Future Islands - On The Water

people generally don't know anything at all about singing tho and by good singing often mean "did it sound like somebody doing the national anthem at a ballpark"

Hope we get to him do this in the 2014-15 season.

the rule is props where due croup - you're putting whether you like what they do ahead of your ability to critique whether they're doing what they do well. I don't really watch track and field but if I see a guy and I don't like his clothes so I say "that guy's really slow" then I'm fronting

http://i.imgur.com/gFpsAHG.gif

I honestly don't think calling this guy's hammy, goofy or unpolished is quite comparable. And I already rescinded the vile "amateurish"

Guy's performance, rather

@ bernard, Souzay is finding some tendentious and convoluted ways of saying "he over-emoted". Furthermore the idea that one performance is "emotion" and another performance is "a description of emotion" is missing the whole point of the word "performance"

aero I hope you investigate these guys on record I genuinely think you are being dismissive, indie sure but they're great

pour a glass of cherry wine and put On the Water on imo

yeah I was saying this before this thread got flooded with whatever the hell you guys are arguing about but On the Water was my favorite album of 2011, it's really really good

aero I hope you investigate these guys on record I genuinely think you are being dismissive, indie sure but they're great

they're from around here originally, I think I saw 'em back when - l. got some shots of them at a tiny club up the street. I listen to metal 3/4 of the time and classical the other 1/4 that is just reality around here these days

xp to goon tie: strongly disagree—I am much more interested in a critic who writes "he emphasizes individual words, or parts of words, in a way that detracts from the melody and merely reiterates the sentiments already present in the lyrics" than one who settles for "he over-emotes"

You realize there is a beautiful bit of metonymy to that post

but of course!

So I finally watched this and there are dozens of reasonably well known indie bands who would perform way more amateurishly in such a setting. Like the guy clearly knows what he's doing (and I agree he can sing in tune) but his clothes and his dancing and the weird guilelessness-not-guilelessness on show make it *look* extremely amateurish in a 'first round on America's got talent' way.

The song was way less interesting than the performance so dude got something right.

I have listened to this album three times today based on this performance being entertaining and I really like it, so well done everybody.

is the new album streaming anywhere yet or are you referring to "on the water"?

how awesome is it at 1:48 when the mic picks up the sound of him beating his chest

very awesome. This art lord album is fun. Gives you a feel for the bands' growth.

ok i watched it and i am so happy about that performance

dude lost a lot of lbs and seems very excited about the possibilities of newfound bendiness

or maybe just the possibilities of a wide stage

strongly disagree—I am much more interested in a critic who writes "he emphasizes individual words, or parts of words, in a way that detracts from the melody and merely reiterates the sentiments already present in the lyrics" than one who settles for "he over-emotes"

― merciless to accomplish the truth in his intelligence (bernard snowy), Monday, 10 March 2014 18:27 (Yesterday) Permalink

You realize there is a beautiful bit of metonymy to that post

― continually topping myself (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 10 March 2014 18:31 (Yesterday) Permalink

(and this is the last time I wanna talk about anything on this thread besides how great Future Islands are)

... the ideal critic would be one who, if pressed, could expand the latter judgment into the former set of verifiable observations.

You want the barthesian ideal of a critic, you gotta pay the barthesian ideal of a critic.

seasons (waiting on you) is on spotify now fyi

yyeaaaaaaah

I am disappointed that this thread is about a croupier rather than the new album. I need someone to help me sort out my feelings about "A Song For Our Grandfathers".

have not heard anything outside of what is available for streaming

but I am excited to hear that song now

it is like a fairy floss of feels

streaming!

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/16/286898446/first-listen-future-islands-singles

ty!

This song has grown on me quite a lot, it's some forgotten 80s heartland rock star decided to write a big wussy epic over the top of the opening chords to Born Slippy.

haha it does sound like the opening of born slippy

(nuxx)

Don't really know much about this band but that Letterman performance has got me interested. I could watch it all day.

I just streamed the album which was nice enough but a little samey. I think I'd enjoy it more if I'd watched him dancing for the entire 45 minutes. The sound of the album really reminded me of Twin Shadow which is no bad thing.

ha!! i thought that bit sounded familiar!

I applaud Matt DC's use of the word "wussy" as a +

I really like this album a lot, I know that parts of it are basically The Killers (in the Springsteen tribute years) with unusual vocal stylings but I can live that.

Cannot stop watching that Letterman performance.

Really digging the album based on the stream - dunno if it's better than On the Water (which was probably my favorite of 2011) but it's up there. Agreed that it's a little samey but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There is a bit towards the end of the album that really took me by surprise. Especially if you've got the volume cranked.

On my basis of my first listen this tended towards the plodding, although I do like the single.

Cannot stop watching that Letterman performance.

― Kitchen Person

reminds me a lot of this:

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

Was surprised by how close to mono the single is mixed. It is pretty dead center.

Curious to know who mixed it. Several mixers I know have been championing a mono (or almost mono) approach recently

agreed that this is a bit samey at first but I encourage you all to give "A Song for Our Grandfathers" another listen, it's so incredibly massive, definitely my early favorite right now

my profile of the band is up: http://wonderingsound.com/feature/future-islands-interview/

nice work

This is way too samey IMO, they use a very similar sound palette throughout and they aren't distinctive enough songwriters to get past that.

Yeah, that Letterman performance. I'm kind of into that song now.

But agreed with the album, I don't think it's bad, but the production could be a lot more interesting.

Agree with what people have said about the album. It's nice enough but doesn't blow me away. Having said that I just have to think about the Letterman performance then I want to run to a record shop, buy all their albums and then get the band name tattooed on my arm. I can't remember the last time I wanted to like an album so much more than I actually do.

How does Singles compare to their previous albums? Haven't checked those out yet.