Emeralds-Classic or Dud?

so 'get lost' is p fanatastic although im sorta hesitant to decide too quickly since the lost lp was such a sleeper

Somewhat curmudgeonly review of it in the Wire. Bland and overdocumented Göttsching rip-off who doesn't warrant Mego's attention or words to that effect.

yeah its a lost less ambitious or structured than 'living with yourself' which i took some time to come around to but ended up really loving. im not really sure what 'overdocumented' even means (undercomposed?) but it is p derivative and slight and yet it works really well as mood music and the textures and movement are p gorgeous

i also ordered a vinyl copy of 'progress chance' cobo

'Overdocumented' refers to McGuire himself rather than the record.

idk if I'd go as far as the Wire went but I'm definitely on Team John Elliott w/r/t where all the talent in Emeralds lives

Steve Hauschildt finally has some solo vinyl out, on Kranky no less: http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=14826

Does anyone happen to have an extra ticket for sale to see these guys tomorrow night in London at Union Chapel? It sold out super fast!
(maybe because of Fennesz, who I don't know very well)...

loving this 1st (?) Outer Space LP, the repress. never been grabbed this way by McGuire, although I've only heard two of his recs I think.

it's sort of rad to watch the anti-emeralds backlash gather speed

(a) What's the backlash about, and (b) why is that rad? Has it turned out they're dicks, or did you always think they were fakers or no good or something? That seems weird.

Is there really a backlash?

idk i havent really heard any

the backlash is about "OMG these guys are just hippies" and "mark mcguire is a soulless copy of gottsching" ... it is only "rad" in the sense that it is amusing to watch the hipster hivemind slosh back and forth on the issue. i've always enjoyed their music myself and i don't have any particular desire for them to be torn down, but it seems to be happening nonetheless.

Related news: I think the new double LP from Mist (Elliott + Goldberg) on Spectrum Spools is phenomenal. These guys work well together. Goldberg brings the hazy, indie warmth, while Elliott sends it into outer space with his sublime force.

xp - can you make good kosmische and not be considered a soulless copy of gottsching? i don't think those criticisms are nec new btw, from what i can tell most ppl in the community they started out in jumped ship with 'does it look like i'm here'

this happens anytime a noisy/droney/experimental artist reigns it in and makes something more accessible, right?

my perception has been that the tide of acclaim rose steadily through "what happened?", peaked with "does it look like i'm here?" and started to die down with the mark mcguire box set. in the last couple months it seems like people have been getting progressively nastier about emeralds.

Is that really anti-Emeralds nastiness, or simply "oh god not another Mark McGuire release" fatigue?

yeah

i mean, it's both

It's gotta at least partly be fatigue... Who can keep up with it all? Monetarily or attention-span-wise? I know of few artists who give off the impression that they feel everything they lay to tape is worth us paying money for more than these guys (and they're like 17 years old). I don't think this is what the phrase "this band could be your life" was originally intended to mean...

AMT syndrome

well, this is kind of what most 'noise' bands all do. they're hardly unique in that respect and they've actually slowed official emeralds material down significantly.

I suppose you're right... It feels different somehow given that all the new stuff seems to be on immaculately-packaged and mastered expensive and weighty vinyl.

Mark Mcguire is the noise Bob Pollard. Think about it.

xpost yeah, I hear you. but again, I can't say I wouldn't do the same if mego asked me to curate a label and put out my friends records.

it's all pretty harmless and fodder for ADD collector types imo.

Is there really a backlash?

sure, for this thread

that album -- the one that got all the attention last year -- was good.

this band inspired a bunch of scintillating new attempted genre names, e.g., sophistorock or elegant-o-pop or something like that.

i don't think anyone in this thread is hating? just talking about a perceived backlash, which is (again) a given anytime a diy drone band with a community of supporters breaks through

well compared to this thread last year things have soured a bit i mean its not all the same posters nec but yknow this used 2 b a lovefest

they probably do release too much stuff, what can u do tho, gotta d/l em all

I know of few artists who give off the impression that they feel everything they lay to tape is worth us paying money for more than these guys (and they're like 17 years old)

yea i think the quality to quantity ratio for emeralds is higher than most bands that do this type of thing

which emeralds cru 2011 releases should i download

xp tho it does change things when we're talking vinyl and not cd-rs or tapes or w/e. from a manufacturing standpoint and also because vinyl is such a revered format. it seems like all releases have to be *worthy* of the pressing or something

i liked the trouble books and mark mcguire release, really dug the forma record on spectrum spools, theres an outer space split cassette thats p rad. have not heard the other outer space white label. also the mist record on spectrum spools is 'worth a download' imo

if you're willing to count the extended Emeralds fam, I'm enjoying "Hazel" by Radio People (aka Sam Goldberg) a whole bunch

cobo

it's not a given, i never saw any expo 70 backlash, just a tapering off

i guess i would argue that expo 70 didn't really break through to the general listening populace / end of year list bonanza as much as emeralds, but it's not as though emeralds are animal collective either so idk depends on your perspective i guess

Never seen them myself, but I've dug on this live video (with obligatory YouTube Comment of No one paid to heard this, did they? OMG):

― She Got the Shakes, Wednesday, August 24, 2011 10:50 AM

i don't understand the headbanging for that kind of music, i'd prob cringe if i saw that live

At the Union Chapel gig Sunday night that headbanging guy was uh, headbanging away and complaining that it wasn't loud enough and at the end he threw his SH101 on the ground. Uh, rock'n'roll. Very cringey, tbh.

the outerspace dude?

what headbanging vid?

Related news: I think the new double LP from Mist (Elliott + Goldberg) on Spectrum Spools is phenomenal. These guys work well together. Goldberg brings the hazy, indie warmth, while Elliott sends it into outer space with his sublime force.

This is OTM. I'm sympathetic to the diminishing returns critique but pretty much everything that comes out on Spectrum Spools is great.

Opening track might be the best from the Mist album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qiMl9o4Zv4

what headbanging vid?

Pretty much any live video of theirs will feature JE rocking the fuck out, but the vid posted above they're referring to is THIS ONE

xxxpost

I wasn't too fond of either the Container or the Temporal Marauder releases (though I do like the artwork for Temporal Marauder). other than that Spectrum Spools has been unfuckwithable though.

Emm...the other thing about the Spectrum Spools releases is I can't remember which abstract name is which. Temporal Marauder is in my big Spotify list so I've definitely heard it, but I can't say more than that. My favourites have been the Fabric and Mist albums and the Bee Mask retrospective compilation.

My favorite so far is Bee Mask's Canzoni del Laboratorio blah blah... I also like the Mist album a lot. Fabric is nice but hasn't stuck with me. So this Container LP, what is it like?

I headbanged at least as much as yr man up there the one time I saw them

it was probably cringey to watch too but no-one was gonna harsh my buzz

not headbanging just feelin the vibe