Beach House

Agreed on the back half being relatively weak. I noticed that a few weeks ago and made a bit of an effort to pay more attention to the songs near the end, but none of them really stick for some reason.

I mainly just listen to the first two tracks now. The other two Beach House albums are like that for me, too: 2-3 songs that I like a lot, and then a bunch that I find a bit bland.

first track is the best by a long shot and colored my initial impressions i think

yeah. and the version of "used to be" on the album seems slightly inferior to the version released as a single a while ago.

this album fucking ripsssss.

"walk in the park" is particularly lovely, and i actually like the new "used to be" better.

I think Norway is the worst thing on here - surprised it turned out to be the single, and I really like the end second, but nothing on here comes even close to touching Zebra.

Also there's one track whose name escapes me with an intro that I keep expecting to turn into Neon Lights.

beyotch hizzouse

Whoever said Fleetwood Mac'y was totally right, especially on "Lover of Mine."

teen cream dream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKE4xoN7f5o

I really wanted to like Teen Dreams. But like the other 2 albums I keep wanting more from there sound. I even watched Jimmy Fallon to see them, and was left wanting more. I think Hope Sandoval fills my need for this kind of music. Maybe it's not fair to compare the two, but Through The Devil Softly has me full on dreamy sleepy music of this kind.

This album is amazing

vocals remind me of the Walkmen more than anything else.

vocals remind me of the Walkmen more than anything else.

That would actually be a pretty wonderful duet. Either singer guesting on the other's record would be okay with me.

At first I thought there was a choir of ghosts behind them.

that fallon performance was excellent btw

BNM bomb

9.0

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13872-teen-dream/

i'm psyched to listen to this album, i fell deeply in love with them and spent months listening to devotion twice a day when i first heard it. it was a good couple of months. i didn't really give the debut due opportunity, but what i've heard from this one has blasted my expectations into the stratosphere.

I quite like this album; don't know any of their early stuff. Sort of halfway between Slowdive and Mojave 3.

Though the review is spot on, certainly not a 9.0 (yet another Pitchfork record store clerk overstatement). It is a lovely album, if a little epicene and inarticulate at times.

man i've always found this band pretty boring but the first four or so songs on the new one are fantastic. they seem to have grown a little bit of a spine. the second half seems less interesting but i've been listening to the album in order so maybe i'm just getting tired of their sound after a while.

"the second half seems less interesting"

10 Mles Stereo is one of the best songs on the record.

nah you agree with me

pretty and nicely simple album indeed,sounds very 90's (like a more roughly red house painters,low,tram,mazzy star etc..)

though maybe it is getting a little dull halfway through..

― Zeno, Tuesday, January 5, 2010 6:13 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

my wife thought this was a dude singer too btw

yeah i dont know why everyone was all up in my grill about that

The female singer sounds like late Joni Mitchell.

― Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, January 1, 2010 8:31 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i thought that said "THE late joni mitchell" and i did a dubz-take

great alb btw - my $0.02

i dunno im genuinely baffled by ppl that can't tell this is a woman! the timbre is unmistakably feminine imo

GET OUT OF MY GRILL

nah you agree with me

pretty and nicely simple album indeed,sounds very 90's (like a more roughly red house painters,low,tram,mazzy star etc..)

though maybe it is getting a little dull halfway through..

― Zeno, Tuesday, January 5, 2010 6:13 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

― congratulations (n/a), 17:35 יום חמישי 28 ינואר 2010 (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i changed my mind a little after some more listening:
the 1st half is better, yeah, but the 2nd half also has some good moments, like 10 Miles Stereo, which is one of the best tracks on the record.

about the singer: she sounds like somewhere between Nico and the singer from The Walkmen

I'm a big fan of all the usual references for this band (Nico, Cocteaus, Mazzy Star, Galaxie 500, Low, etc.) but can't seem to get into them to any huge degree. Just more of a "ho hum, this is kinda nice" reaction. What am I missing?

i think they are not dreamy/spaced out,and more direct,clear and rough than the acts youve mentioned.
so they fit somewhere inbetween those acts and more earthly stuff like Fleetwood Mac and The Walkmen

i like the fact that, as a final result, everything stays relatively simple and unpretentious on the record.

this album is just as good as devotion. a bit unremarkable but that's how they roll.

I'm a big fan of all the usual references for this band (Nico, Cocteaus, Mazzy Star, Galaxie 500, Low, etc.) but can't seem to get into them to any huge degree. Just more of a "ho hum, this is kinda nice" reaction. What am I missing?

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Thursday, January 28, 2010 1:23 PM (2 hours ago

you mean BESIDES A SOUL

Precisely.

this is a v. v. pretty album

zebra is AMAZING. def will be one of my favorite tracks of 2010. matt dc nailed it that stretching and rising feeling they give you on that track is something else. plus the fleetwood mac moves just seals it for me.

"certainly not a 9.0 (yet another Pitchfork record store clerk overstatement)."

ok, i admit thats more or less what i thought in the beginning,(good but not great) but this album is a much more "grower" thing than i thought.
and fuck it - the 2nd half is as good as the first.it just took a little time to realize it.
only "used to be" is skippable imo.

i hate that pitchfork record store

songs should all be a bit shorter imo

i don't think this album is better than its predecessor but they're both at least 9.0 albums to me. i feel like they're naturally embedded in their style they couldn't really ever make a bad song or album, even the most boring beach house song would still be lovely and warm, would feature her voice etc.

i hate that pitchfork record store

― brews before HOOS (s1ocki), Thursday, February 4, 2010 2:44 AM

my wife thought this was a dude singer too btw

Even after finding out the girl was the singer, I looked up the credits, thinking "well maybe the dude only sings lead on some of the songs"

u guys are weird

transvestite!

I'm a big fan of all the usual references for this band (Nico, Cocteaus, Mazzy Star, Galaxie 500, Low, etc.) but can't seem to get into them to any huge degree. Just more of a "ho hum, this is kinda nice" reaction. What am I missing?

yeah, this is how I feel. i think they sound pretty good whenever they come on, but I'm never really swept away ... haven't heard the new one ...

I don't think this is quite as good as Devotion, but I fucking loved that record and I'm growing to fucking love this one too. It does need time though, the first three or four listens left me unimpressed. Now, "Silver Soul", "Walk In The Park", "10 Mile Stereo" and "Real Love" are knocking me sideways.