i really like them
― maura, Monday, 17 August 2015 16:17 (nine years ago) link
(i wrote about them for RS six months ago! thanks whiney)
first two songs not doing anything for me but i respect yer opinion so will try again
― Meta Forksclove-Liebeskind (forksclovetofu), Monday, 17 August 2015 16:50 (nine years ago) link
i mean if you're not into the whole deap vally/dead sara/loud ladies over crushing blues riffs thing then it might not be your cup o tea
― maura, Monday, 17 August 2015 16:55 (nine years ago) link
yyyyyyyyeah, this may be a case of diverging tastes. they sound to me like a faster pussycat cover band with a female lead.
― Meta Forksclove-Liebeskind (forksclovetofu), Monday, 17 August 2015 17:13 (nine years ago) link
you say that like it's a bad thing
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 17 August 2015 17:30 (nine years ago) link
if you had asked me twenty years ago!
― Meta Forksclove-Liebeskind (forksclovetofu), Monday, 17 August 2015 17:56 (nine years ago) link
Dorothy was not my cup o tea at all but I admired the commitment and sorta understood why they might have been invited to open. In a month that has already brought much worse opening acts, I had some mild affection for them.
― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Monday, 17 August 2015 23:54 (nine years ago) link
I didn't hear "Arch and Point" played, though the boundaries between songs were somewhat indistinct at times, the music restructured to address and engage the audience.
― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Monday, 17 August 2015 23:56 (nine years ago) link
Anyway I had a great, smiley time at the show. Thrusting, come-ons, long-winded monologue about celebrating your individuality, the "How Many Drinks" processional to the balcony, then brief disappearance (where's Miguel??) and triumphant return to the stage. It was all good.
― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 00:05 (nine years ago) link
discovered the flow of this record would be improved slightly if "coffee" and "what's normal anyway" were moved after "hollywood dreams"
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 00:16 (nine years ago) link
i guess if you want the back half of the album to completely destroy the first half instead of merely outshining it
― some dude, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 01:56 (nine years ago) link
eh i love the first half of this record
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 02:20 (nine years ago) link
The Valley isn't Miguel's greatest moment, but it def suffers a bit because I get an itchy trigger finger to get to Coffee.
― alpine static, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 02:43 (nine years ago) link
long-winded monologue about celebrating your individuality
i found this really moving
― goole, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:15 (nine years ago) link
i was, like, so close to him when he came up the aisle. tastefully kept my phone pocketed.
― goole, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 21:18 (nine years ago) link
Me too!
― Ys Man a.k.a. Have One on G (geoffreyess), Wednesday, 19 August 2015 15:56 (nine years ago) link
he was quite smothered by phones
a modern malaise if any
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 19 August 2015 15:59 (nine years ago) link
DEAL is such a jam
― marcos, Thursday, 20 August 2015 14:40 (nine years ago) link
Although kinda subtle and not awfully dramatic, "what's normal anyway" has increasingly revealed itself to be the beating heart of this record. Sleeper deep cut. Is that manipulated vocal hook that occurs throughout sampling anything? Sounds awfully familiar...
― vmajestic, Thursday, 20 August 2015 15:00 (nine years ago) link
I accept "What's Normal Anyway" as the heart of this record but I really don't fuck with it at all. I mean, I used to do the "I'm mixed, woe is me, nobody understands me" thing but then I recognized it for the internalized manifestation of white supremacy it is and can't stand when other people get in their #MixedFeelings. Like it's really fucking shitty to monoracial black people.
― drown zoowap (The Reverend), Thursday, 20 August 2015 23:46 (nine years ago) link
it's a very pretty song, it does so much with very little, but the lyrics are definitely the worst mutation of his individuality fixation
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Thursday, 20 August 2015 23:55 (nine years ago) link
i respect those takes takes but the song doesn't feel self-pitying or yearning to fit in to me, just the phrase "what's normal anyway" seems to me like a poetically casual way to shrug it all off. race is obviously a big component of the song that i can speak to but i think it's also pretty broadly about a lot of 'caught between two different worlds' feelings that a lot of people have in different situations.
― some dude, Friday, 21 August 2015 00:28 (nine years ago) link
i mean compared to the smug clumsy way a Kid Cudi or a Childish Gambino addresses that subject matter it's pretty deft imo.
― some dude, Friday, 21 August 2015 00:30 (nine years ago) link
The tossed-off way he sings the hook mitigates the self-pity imo. Brevity helps too.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 21 August 2015 00:32 (nine years ago) link
if individuality fixation means pharrell influence, which i guess it does
― r|t|c, Friday, 21 August 2015 00:33 (nine years ago) link
hm true some dude, just sort of dislike the effect of ~i don't work in a binary~ *reinforces other binaries*
it's such a prettyyyy song though
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Friday, 21 August 2015 02:23 (nine years ago) link
too crazy for boystown, too much of a boy for crazytown
― Merdeyeux, Friday, 21 August 2015 02:27 (nine years ago) link
lmao
― some dude, Friday, 21 August 2015 02:33 (nine years ago) link
In a crowd and I need a bone.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 21 August 2015 02:37 (nine years ago) link
― drown zoowap (The Reverend), Thursday, August 20, 2015 11:46 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
if mixed ppl don't talk about the specific issues of being mixed no one else will though. i've definitely seen some instances where the internalised white supremacy is obvious but i disagree that #mixedproblems are inherently shitty to black people.
"what's normal anyway" feels v borne of miguel's own life experiences
― lex pretend, Friday, 21 August 2015 06:57 (nine years ago) link
imo it is one of the weaker songs on here, i think it's a little corny and obvious tbh. i admire the spirit of the song. i'm hispanic/latino but grew up in a completely homogenous white suburb so have always felt like an outsider among both white and latino circles, it took a long time for me to be able to process the yes *intersectional* aspects of my identity, being a poc but also feeling more familiar (though not comfortable) with white middle class environments, tbh the 15-year-old me would have fucking loved the song to death but it's a little too much for me now? idk.
and tbf to miguel he's talking about being mixed mexican/black and that's a somewhat different dynamic than the #mixedfeelings rev is referencing?
that said i do think both lex & rev are otm here.
― marcos, Friday, 21 August 2015 13:40 (nine years ago) link
He talks a little about What's Normal Anyway specifcally here: http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/whats-normal-anyway/Content?oid=16294961
Even after his quick rise and the success of Kaleidoscope Dream, Miguel says he still has "a bit of an underdog mentality" that he'll likely carry for the rest of his life. But he's carrying a lot less than he used to. He calls "What's Normal Anyway" an "emancipation" from the feelings it expresses; just by writing them and singing them out loud, he has not only offloaded their power over him, but has turned them into forces for good."Letting go of all of these parameters that I felt kept me from connecting, I've almost repurposed them and made them the reason why I do connect," Miguel says. "Because in that vulnerability, there's commonality, and people can relate with feeling out of place."
"Letting go of all of these parameters that I felt kept me from connecting, I've almost repurposed them and made them the reason why I do connect," Miguel says. "Because in that vulnerability, there's commonality, and people can relate with feeling out of place."
― alpine static, Friday, 21 August 2015 14:24 (nine years ago) link
parameters, repurposed, commonality
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 21 August 2015 14:26 (nine years ago) link
he's got the jargon down
every song was mistagged when i dl'd this so only now am i realizing the standout for me is 'leaves', i love it as mch as u guys did adorn
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 6 September 2015 17:52 (nine years ago) link
its really confusing bcuz im too lazy to rename it & its tagged FLESH & prev i thought it mightev been hollywood dreams lol
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 6 September 2015 17:53 (nine years ago) link
i love "leaves" more than "adorn"
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 8 September 2015 10:44 (nine years ago) link
ooohh let my leaves adorn you
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 8 September 2015 11:04 (nine years ago) link
i love both leaves and adorn very very much
― marcos, Tuesday, 8 September 2015 13:35 (nine years ago) link
been listening to kaleidoscope dream a lot lately, it so so so good
it actually makes me appreciate wildheart a lot more, idk why, i know i talked some shit about the rock touches on wildheart but i have been digging them more
whoever said upthread that their opinion changes all the time about wildheart was otm, right now though i am loving it and loving miguel so much
― marcos, Tuesday, 8 September 2015 13:38 (nine years ago) link
curious what people think of the production. it seems really "vibe-y" and almost lo fi in a lot of places. more like classic rock in some ways.
― unknown pleasure zone (uptown churl), Friday, 11 September 2015 15:19 (nine years ago) link
he's always had that balance i think. for all its lush qualities "adorn" also strikes me as distinctly homemade
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Friday, 11 September 2015 16:34 (nine years ago) link
whoever said upthread that their opinion changes all the time about wildheart was otm
i feel this and still not sure if i even like it &
this is just crazy to me
― tpp, Friday, 11 September 2015 22:21 (nine years ago) link
i love the way he sings "you know i'm from here" in leaves
― marcos, Thursday, 24 September 2015 20:36 (eight years ago) link
https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/e35/11950557_842698412517250_831670875_n.jpg
― marcos, Thursday, 24 September 2015 20:42 (eight years ago) link
he performed "Simplethings" on the Tonight Show recently...interesting if that's the single, considering it's so old and a bonus track, but then there's not many really strong single candidates on the album proper. it's maybe TOO similar to "Coffee," which got fairly little airplay, but i like both songs.
― some dude, Thursday, 24 September 2015 20:43 (eight years ago) link
"Waves" should be a single, fits in pretty well with the Derulo-wave stuff all over the radio right now
― The Reverend, Friday, 25 September 2015 03:03 (eight years ago) link
yea totally tbh I had assumed waves was already a single
Is coffee the only single? Besides waves I think leaves or beautiful exit could also work
― marcos, Friday, 25 September 2015 03:14 (eight years ago) link