Holy moley, these guys are excellent
― kornrulez6969, Sunday, 30 August 2009 04:59 (fourteen years ago) link
really? i remember hating this album.
― samosa gibreel, Sunday, 30 August 2009 05:07 (fourteen years ago) link
It sounds good to me
― kornrulez6969, Sunday, 30 August 2009 05:44 (fourteen years ago) link
Its a bit all over the place, but it isn't bad from what I remember. Except that one part in that one song that sounds way too much like Modest Mouse. You know.
― Evan, Sunday, 30 August 2009 05:56 (fourteen years ago) link
New one is so, so good
http://www.npr.org/2014/08/10/338019046/first-listen-cymbals-eat-guitars-lose
― Evan R, Monday, 11 August 2014 21:55 (nine years ago) link
I thought this album would get a much more enthusiastic reception than it did
― Evan R, Tuesday, 2 September 2014 15:02 (nine years ago) link
i am pretty enthusiastic about it, it's a very good indie rock record. not a lot of those
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 2 September 2014 15:02 (nine years ago) link
new one's even better than lose! wow
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, 2 September 2016 16:22 (seven years ago) link
the production's much nicer but it hasn't really grabbed me as much as lose or why there are mountains yet. it's still solid enough though
― ufo, Friday, 2 September 2016 17:11 (seven years ago) link
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Friday, September 2, 2016 9:22 AM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i was wrong but it's still great
lose is imo the best indie rock record of the past ten years
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 14:22 (five years ago) link
it's between lose and why are there mountains for me, both total classics
― ufo, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 14:30 (five years ago) link
I remember liking Lose a lot when it came out but I don't think I've listened to it in years. I should get back on that!
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 02:39 (five years ago) link
pretty years is still very awesome, but i prefer the production in lose. lots more space.
― nba jungboy (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 02:43 (five years ago) link
listened to both again today and Why There Are Mountains is definitely my favourite, and best indie rock album of the last decade. the songs cover so much ground and are full of hooks - the way Some Trees is constantly morphing in only two and a half minutes, the jaunty piano emerging from the drone in Indiana that eventually ends in a psych-y explosion of brass, all of Wind Phoenix, the three epics! such an underrated band, never understood why they never got more attention when similar but much worse 90s-ish indie bands got so hype.
― ufo, Wednesday, 10 October 2018 12:17 (five years ago) link
if Why There Are Mountains was released in the 90s it would surely be firmly in the indie canon, right? i love it more than most of the big 90s indie rock albums
― ufo, Wednesday, 10 October 2018 12:20 (five years ago) link
Why There Are Mountains hit at a weird time; I feel like people were really tired of internet hyped indie rock by 2009, even if that record transcends a lot of the lower quality stuff from around the same time.
― triggercut, Wednesday, 10 October 2018 12:28 (five years ago) link
these guys also fill a void left by the wrens but idk if the meadowlands came out today it would hit as hard
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 12:29 (five years ago) link
i love why there are mountains but lose is just such a complete statement to me, especially the first three tracks
lenses alien is underrated but so complicated and hard to hold onto
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 12:30 (five years ago) link
also guy is an incredible lyricist
Reading this thread made me check just now, once again in vain, if there was any news on a new Wrens (apart from the news being it's delayed again).
Lose is my goto CEG record but the debut hits hard every time.
― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 12:32 (five years ago) link
probably true that The Meadowlands wouldn't quite seem as great if it came out today but i'm still eagerly awaiting that new Wrens album
iirc Charles from The Wrens almost produced Why There Are Mountains but had to pull out after some kind of tragedy i don't remember
the keyboard playing on CEG albums still feels really distinctive as far as indie rock goes, it's much more free-flowing than usual and always an interesting texture
he definitely improved as a lyricist as time went on yeah, Lose is really affecting the whole way through, but i have no idea what a single song on Mountains is about
― ufo, Wednesday, 10 October 2018 12:42 (five years ago) link
i think it would seem as great it just wouldn't have the same kind of impact, lost in the shuffle in the way this band is in terms of coverage
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Wednesday, 10 October 2018 13:19 (five years ago) link
https://emptycountry.bandcamp.com/
sounds like CEG are over (RIP!) but there's two new songs from Joe under the name Empty Country with an album coming next year. "Ultrasound" has Charles from The Wrens on backing vocals and both tracks sound like classic CEG to me
― ufo, Thursday, 8 August 2019 03:09 (four years ago) link
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8541174/cymbals-eat-guitars-breakup-empty-country-interview
contains a new empty country song ("marian") that is just wonderful
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 17:47 (four years ago) link
they were always so good at that slow burn, good to know it seems to have made it to empty country in tact.
― kanye kendrick frank kendrick frank kanye (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 29 October 2019 18:17 (four years ago) link
love this
― ufo, Tuesday, 29 October 2019 20:54 (four years ago) link
the closer "Swim" is gorrrrgeous, holy shit. Album now coming out on Getting Better.
― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Thursday, 20 February 2020 13:52 (four years ago) link
yeah this is beautiful, excited for the alb
https://soundcloud.com/getbetterrecords/empty-country-swim
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Thursday, 20 February 2020 17:36 (four years ago) link
this has to be one of his best songs, very excited for the record
― ufo, Thursday, 20 February 2020 20:15 (four years ago) link
the empty country album is out now
https://emptycountry.bandcamp.com/album/empty-country
and it's fantastic, one of his best albums
― ufo, Saturday, 21 March 2020 00:48 (four years ago) link
holy crap this album
obviously the songs are great ("change" and "emerald" is such an amazing one-two especially) but I'm really impressed with the mixing also, TONS of range
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Saturday, 21 March 2020 12:43 (four years ago) link
What a stunning album! Restraint and explosiveness in equal measure. Throughout the many iterations of CEG and now this, his songwriting is still distinguishable as his. 'Diamond' is an early favourite.
― tangenttangent, Saturday, 21 March 2020 12:45 (four years ago) link
I was just thinking about how he makes great use of his limited voice when he went for that high note in "Clearing", a wonderful surprise
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Saturday, 21 March 2020 12:50 (four years ago) link
yeah "chance"/"emerald" is a stunning centrepiece. i also like the slight turn towards folk-rock
― ufo, Saturday, 21 March 2020 13:26 (four years ago) link
album is fucking brilliant
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 22 March 2020 18:59 (four years ago) link
checking this out now and it's great. the things you can do when you escape the icy grip of john congleton!
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 25 March 2020 16:26 (four years ago) link
i actually loved pretty years, but the new one is much more dynamic and returns to the chiming atmospherics that CEG specialized in on albums like lose.
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 25 March 2020 16:37 (four years ago) link
looking forward to going back to all the ceg records i slept on
― devvvine, Wednesday, 25 March 2020 16:39 (four years ago) link
lose is one of the best indie rock records of the last decade. it was super slept-on
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 25 March 2020 16:56 (four years ago) link
jackson is one of my favorite songs, sounds so huge.
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 25 March 2020 18:02 (four years ago) link
I don't hear what y'all are hearing. :(
― alpine static, Wednesday, 25 March 2020 21:41 (four years ago) link
ceg were way too slept on in general
the new one is about as great as why there are mountains and lose
― ufo, Thursday, 26 March 2020 03:21 (four years ago) link
today my favorite song is "southern cloud"
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 1 April 2020 15:47 (four years ago) link
this is like a fuckin red house painters album, that's how good it is
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 1 April 2020 15:55 (four years ago) link
it's both so self-evidently great and also so perfect for this particular moment
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Wednesday, 1 April 2020 16:26 (four years ago) link
weird how i have to play "marian" three times in a row every time i start this record
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:44 (four years ago) link
should i start a new thread
kyle gilbride of swearin' co-produced this record???? goddamn. it sounds amazing
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 3 April 2020 15:53 (four years ago) link
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, April 3, 2020 10:44 AM (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
def a strong song of the year candidate
― ooga booga-ing for the bourgeoisie (voodoo chili), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:01 (four years ago) link
maybe we could get a mod to add "also Empty Country" to the thread title
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Friday, 3 April 2020 16:25 (four years ago) link
the way "southern cloud" builds in intensity is so good
― ufo, Saturday, 4 April 2020 02:09 (four years ago) link
this is easily my favorite thing that's come out this year. the attention to detail here is the gift that keeps on giving
― be the cowboy dan, Tuesday, 28 April 2020 08:45 (four years ago) link
New Empty Country album is great: https://emptycountry.bandcamp.com/album/empty-country-ii-2
"Dustine" in particular is incredible.
― kmhydex, Saturday, 4 November 2023 21:27 (seven months ago) link
feel like CEG sort of picked up where Superchunk dropped the ball after Here's Where the Strings Come In
― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 5 November 2023 00:36 (seven months ago) link
idk i don't really hear much resemblance beyond the genre? ceg were much more ambitious for a start
new album is at least his second best, it's like a better version of lose
― ufo, Sunday, 5 November 2023 13:49 (seven months ago) link
can't stop listening to this even though i don't think i've wrapped my head around it. certainly makes a lot of choices. lyrics crazy good as usual
― ivy., Monday, 6 November 2023 18:36 (six months ago) link
lol he said "fla" came from him failing to learn how to play "thunder road" on piano - he ended up with a really wonderful springsteen-esque piano part there and i really love the piercing harmonica part that comes in
― ufo, Monday, 6 November 2023 20:05 (six months ago) link
"FLA" is wonderful, I like that reading Joy Williams picked him up out of his rut. Took me a little while to wrap my head around the album too. "Lamb" and "Dustine" were early favorites, but lately I get lines from "David" and "Cool S" stuck in my head.
― kmhydex, Tuesday, 7 November 2023 05:52 (six months ago) link
this is def one of the indie rock albums of the year. it is really heavy, but there are plenty of gorgeous touches in the arrangements that keep it from being as relentlessly sad as the lyrics
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Monday, 13 November 2023 20:18 (six months ago) link