Big Thief - Two Hands

I'd say none of these 4 people are particularly shy about flaunting their sartorial eccentricities.

to their credit!

Thoguht I'd put together a 'Best-Of' / 'Beginner's Guide' for my pals

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/41650wZfn3Mjd0AMcjrWDT?si=We6DsegYSImEIb3HPRvBYw

In line w my earlier post, this is one of the few indie bands where I feel like a ranked list of their songs would actually flesh out rather than minimize their talents .... 25 best big thief songs ranked or whatevr ... between that & releasing two albums in a year they kinda operate like a rap group

yep. and a band whom I'm very happy are churning it out because I spend a lot of time with each one and each is high quality

I mentioned them to my uncle a little while back... he and I sometimes talk music, tho our tastes only occasionally align (he's mainly into mellow singer-songwriter/c&w).

He emailed me today that he's been listening to Masterpiece nonstop, and that he likes it even more than Two Hands ("because I'm old"). He also said that "Masterpiece" (the song) "weirdly and for reasons I haven't yet put my finger on makes me think of The Band's 'The Weight.'"

“Masterpiece” does have a 70s classic country-rock chug, & is a very easy entry point to the band for folks coming from alt-country. “The Weight” isn’t a huge stretch.

When I first heard the opener of 'Capacity' I mistook BT for a country-rock band. They definitely have a bit of Bobby Gentry / Delta Swamp Boogie feeling somewhere in there

So far I've heard Capacity, U.F.O.F., and Two Hands, and I love them all. How does Adrianne's solo album (abysskiss) compare to them?

It’s acoustic, and fairly calm/meditative; with a bit of a “droning” effect from the repetitive fingerpicking and slow tempos. A few of the songs are performed by the full band on U.F.O.F.

Her earlier album, Hours Were the Birds, has a more traditional singer-songwriter feel.

of course the one that's their best is whichever one I'm listneing to at the time, right?

^I've sort of come around to this p.o.v., after listening all weekend.

Also, this band has a quality that reminds me of Led Zeppelin -- not because they sound anything alike (it's hard to imagine two more different singers!), but because each of their albums is so distinctive, and every song they've released carries a certain importance.

You know how you can find those online features with "All 92(?) 74(?) 87(?) Led Zeppelin Songs, Ranked"? (there's disagreement on how to count). Even your "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper," or whatever, is elevated just by being etched on that awesome stone tablet of the Official Zep Catalog. There are no Zep "throwaways"; every song is important & key, part of the mythology (...until maybe you get to Coda). I'm sure there are other bands whose fans would say something similar about them; but I don't think I would personally make the same claim about most of the bands I love (they all have "lesser" tracks here and there, or, "yeah, that's an ok song," etc.).

Big Thief are obviously only halfway to matching the Zep output -- though if the parallel is accurate, they're about to hit their most killer stretch (lol) -- but they feel similar to me, in the sense that each Big Thief song has its own center of gravity. Even the few songs I'm not super hot on (I wish Capacity's title track were a little less, I dunno, sludgy?) have my respect & attention, and feel like they should be inscribed up on the big Rock 'n Roll wall somewhere.

'Capacity' title track always reminds me of Moon River for some reason

xp yeah the first thing I thought when I heard them was Comus (voice, melodies) and then Zep (overall band vibe)

Huh, never heard of Comus (just looked them up). I mentioned on the other thread how I hear some Slapp Happy in certain Big Thief songs; looks like there may be some overlap there.

“Not” gets all the attn... but “Shoulders” is also

A

JAM

Yeah Not I'd great and everything but maybe a tiny bit overrated at the expense of other songs on the album.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-EAOdaDidy/

adrienne posted a lovely new song to instagram

why do i always misspell her name

be guided by the capitalized-“A” stylization: https://www.discogs.com/release/12550569-Stages-Of-The-Sun/images

!!!

O_o

This is some Y Kant AdriAnne Read shit right there

www.AdriAnne.com is still under her control!

A batch of recent demos on sale, to benefit their road crew: https://bigthief.bandcamp.com/album/demos-vol-1-topanga-canyon-ca-feb-2018

One more: https://bigthief.ffm.to/loveinmine

“We all felt this song was one of the strongest
songs/captures in the Two Hands batch but we could never quite get it to fit in a sequence. Happy to be sharing it now”

definitely too straightforwardly pretty for the album. splendid as a standalone single though

this sounds like a christine fleetwood mac song, its v v v good

https://i.imgur.com/XF9HQCQ.jpg

these twitter culture wars are outta control :(

#bigthiefisoverparty

It was just a matter of time

I think we may be getting a few new albums soon, guys: www.instagram.com/p/CADtCEpH-t7/

(btw - what kind of cyber-guitar is Adrianne holding in that first pic??)

I flubbed the link

I flubbed the link and the link won

Got ahold of Lenker's first album, recorded when she was 13.

Kudos to her for getting an album out that early, but I wouldn't recommend it at all.

Oh, nice! Good catch, did you find it in a store or online?

That alb is p terrible but it’s a charming kind of terrible, esp in light of what she’s doing now.

that looks like one those things lee ritenour played. it’s on his Wayne Gretzky tribute album

wait I’m mixing him up with Steve khan re: the Gretzky thing. Anyway here it is: https://www.discogs.com/Lee-Ritenour-Earth-Run/master/80205

A SynthAxe(tm)?

found it: Casio DG-1

https://youtu.be/3hf7AsraFx8

Thx!

Bought the first Lenker through Discogs. I’ve fallen pretty hard for Big Thief so I decided to start at the beginning. It’s not awful, but it sounds like a reasonably talented 13 year old
imitating... Sheryl Crow maybe? If she has any say in the matter, I can’t imagine it getting reissued anytime soon.

Pretty sure Lucid Tunes was a vanity label, likely run by her dad; this was its only other release. From what I've read, she and her dad are on good terms, so he's not likely to reissue it w/out her consent!

This demo "Mermaid" is sick... it's kind of a new take on the "Cattails" idea

These goofy-dressing hippies are the sickest band

really hoping the casio guitar is going to make the new album

https://open.spotify.com/album/2e3TrMSoC2IdX6tksQwpls

new adrianne solo track!

Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker announces two new albums, songs and instrumentals, out October 23rd on 4AD

songs and instrumentals are two distinct collections, both written and recorded in April after Big Thief’s March tour was abruptly cut short due to coronavirus. After returning to the states from Europe, Lenker decamped to a one room cabin in the mountains of western Massachusetts.

This recording is 100% analog-analog-analog (AAA). No digital process was used in the production of this sound recording.

The album’s stunning artwork are watercolor paintings done by Adrianne’s grandmother, Diane Lee.

Tracklist
songs
1. two reverse
2. ingydar
3. anything
4. forwards beckon rebound
5. heavy focus
6. half return
7. come
8. zombie girl
9. not a lot, just forever
10. dragon eyes
11. my angel

instrumentals
1. music for indigo
2. mostly chimes

very curious about what the instrumentals album will be like

Sounds like it will be mostly chimes.

mostly.

interesting! you know it's serious when someone decamps

This recording is 100% analog-analog-analog (AAA). No digital process was used in the production of this sound recording.

i'm enough of an audiophile douchebag to admit that at least part of big thief's appeal is how much better their records sounds than 99.9% of indie rock bands

Decamps(?) Adrianne solo albums aren't a new thing...

"No digital process was used in the production of this sound recording, except for the sick tones of the Casio DG-1 Digital Guitar."

Btw - the new song is good (no surprise)!