Why is everyone not going totally bonkers about the junior boys?

San Serac is like an excercise in 'what if David Bowie couldn't sing'? Maybe it will grow on me.

He is really lacking on the second album IMHO

oh really?

Fuck you.

second album is better than the first and all the better for not having JD in the band.

No it isn't! Its kind of obvious in comparison. The great thing about Last Exit was how it tore OMD down to just the sparest bleeps and tickles of sound. Dark's production on the songs I imagine are mainly him (such as Bellona, High Come Down and When I'm Not Around) is the way he gently fucks with the remains, rubbing up against splashes of Garage and House and Seventies AOR. They hold the songs up in a strange, wobbly fashion.

Most of what makes Junior Boys so beautiful is the way they maroon genre, they appropriate all these little elements of pop music into something really darkly personal and beautiful. Its the way they inform the songs with all these bits of radio pop music and then rub it all out until its just smudged fragments, so endlessly suggestive and delicately precarious.

Bellona is my favourite track, the 2-step helium voice and Greenspan almost duetting, him gently pleading against her android-like gibberish. Its really genuinely moving. The title track's sparseness and the way the shuddering beats echo off into the oceans of emptiness manages to even suggest the radio in the car being turned off, and the subsequent silence...

There are really strong tracks that aren't Dark affiliated, Teach Me How To Fight has some of the best lyrics on the album and the synth line bursts out from the rhythm section with the right amount of sensuously mysterious melancholy.

The second album is gorgeous, but it seems to straight ahead, too certain of itself. Too comfortable.

you're insane.

i agree re: bellona

You agree that I'm insane with re: bellona?

no, i agree w you

jesus

"Bellona" is great but it's not 2-step, it's kind of a forerunner for the first few tracks on the second album. it's always reminded me or jurgen paape's lighter moments a bit.

i didn't like most of what i heard from the 2nd album at all but i'll probably buy the deluxe version for some of the remixes and that itunes under the sun thing.

The Tensnake mix is the only good one.

OTM.

I didn't go bonkers in 2003, but last year's followup was really, really great. Looking forward to more great electropop coming up next time around.

jesus

No, sometimes I get genuinely confused when there's so many people talking, I don't know who's reacting to who. Y'know?

no one thinks the hot chip remix is any good? really?

any mention of this yet?

Looks pretty good from here...

where's dave stelfox these days?

Wow. Was not expecting that. I love that they've used Steadycam's "In The Moog For Love" - I thought I was the only person in the world who thought that was an astonishing track.

I'm liking the look of this.

in the moog for love is indeed lovely! i think i got it on your recommendation on here tim!

glad people are still playing deer in the headlights, that vocal is one of my favourite things to come from get physical. also thought that might be guitar (the electro-shoegaze band) but, no.

Listening to it right now. It's good.

the mix is decent but it's not even close to as good as vol5 (chateau fligh) and i'm about finished listening to mixes from people who aren't actual dj's. the mixing on a few of these transitions is terrible despite being done with software.

the first mix is shit. just because the songs are going the same speed doesn't mean you should just mix it in wherever you like. first track fades out too fast, second track enters and it's only just begun, losing all flow from the previous tune. this type of annoying mixing continues throughout. if you're going to do a computer mix get someone who knows how to sequence songs to put the set together and mix it for you.

having said that, it's a decent collection. i won't be buying this like i bought the previous 4 or 5 volumes but it's been a decent way to spend an hour.

just listening again and the transition from 2 to 3 is horrible too. from Supermayer into Chelonis..how the fuck do you trainwreck a digital mix that isn't live? too bad Get Physical is banking on the Junior Boys name selling copies instead of giving us a quality mix.

bad news because that tracklist looks really nice

was the chateau flight one good? i like them but never picked up a copy.

the chateau flight mix is great. i've enjoyed listening to it many times. i'd recommend that mix over this one any day.

I guess I'm going to have to try harder to check these guys out. I tried them once before, and nothing came of it, but I'm smitten over the Dead Horse EP. It all started this morning when I heard my alarm clock go off and on the radio was playing "FM (Tensnake remix)". I was like "wow, what is this?"

Last Exit>>>>>>>>>So this is Goodbye, Bimble. Please retry and repost.

If anything the mix prompted me to buy a couple of Stereo Image tracks. Sounding somewhere between Safety Scissors and Junior Boys.

How involved was Johnny Dark in the making of Last Exit?

you know what's bonkers? this is one of, seriously, 24 threads about junior boys on ilm, lol.

i think they're a band, tho, where i'll probably listen to anything they do as long as they keep making records. like the sea & cake, you know. even if it's mediocre, it's a sound that i find very appealing.

i find it hard to defend certain musical artists who have my aesthetic number, so to speak. i will genuinely stump for last exit and so this is goodbye, tho.

For me the 3 most frustrating albums from the 00s onwards are:

yeah yeah yeahs - its blitz
The rapture - house of jealous lovers
Junior Boys - last exit

I love most of the compositions in those records but hate the way they are mixed. I'm not a producer so I don't know how to describe it properly but it sounds too high on the treble for a dance album. It sounds spike-y, it kind of aches my ears and it frustrates me because with a different, better production I'm sure they'd be amazing

this could be to do with what's known in the industry as "dynamic range compression", or DRC for short. basically they "compress" the dynamic range, and this basically compresses the sound. it's a real "hot topic" among music buffs, and could change the way we listen to music for years to come

It's amazing how well Last Exit holds up 14 (!) years later.

New one is gorgeous. I'm in love with side 2, in particular. AOTY material for me

Really lovely stuff yeah. Their most ambient release by a wide margin but that seems like a very logical space for them to explore. Not sure where it’ll end up in my estimations, but then I only fully fell in love with the last two albums this year, so.

I think this is easily their best album to date.

Tough to beat Last Exit but this one may be a contender, for sure

Also disappointed that this thread title remains sadly apt. Where is everyone?

wow this is sublime

This is absolutely gorgeous. My favourite since So This Is Goodbye. Exactly the kind of album I needed today.

this might be my favourite thing they've ever done

Same, I think.

certified slapper. both perfect for the current Michael mann moment and also its own irreducible thing

can't wait to listen to this.

This is gorgeous. The last track is the standout at the moment. Sounds like We Are King. Junior Boys do quiet storm.

yeah, I'd put this on in the car and three tracks in I'm not sure the car is the right place for it on a sunny beautiful fall day. think I'm going to go switch to earphones and go for a walk with it.

All about side 2 for me. "Dum Audio" through title track just perfection.