British Sea Power

Currently waiting for the remixes and alternate versions collections.

No-one heard any of these?

I have those, some good stuff in there, actually, and I tend to be uninterested in remixes!

Fans in South East England pay notice. BSP are playing all of Valhalla Dancehall at the next Klub Guttenberg in Brighton. (I'm playing a disco set later on.)

x-post.

To be honest, hearing different versions of Cleaning Out The Rooms was a big part in the decision to buy. One of my favourite tracks of last year and favourite BSP track (not including the Man of Aran soundtrack).

* Bump *

To order the EPs or not? Dilemma.

First one is sold out. I got the first two the other day - they're hardly critical, second one has more fully developed songs as opposed to the first.

I take it back, further listens have revealed these to have much charm, especially "Machineries Of Joy".

Are they more "Who's In Control" or "Cleaning Out The Rooms"?

[CDs seem to be taking an age to arrive]

Ordered "Do It For Your Mum".

Like that it arrived from a D Wilkinson with one of those Stroke Association return address stickers.

EP1 is more "Cleaning Out The Rooms" slow burners, EP2 is more uptempo stuff.

Tonight's Klub Krankenhaus is shaping up to be a belter. Three BSP sets including a Zeus and Valhalla Dancehall one; Bo Ningen and the Girl Brutus dance troupe.

Ordered "Do It For Your Mum".

Like that it arrived from a D Wilkinson with one of those Stroke Association return address stickers.

Yeah, this. Read on a cruise ship with the Open Season Tour bookmark it came with, no less.

EPs are rather good stuff, preferring EP2 'tbqh'.

Miffed that I didn't get on the shortlist of their animal in a hat contest. Fuckers.

Enjoying the book.

The remixes/alternative versions CDs are patchy but include some good stuff.

There's a comical device used in the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books where the author will use a (vaguely) unusual word (eg. "precipitation") and then use a page explaining what this means. i'm sometimes reminded of this reading "Do It For Your Mum". there are odd tangents that, for the most part, make it more interesting than a lot of rock books. sometimes though it feels as if wikipedia has been used, particularly when visiting cities.

EP3 just arrived, it's more languid and instrumental, which is to be expected as they're working on a new soundtrack.

That probably describes my favourite side to BSP.

Ah man, I think that book is beautiful. So well observed. It is cheeky with language in a really entertaining way: Heroin enthusiast etc.

Absolutely - I liked it a lot, for the most part.

EP4 continues the monthly parade of releases - more bands should do his! Opening cut is particularly great.

Currently loving the alternate versions of "Cleaning Out The Rooms".

Oh, well, the original is damn great too! These guys have been one of the most consistent guitar bands this century.

I was saying just the opposite to a friend, earlier: they're wildly *inconsistent* - I much prefer their un-rock side.

Really? I think all their albums have been at least very good, and the mix between bombast and contemplative work keeps both fresh.

There's the odd rockin' piece that I like but the tracks that I * love * are more languid.

The only album I love all the way through is "Man of Arran" (which does include rocky bits).

The latest album is the only one I haven't gone back to that much. It's not a bad record at all but I just didn't click with it the same way I did with the others. I think Do You Like Rock Music might be my favourite these days, that's mainly because of how much I love No Lucifer. First three are all pretty solid though, great live band too.

"Man Of Arran" is strictly instrumental, right? I prefer their vocal work.

EP5?

Available for order now, go get it!

http://sheffdocfest.com/view/thespace

Listening to EP6, which took a dogs age to arrive. As usual, these snapshots of works-in-progress need repeated listens to reveal their charms buthere's much to love already.

It's been a brilliant marketing ploy at the very least and a great tip of te hat to fans. I wonder what will make their next album,and how will it change between now and then?

Were EP5 and EP6 worth spending money on?

Oh yes. Fund a favorite band!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skPb3l2XhXY

Am enjoying the DVD sound track.

They announced their new album coming 4/1. You and I will reconvene on this thread to compare reviews.

New video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHUes0dGjUI

That's really good. I didn't realise they had a new album coming out so soon. I thought the last album was a bit of a dip in quality but looking forward to this one anyway.

New album might be the best one yet.

Has Graham S produced again?

They did it themselves with an engineer but they did a good job.

Cool, that's great to hear. At this point the third album is still my favourite.

KP, what's missing from "VH" in your opinion? As much as I like "Do You Like Rock Music" I find "VH" to be stronger and more interesting., ultimately lingering in my head longer. After the demo EPs from last year, I think we're in for another winner!

Have they ever played in the US?

I realise it's a bit of an unpopular opinion to have the third album as a favourite. I listened to Vauxhall recently and a lot of it just passed me by. I think the album really gets good on Stunde Null and the next two songs after that are my favourite run on the album. Baby is totally forgettable and Living Is so Easy is probably my least favourite single they've put out, it's just a little too cheesy. Observe the Skies and Cleaning Out The Rooms are highlights but then again the last three tracks I find quite forgettable. It's not a bad album at all, it's a low seven while the first three are all high eights.

I didn't hear any the EPs so these will all be new songs to me, looking forward to it a lot now.

So this is lovely, really musical and tuneful, none of the occasional shouting for attention they can be guilty of, feels like it will really unfurl over the weeks and months like Open Season did.

awesome, i am excited to get this

Not really feeling this from a couple of plays (I'd happily just hear BSP play variations on Man of Aran, mind.) Hoping it will grow on me.

The sleeve seems oddly "could be any ol' indie band", too.

Yeah the same for me. It's a nice album but the magic that made those first three albums so great just isn't there for me this time.

Quite liking this surprisingly. Had rather given up on them but at this moment am finding the new pensive BSP a better proposition than the flag waving incarnation.

I want to do a POX, I think.

North Hanging Rock
Cleaning Out The Rooms
Zeus
Oh Larssen B
The Lonely
Atom
No Lucifer
Fear Of Drowning
Machineries Of Joy
When A Warm Wind Blows Through The Grass

Honourable mentions to Bear, We Are Sound, Remember Me, Like A Honeycomb...