Stylistically, Rilo Kiley weren't "indie" band after The Execution of All Things anyway. In fact, I wouldn't be that surprised if the band camouflaged their pop instincts early on in order to preserve their hip cachet. Opportunistic of them if so, but Jenny and Blake are show biz kids after all.
― thewufs, Thursday, 14 July 2011 16:54 (twelve years ago) link
Erm, "an indie band" xp
otm. i never thought of them as indie tbh.
i'm not exactly mournful because i haven't listened to them since university and wasn't anticipating anything new that would have rekindled my affection. nonetheless I listened to them a lot around 04/05/06 and they were lovely when i interviewed them in late 07 so RIP.
― Upt0eleven, Thursday, 14 July 2011 16:59 (twelve years ago) link
I listened to them a lot around 04/05/06
Thought you meant April, 5, 2006 at first and wondered what Rilo Kiley-related epiphany you had on that day.
I wouldn't be that surprised if the band camouflaged their pop instincts early on in order to preserve their hip cachet. Opportunistic of them if so, but Jenny and Blake are show biz kids after all.
That's a really sharp way of looking at their oeuvre, one that better contextualizes the "shock" of the poptimistic gush of Under the Blacklight.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Thursday, 14 July 2011 17:05 (twelve years ago) link
I liked their highlights fine and loathed some of their low-points, but to me they epitomized a sort of amiable LA "indie rock" as a lark scene.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 14 July 2011 17:15 (twelve years ago) link
I'll add "Breakin' Up" to my playlist for my drive home....
― Lee626, Thursday, 14 July 2011 17:18 (twelve years ago) link
How does the rest of Rilo Kiley's output compare to Jenny Lewis' solo song "Barking at the Moon" from the movie Bolt? I never checked them out because I don't like their name.
― kkvgz, Thursday, 14 July 2011 17:19 (twelve years ago) link
More Adventurous is one of my top albums of the '00s. Probably top five, for sure. Not just Portions for Foxes, but the title track, Love & War, Does He Love You, I Never . . . strong songwriting from top to bottom.
― BIG HOOBA aka the stankdriver (Phil D.), Thursday, 14 July 2011 17:31 (twelve years ago) link
UTB is much closer to boomer pop than indie (the Sennett track really does sound like a Lindsey Buckingham track).
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 14 July 2011 17:50 (twelve years ago) link
UTB is the only Rilo album I'll halfway admit to liking, and even then only in part.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 14 July 2011 17:51 (twelve years ago) link
I liked this band. I thought they broke up years ago. Jenny Lewis most probably has another classic or two in her. The first two records are p rubbish though.
― � (a hoy hoy), Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:08 (twelve years ago) link
This is hardly surprising news but it's still a bit sad, these guys were nowhere near as awful as anyone would have you believe, and the last two albums are actually really good in different ways.
I would be very happy if this final release that Sennett alludes to in the Pitchfork article involves a properly recorded version of "Give A Little Love" - the keyboard-on-demo-setting version at the end of UTB is so distracting from what could have been a fantastic song, it was a lot better when I saw them live performing it as an actual band, fleshed out and rich. In fact, their twee-and-cute aesthetic ruined a lot of their material, "With Arms Outstretched" is a great song from their second album that sounds like it's been performed for the benefit of a jokey Youtube viral.
Is the Jenny & Johnny record any good, anyone? I loved Rabbit Fur Coat, I didn't dislike Acid Tongue. What other Rilo-related projects are worth investigating?
― ha ha ha ha jack my swag (boxedjoy), Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:36 (twelve years ago) link
what a disaster for crossword puzzles
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:40 (twelve years ago) link
― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, July 14, 2011 11:50 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark
Totally agree. Thing is, they do "boomer pop" really well, and with generally sharper lyrics besides. At first I heard it as a transparent - and failed - sell-out move, replete with needlessly Autotuned vocals. After three or four listens songs that originally sounded like shallow top-40 pastiche and triple-A radio hopefuls revealed themselves as canny, often wicked, genre exercises. I hope JL can do this kind of thing on her own - minus "Dreamworld," she dominated UTB to the point that I could understand anyone who called it a solo record in disguise.
― thewufs, Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:41 (twelve years ago) link
"Give a Little Love" sounds a lot like LL Cool J's "I Need Love" with singing instead of rapping. And it actually works.
― thewufs, Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:42 (twelve years ago) link
hahaha Jordan
― lemon kerrang! (jjjusten), Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:52 (twelve years ago) link
I have the new J&J record, it's.. okay. I liked the previous two much more (the Rabbit Fur Coat LP was my jam for a long time)
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:53 (twelve years ago) link
the first half of utb is so great that it validates not only the terrible, terrible second half, but also probably the rest of their existence.
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 14 July 2011 19:54 (twelve years ago) link
p sure tao lin is a big rilo kiley fan fyi
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 14 July 2011 20:37 (twelve years ago) link
Jenny Lewis is a great singer, but there's something really clunky about her lyrics that annoys me.
― B-Boy Bualadh Bos (ecuador_with_a_c), Friday, 15 July 2011 12:20 (twelve years ago) link
though I do love:
Thought I saw you in Vegas / It was not pretty, but she was / Not your wife
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Friday, 15 July 2011 13:05 (twelve years ago) link
Man, literally today I find out about these people, guess I will never see them live or anything. But instantly got a huge crush on "Better Daughter/Son" when someone linked to it vis a vis depression. I like depression songs I guess?
― T.S. Eliot-themed roach fetish porn (silby), Thursday, 4 August 2011 03:06 (twelve years ago) link
Word has been circling for some time about Rilo Kiley's next release, a compilation of archival material. Now, the band has announced the collection, titled rkives, will be out April 2 via Little Record Company, the label run by bassist Pierre DeReeder.
rkives is up for pre-order on digital, CD, and 2xLP formats. A deluxe bundle will also include a cassette (with unreleased tracks unavailable anywhere but the tape), CD, 2xLP, tote bag, stickers, button, poster, and digital download.
The Rilo Kiley website is also streaming an instrumental version of "And That's How I Choose to Remember It" from The Execution of All Things. They're also collecting archival photos on the site.
And yes, rkives includes a remix of "Dejalo" from Under the Blacklight featuring the rapper Too $hort.
Check out the 16-song tracklist below.
RKives:
01 Let Me Back In *02 It'll Get You There *03 Runnin' Around *04 All the Drugs *05 Bury, Bury, Bury Another *06 Well, You Left *07 Draggin' Around08 I Remember You09 Dejalo (Zondo remix ft. Too $hort)10 A Town Called Luckey11 Emotional12 American Wife13 Patiently14 Rest of My Life (demo) *15 About the Moon16 The Frug
* previously unreleased
Hear track 1 here:http://www.spin.com/articles/rilo-kiley-jenny-lewis-let-me-back-in-new-song-rkives?utm_source=spintwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spintwitter
― Walter Galt, Wednesday, 20 February 2013 11:39 (eleven years ago) link
I remember hearing Let Me Back In live way back when they were touring for More Adventurous - great song. The single got released today. Funny that it ends with The Frug - though I could've sworn there was another pre-Take Offs & Landings single that's not on there.
― Nhex, Tuesday, 19 March 2013 14:04 (eleven years ago) link
There was a whole e.p. that came before Takeoffs & Landings that the Frug was on - 8 songs, I think.
― Walter Galt, Tuesday, 19 March 2013 14:20 (eleven years ago) link
Initial Friend is the EP
I loved this band, and the first Jenny Lewis solo record. After Acid Tongue, it all went wrong. That was one of the great momentum killing records of the 2000s.
If Portions For Foxes had a better title, it could have been a hit.
Not sure why everybody here loves Under The Blacklight so much. Half of it is great but side 2 has some truly poor songs. I dare you to listen to Smoke Detector again.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 19 March 2013 14:52 (eleven years ago) link
smoke detector has some of the worst lyrics i have ever heard ever and for that i treasure it
― adam, Tuesday, 19 March 2013 14:54 (eleven years ago) link
xpost
The failure of "Portions for Foxes" to be a hit was the final nail in the coffin of my ever trying to predict popular tastes.
― Public Brooding Closet (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 19 March 2013 15:36 (eleven years ago) link
xxp Under the Blacklight generally disappointed me on release, despite a few really good ones in there. I still wince thinking about Dejalo and can't believe they're putting a remix of that on the compilation. Thought Acid Tongue was generally OK, but I haven't listened to it in a long time.
Count me in as surprised that Portions For Foxes wasn't a hit either
― Nhex, Tuesday, 19 March 2013 15:54 (eleven years ago) link
I blame "Since U Been Gone."
― Public Brooding Closet (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 19 March 2013 16:03 (eleven years ago) link
I wonder if they mulled over how much Blake hates "Dejalo" so they made this godawful remix with Too Short
That said, this album achieved its likely goal of making me REALLY nostalgic for Blake and Jenny's earlier days
― Nhex, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 21:29 (eleven years ago) link
rkives is my favorite album of the year.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:31 (ten years ago) link
I've got a few friends saying likewise.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:32 (ten years ago) link
Well get those friends on some rock list polls because it's not showing up anywhere.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:34 (ten years ago) link
I might've found a way to justify squeezing it into my Top 10 as an "album" (rather than relegating it to the separate category of "reissue"/"compilation") were it not for that horribly garish Too $hort thing.
― a fifth of misty beethoven (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:34 (ten years ago) link
Also, I expect it to place well on Christgau's ballot.
― a fifth of misty beethoven (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:35 (ten years ago) link
Yes, the Dean will come through.
It's definitely in a gray area because it's an unreleased songs compilation, but no record that came out this year gave me more enjoyment.
As craven commercial sellouts go, I kinda like the Too Short verse.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:41 (ten years ago) link
Then again, I'm almost certainly going to have Patty Griffin's 13(?)-year-old Silver Bell on my ballots, so an album of mostly unheard Rilo Kiley songs is completely justifiable.
― a fifth of misty beethoven (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:45 (ten years ago) link
Do it, man! Do it for Jenny.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:46 (ten years ago) link
I'm skipping through this Rilo Kiley thing right now because I'd hate to miss out on something good, but it just sounds like Rilo Kiley as far as I can t...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:47 (ten years ago) link
Were any of the songs "singles?" I could definitely see including "It'll Get You There" or "All The Drugs" on a singles ballot?
― a fifth of misty beethoven (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 3 December 2013 22:47 (ten years ago) link
i remember "Let Me Back In" was released early
― Nhex, Tuesday, 3 December 2013 23:59 (ten years ago) link
amazingly, it's almost got a phish-like funk. but album phish, not live.
― put your money where the maracas are (how's life), Saturday, 29 November 2014 12:00 (nine years ago) link
Oh, that was supposed to go on the posts very much in character thread. dejalo.
― put your money where the maracas are (how's life), Saturday, 29 November 2014 12:01 (nine years ago) link
Twenty good choons.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 18 January 2018 02:39 (six years ago) link
"Love U Forever" was actually a Jenny & Johnny joint
Was that Nice as Fuck album worth a listen?
― Nhex, Thursday, 18 January 2018 03:18 (six years ago) link
More Adventurous is probably in my top ten or twenty fave albums of all time at this point, so while I'm happy to see anything from it show up on your list, it still feels under-represented, to me. "Accidental Deth," in particular, is a miracle of storytelling in pop song form.
― iCloudius (cryptosicko), Thursday, 18 January 2018 03:55 (six years ago) link
Good song! But I like concision in lists.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 18 January 2018 04:11 (six years ago) link
nothing at all from acid tongue? man i love that record (well, 3/4s of it as with every rilo/jenny release). jenny is an insane talent who never really seemed interested in putting it all together.
― call all destroyer, Thursday, 18 January 2018 04:14 (six years ago) link
Nothing came together as well as Execution of All Things, imo
― Nhex, Thursday, 18 January 2018 06:08 (six years ago) link
jesus Acid Tongue is 8 years old...
― YouTube_-_funy_cats.flv (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 18 January 2018 15:29 (six years ago) link
“it’s a hit” is the worst rilo kiley song i think
execution and the voyager are my favorite things lewis has done. i revisited rabbit fur coat recently and i gotta say most of the lyrics on that record are terrible
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 18 January 2018 15:34 (six years ago) link
Yes yes yes! It is fantastic. Cookie Lips is my favorite song on it.
Nice list Alfred. I'm glad you included a bunch from rkrives, which could be my favorite album of theirs. Under The Blacklight should have had at least 5 songs from it.
― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 18 January 2018 15:42 (six years ago) link
Debut finally getting a rerelease:
https://www.stereogum.com/2092747/rilo-kiley-debut-reissue-vinyl-streaming/news/
― A White, White Gay (cryptosicko), Monday, 27 July 2020 17:34 (three years ago) link
Nice! I just want it available digitally.Didn't know Dave Foley was involved, wild.
― Nhex, Monday, 27 July 2020 18:31 (three years ago) link