St Vincent - s/t (25 February 2014)

It's February, can we stop all this "album of the year contender!" nonsense? In fact can we stop it every month. Inane and idiotic.

"people turn the tv on it looks just like a window"

There's a Byrne song on the Byrne/Vincent album all about TV which I thought was a bit trite and anachronistic at the time.

it's v good, but 2014's only album-of-the-year contender so far? hm, no.

tinariwen's emmaar
sun kil moon's benji
katy b's little red
childbirth's it's a girl!

need to hear that tinariwen, but i've never been a kozelik or katy b fan, so i wouldn't expect my possibles list to overlap all that much w yours. other favorites so far:

warpaint - warpaint
against me! - transgender dysphoria blues
cynic - kindly bent to free us
behemoth - the satanist

It's February, can we stop all this "album of the year contender!" nonsense? In fact can we stop it every month. Inane and idiotic.

― the drummer is a monster (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, February 19, 2014 6:52 AM (14 minutes ago)

your face is inane and idiotic

I liked the Byrne collab but was a bit disappointed by her last album Strange Mercy which had a couple of good moments but mostly just felt a bit awkward. Really love Actor from 2009 though. What I've heard from this so far sounds great though. Really think she's a fantastic "rock star" in an old fashioned kind of sense.

― doglato dozzy (dog latin)

It's much less awkward than Strange Mercy. Most of it is really instant and catchy.

I Prefer Your Love has just taken over for me. One of the most heartbreaking songs I've ever heard.

As for album of the year contenders. This is ahead of Wild Beasts and Katy B for me, by quite a long way. Yeah I know it's early to say that but it will be take a lot for something to beat it. It's a perfect record. Up there with When Saints Go Machine and iamamiwhoami as the best albums I've heard this decade, yeah I went there.

xx Relax Sick, it's just another way of saying he really likes it. Is it OK if I just say it's the best album I've heard so far this year?

It's February, can we stop all this "album of the year contender!" nonsense? In fact can we stop it every month. Inane and idiotic.

― the drummer is a monster (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, February 19, 2014 6:52 AM (14 minutes ago)

your face is inane and idiotic

― contenderizer, Wednesday, February 19, 2014 4:08 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Generally, yeah.

I just hate this language of discourse; every idiot with a twitter account pronouncing "the new Nut Sniffers record is my album of the year already!" every five minutes through January and February as if they give away a personal prize. It's reductive and silly! Just say you like something a lot and why, don't set up some kind of arbitrary pseudo-spreadsheet! Hate it hate it hate it.

x-post: that's preferable, DL, certainly, but I just hate the absolutist terminology we all fall into. I feel like it gets worse ever year.

I'm generally down on telling people how they're allowed to express their enthusiasm.

Like I can even decide what the ~best album this year~ is going to be until I've seen what Interpol's haircuts are doing on the record they're currently finishing!

Stupid stream cut out after 3 tracks and I can't get back on. It's probably my connection, not the Grauniad but still irritating. ;_;

I really liked the awkwardness of Strange Mercy; I think she does "awkward" really beautifully. But then, I thought Love This Giant was one of the albums of 2012. The whole brass thing really did it for me.

What a disaster for Nut Sniffers.

Nut Sniffers album isn't all that imo. Emperor's new nuts.

Hate is such a strong word.

I really liked the awkwardness of Strange Mercy; I think she does "awkward" really beautifully.

Yes, oh yes, I wouldn't want it any other way although Strange Mercy just didn't work terribly well for me. I'd rather have 'awkward' than having the edges planed off her music though. I'm hoping this new one strikes a happy medium.

I'm generally down on telling people how they're allowed to express their enthusiasm.

― What is wrong with songs? Absolutely nothing. Songs are great. (DL), Wednesday, February 19, 2014 4:19 PM (43 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The thing is, it's pretty much exactly this instinct that's driving me mad; I feel like it's very limiting in terms of how people express their enthusiasm, because it's such an overwhelming presence as a metric to express that enthusiasm. What gets in an end-of-year list? Is that the only way we understand quality? It just seems spreadsheety and data-y and horrible to me. I literally know people who keep a spreadsheet of all the records they listen to every year and mark them all individually, and that just seems absolutely horrible to me. I appreciate it might be a useful 'tool', but uergh. How do you even know how to rank things? Put them in order? Assign a score? What if you change your mind? What if affections fade or grow? At the end of the year do you just stop listening to that year's records and start again? What does that say about music?

I don't mark records (except for work, obvs) but I do keep a list because it reminds me what I've been listening to if, for example, a friend asks me what I'd recommend, because otherwise my mind goes blank. Plus I always need an EOY list for ILM and other places anyway so why not have one that evolves throughout the year? I change my mind all the time, like everyone else. To me it's not about data or grading or suggesting that one album is measurably better than the next - it's more about getting on top of a vast amount of music and not feeling exhausted by it.

great stuff here.

I still, pointedly, get everything I like physically, and I keep all the new stuff in a pile together - two piles, actually; one for brand new releases, one for back catalogue stuff picked up at random. That's my list, I guess.

CHEERS CHARLIE

Aaaanyway, I think that each of her albums apart from the Byrne collab has been better than the last and it's thrilling to hear her go more pop without sacrificing any of her energy and unpredictability.

Strange Mercy is the one that, like, random phrases pop into my head at inappropriate times, though.

(I cannot wait to get earwormed by "take out the garbage, masturbate" to be honest.)

'Cruel' was so good. My other favourite by her is the one that goes 'Paint the hole blacker, paint the hole blacker' and 'Ice Age' off of Byrne/Vincent is gorge too.

"Ohhh, Elisha... don't make me wait..." DUR-DURR-DUR-DUR DURRRR DURRR DURRRRRRRRRR

i thought she was a shredder now, when is she just gonna shred

I got four songs in and there was massive shreddage! The guitar solo on that Huey song!

'Cruel' was so good.

Many are the times when the little chorus guitar riff from that gets stuck in my head.

The thing is, it's pretty much exactly this instinct that's driving me mad; I feel like it's very limiting in terms of how people express their enthusiasm, because it's such an overwhelming presence as a metric to express that enthusiasm. What gets in an end-of-year list? Is that the only way we understand quality? It just seems spreadsheety and data-y and horrible to me. I literally know people who keep a spreadsheet of all the records they listen to every year and mark them all individually, and that just seems absolutely horrible to me. I appreciate it might be a useful 'tool', but uergh. How do you even know how to rank things? Put them in order? Assign a score? What if you change your mind? What if affections fade or grow? At the end of the year do you just stop listening to that year's records and start again? What does that say about music?

― the drummer is a monster (Scik Mouthy)

I don't keep a spreadsheet exactly but I do rate all the albums I listen to and keep a list throughout the year (Okay I do on Rate Yor Music if that wasn't obvious) My main reason for doing this are I love lists and have that High Fidelity like addiction to them. It's also a really good way of keeping track of everything I listen to and when it comes to the end of year I can easily compile my favourites when I need to. Yeah I assign a score but if I change my mind I change the score (I also change the order of my lists regularly too, it's not that hard to do) Another thing I get out of it is when I look further down my lists I see things I initially dismissed or thought had promise but never gave a second chance to, I'm reminded to give them another go. This happened with the Charli XCX album last year. I listened to a stream and thought it was just okay. Saw it low down on my list in December and gave it another a go and ended up falling in love with it. If I hadn't seen it on my list I might have forgotten it and not ended up voting for it on the ILM poll. I love discovering albums late on like that, not everything I listen to is that instant (it took me years to love some of my favourite albums) I usually listen to over a hundred new albums a year and plenty of old ones too. I usually can't remember what I've listened to throughout the year without keeping track.

One last thing is my brother does this too and now we live in different countries I can see what he's been listening to daily and email him about it. It's a a really nice way of keeping in touch as we are both a couple of music obsessed nerds who've always liked to keep up to date with each others listening habits.

Obviously I'm able to listen to more albums these days due to Spotify, downloading and streaming. Up until 2008/9 I used to buy everything I wanted to hear. Since then I've thrown out/sold so many albums I wasted money on just to hear them. Back when I bought CD's it was easier to keep track of what I listened to but not any more (I could have made piles of CD's back then like you do) I do buy physical copies if I like an album as I still value my collection.

Sorry this is a bit of a ramble. Just trying to explain why ranking/listing things is a fun thing for me.

Wait, has the Nut Sniffers album leaked!?

new Nut Sniffers isn't even the best Nut Sniffers album. gtfo with aoty claims.

I dismissed St. Vincent for the longest time because of her associations with the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens, thinking that if it was anything like those two acts, no thanks. I heard a few songs from Strange Mercy and liked those, but with this album, I'm fully on board. I'm glad I came around on time.

hm. she sounds nothing like either of those other acts.

Yeah, that was my point and my previous assumption (and hence, mistake).

I'm sure there are other artists who I've probably wrongly dismissed due to "OMG, they worked with *them*?" but I think at this point everyone in the known universe has been in Polyphonic Spree at one point or another, so it's hard to hold that against anyone.

And hey, I completely understand the appeal of keeping lists or "AOTY spreadsheets" (though I usually did it with Last.fm rather than actual spreadsheets). It's most useful to me as a kind of musical snapshot of "me during this period" - not just the things I was into and what I rated, but also the way that keeping a list focuses... well, when you listen to an album lots during a specific period, it picks up a lot of the emotional resonances of that time. If I look at a list of my "AOTY" from 2009, I can see Actor on it, and listen to it and think BOOM! that's who and where I was in 2009. Where otherwise I might have forgotten. I love that of the EOY process, it's like writing memories to an archive, using music.

But yeah, I think we can all agree that deciding "OMG, AOTY!" in February, based on one stream on SoundCloud is a little silly. This feels a lot like one of those albums that is going to reveal more and more with each repeated listen. Because as immediate a visceral "WOW!" reaction I get from her material, the detailing really knocks me out with each repetition.

Assigning scores is not really something I get, at all. It's such a Grade Point Average approach approach to music. I think I'd rather read the old OKC style "three words to describe yourself" attached to a record, rather than a score, but I know I'm in the minority on this. *BB says, getting per own P4k score tattooed on per arm*

I love that of the EOY process, it's like writing memories to an archive, using music.

Exactly. I've also kept a playlist (used to be one side of a C90) of my favourite songs for every month since October 1992 because I'm too lazy to write a diary.

on today's 3rd listen, i still wanna go back after every song & listen again. is it telling that "digital" witness (w the long-lost heads line) brings the horns from love this giant with verse rhythms and a chorus that would have fit right in on little creatures. not talking smack. it's a better version of talking heads than byrne himself has managed in 20-some years.

and yeah, i did go back for a second dip on that one

second quote mark got a little confused there

"Digital Witness" gets done, lyrically, in 3.5 mins what Arcade Fire spent 90 mins on last year.

Can't quote because iPhone but wow, that's a brilliant idea, DL (wow, I miss Spotify)

Is that the only way we understand quality? It just seems spreadsheety and data-y and horrible to me.

This.

Haven't heard this record yet, probably will at some point, and though I appreciate St Vincent's music, wouldn't call myself a real "fan". However, this action, to "rate" and encapsulate a musical experience as a number, used to compare to other numbers/experiences -- it's one of the reasons I stopped writing about music. This is not the Academy Awards, and publicity campaigns notwithstanding, it doesn't have to result in music "contending" for anything at all. Fuck the way money corrupts people, and fuck the way marketing/publicity frames a piece of music. And I sincerely hope that when I do hear this record, some of it will ring true or beautifully to me, because that's the only thing that will overcome all the bs that I know goes into making and popularizing a record. /soapbox

I make myself mixes in Acid Pro as a kind of guide to what I'm listening. Quite handy.

i don't know that rationing of "like" has to be some soulless, art-killing, number-driven exercise. i'm speaking foolishly because i only heard this record for the first time a few hours ago, but it's way out in front as my favorite album of the year, so far. and fuck that "year" if necessary. it's the best album i've heard in a while, a minute, some significant but indeterminate piece of time. it get up on top of my heart and has its way. i wish to announce my love to the world. if the words i've chosen up your hackles, then i've done st. vincent a disservice. you should listen to this. it's good.

edits:

that the rationing of like
it gets up on top

it's a shorthand way of expressing enthusiasm for something

fuck the way marketing/publicity frames a piece of music. /soapbox

― Dominique, Wednesday, February 19, 2014

fair point. i try to listen to music without undue focus on hype. but sometimes i don't trust my ears (i wonder if i'm discriminating enough). sometimes there's value to music sites who pre-screen the wave of titles i have no time to examine (even though that pre-screening process results in a lot of gems remaining undiscovered). and there's something to a communal experience with other fans, who are equally excited about a new record's release, but that tends to happen only with discs that have a sufficiently sizable audience.

i should be too old to worry about hype. as of today, i'm nine short years away from enjoying meal-discounts at denny's.

The first paragraph of this Rick Moody interview is a peach.

http://www.salon.com/2014/02/16/st_vincent_i_have_this_sound_in_my_head_how_do_i_get_it_here_in_my_fingers/

Why was I so uncomfortable around Annie Clark, better known by her musical moniker, St. Vincent?

um, cuz you gotta crush?

OMG OMG OMG, I actually had to stop reading because I was hyperventilating when I went from reading about her guitar pedals to reading about her set design and the ~semiotics of dying her hair grey~ and OMG I just love this woman too too much. I'm going to bookmark this interview and come back and read it again when I have rediscovered my ability to can...

I mean, SELDA!!!! She was going on about how much she loves Selda!!! *dies of cool*

is that the lady from Enon in her backing band?

no

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfUa-0jc2U

"Teenage Talk" is the best thing she's ever done, hope album 5 sounds similar (also hope album 5 comes out this year). s/t is her most cohesive album, imo (in the minority that like it better than Strange Mercy).

Niels - That's a great track