A Thread For School of Seven Bells Love!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di6NAiWVCpU

First listen through and I'm also picking up a Laurie Anderson + MBV vibe. Really want to hear how "When You Sing" sounds live.

okay I am listening to "Love From A Stone" on Spotify right now and HOLY SHIT YES

Yeah.

I am extremely irritated that I will not be able to listen to this properly until later today. I'm also irritated that this goddamn flu or whatever I have had for the last few days is going to impact that listen anyway.

The last two tracks are so so so great!

Okay! Finally sinking into this. Damn this is already their most...expansive album, for lack of a better term. It's like they're starting to fill out a huge space. (Also really love how they're repurposing Cocteau Twins background non-Liz vocal shadings -- think the very end of "The Spangle Maker" -- on something like "Love Play," that's a great use of them!)

Ha and I now see that Matt DC said expansive too. He's damn right about that!

The last two tracks are so so so great!

― Tim F, Wednesday, February 22, 2012 5:00 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Last three songs I should say. But it's all excellent.

Meantime they've also just remixed A Place to Bury Strangers:

http://www.spin.com/articles/first-spin-get-school-seven-bells-remix-place-bury-strangers-so-far-away

I'd only heard 'Lafaye' (I think that's what it was called) up until now, which I wasn't too taken with, but that 'The Night' track posted above I really love. Crazy. I'm finding myself wanting to check out the full album now, which I certainly will do. There's a lot of elements to this stuff that seem right up my street.

I listened twice today. This is a serious favorite.

an action album

ilxors that have heard this, please tell me that this awful Popmatters review is just wrong on every level

He's wrong. Also, he apparently prefers Google+ to Facebook. He's wrong often.

lol

be kind, dude justs want to hear another good poco album

"drum machine bleating" should never be said by anyone ever

mark e. smith could pull it off

Lafaye video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUrQnDVWXvo

im in love with "white wind"

"scavenger" and "white wind" are astonishing

the lyrics to "scavenger" are a lot more...specific and vicious than i expected from SVIIB!

Listened to Ghostory on a long dog walk at dawn today. Its very solid. OTOH, what it gains in confidence, it loses in the sense of awkward exploration that worked so well (for me) on the debut.

It's quite handy that this thread is at the top of the page, because I've finally got around to listening to the album today. I listened to it several times all the way through this morning, and yeah, I love this a hell of a lot. Even 'Lafaye', which I wasn't too taken with at first, has now got its claws in me. I can see this becoming a favourite of the year, and as much as I liked the Chairlift record, this quite comfortably runs rings around it as far as I'm concerned.

as much as I liked the Chairlift record, this quite comfortably runs rings around it as far as I'm concerned

If you're looking for a thing from SVIIB that SVIIB is best at, you're not going to find it in Chairlift (and vice versa). They're not exactly apples and oranges, but very different to my mind.

Apples and oranges, yes, but I get the feel that Benjamin Curtis knows what he wants better than Patrick Wimberly. Caroline Polachek and Alejandra Deheza definitely belong in different horticulture sections.

on the first couple listens this one seems a bit flat to me, but i need more time i guess.

If you're looking for a thing from SVIIB that SVIIB is best at, you're not going to find it in Chairlift (and vice versa). They're not exactly apples and oranges, but very different to my mind.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, February 28, 2012 5:24 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh, absolutely. I completely agree with you, and it wasn't what I was getting at in the slightest. Rather, the Chairlift record was the first record of 2012 that I enjoyed and played the hell out of, and I'm finding myself preferring this much more.

"scavenger" and "white wind" are astonishing

the lyrics to "scavenger" are a lot more...specific and vicious than i expected from SVIIB!

― lex pretend, Tuesday, February 28, 2012 9:30 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

'White Wind' is one of my favourites on the album, definitely. I also find 'Reappear' incredibly beautiful.

on the first couple listens this one seems a bit flat to me, but i need more time i guess.

same here. decent and pleasant enough, couple really strong tunes, but Disconnect and Alpinisms were both top 5 records of their respective years for me, and i cant really see this doing the same. seems a bit SVIIB-by-numbers. and the changes they HAVE made (bit more Secret Machines-y bass throb, less gazey/hazy guitars, fewer overlapped-to-the-heavens vocal harmonies) aren't really to my liking as much as, say, "connjur" or "my cabal" or "iamundernodisguise" or the more stunning songs from Disconnect. "white wind" is really really good though, that's an early favorite for sure.

yeah I am missing the overlapped-to-the-heavens vocal harmonies a bit; I was thinking about that earlier today. I really hope they've got someone else singing with them when they tour.

!!!!!

"Low Times"!!

!!!!!

The thick-range steeliness of the sound oddly puts me in mind of parts of the second Garbage album - perfectly constructed walls of sound etc.

they were super great live last night

just total command of a space, sonically

Was it just two of them?

My god, I love the harmonies on that final track.

Was it just two of them?

filled out with a drummer and a keyboardist/backing vocalist, both great, drummer especially great i thought

P R E D A T O R

I FINALLY HAVE THIS!!! (sorry, I've been avoiding the thread because I didn't want to have my impressions spoiled)

3 songs in, and it's Album of the Year for me. I mean, I knew it was going to be, but I just wanted to check.

It's just... how can just one band take *everything* I love, and smoosh it into one glorious and amazing mixture. Mid 80s New Order (I think they thought it wasn't obvious enough on the last album, so they had to ramp it up to 11 on this album) and Pornography era Cure and big My Bloody Valentine guitars and the swirling harmonies, and just... YES.

OK, the harmonies aren't as baroque as the last 2 albums, which is an obvious loss, and makes me a bit sad.

Who else expected the drum break on Low Times to go Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut DUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUT - come on you guys, missed a trick.

GOD I LOVE THIS BAND SO MUCH.

I like it a lot after an underwhelming first listen.

"When You Sing" is an epic closer.

Has Kevin Shields ever sued anybody for copyright infringement?

But they do SO MUCH MORE than just straight MBV copyright infringement, they take that sound and meld it with so many other things that it becomes one more element in the mix, rather than a straight up rip. I mean, if Shieldsy was gonna sue anyone, Ringo Deathstar would be far more at the top of his summons list.

Excellent WCC.

I was going to refer to "Shieldsy" too but i bottled it.

I played a sus 2 instead

Love to you all

Yeah SVIIB is increasingly and deservedly its own beast album for album. The touchstones are inevitable, the synthesis and extrapolation was not.

The last time I saw him, he commandeered my table and spilled wine all over me. I can call him Shieldsy if I like! :-P

I mean, if Shieldsy was gonna sue anyone, Ringo Deathstar would be far more at the top of his summons list.

Otm but I mean you cannot deny how much of a straight rip "When You Sing" is

3 songs in and this is soooo much better than the last one

Technically, it'd be copyright infringement of the Weatherall remix of My Bloody Valentine, so you'd have a hard time proving anything! And considering that remix is one of my favourite things OF. ALL. TIME. I'm just happy that it exists.

I am really digging this, although it feels like the album doesn't really shift into gear until "Low Times"

(my main complains-v-much-in-character comment is "plz use more syncopation")

xp to Kate yeah, I feel p much the same. Like, it's shamelessly blatant and yet I dont give one single rat's ass--it's just heavenly