Field Music

Double album means the whole thing might be longer than an hour?

that new song is pretty cool. i don't listen to them that much, but they seem like a really smart band.

that is a good cover. i was never terribly impressed by either of the offshoots, they seem to do a much better job when pooling their creative resources

i prefer the week that was to field music. they do genesis way better than elbow do. i'd be more excited about a double concept album by them

Measure comes out February 16. So glad, I thought they broke up for good!

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11584-measure/

nice song

"it's their White Album"...

i was never terribly impressed by either of the offshoots

I really, really liked The Week That Was. As usual, though, it was too brief. I hope there's a second one someday.

first impression of the new record:

pros: interesting xtc/mccartney meets some math rock sound, catchy melodies.
cons: too long,probably not constantly successful.

too long

this is a big shame. one of the strengths of the first record is how compact and un-noodly it is

they tried to be a little Deerhoof-y-experimental here, sometimes it works. sometimes not.

but,again, it's only my 1st impression.

Absolutely floored by the new one. Combined with their two other (flawless) albums and wonderful solo projects, I'm solidly convinced that Field Music is one of the most significant bands of the past ten years. They're on par with SFA for quality/complexity/catchiness.

There's a fussy math-rock quality about them that kind of irritates me, but not aws much as it irritates people whom I try to turn on to them.

It is a lonely and not entirely enthusiastic fandom.

Very anxious to hear this!

i've gotten a couple of friends kinda into them via 'in context' but yeah

i was pretty much entirely unimpressed by the week that was / school of language so i'm struggling to get the enthusiasm together to check out the new one

I think it's definitely better than the side projects, by a long shot (although the last song on The Week That Was album was great).

"Scrath the Surface" is the song.

^yeah, that's a good track

I adored their first album, but everything since, including the new one, I've liked less and less.

FWIW, here's my ranking of their output thus far:

Measure
Field Music
The Week That Was
School of Language
Tones of Town

Saw these guys (and friends) perform a tribute to Fleetwood Mac last night! Mind-blowingly spot on, and with a tiny amount of their sound creeping through. They can do no wrong!

I've yet to hear the new one and I never did hear the School of Language album, but I find it really weird to see Tones of Town way down at the bottom of your list, considering that is what got me into the band in the first place.

I think they played recently at Beat Kitchen. I'll catch them next time when I an buy the new album from them. So looking forward to it!

Tones of Town >>> s/t

The new one is massive and dense, so it'll take a while to assess its overall worth. "You and I" is really nice though.

I find it really weird to see Tones of Town way down at the bottom of your list, considering that is what got me into the band in the first place.

To clarify - I love *everything* these guys have done. I just love Tones of Town the least. But I fucking love it. :)

I love the sound and production of Tones way more than the self-titled, but I enjoy the songwriting a bit more. The new one seems to marry the complex poppy writing of the self-titled with the knotty dissonance (and amazing production) of Tones to incredible effect.

I think they played recently at Beat Kitchen.

Nah, they cancelled their U.S. dates because of illness. I was kinda bummed about it -- the band I used to be in was opening the show, even.

So I really like the new one, I think. I mean, individually a lot of these songs sound great... but its just way too much to digest. I really loved how tight and concise Tones of Town was. I don't feel like the sprawling nature of Measure plays to their strengths. Still lots of good tunes though.

Yeah, it's not a knock against any of the material really but there's an amazing 12- or 13-track record lurking in there. Still one of my faves of the new year.

I think this is one of the coolest albums I've heard in a while. Love it.

An album that takes quite a few listens to fully wrap your head around (at least for me). But it's still great. I have a feeling that there won't be quite as many b-sides as there were with previous albums. This band was always one of those that had some amazing b-sides on their singles releases (e.g., 'Can You See Anything,' 'The Breakfast Song' etc.).

I found it to be pretty accessible actually.

The sequencing of the songs is superb.

Love the wacky reinterpretation of "Don't Pass Me By".

been redecorating the bathroom with this on repeat all week and i absolutely adore it - critics need to get behind this in style and hook the brewis brothers up with some mercury type hype - for a double lp i don't think it lags a great deal and its so varied and sumptuous that it just flies by with the melodies sort of buzzing round the house even after the record has stopped ... love it

Yeah, the critics have been missing the boat on these guys since day one. Real shame since these dudes spin circles around their counterparts. It's an unjust world, I tell ya.

I mean for fuck's sake:

Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me [Started by kshighway (ksh) in January 2010, last updated 1 minute ago by Number None] 584 new answers
Field Music [Started by Tom May (Tom May) in August 2005, last updated 2 minutes ago by Darin] 5 new answers

Not really a good comparison, I mean 87% of those posts aren't about Miss Newsom or her new album.

Well, female Tiny Tim was the first artist thread I saw. Substitute whoever.

measure is really really great.

oh wow

...and the brothers solo record, School Of Language (or whatever it's called) while yer at it.

next few days = massive listenathon pre-determining what I will be ranking my best of '10

this has top 10 potential

Field Music liveblog Santafest '10

have a putative list of stuff that might make my list, and am wondering what to add to it - suggestions?

I'd like to see a list without any outside influence. :)

nono I mean suggestions for me to listen to and then JUDGE

i.e. your suggestions probably won't make it but you might as well try :D

n.b. my #1 album of the year changed hands as recently as a week ago

yeah, fucking brilliant, is Measure

i should probably listen to it huh

hahaha you mean you nommed it for the 2010 poll on principle

hero

Measure is indeed awesome. I still don't know why it was so widely ignored. Pitchfork must own stock in 4AD or something.

this is soaring up my year-end list by the day

phenomenal achievement

probably not boorish enough for most ilxors' tastes :P

New album "Plumb" out in February. Excitement! New track here - http://www.field-music.co.uk/

Haven't picked it up yet but probably will do once payday rolls around.

From a commission and all about the aftermath of the first world war, isn't it?

I do wonder why Field Music have faded so much. I think they maybe grew too obsessed with working on a single sound, and they've worked the life out of it

I'm sort of annoyed such a bunch of nitwits have taken the title from a Paul Nash masterpiece, which is a really beautiful haunted title as well as a painting - which I can't imagine their music matching the gravitas of tbh!

Might be the first time Field Music have been described as “such a bunch of nitwits.”

probably melt cunts as well!

they most likely are led-by-donkieys type feebs that became radicalised by threat of austerity finishing off 6 music!

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/field-music-have-a-side-hustle-as-a-doors-tribute-band-making-a-living-from-making-our-own-music-has-become-increasingly-difficult/

they've definitely got skill I think the bigger problem is nobody really seems all that interested in their music right now, I mean my local shop has four of their albums in the bargain bin (Tones of Town and the last three), I've thought about picking them up because on paper I like this band very much. idk I think in theory the idea of a XTC/Gentle Giant hybrid band is really great but I feel like they sorta took the wrong things from both bands

new one is intriguing so far though, love the Technodelic-style synths, still wish this stuff was like 50% catchier though

Yeah, I pretty much love their first three albums and then … there’s a song or 2 from each of the post-Plumb records that hits but on the whole it’s just fussy and boring. I only stopped buying each new album long after the diminishing returns set in, trying to convince myself there was something there for me.

I liked Plumb a lot and really liked the sound of one of the newer ones, I should catch up. Did anyone keep up with School Of Language and other solo stuff?

David B’s the Soft Struggles album from a couple of years ago was a very sweet piece of Canterbury scene chamber folk, but I found FM to be diminishing returns ever since the debut. Lovely fellas though.

I felt that they were hitting their stride with Measure and Plumb so I should get on with what came next