Horse Lords

interview makes them seem like cool smart dudes

appreciate their commitment to the unified band outfit

I have faith that Baltimore dudes can't get too pompous.

Sucks to see a good time workin class rock n roll band like Horse Lords putting on such pretentious airs after they got big

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, October 27, 2022 8:26 AM (ten hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

LMAO

The last time I saw them (prob 2019 iirc) someone in the audience commented they had clearly “gone to school” (had a formal musical education). You don’t get to be a circular breathing saxophone player and precise af drummer DIY-ing in your spare time. It’s not news that they’re well-schooled imo.

idg why this is a bad thing. Pretty much every great jazz artist revered here and elsewhere was well-schooled, too

yeah they tended to put forward some worthwhile ground-breaking stuff tho

i don't think max eilbacher went to a fancy music school. he was in baltimore noise bands throughout the 00s

circular breathing isn't so difficult. knowing what to do with lips & fingers thereafter is the tricky bit

wow

well this revive inspired me to listen to the preview track of the new record and it totally rules, which is all I really care abt

Their use of just intonation and irregular time signatures lifts this well above standard math rock. The recombination of elements is really clever and exciting to listen to.

There is certainly something to said about the rise of conservatoire trained musicians in indie rock, avant-jazz and all points between. But I think one of the most positive developments in 21st C music is when that training is combined with DIY approaches, so you're breaking down the artificial race and class inflected barriers between jazz, rock, noise, new music etc. HL are one instance of that and I'm all for it. Saw some of the members play some great free improv sets with the likes of Luke Stewart at Moers this year - they're totally comfortable in that world. Fuck genre! :D

y'know i just took a listen to these guys on spotify and they're actually tons better than i remember.
the inner curmudgeon got the upper hand, my bad. (reasons)
was my issue more with the credulous style of journalism? i can't remember.

Not having lyrics can be an advantage too: the band do not have to write anything on the nose or ridiculous. Music is just an object that acts as a nexus for the centre point of their communication with others. Gardner remarks that sound is a sort of abstract vector for this kind of expression, forcing more imagination. “We’re thinking about a new way to listen and forcing this kind of listening that’s more engaged with form and the abstract aspect of it, the experience of music. It puts people in the role of participants rather than just passive observers. It’s like we’re building this together.”

lol gtfo

New one out today, just finishing a first listen through this morning - it's phenomenal. I'd heard two of the tracks prereleased on youtube, but this works so well as a fully sequenced album. also operating just on a few hours of sleep thanks to world series game 5, but this seems to be a perfect state to take in their music!

Any other crowdfund backers get a message from them yet? I don’t want to be ‘let me speak to the manager’ on release day but it’s kind of disappointing not to know what’s going on there.

No message here. I agree with you a message by now would've been ideal ... seems reasonable to give 'em till Monday, I think, before asking what's up.

Complaining makes you a participant, not just a passive observer!

listening to the full album and OK this rules, I like it more than anything since their first album? and way more than Common Task, which I couldn't really connect with. something about the production, sound, and the way the parts all interlock is just perfect for me here

I should say, I like it more than anything since the mixtapes (which are incredible, go check them out if you haven't)

Re: crowdfund backers, from an email reply from Andrew Bernstein just now: “Pre-orders have been shipping this week and last week, so your record should be on its way.”

pic.twitter.com/eEvl1396sz

— Fritz Pape (@fritzpape) November 10, 2022

lol

just digging into this, dope so far

think i like this new one better than any Horse Lords I've heard previously. very very cool.

fuck yeah i'm digging this all bloopy bleepin guitar shit in a danceable ⌺/12.3 time signature

New collab release from drummer Sam Haberman: https://cachedmedia.bandcamp.com/album/radial

new album is awesome. love the acid house 303 in ‘mess mend’

cool guest mix of the Folkways catalog:

https://folkways.si.edu/playlist/peoples-picks-horse-lords

We might have embarked on this playlist—as others wisely have—with a theme to lend some cohesion to the result, but instead we chose chaos. The dizzying, impossible variety of music and sound that Smithsonian Folkways (and some smaller labels under their caring umbrella) has given the world ought to be experienced as a disjointed, disorienting maelstrom of pleasure, totally resisting any representation of its totality ...

love these guys but god are they insufferable. like just admit that you threw something together at the last minute

Nothing insufferable about that statement imo.
Started listening in bed yesterday and fell asleep, first three tracks I liked though :)

I don't get the obsession here with accusing these guys of being any more pompous than any other arty post rock band

Agreed, ESPECIALLY with a state as innocuous as the above

Statement of course

new live EP

https://horselords.bandcamp.com/album/live-in-leipzig

live album out now

https://horselords.bandcamp.com/album/as-it-happened-horse-lords-live

i'm seeing these nerds live next month and am *stoked*

ooh are they in the PNW?!?!

saw them earlier this year, they do a fantastic job

xp

https://x.com/HorseLords/status/1798644570953335099

i'm not able to see that or really any links from twitter

yeah I can't see that one either, here's a link with dates/venues:

https://igetrvng.com/events/

if you replace X with Twitter in the URL it will still embed

sorry y'all

it's okay, i'm just giving that feedback because i think that not everybody realizes that people without accounts often can't see the post much less the comments and context surrounding it

i definitely had no idea!

Saw them live last night for the first time. Loved it. I can see why they've put out various live recordings, the studio records are great but live there's an exuberance to the sound that's really engaging.

I'm going to try to see them when I'm out in LA next week!

I'll just echo what everyone else has said: absolutely worth seeing them live. I was only mildly into their studio output but I saw them at Big Ears this year and had an amazing time.