is it true that british sea power is basically drownedinsound indie but with extra references to the hebrides, obscure fauna, naval history etc?
Oh, fuck off.
― generally, like all white girls in my experience (King Boy Pato), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 01:58 (thirteen years ago) link
true ime
― salvia divanorum (nakhchivan), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 02:01 (thirteen years ago) link
there needs to be a bsp vs iliketrains poll amirite
actually quite looking forward to hearing this new stuff. y'all have gotten me interested. only really 'carrion' and 'lately' have really caught my attention of the bsp i've heard
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 09:26 (thirteen years ago) link
Yes this is exactly what they are. They're occasionally pretty good at it (Carrion, most of the second album) and often ropey (the whole third album by and large). Their music isn't as distinctive as the rest of their aesthetic.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 14 December 2010 09:49 (thirteen years ago) link
I guess if you're determined to be cloth eared then that's your call but DiS and BSP don't really see eye to eye given that DiS has an American/P4k garage rock/lo fi/Williamsburg leaning aesthetic.
― Carl Jung Jeezy (Doran), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:14 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah DiS is basically P4k-in-Englande-but-with-more-dubstep if we're being reductive
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:16 (thirteen years ago) link
although British indie still does pretty well on the messageboards (wouldn't have thought BSP are a band everyone would bang on about though - they're a bit too austere and subtle)
2nd track of the EP is really good :)
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Maybe I'm working on an outdated definition of Drownedinsound indie. They were very Brit-centric around 02-05, ie the period encompassing the first few BSP records.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Indie has kinda fragmented since then. Yer xxes and James Blakes and whatnot are the hot new electronic sound and guitar-rock while fondly regarded in some quarters has been marginalised by its own dissipation from that (tiresome) 00's centrality
hence, I predict some pretty exciting things coming out of British guitar rock in the early part of this decade, possibly by re-integrating electronic sounds and textures into something more progressive and wild (he hopes)
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Like...BSP have survived through their period of trend conformity, which is why I expect them to get much more interesting now - they're on their own now, in a way
Brighton buddies ESP meanwhile have realised their time is up as ESP, and Thomas White is now free to make the music he wants to make, which is miles better than ESP ever was (yeah, really) although there's still Brakes, hovering, somewhere (I don't suppose they've got too much left in the tank although perhaps they will evolve!)
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:27 (thirteen years ago) link
'Bear' is awwwwwwesome
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:28 (thirteen years ago) link
like, if that's an outtake...
but then all of Suede's best songs were b-sides
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:32 (thirteen years ago) link
ok this EP is by a *country mile* the best thing BSP have ever done, beyond any scintilla of doubt
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:39 (thirteen years ago) link
is there some way SNA can say after a thread title "22 New Answers (but it's acoleuthic and nakhchivan so don't bother)"?
― Roberto Spiralli, Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:41 (thirteen years ago) link
would significantly improve my ilx experience. thx.
― Roberto Spiralli, Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:42 (thirteen years ago) link
</3
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 11:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, God forbid we should actually have to read posts by someone who seems to know what he's talking about... getting in the way of all the toe-curlingly unfunny 'zings'.
― Carl Jung Jeezy (Doran), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 12:38 (thirteen years ago) link
yer gang never did get back to me about subediting btw, I think my Salem comment must've done for me :P
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 12:41 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, God forbid we should actually have to read posts by someone who seems to know what he's talking about... getting in the way of all the toe-curlingly unfunny 'zings'.― Carl Jung Jeezy (Doran), Tuesday, December 14, 2010 12:38 PM
― Carl Jung Jeezy (Doran), Tuesday, December 14, 2010 12:38 PM
this post has incredible layers. i mean, at its simplest, it works as a subtle but strained zing on acoleuthic. but then if you take it at face value it has this great irony with Doran claiming that acoleuthic knows what he's talking about - which you can make an argue against in general but in this specific context he basically admits he doesn't know the band well, and then affirms that with what he says about the EP - so Doran himself doesn't know what he's talking when he talks about someone knowing what they talk about. and THEN you have the self-referential loop of the unfunny 'zings' part, where it is either an unfunny zing against me, or at the most generous reading, possibly at acoleuthic.
it's like an Escher painting. magnificent.
― Roberto Spiralli, Tuesday, 14 December 2010 13:22 (thirteen years ago) link
dude I think you should go for a bracing walk + get some air
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 14 December 2010 13:24 (thirteen years ago) link
extra references to the hebrides, obscure fauna, naval history etc?
This is what I like about them . . .
― djh, Tuesday, 14 December 2010 18:03 (thirteen years ago) link
have now decided upon listening to 'man of aran' that 'the south sound' might be their thus-far pinnacle
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 15 December 2010 01:23 (thirteen years ago) link
it's certainly the best thing GY!BE have put out in a while
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 15 December 2010 01:26 (thirteen years ago) link
Arf! You watching the film or just listening to the soundtrack? The full experience is a thing of beauty.
We put them on at Union Chapel in London. It really was something.
― Carl Jung Jeezy (Doran), Wednesday, 15 December 2010 10:21 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm just listening to the soundtrack! It's lovely but yeah I really want to see the whole thing. I take it in that church in Norway they played it live to a video-screening? If so, awesome.
Sorry to have missed out on that - next time I'll be along. Have heard wonderful things about the live-show and clearly the music's getting better and better.
― schlomo replay (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 15 December 2010 11:13 (thirteen years ago) link
Valhalla Dancehall has finally leaked, release on 1-1-11
Tracklisting:"Who’s In Control" - 3:14"We Are Sound" - 4:47"Georgie Ray" - 3:48"Stunde Null" - 2:39"Mongk II" - 4:49"Luna" - 4:17"Baby" - 5:47"Living Is So Easy" - 4:01"Observe The Skies" - 3:23"Cleaning Out The Rooms" - 7:11"Thin Black Sail" - 1:46"Once More Now" - 11:14"Heavy Water" - 3:42
― World Series champion San Francisco Giants (Bee OK), Wednesday, 5 January 2011 05:23 (thirteen years ago) link
finally leaked, release on 1-1-11
leakers need to be more on the ball than this
― poppagemoose (electricsound), Wednesday, 5 January 2011 05:36 (thirteen years ago) link
Agreed! But wisely they released a limited edition with a bonus EP so I already ordered it. But listening sooner is better than later!
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 5 January 2011 18:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Very keen again.
― Captain Ostensible (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 7 January 2011 06:10 (thirteen years ago) link
what's that 11-minute one like [/very much in character]
― http://i26.tinypic.com/2ajucf4.jpg (acoleuthic), Friday, 7 January 2011 06:12 (thirteen years ago) link
Find out yourself - http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/jan/05/british-sea-power-valhalla-dancehall-exclusive
― Captain Ostensible (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 7 January 2011 08:02 (thirteen years ago) link
But anyway, having really liked the debut, loved the second album, and been non-plussed by the last (proper) album, I'm really, really enjoying this, and inspired to go out and get Zeus and Man of Aran.
― Captain Ostensible (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 7 January 2011 08:08 (thirteen years ago) link
I suspect you'll love the production and mastering on Man of Aran, at the very least. It's got a disclaimer on the CD about the high dynamic range, FFS.
― Millsner, Friday, 7 January 2011 09:36 (thirteen years ago) link
Aye, I dunno why I didn't get it when it came out.
― Captain Ostensible (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 7 January 2011 10:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Just one listen to the new one has allayed my fears that it's the dull side to the stunning "Zeus". They've really hit their peak, hope they come play the US!
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 7 January 2011 16:35 (thirteen years ago) link
Loving this. http://sickmouthy.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/thalassophobia/
― Captain Ostensible (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 10 January 2011 20:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Nick, I've enjoyed your writing for years ever since your Soulseeking pieces for Stylus. This was a great article about a great album, expressing things I have a hard time capturing in words. Good on yer!
And, yeah, "Valhalla Dancehall" will easily be in my top 10 (were I to compile one) by the end of the year, doubtless.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 03:45 (thirteen years ago) link
the first song (lead gtr and chord progession, at least) definitely owes a lot to pixies' letter to memphis.
― chachuuung, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 05:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Cheers Gerald.
― Captain Ostensible (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 12:56 (thirteen years ago) link
yah this is a lovely record (and nice writeup NS!)
― legerndrymayne (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 17:26 (thirteen years ago) link
out today and i think i'm going to get this.
good stuff Nick!
― World Series champion San Francisco Giants (Bee OK), Wednesday, 12 January 2011 06:52 (thirteen years ago) link
Nick, you've pretty much neatly written up how and why to listen to BSP. I was waiting for someone to do that in a very fine fashion. Kthx!
― I 'ate you, Win Butler! (King Boy Pato), Wednesday, 12 January 2011 08:26 (thirteen years ago) link
Sea Power were on fire tonight. I hope everyone gets the chance to see them live this year.
― Cracker Flocka Flame (Doran), Wednesday, 12 January 2011 23:58 (thirteen years ago) link
Barents Sea, dude
i like this a ton. Cleaning Out The Rooms is p amazing.
― Roberto Spiralli, Thursday, 13 January 2011 01:00 (thirteen years ago) link
the gratuitous u2 slams in reviews of this record are lame
― kamerad, Thursday, 13 January 2011 01:11 (thirteen years ago) link
The thing that annoys me most about the reviews of these albums is the false claim that all the songs sound the same, when, for starters Neil (Hamilton) Wilkinson's song writing has veered off into much more cosmic, experimental, introspective pastures new because of his isolation up in Skye (w. Abi Fry) and how it differs to the more rambunctious, hooky material that Scott (Yan) Wilkinson/Martin Noble are writing. And then there's the claim that they're dour... they're like the most fun guitar band ever, imo.
― Cracker Flocka Flame (Doran), Thursday, 13 January 2011 08:40 (thirteen years ago) link
The band has always had a great (if oblique) sense of humour.
P4k describing "Cleaning Out The Rooms" as "turgid" is even more hilarious, though.
― Millsner, Thursday, 13 January 2011 10:03 (thirteen years ago) link
that is a great song, fu pfork
― legerndrymayne (acoleuthic), Thursday, 13 January 2011 12:04 (thirteen years ago) link
I think there's a really interesting push-me-pull-you dichotomy at the heart of BSP, a compulsive attraction to and simultaneous revulsion from modernity and society which is manifested in two very different ways by the two songwriting axes (as plural of axis; not 'hatchet'!). Hamilton seems to be retreating into rural reclusive stargazing blissout idyl, as John says, while Yan & Noble are becoming more socially (if not necessarily politically) and personally direct, rather than hiding behind abstraction / literary references / etc so much.
I've read a couple of interviews with them recently (the Quietus piece and maybe 2 others, actually) and 'entertainment' has been a key word in all of them.
Mentioning U2 in a BSP review should get you struck off.
― Captain Ostensible (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 13 January 2011 17:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Angles to use when writing up a BSP album review:
1. These guys are too serious.2. I don't "get" their jokes.3. ENGLISH ARCADE FIRE4. If they're gonna put 'Dancehall' in the title, why oh why can't they actually release an album of Jamaican Dancehall/do a cover of Wang Chung's 'Dance Hall Days'.5. They really want to be like U2, really. (Pitchfork only)6. Heh, these guys still use guitars. (Not trying to be Rockist here, but it's a two-way street. These are white indie boys with guitars but they are quite interesting, alright?)
― Marquis Cha Cha Du Ri (King Boy Pato), Sunday, 16 January 2011 11:55 (thirteen years ago) link