I'd how I wish those Loveless remasters to sound like if they ever turn up.
To my ears, it's 75% Soon, with a bit of the guitar tone from 'Sometimes' on those exquisite guitar "drops", and some of the circular whammy-bar/sampler pitch bending from tracks like "I Only Said". Plus 5% horns from The Boo Radleys.
― Chewshabadoo, Saturday, 10 March 2012 18:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yay! On my way to Amsterdam - any other ILM 'associates' present tonight?
― willem, Sunday, 11 March 2012 19:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
"White Wind" on repeat x 10. This restlessness has always been. Have to love an album where everyone's repping a different favorite track.
― the body of a spider... (scampering alpaca), Wednesday, 14 March 2012 20:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
Sweet Christ the lyrics are terrible. What happened?
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 15 March 2012 07:29 (1 year ago) Permalink