black midi - anyone been tracking these?

No releases, but they've just signed to Rough Trade and are playing round the UK at the minute. You could reference pere ubu and beefheart and all that typical lineage for weird guitar music, but they've hacked it, or something, with this blend if you're asking me.

https://youtu.be/TMn1UuEIVvA

I liked it. I hear a little Q and not U I hope they get the right producer to keep the live sound but also maybe finesse the vocals in there a little.

So this isn't for actual black midi stuff :-/

actual black midi stuff is quite fascinating and i feel like there's room for someone to do something very very cool with the idea (pushing midis to absurd limits) instead of just recreating meme songs etc. but idk that anyone actually has yet. i'm sure the textural possibilities of millions of midi notes could get even wilder if they started using more instruments than just the piano and perhaps combined it with real instrumentation too?

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

there is this composition by Nicole Lizée which incorporates the style into a classical piece and i really like the results, i would love to hear something that has a similar set of textures in a more pop context

as far as the band black midi goes that live set is a lot more interesting to me than previous stuff i've heard from them, will look forward to whatever they're up to this year

Now I hear some DNA or maybe Life Without Buildings.

I feel like this sort of musical template (no disrespect) really depends on the vocal performance.

Got this in an email touting local shows here in Philly:

A quick but noteworthy show addition — London’s BLACK MIDI are the hottest new band on planet earth, and although their music sits definitively in the indie/experimental/electronic world, they asked us if they could play with a death metal band in Philly, and we managed to secure our city’s reigning kinds. HORRENDOUS are now playing! Holy shit? Is this now the wildest, most insane bill of the year? We think yes.

I checked out some stuff... Reminds me if Primus and Death Grips collaborated on a Judgement Night redux ("Now, even more judgy!") based on the couple of songs I listened to. Pretty cool they wanted to play with a death metal band and they got a good one to do so.

I'll be at the show so I'll come back to provide a Hesher's view, probably!

def hear a Deerhoof influence which is great in my book

also a new indie rock band with a great drummer godz be praised

fucking awful

^^ wrong

that video ufo posted above may be more your speed imago. if you dig stuff like James Ferraro that is.

actual black midi is cool yes

this band is watered-down trendy jank with zero songwriting instinct and the worst vocals ever

not at all sure what trendy jank means but this sounds pretty good to me 1 and a half of a go in. Bought it on a whim at the weekend and it's intriguing. The vocals don't irritate me - I can't quite place what he reminds me of - a subdued Ozzy? Dunno.

Is it the posh school they ended up at that annoys, imago, or the wall to wall press (inc. the Telegraph, I've seen). There were vv many copies in the Rough Trade shop. It's not true there aren't songs. Anyway, I'm gonna keep listening.

ok the vocals are now totally different

From an email chain with a friend who discovered them today

"The vocalist sounds at times like a mix of Johnny Rotten + Scott Thompson doing his Queen Elizabeth character in the Kids in the Hall. "

sometimes get a Deerhoof vibe, they are so young through who knows if they even know Deerhoof

lol I already posted that

i was getting a kinda m.e.s. / ian curtis vibe from the singer, like arch and derisive about the whole enterprise of singing but nevertheless doing it, filling in the spaces with words, because he doesn't know what else to do there yet. which is fine i guess for a young band—would prefer some development there but they jam pretty hard so whatevs.

fucking awful

Then it's no 'moloch with strings', an epithet that may only be applied to a decadent, mildly Orientalist tone poem.

this band would be at home on skin graft & I am into that vibe

^^^^^^^

But also there's more going on and that's what impresses me most about the LP.

this is not particularly my thing, nor do I love the vocals, but at least they're bad vocals with obvious effort applied, instead of the standard indie arrangement of bad vocals with obviously zero effort applied

also, I don't get "derisive about the whole enterprise of singing" at all -- I could be wrong on this but the vocalist, to my ears, is clearly trained, and if anything might be too into the enterprise of singing, very showboaty about it

I think I'm talking myself into really liking this

xxxpost Skin Graft is a good call

xp haha katherine that's fair, i guess i'm put in mind of something like, and i don't mean to taint them with an association here, but like zappa where if they could have their way they'd just as well not have singing. but since they gotta have it, sure, maybe they could still try to do it.

ol GEORDIE GRUMPS or whatever his name is

the vocals give the whole thing a weird Gabriel-era Genesis vibe to me, very much *performance*, and lend it this unsettling, uneasy edge. And also like an evil David Byrne. But again, what I also like is it has a lot of gears to it - the switch from that first track, which is musically like some dirge-metal with tricksy Skin Graft rhythms and Mogwai weight, slips into that minimalist, Krautrock, tense second track is really inspired. And each track has Something Going On, it's not just another excursion in the same vein. I'm really impressed. And bummed that I manage to miss every single show they play, even when they're literally only several roads away.

hey this doesn't suck

Anyone have the ILM scoop on how they went from zero to super-hyped so quickly? Was it just Youtube virality, and that they're babies? They're a good band (helped hugely by an amazing drummer) but I can't help but think that if they were from Milwaukee nobody would be talking about them.

It's not really my thing, but I will probably go see their free campus show here next month, since I'm sure that if/when they come around after that it will be in a bigger and more expensive venue.

being from England never hurt

does BRIT school do PR lessons?

coming out of there practically IS pr now, i think?

BRIT school

Ohhhh, say no more

I wondered the same thing Jordan. They have 1700 ratings on RYM and are up to #4 on the 2019 chart, I have no idea how or why but it's kinda cool

it's just the novelty factor....a good rock band from England 😎

Been listening to some of this on Youtube and why haven't This Heat been mentioned on this thread yet?

but I can't help but think that if they were from Milwaukee nobody would be talking about them

*cough* Dead Rider *cough* DEAD RIDER *cough*

I haven't heard this band btw, just some headz I know drew some comparisons to Dead Rider...a band seemingly no one cares about, even though they are on DRAG CITY!

And are the best currently extant "rock music" band, ok sorry please continue with this thread where English people all think they invented the wheel or whatevs

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it all Americans praising this band itt? The one definitely English person who's posted said, and I quote, "fucking awful"?

I retract my previous statement and resubmit as:

"this thread for Americans acting like English people invented the wheel or whatevs"

chris, are you a better judge of music than you are conversations?

tho i am totally going to check out dead rider now

chris, are you a better judge of music than you are conversations?

― Like A Turrican (stevie), Wednesday, June 26, 2019 3:51 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes

I just listened to two Dead Rider songs and they're great, ty!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiOiqz6vItE

SEE!

Take that! Englander pigdogs!

It's U.S. Maple not U.K. Maple

#thesecolorsdontrun

Brits Out of America #deepcut

SEE!

i lay in bed corrected!

It's U.S. Maple not U.K. Maple

*applauds*

Their ideas are good but the songs aren't worth waiting for them.

^ding

still not heard Black Midi but the Dead Rider album from last year with the mad English guy on vocals is sick and perhaps the best of both worlds

Then it's no 'moloch with strings', an epithet that may only be applied to a decadent, mildly Orientalist tone poem.

― pomenitul, Wednesday, 26 June 2019 09:33 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i gave it the big 4/10 for the reasons 57mg/20floz succinctly describes. the musicians aren't boring but the music is

might check out dead rider ty

This year’s Wu Lyf.

that comparison leapt instantly into my head too, although this lot are a bit further along the 'avant-math prankster' spectrum

Todd Rittman was in US Maple then Dead Rider that is really something

You know what was a good English band?

Giddy Motors

File black midi alongside Julia Holter in the category of acts imago should like but (in)explicably doesn't.

Tbf my sole exposure to this band is watching them jam for 10 mins on YT.

You know what was a good English band?

Giddy Motors

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, June 27, 2019 7:59 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Haven't heard anyone mention them since 2004

Sorry to cause the confusion. Was not familiar with black midi, the genre :(

Black MIDI the genre is an audio meme, much like Extratone. Bite-sized, amusing for a moment, but then it's dropped for the next shiny sliver of mylar balloon that floats off the power lines.

RYM user The_Pamps is upset:

It honestly disgusts me that people are calling this shit "rock" music. This is a fucking disgrace, and really highlights how far rock as a genre has fallen. REAL Rock Music is AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Guns and Roses, Led Zepplin, Aerosmith and INXS. This isn't rock, This is shit.

that review gets even worse later

Oh got, his YT channel.

*god

The last great Skin Graft-y band I'd heard was Stabscotch, which was decidedly not dismissed by imago as 'fucking awful' so I'm going in a bit skeptically here

Dead Rider are brilliant, and seeing them live was the closest I'll get to seeing US Maple. To me, black midi don't sound like Dead Rider (for one, there's no discernible soul influence to my ears) but I could absolutely see them on the same bill, or sharing a label.

xp I'm watching the KEXP performance--aw this ain't that bad; kind of a more post-rock-ish Girl Band? I do kinda get a vibe that both vocalists here have difficulties telling good ideas from bad ones

(Ok nm that "both vocalists" bit; totally unfair to the bass player here...)

Stabscotch are a brilliant example of this sort of thing done well

Noted.

Good band, bad songwriting

A lot of the animism in the press for the band seems based in the prospect that they will eventually make better music, which is a funny way for justifying mediocre reviews with better scores. I don't remember Iceage - another explicitly youthful band, premiering - benefiting from this, but they also benefited from an average 2 minute track length and more cohesive idea of themselves.

pretty good album; most of the reasons it’s bad stem from them being 15 year olds

I have an antipathy as I get older to bands that inspire critics to turn reviews into works cited pages.

you could blame the critics and not the bands

why on earth would I?

lol Alfred you wouldn't like this band either way

rong

all the influences are in the right paragraphs but in the wrong order.

What do you mean?

I was going to say this is the acceptable face of LJ music but turns out he doesn't like them!

The vox are a delight btw

SHE MOVES WITH A PURPOSE!!

I dunno I gave the Stabscotch album a try but there's a groove to these guys which I appreciate a lot more

finally the This Heat + late nineties screamo mashup everyone was waiting for

LJ's response to this is a near enough perfect illustration of why the industry can't just drop stuff like this on people from above. In that the people most likely to be receptive to music like this are also the least likely to be receptive to feeling marketed to. They need to feel at least in part like they've discovered stuff for themselves which certainly doesn't happen once you get a whiff of 'industry buzz band'.

I dunno, maybe there's a vast untapped resource of 18 year olds who are open to hearing compressed prog rock and don't care about all that stuff at all.

There's merit to that analysis and I'll confess my eyes rolled when I read they were from the Brit school, but I wasn't sure about them aesthetically or musically regardless of this - the name, firstly, which is wholesale ripped from another style of weird music without even approaching the sort of insane dedication and ultra-maximalism promised by it - but then their flippant-but-not-punkish demeanour, their seeming abhorrence of melody - even weird, atonal melody; it's just not a concern of theirs beyond the absolute rudiments - and above all the lack of any sense that there's much at stake aside from showing off. It's hard for me to summarise exactly why I find them offputting but it might be the refusal of beauty, the yowling prating kiddish soullessness of it all, the lack of vision. IDK, I just have a bad feeling about them, no matter how good some of their grooves are (and tt has been persuading me around to 'Near DT, MI' at least). This isn't to discount the possibility they'll do something good later, of course, but the hype feels way premature - they're proficient musicians but the compositions are just not there yet for me

btw here's an example of some comparable math freaks who get how to use melody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJxd_Lu8VPA

idk, plenty of melody in black midi to my ears. definitely more than other bands of their type imo

Guess I'm gonna see these kids tonight. I would definitely have bailed (out of standard don't-wanna-leave-the-house inertia) but my friend is very excited.

their drummer should be a treat

saw them last night, he's a force. room was packed and very enthusiastic.

Ok, so this was really great actually. They're definitely a rhythm band, but it hit really hard live, and they were very tight and controlled. The drummer is just ridiculously good (I tried to do my part by his fallen cymbal in the first song, he was looking around for assistance but no one ever notices that besides drummers). Lots of very enthusiastic kids at the show.

(Fwiw I just heard the KEXP performance; maybe the good ideas crowd out the bad once in the studio)

Bands with great drummers need more kudos.

They need more than just a great drummer though.

They need to drop the vocals for a start.

Played here in SF last night, pretty good I thought. Definitely already have a VERY busy and active fanbase, at least on a club level. (Also more varied than I would have guessed -- I was not the oldest person there by a long shot; I swear there was someone who was at least in her sixties getting into it right in front of me.)

A- from Christgau on his email newsletter

So I've been playing the album by Black Country, New Road, a seven piece from London that apparently came up in the same scene as black midi. There is a lot of Slint and American Football worship going on, but I think I love it? Definitely not something I'd have expected from Ninja Tune in 2021.

knew they had to get brought up eventually and this is about the right place to do it

I fucking loathe them with every fibre of my being, also they have the worst lyrics I've ever heard

https://genius.com/Black-country-new-road-algorithm-lyrics

other than that, how was the play mrs. lincoln?

Ha, I'll be honest, I had it on in the background while I worked and mostly had the lyrics tuned out. There seems to be nothing original about their approach at all, but the Slint / American Football sound they nail hits some nostalgic spot for me.

I don't know, clearly very divisive overall. They've got the the #2 album of the year over at RYM (I know, I know, but it's useful to see what others think) but it has a ton of 1-star reviews mixed in with all the 5-star ones.

Okay that particular song isn't on the album, I def would have caught those lyrics!

Like, there's something superficially redolent of good stuff in the sound, but imo they have neither songwriting skill nor ensemble chemistry to render that guy's vocals and lyrics anything other than the main focus, and my god, my *god*

Yeah, I was really hoping to like the BCNR album based on what I'd read. There's definitely some cool stuff going on instrumentally, and I feel like I could even appreciate the lyrics (which namecheck both black midi and Slint iirc) if they weren't sung like that, but man, those vocals...are not my kind of vocals.

this is like prog los campesinos

dug what i've heard of this album, but wasn't paying close attention. imago's disapproval is a good sign that i'll probably wind up liking it.

Lol his vibe is kind of 'if Matty Healy was an unbearable post-rock charlatan'

lol imago, the Pfork review made me think of you:

The 22-year-old wordsmith commands the studio while enunciating lyrics with a pompous-prefect quiver. Hearing their recordings for the first time, you might oscillate between irritation and intrigue. You might cringe, then cringe harder, almost enjoying it this time. It may feel like catching a sworn enemy at an open-mic night and realizing, aghast, that he is destined for brilliance.

He is 22, I would cut him some slack.

I'm glad they have a new album coming out, but...I think they may have accidentally become Primus.

https://bmblackmidi.bandcamp.com/album/cavalcade

Finally heard Black Country, New Road and somehow the vocals were worse than I was expecting, fucking intolerable

like it makes you question the entire concept of singing in music

thank you

new bm preview track considerably more promising than their debut. would go as far as to say it's great

also just discovered Squid, who appear to be bad in similar ways to BCNR

yeah they straight up sounds like primus

Digging the new black midi! Getting some major Hausu Mountain vibes from that cover art.

I def can see bc,nr not being everyone's thing, but considering some of the shit that gets tons of ilm love the vox aren't THAT bad.

New single is kind of amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tJ4ISRpl-Q

ok this album is going to rule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4wgnx_Phrw

I like their fusion-y side, and even if I'm not particularly into their vocals, I'd rather have this than a jazz singer

first part has a real hyper almost Contortions vibe

i get why he has this new vocal style, but i kinda miss when he sang like larry blackmon from cameo

They kind of all sing, I assumed that was a different Black Midi kid

ah good point, probably

I just remember that from seeing them live (oh yeah, the short one with the Gang of Four look does the talking, that other guitarist does more of the singing, etc)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Won7s8xJYZM

here it is

still not really into their thing but much better than their debut

oh it's not even a close comparison

Heard this one about a dozen times so far, front-to-back, and it is an assured, creative improvement on Schlagenheim (which was a captivating debut). The recent KEXP set was going to be hard to top for me, but the studio versions of Slow and Dethroned do just that.... and Ascending Forth is a great closer. Can't wait to see them live once again.

there are more people talking about the new Frost album than this on ILM, lmao

always nice when a debut shows promise and the followup realizes it in a more satisfying way, this is v v good, and FUN which is always a plus

xp lol I wish

HERE'S your prog 3.0 lmao

eh, I'd say it's worth a 3.5

lol

man this first song sounds like Mahavishnu…

I just realized that black midi, new road exists and is exactly what you think it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpegm3h79y0

"Hogwash and Balderdash" == "Jerry Was A Racecar Driver"

Black midi
Esp like the name, the drummer, the new hella/primus sounding song ...Their recent kexp session.

all smooth bonkers

— Stephen malkmus (@dronecoma) May 28, 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0FypjnAZEk

ok their taylor swift cover rules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOT1fOlOExY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIHKnPizo5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yV6f6UKtR8

they're good at this covers thing wow

this album is pretty frustrating to me because i love it when they're not being a little too skronky

I wish you had all continued talking about Nicole Lizée, who needs rock music.

lol

i can post more of the youtube gimmick genre that they got their band name from if you want, it's kinda fascinating though gimmicky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzXDQZzQq6w

as i said originally i'd love to see someone do stuff with the ideas of this stuff that really explores the textural possibilities, instead of just seeing "ok how many midi notes can we have"

all smooth bonkers

must just be me but the hushed tones and buzz around this band makes no sense in my brain - every time I dig in and try to check it out I want it to stop after about 90 seconds -seems like a bunch of jazz school grads trying to be cool

i mean that pretty much is what they are

please do not ignore!

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

these covers alone should indicate they're a lot, lot more than 'a bunch of jazz school grads trying to be cool'

They can certainly play all the notes of King Crimson, Talking Heads and Beefheart, so good homework there.

Man, every single one of those covers videos is unavailable now.

i was not sold on these guys at first listen a month ago and then suddenly it clicked and I think they are amazing.

Yes they are great. It's easy to dismiss this guys, considerung the fact that the rest of the post punk/art rock British scene is mostly boring and pretentious. but black midi (and especially the new record) are the exception.

God bless this dude for not taking down his adorable old vids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xAUq1xLGzM

Saw these live in Bristol on Saturday having never previously listened to them. Verdict: Yes, very clever but calm down

Obvs these dudes are all very talented but when I hear this kind of clever virtuosic music, I want to be able to hear what's going on. I like the sounds to be "tight", not smothered in reverb and unnecessary distortion. The singer was buried under piles of it, sounding like a circus crier faintly announcing stuff. His guitar tone was kind of frustrating - for the mostpart crunchy, low-mid range chords which inhabited much the same frequency as the keyboardist (who seemed to be there to supply whirling textures more than anything else). It was all a bit like being smacked in the face by jazz chords over and over again. They were at their best during the parts where they let their compositions breathe a bit, but even then when things quietened down it often just sounded like a band having a jam or a warm-up. So no, I'm not sold but I'll check out their album to see if it makes any more sense

I note you've all been too busy posting about classic rock and debating the progginess of Radiohead (lol)

Anyway, fuck all that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efmq_uXt1Rk

they covered taylor swift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC-Yl0L3Vis

they also covered "21st century schizoid man" and "moonlight in vermont" in less piss-take-y fashion (tho there are still elements of piss take lol)

i was bummed I missed them live the other month but a friend who went told me is was really a mess. not sure if that's always the case or if it was just this tour; I've seen live clips of them and thought they were great; so could have been a case of different expectations.

Well! this is just about the best album ever

yeah this is cool. that "Welcome to Hell" track posted above is pretty fantastic

It's good but I prefer Cavalcade still - this is a bit relentlessly vaudevillian, prefer 'em when the songs meander and build

It may click fully at some point though, especially if I follow along with a lyric sheet

I'm liking these new songs better than the stuff I've heard from them in the past. I have a feeling I'm going to like this album.

At various moments it put me in mind of Beefheart, The Garden, Jono El Grande, Benjamin Clementine, Sun Ra, Horse Lords, Naked City, Ought, Incredible String Band, Jason Forrest - that's an impressive range of weird music to be evoked by just a few songs. Actually I think keeping the dial stuck on eleven is a good mode for them.

Fell in love with Cavalcade on the first listen. This one is going to take a few more than that. Overall, I did like it on the first pass. There’s a lot to digest.

Vocals on "Welcome To Hell" remind me of "One Night In Bangkok"

i don't love this but it's another big step in the right direction for them, by far the most i've enjoyed them

also actually kind of approaches the feeling of their namesake in places