Cate Le Bon - classic or dud

Well - I say classic, as I am very fond of her doomy neo-folk music. But what about you?

I have only heard one song of hers, on WFMU, but it was fantastic.

The album "Me Oh My" is amazingly good. I bought it on the strength of one track, which turned out not to even be the best thing on it.

i like this. i think it's something i'd need to be in the right mood for, though.

it's like vu + nico with a folk-prog overlay.

This is really good! She seems undeservedly overlooked.

*to be

Very undeservedly slept-on. Both LPs are fantastic.

new album is rad but is getting released three months later in the UK than the US - don't totally get the deal w/ that

Finally getting around to this, I think the Le Bon moniker put me off checking it out. Particularly fond of 'Fold the Cloth' which mines the hiterto unexplored seam between Broadcast and the Incredible String Band.

Classic. Both her albums are fantastic, as are her EPs. Looking bright.

Her "debut" on Neon Neon was nice as well. Good looking out, Gruff.

New one coming soon. First track released feature Perfume Genius: http://thefourohfive.com/news/article/cate-le-bon-announces-new-album-listen-to-i-think-i-knew-feat-perfume-genius

Mug Museum is fan-fookin'-tastic. Basically adore this woman.

She's been my main listening since finding out about her a few months ago. Still gathering my thoughts I why she's such a talent, but some listens to Mug Museum have me convinced. This is quite a run of albums.

Not had chance to listen to the album yet, but our mug is lovely & only slightly wonky.

Just seconding the Mug Museum praise. This is seriously good. Should have a higher profile here.

yep, CateLB rules, i've only heard bits and bobs of mug museum but me oh my and cyrk were both singular and great, a really endearing mix of sublime earthiness and scrappiness. are you with me now reminds me of linda thompson a bit . Excitingly, she's touring n the new year.

This record is so good. Listening to it for the first time now & every song within seconds becomes ridiculously charming.

I think I like her last two better right now. The second half hasn't worked too well for me yet. Cyrk + Cyrk II are a great pair.

And yeah, I like the mug. It's sitting on a bookshelf.

"no god" bites galaxie 500's "king of spain" in a really tasty way

I like the second side better now. Mirror Me has this sort of sluggish rhythm that she always somehow makes lively. This record has fuller production, which is sometimes less distinctive than the early ones, but it's still top notch. Topper notch in places. Totally dig the Andy Mackay-like fills on the opener.

I found out recently "Le Bon" isn't her surname. :\

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnYVaB6IJck

Saw her and her band open for Warpaint last night. Sometimes I like her Nico meets something or other vocals and other times she sounds screechy and annoying. Her guitar playing and the band sounded pretty good most of the time, in a Super Furry Animals meets Velvets and Stereolab way.

thought this said "Cat LeBron" - was disappointed

I love her voice and I love her guitar playing even more. I don't know if I like half of her latest album, although I haven't listened to it enough. Her first two are great back-to-front.

Don't know her solo work very well, but her guest vocal on the last Manics record was pretty swell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Wtqj1uyro

that's my fav

Cate Le Bon wrote some of my favorite words of 2013 on her album Mug Museum. White Fence is the swirly psych-like music of Tim Presley. Cate and Tim are friends — Cate played guitar on a tour with White Fence — and so now there's this: DRINKS.

DRINKS has an album coming August 21 and this is the title track, called "Hermits on Holiday." The percussion is a machine at the start, the guitar distinctly Cate, as is that thickly Welsh voice. Tim plays bass on this song, though he told me on the phone that they swap instruments a lot on the album. When that bass kicks in, so does White Fence drummer Nick Murray and the song's lockstep rhythm loosens up, as if it's had a drink. The easy joy and silliness here make me look forward to hearing the full album, Hermits on Holiday.

http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/05/18/406758565/song-premiere-drinks-hermits-on-holiday?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=allsongs&utm_term=music&utm_content=20150518

Love Cate, but the song is about as boring as the name of her new band. It's also kind of annoying. It's a shame because I kind of had a feeling they'd sound like this.

Classic - maybe my favorite live performer right now, I find her mesmerizing. Bowery Ballroom show on Monday was great, and what I've heard of the new record sounds v. promising (love the Wonderful video). Seen her four times now and each time she makes it new.

I like the new one. I don't think any of the songs are as strong as the best material on Cyrk or Mug Museum, but her guitar playing remains great. Her backing band is pretty cool, too: Josh Klinghoffer from RHCP and the drummer from Warpaint.

H. Hawkline also rules. People need to listen to him.

"Find Me" is awesome.

I think on first acquaintance I might like Crab day best of all CLB's records. Generally she ricochets back and forth between dolorous gorgeousness & a kind of endearing spazziness, whereas this one sort of does both at the same time all the way through. I certainly don't hear any dip in the songwriting either from mug museum. i was a bit worried after drinks, but this great.

Nothing as good as 'Shoeing the Bones' or 'Fold the Cloth' to my ears.

The album has grown on me, but was a let down for the first bunch of listens. Had to come to terms with the realization that as long as she's so drawn to LA, she's not going to be making more 'Shoeing the Bones' or 'Fold the Cloth' styled material. I rate her as one of the top minds at work right now, so I'm not sure if I'm cutting her too much slack, or catching up with where she's going.

It reminds me a bit of H. Hawkline's songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7KzWaLIHIA

Great track - like the Ashes to Ashes visual cues. She's playing here tonight, but Monday night shows after work are a drag.

never seen a less than great show (but understand getting out on a Monday). she's transfixing.

Pretty bummed to not feel like I can go tbh - love her. I work nights as well :-/

she's always been so great. and she's getting weirder. love love love it.

Listening to the Banana album right now.

Enjoyable vibraphone wanderings over saxophone and piano.

I've always loved al little vibraphone. Not exactly a Cate Le Bon release, but Banaa includes her and the backing band she performed Crab Day with when she toured last year.

Stephen Black – Clarinet, Saxophone
Huw Evans – Guitar, Synthesizer
Josh Klinghoffer – Marimba, Synthesizer
Cate Le Bon – Piano, Vibraphone
Stella Mozgawa – Bass, Marimba, Percussion
Josiah Steinbrick – Vibraphone, Piano

http://leavingrecords.com/releases/lr105-banana-live/

Josh Klinghoffer of RHCP, of course.

she had a really gorgeous feature on one of the recent manic street preachers albums, i need to check out her stuff

4 Lonely Roads, really nice. Also sang I Lust U with Neon Neon.

Just picked up Ghouls by her partner, H. Hawkline. CLB plays and sings on it and it very much has similar vibe, really good

"Rock Pool" is a really nice EP. Easy to see how these cuts did not make it on "Crab Day", they definitely feel like solid b-sides. If you love that album this is a nice reprise of that style and the cuts are overall a bit more accessible and far more chill.

There's a sorta experimental film called Tomorrow Is Always Too Long by a young director named - and I kid you not - Phil Collins, which uses Cate Le Bon songs from Mug Museum but redone by a bunch of Glaswegian amateurs. The version of Are You With Me Now is particularly good. Anyways, it's recommended for fans, and is a fun film in general.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUb1Y41lz3s

There's a sorta experimental film called Tomorrow Is Always Too Long by a young director named - and I kid you not - Phil Collins, which uses Cate Le Bon songs from Mug Museum but redone by a bunch of Glaswegian amateurs. The version of Are You With Me Now is particularly good. Anyways, it's recommended for fans, and is a fun film in general.

Any clues as to how to watch this, hear this etc? Found part of one song on the trailer on youtube but other than that nothing on the usual places.

Sorry. I kinda have nothing. Perhaps write the director, ask for a link?

Two of his films are soundtracked by Gruff Rhys.

He also directed the Crab Day short...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56y8DPVTX14

https://m.mixcloud.com/sessun/cate-le-bon-pour-sess%C3%B9n-s%C3%A9lection-musicale-n9/

H Hawkline's In the Pink of Condition is good if you're a fan of Cate's last album. She plays on and produced it. Live, they switch between each other's bands. She does the same with Tom Presley, I've heard. Wasn't too crazy about his last one she produced, though.

been on a kick with her, she's amazing. mug museum was my point of entry, but wow it kind of loses momentum in the second half

Whereas Cyrk takes off in its second half.

Cyrk II continues the momentum.

Cryk rockets from the start in my opinion. Has anyone heard the new drinks lp?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrqphXJZqS8

New H. Hawkline album is really good. Cate's fingerprints are all over it. They've got a lot in common. She produced and plays on the record, like she did on the last one.

important thread revive: are she and Tim Presley a thing?

seems so? Cate's classic as hell

so classic

they met when he was in the Fall, no?

She's also doing something with Bradford Cox when they're in Marfa.

I thought she was dating the guy behind H. Hawkline.

I assume thread was revived for this:

https://drinks.bandcamp.com/album/hippo-lite

Hippo Lite is pretty lame.

Just sounds like bored people making boring music.

I guess the first one sort of sounded like that, but it was a LITTLE adventurous.

She's producing the new Deerhunter album. Apparently. Will be looking forward to that.

Still think Hippo Lite is pretty bad.

I really like Hippo Lite, I find it quite lovely, creepy and peppered with great songs, strange interludes and mirth. For me it has the same kind of elusive quality as Jane from occupied europe, odyshape or witch cults of the radio age where i listen to it compulsively, but it seems unfamiliar each time.

It would be an excellent soundtrack to a very stoned, very hot summer day spent by a brook.

It does drift out of focus a bit towards the end i grant you.

rock pool

Hippo Lite might be the first legit bad thing she's done. she and Tim should've sat on it for a few weeks and/or given it another good listen and/or played it for a few friends and then decided it was best left on the shelf.

I like it better than the first Drinks, but I struggle to re-listen to either record. Their styles would seem similar enough, but their eccentricities don't blend particularly well.

This conversation between Cate and Ariel Pink is kind of amusing...

https://www.talkhouse.com/ariel-pink-talks-with-cate-le-bon-for-the-talkhouse-podcast/

nice, thanks for sharing

saw her play a show on sunday entirely on piano with her sax/clarinet guy steve accompanying. was fucking great. she covered mccartney's waterfalls

I'm looking forward to seeing her for the first time tomorrow night - glad to hear she's on form.

Waterfalls: what a brilliant idea for a cover

the group listening steve/sweet baboo did last year is pretty enjoyable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKHPPP_3QPU

assume they were part of the gig somehow

Support for the tour. Cate also said it was meant to be a solo tour, but then she got scared, hence Sweet Baboo accompanying her...

Just got back from seeing her, she played Waterfalls again. What an amazing voice she's got.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7VMVZ1GZZs

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/cate-le-bon-announces-new-lp-tour-listen-to-daylight-matters/

Cate Le Bon will release new album Reward on May 24 via Mexican Summer. “People hear the word ‘reward’ and they think that it’s a positive word” says Le Bon, “and to me it’s quite a sinister word in that it depends on the relationship between the giver and the receiver. I feel like it’s really indicative of the times we’re living in where words are used as slogans, and everything is slowly losing its meaning.” She worked with frequent collaborators Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint), H.Hawkline and co-producer Samur Khouja, and Reward was originally conceived as a spare piano record but grew beyond that. You can still hear those beginnings in lovely first single “Daylight Matters” — listen below.

new song is great

New album is fantastic.

Lots of clarinet and sax.

Anyone else loving the new one? Out today...

My preorder shipped today and I'm holding off listening until it arrives (which makes no sense as I listened to the three songs that had been released several times through yesterday). it's been too long with the Drinks diversion. Excited to be seeing her live twice this summer.

pleasant surprise to see this getting a bnm, i didn't know people were following this record that didn't post in the cate le bon thread on ilxor dot com

another pleasant surprise: this is another contender for my album of the year

she's been on a steady trajectory to greatness for a while

loved loved loved all the pre-release tracks, had a somewhat-attentive listen at work and appreciated it, but i'm gonna try it again on my commute home.

"you don't love me" is pretty perfect

https://www.discogs.com/Cate-Le-Bon-Reward/release/13650339

Pretty impressive cast of characters in the credits.

Always love her b-sides, btw. Cyrk II is great. Looking forward to Reward b-sides. I'm hoping she dropped the more angular guitar/avant POP on the cutting room floor so I have something else to look forward to.

I mean, yeah, I get it - another Gruff Rhys endorsed artist. Thought she was great on the first Neon Neon album, and the fact that the phenomenal Stella Mozgawa - one of my favourite drummers in indie right now - is on the new one is promising, but I've heard every single Cate le Bon album up until but not including this one, and none of them have made much of an impression on me sadly.

Seems like she's much more popular and critically acclaimed than Gruff's been post-SFA. Not sure it's fair to hold that against her.

Nor am I aware of any other artists who've had successful careers thanks to lovely Gruff.

new album is great, been a fan

zero idea she had anything to do w/SFA dude and I don't think that makes any difference in 2019

I didn't say another successful Gruff Rhys endorsed artist, and you're right - in 2019 it doesn't make any difference. It might have done in 2008, though.

Reward is neck and neck with the new Matmos for my favorite record of the year. Stunning album - a couple friends were singing her praises when Crab Day came out but I couldn't get into it, this on the other hand - my god...

she is something special

There isn't a weak song on here! Every song is great! fuck!

Playing a free show in LA tomorrow at the Getty

Posting here because she seems very Cate-adjacent to me, really loving the tracks released thus far from Dana Gavanski's album Yesterday is Gone coming March, 27th:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF_YXk6CO1E

(just posting the audio, the official video doesn't work for me (offbeat violent))

This song also has some Weyes Blood in the vocal.

She has a new EP out with Group Listening, some different versions of songs from Reward. it's good

mainly into the redo of "Magnificent Gestures", which was already one of my favorite tracks off of one of the best albums of last year. And an especially wicked track when she performed it live, hammering the riff for an extra couple minutes at the end

CLB's EPs are fascinating prisms of the albums proceeding. That she leaves material as strong as "The Eiggy Sea" and "Aside from Growing Old" off the main records in favor of more awkward and discordant stuff is fascinating. She's also had the Myths 004 EP with Bradford Cox in the last year, which does the tangled mucking of Drinks with better results. "What Is She Wearing" is a fine piece of Mark E Smith caustic laughs.

cate le bon has hit me right upside the head, out of nowhere.

her music is REALLY good! this has been a stroke of good fortune in 2020, and i am thankful

i just so happened to listen to "daylight matters" directly after listening to john cale's vintage violence, and there's a connection between the two.

Yes, for all the Nico comparisons in her early work, she's always reminded me far more of Cale, particularly her melodic ideas.

she rules, saw the Reward tour, great show

yes she is a great songwriter - same thing happened to me with the sudden headlong rush of realisation that she is incredible except it was the previous album thats sent me into into the spiral of obsession and backward through her catalog - the latest one only came across to me as 'good' - I guess I like her when she is more eccentric and lets her wilder and more spiky tendencies hang out alongside her beautiful melodies - reward seemed too restrained for me but I still love her all the same

She's great live. Rocks the hell outta the guitar. Blew my ear drums on the Mug Museum tour.

he latest one only came across to me as 'good' - I guess I like her when she is more eccentric and lets her wilder and more spiky tendencies hang out alongside her beautiful melodies - reward seemed too restrained for me but I still love her all the same

i wouldn't be surprised if i agree, in a few weeks! i've cycled back to the very beginning, working my way forward now

xp thought the same about hearing early cale in her music too recently

Over time I have gone off her a bit. I finally saw her live a couple of times and she is great there but I find her a bit patchy on record.

Same. Interest hit a high with Mug Museum and I loved that tour, but Crab Day and the newer one feel like she hit a wall.

I guess it's where you come in (also in the sense that you often jump on when the band takes a direction that catches your fancy)

I started with Reward and am much more into that than Mug Museum

this reminds me of le Bon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR7YaLr-J9E

I think Cyrk, Mug Museum, and Crab Day are all excellent - Mug Museum being the peak. Reward has its moments but does feel like a step down. It doesn't feel as off-center as the others. Also her work as part of Drinks is hit and miss too, so Crab Day is starting to feel a little further back in the rearview mirror. Still look forward to whatever she does next.

I love Me Oh My, thought Cyrk had its moments but also got a bit too guitar wanky, liked Crab Day a lot, and didn't really get anywhere with Reward. I think it might be relevant that I bought Crab Day after seeing her live - maybe if I had seen her touring Reward or Cyrk I would have loved those too.

Cyrk/Cyrk II have settled in as my favorites of hers, and maybe my favorite record of the 2010s. Each of the first three albums hit me right away. The Pere Ubuisms of Crab Day and the keyboard constructions of Reward put me off at first, but they grew. I think "Meet the Man" might be her greatest song yet, even.

I would assume this artist Accü is seriously influenced by her:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONk8ZztrEyk

Dana Gavanski too, I’d guess

https://youtu.be/MPEgjKLh8bM

My taste in Cate is roughly the opposite of DV’s, I like her best at her most melodic and (maybe) stately. Reward’s probably my favourite; saw the London and Berlin Reward shows and the latter was amazingly good.

A live concert film (to nobody) of Cate Le Bon performing the album Reward, that I directed, with a lot of help for @FOVCardiff is now streaming on YouTube - heavily recommended songs - free to watch https://t.co/xaX5Mre8qL 📷@H_HAWKLINE pic.twitter.com/mDzEzPJCzd

— Gruff Rhys (@gruffingtonpost) March 24, 2021

oh hell yeah

cate le bon has hit me right upside the head, out of nowhere.

her music is REALLY good! this has been a stroke of good fortune in 2020, and i am thankful

― Karl Malone, Thursday, September 3, 2020 1:57 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

this just happened to me.

I'm old and never know what to listen to, it's so frustrating. But what a day.

which one are you listening to? i have been sitting in silence for about a week straight. i should probably listen to some tunes

lol, i ALWAYS FORGET she's the "are you with me now?" band.

I'm listening to Spotify random mix! Still listening! Still good!

it started with "Are You With Me Now" which is a stunner and which I have heard before but didn't know the artist

While Cyrk and Cyrk II remain my favorites, "Meet the Man" may be her greatest song yet. Hymn, existential lament, love ballad, warm and cold and odd and a comfort all at once.

was hoping this revive was for a desperately needed new record. she is amazing.

I never really connected with her last solo album, but Cyrk, Mug Museum, and Crab Day are all awesome. Mug Museum probably my favorite of the bunch.

And apparently I already said this a few posts up in this thread, almost exactly a year ago.

i keep going back to Crab Day and can't get into it! i don't know why. i think it's because, following Mug Museum it seems more like a transition to the sound of Reward.

Reward is really, really good imo.

Daylight Matters --> Home to You is an incredible sequence. i am influenced by my experience of it. i pulled a Bon Iver in the woods after my dad died and got a cabin for a few weeks. i held onto some shrooms until about halfway through, and then i BLASTED Reward in the woods on repeat. there was a very special 20 minutes or so where it was all at the perfect levels, and "Daylight Matters" came on again. "Love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, but you're not here. Love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, but you've gone", and it hit me so hard. i started dancing in slow motion on the little wooden chip path in front of the cabin in my bare feet. it was still wet from the rain the night before. i started to add my own words, changed from her version during the bridge, but just saying "and if we're going to meet again, i hope you'll be my friend. this time." and it was about my dad but also about my friends and everyone i've hurt and that has hurt me. it was incredibly powerful. Reward is worth some more listens, it's not superficial, the whole album is very good

Crab Day is the weakest but still knows how to lay on the charm. Too many chattering marimbas is the shortcoming for me.

is that true? that's good to know! i need to go back to the earliest stuff too, that's a total blind spot for me right now.

i have to say, i didn't like the collab with Bradford Cox, and that was surprising because i really like his music

the only one i liked was the closer, "what is she wearing", which doesn't even start to get good until 3 minutes in iirc

this is so otm, re: the second Drinks album:

Just sounds like bored people making boring music.

hard to think of a more lifeless record by two rad geniuses

Crab Day is the weakest but still knows how to lay on the charm. Too many chattering marimbas is the shortcoming for me.

I also hoped this revive was for a new record, but I did see the website is back under construction ("in ruins") so hopefully soon?

agree hard out with missing her guitar playing - that vid above is stellar evidence of how good she is when she chooses to get messy / also agree Crab Day is her best record the oblique sharp edges make it much better for me than Reward which was decent but seemed a little too pored over & overstuffed with ideas to the extent it seemed to suck a little of the life & spontenaiety out of her sound - of course the one I like the least was her almost 'crossover' & v popular - anyways bring back that guitar wonk pls Cate!

which is most crossover and popular?

I thought Reward kinda got close - didn't it nominated for a big award in the UK - I noticed a lot more press for it than previously so I assumed it did the best out of all of her records

Crab Day is where she started running out of songs

Reward is where she lost her personality.

I used to really dig her music. Dunno. I'm surprised those two seemed to get more attention than the rest.

I see I made that same post a year ago. Sorry. Bad memory.

was hoping this revive was for a desperately needed new record. she is amazing.

― bulb after bulb, Thursday, October 7, 2021 6:19 PM (four days ago)

Welp, https://catelebon.ffm.to/mmxxii

we did it!

Cyrk and Mug Museum are great. Don’t get Crab Day… Reward is better mainly for the arrangements and some interesting sound palette. It does seem like the songwriting shifts dramatically after Mug Museum.

I like being into the wrong one! I’m like the U2 fan who is only into their 2000s material

very happy news!

It is indeed. CLB always scores a good autumn. The 8 second tease thing sounds pleasingly scary monsters-ish and the chain mail is a strong look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYibZJk7qes

yessss it rules

shit, i am happy and disappointed. i like the song a lot - i'm a sucker for her lineup right now, with the horn heavy composition, the staccato bass, the melancholy evening slink. "It's the sweetest thing / That you never have", that part, the first time it hits, is wonderful.

i am disappointed because i didn't do my "research" and thought the whole album was out today. i don't like this thing where you get singles for 4 months before the album

new one in a few minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6a7WeVYnSs

Cate has gone the full mid/late period Roxy! absolutely ravishing.love the video also.

new one is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally good, fuck yeah

can someone help me transcribe? i aspire to be a GENIUS scholar, and i already have a bunch of points from a recent obsession with the pepsi looping lo-fi beats songs/community.

I get by when high (?) in the sky but
I can't put my finger on it
I want to cry, I'm not in my mind
Trying to figure it out

Moderation
I can't have it
I don't want it
I want to touch it

Picture the party where you're standing in the modern age (?)
I was in trouble with the habit of his
And I try to relate

I get by pushing poets aside
Cos you can't beat the Mother of Pearl
I could be out found (?)
Out of my mind at the fruit of it all

Moderation
I can't have it
I don't want it
I want to touch it

Picture the party where you're standing in the modern age (?)
I was in trouble with the habit of his
And I try to relate
To the messed up air (?)

Tell it to her (?)
Tell it to the (?)
?

Picture the party where you're standing in the modern age (?)
I was in trouble with the habit of his
And I try to relate

Moderation, I can't have it, I don't want it, I want to touch it

is a wonderful lyric

but what the hell is she saying in that bridge near the end?

Tell it to the mass?

Tell it through a mask?

(on the modern age)
(a habit of his)?

Tell it through a mask?

sorry, that's not it

a youtube commenter confirmed that it was "Picture the party where you're standing in the modern age"

the lyrics are up on apple music, i just don't have an account

I get by
One eye on the sky
But I can't put my finger on it
I wanna cry, I'm out of my mind
Trying to figure it out.

Moderation -
I can't stand it.
I don't want it.
I want to touch it.

Picture the party when you're standing on a modern age.
I was in trouble with a habit of years
And I try
To relate.
I get by pushing poets aside
Cause they can't beat the mother of pearl
I quit the earth, I'm out of my mind
And the fruit of it all?

Moderation.....

Tethered to a mess.

Tethered to a mess! I think that's right, thanks. And One eye on the sky, that sounds right too! I think the first line after Moderation is "I can't have it", rather than "I can't stand it". And I love "I quit the earth" but it kind of sounds like "I could be off" too? Waiting for apple music subscriber confirmation

bulb after bulb's post appears copied from Apple Music

I thought so too, but then saw the ? after And the fruit of it all (which, I can't figure that part either!)

only apple subscribers may know! down with apple and their Big Lyrics monopoly!

yes, from Apple Music, question mark and all. no guarantee of results.

oh, nice, thanks! I will update the genius lyrics accordingly :-o

reminds me of the shins

"Moderation" is phenomenal and the other song's pretty swell too. I'm excited.

yeah, i am so ready to hear the whole damn thing. "Running Away" sounds even better following "Moderation", I think. i fucking love her instrumentation on the last few releases - the steady lineup of keyboards, bass, a small woodwind/horn section, minimal guitar (if any?)

I'm not cold by nature
This could bring me to my knees
The fountain that empties the world
Too beautiful to hold
Multidirectional love
With nowhere left to go
There no where to let go

"I'm not cold by nature" kills me, right through the heart

meanwhile, with "Moderation", i think may have actively pissed off one or more of my friends by talking too much about it, recently. I had "moderation" fever and i tried to spread it to others, but no one cared.

haven't read this yet, but looking forward to it:

https://pitchfork.com/features/profile/cate-le-bon-interview-pompeii/

!!

Twenty minutes down the road, in a loud, austere pizza restaurant, Le Bon seems to know everyone. The staff are elated to see her, she takes their hands in hers. Throughout the night, she strikes up conversations with most people there. To the locals, she’s known as a regular at the Joshua Tree Saloon, where karaoke nights are run twice weekly by actor Mario Lopez (aka Saved By the Bell’s A.C. Slater). “I still haven’t quite figured out what my karaoke song is,” she says. “I like to do crowd-pleasers that have really good intros, get everyone pumped, and then come in with these really low, droll vocals that can’t quite hit the spot.”

!

that would make traveling to the Pappy and Harriet's show she has coming up worth making.

i didn't know about her side project with her partner, DRINKS. giving that a listen today

it's ... not great.

they are both great, but not everything should be released.

imo.

The second DRINKS album is better than the first though neither hold a candle to her solo material

I'm now almost unreasonably keen to hear the other 6/9 of this long-player. Counting the hours, etc, etc...

Wow, Karl Malone's "Daylight Matters" story from October is... wowee zowee. Bless.

Seeing her in Woodstock, Sunday. Been too long, she's so amazing live.

The relative uniformity of tone is making Pompeii a little hard to crack after 2.5 listens. Though I'm pretty sure the opener, title track and "Cry Me Old Trouble", at least, will shortly unravel in a pleasing fashion, much as the singles did.

do you have the whole thing? i just now realized a third single is up now ("remembering me")

Full 9 tracks on Tidal and Spotify. (I may be benefiting from the GMT+10 "living slightly in the future" thing though.)

ah, ok! still not up for me, but I'm sure it will be soon.

"French Boys" and "Wheel" are working for me now. Not least in the bass department. Desperately need a lyric sheet though!

Belatedly realising that "Harbour" is pretty damn earworm'y. A bit of a "Home To You" in that it's the easiest to imagine hearing by chance in a shopping mall lol.

This is dripping in atmosphere. I love it.

Like her last album, this isn’t bad but I miss the more jagged guitars of her first few albums. I’m not as keen on the synths/sax combo. Just my personal taste but I rarely go for songs with saxophone

Polar opposite for me. This is the first time I'm buying what she's selling for more than a minute or two.

masterpiece imo

the new bryan ferry

And that's a fine place to aim for!

I keep hearing 10,000 Maniacs' "Like the Weather" somewhere in "Moderation"

10,000 Maniacs have a much better drummer

oh man, not comparing the drummers directly (i don't know 10K maniacs very well at all), but i love the drummer. i read somewhere about their drumming being driven by carefully placed bass drum kicks, recently, and that's what I focus on

i'm still digesting the album. i got so, so used to Moderation leading directly into Running Away - just a casualty of the several months of 1-3 songs approach to PR, but those two became intertwined, for me.

Yeah maybe not a fair comparison. That sort of late 80s light snappy rolling feel leads in the direction of Rusted Root

It feels to me like Pompeii's drums are dragging at the tempo, as if they're intentionally slowing everything down, a sluggish almost DJ Screw effect

the song "Pompeii" is hitting me, now, on the 3rd time through. now every corner of it feels so right, where it drifted right on past the first couple times. i do love the sound of her current line-up/instrumentation, so much.

The album is growing on me. I think I do like it more than the last album.

speaking of amazing guitar parts, both subtle and riffage, they're both in "Remembering Me"

the subtle can be heard during the chorus, the the thin wobbling snake between some of the lines and during some of the others:

Upset, and out of touch
Good grief, you miss so much
Oh, oh, remember me
Louder than empty rooms
Face down in heirlooms
Oh, oh, remembering me

that is positively slinking

later on, the riffage is later, at 3:00, the solo. it's like alt arena rock busts in all of a sudden but it's perfect

the thin wobbling snake

i want to go ahead and express my regret for this description of the guitar line, lol

the positively slinking thin wobbling snake

:-|

terrific bass on this record, reminds me of john giblin's playing on john martyn's grace & danger but less cagey.

Press material says she mostly composed it on bass

i JUST noticed the big obvious thing about the beginning of the title track "Pompeii", which is that it follows the exactly melodic scheme of the ending of the previous song, "French Boys"

also, i LOVE the chorus of "Pompeii", particularly the background vocal counterpart, the wordless "ooom-PAAAH!", and how it reinforces a kind of half-time feel

All my life in sentiment
All my language is vulgar and true
I've pushed love through the hourglass
Did you see me putting pain in a stone?

really really liking this album, possibly even more than the last ones. her herky-jerk rhythms are so mesmerizing and it seems like she's leveled up the arrangements. some great guitar tones on here too.

still looking for an earworm like "home to you," but maybe one will reveal itself in time.

the new molly nilsson album also has a song called "pompeii"

This record is wonderful. The bass, the arrangements, the rhythms - so much pleasure for the ears. I missed her in Glasgow last week because I got Covid, which is a shame because seeing her play the previous record live really opened it up to me. And I would have loved to see the parts of Pompeii come together before my eyes.

yeah it's so good. maybe my favorite of hers.

ditto

me too i think, that or cyrk anyway, and i think this one has the stronger songs.

Was playing it yesterday on a trip back from my folks and my sis, who is a fan to start with, was very taken by how much the guitars reminded her of Ween (who she is also a stone cold fan of).

We saw her tonight in Lille (I missed the London show for reasons of family illness) and she was fantastic.

le bon alert - she is on the new kurt vile album track "Jesus on a Wire"

it's a snoozer. she just does some backup vox. not sure i would know it was her if i didn't know

saw her last night - my third time, better than the reward tour IMO (although that was great) - new songs sound fantastic live and the reward songs sounded like utter classics given a light pompeii makeover - not that familiar with the new LP but whoever mentioned Avalon vibes upthread was otm

not to hijack the revive, but i regret not buying one of her mugs from her in the Mug Museum days.

New single "Typical Love" out today. Dunno if this is a teaser for a physical release or will just a digital thing, but did not expect anything else this year. Already on Spotify, and video debuts at 10am ET:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOJ4NVu_4GM

she produced this it's rly good, and i'm seeing him next week: https://hhawkline.bandcamp.com/album/milk-for-flowers

here's an article to give a flavour: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/h-hawkline-tells-us-about-the-influences-behind-new-album-milk-for-flowers

oh i didn't know there was a new h. hawkline album. i believe he was previously in a relationship with le bon and was later in a relationship with aldous harding, though he must be on good terms with both since le bon produced this and he played bass for harding and opened for her last year on her tour

must be one charming scamp

https://hhawkline.bandcamp.com/track/last-thing-on-your-mind

this song from his last album was a real showstopper when i saw him

ty, shall have a listen!

i got the tickets cos of the support act (alice low, documented here) but he's proving an excellent discovery in his own right

this song you posted is lovely yeah

thanks for sharing imago, have always loved his song "engineers"

will check out

neat!

i ended up liking the CLB song that placed in the ILX poll more than I thought I would, so her recent album will be given a full going-over too

wait, by 'song that placed' i mean 'someone's indicated track from the album that placed'

it’s a damn great album.

(pompeii

oh i didn't know there was a new h. hawkline album. i believe he was previously in a relationship with le bon and was later in a relationship with aldous harding,

This is interesting to me because I often mix up cate le bon and aldous harding. Hope h hawkline doesn’t have the same issue.

the atonal audio smudging in the pompeii title track is very pleasing

wait, by 'song that placed' i mean 'someone's indicated track from the album that placed'

Ha, I got excited about that version of history for a few milliseconds. (I have a feeling I was her sole voter tracks-wise.)

Hawkline's arrangements *are* palpably Lebonian innit. Nice.

Their earlier stuff was sometimes almost indistinguishable, this one would have been quite at home on Me Oh My: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrUmLrBqfh8

Absolutely. I saw Cate on the Mug Museum tour and he opened for her and their bands were the same, with the exception of the front person. Both great. He's released lots of good stuff.