British Sea Power

I heckled them in concert requesting "I Am A Cider Drinker" and they glared at me. Wankers.

Anyway, I am enjoying their new EP which apparently is their offcuts from the next album.

They glare at everyone. It's ace, especially "hidden" track 8, Returning.

It's really different, isn't it? "Zeus" doesn't exactly feel cohesive but it's full of interesting aural excursions, not all of which work but all of which make you think, and are ultimately enjoyable. Frankly it reminded me alot of The Fall in terms of sheer experimentation and mixing brilliance with driving-off-the-cliff oddness.

It's what we call a "fun romp". Especially with a song like 'kW-h', which sounds atypical of them but is good!

They're at their best when they're pretending to be icelandicbandmum though, aren't they?

Ok, "Zeus" just keeps getting better and better with each play. Any lucky soul already heard the forthcoming "Valhalla Dancehall"? I'd hate to think these are the more interesting bits that didn't fit, leaving us with a more cohesive, safe, ultimately uninteresting record.

Ok, how is it that "Valhalla Dancehall" hasn't leaked yet?

^^^

british sea power: by white ppl, 4 white ppl

And that's a problem?

Can someone *explain* British Sea Power?

Sometimes quite like them - indeed, like the Man of Aran soundtrack a lot - but have a sense that I'm missing something.

Is there a socio-political angle that I'm missing aside from one of them birdwatches and they've appeared on Country File?

british sea power: by white ppl, 4 white ppl

white haters gonna hate white people

ghostface h8r, 4real

is it true that british sea power is basically drownedinsound indie but with extra references to the hebrides, obscure fauna, naval history etc?

It is not true.

is it true that british sea power is basically drownedinsound indie but with extra references to the hebrides, obscure fauna, naval history etc?

Oh, fuck off.

true ime

there needs to be a bsp vs iliketrains poll amirite

actually quite looking forward to hearing this new stuff. y'all have gotten me interested. only really 'carrion' and 'lately' have really caught my attention of the bsp i've heard

is it true that british sea power is basically drownedinsound indie but with extra references to the hebrides, obscure fauna, naval history etc?

Yes this is exactly what they are. They're occasionally pretty good at it (Carrion, most of the second album) and often ropey (the whole third album by and large). Their music isn't as distinctive as the rest of their aesthetic.

I guess if you're determined to be cloth eared then that's your call but DiS and BSP don't really see eye to eye given that DiS has an American/P4k garage rock/lo fi/Williamsburg leaning aesthetic.

yeah DiS is basically P4k-in-Englande-but-with-more-dubstep if we're being reductive

although British indie still does pretty well on the messageboards (wouldn't have thought BSP are a band everyone would bang on about though - they're a bit too austere and subtle)

2nd track of the EP is really good :)

Maybe I'm working on an outdated definition of Drownedinsound indie. They were very Brit-centric around 02-05, ie the period encompassing the first few BSP records.

Indie has kinda fragmented since then. Yer xxes and James Blakes and whatnot are the hot new electronic sound and guitar-rock while fondly regarded in some quarters has been marginalised by its own dissipation from that (tiresome) 00's centrality

hence, I predict some pretty exciting things coming out of British guitar rock in the early part of this decade, possibly by re-integrating electronic sounds and textures into something more progressive and wild (he hopes)

Like...BSP have survived through their period of trend conformity, which is why I expect them to get much more interesting now - they're on their own now, in a way

Brighton buddies ESP meanwhile have realised their time is up as ESP, and Thomas White is now free to make the music he wants to make, which is miles better than ESP ever was (yeah, really) although there's still Brakes, hovering, somewhere (I don't suppose they've got too much left in the tank although perhaps they will evolve!)

'Bear' is awwwwwwesome

like, if that's an outtake...

but then all of Suede's best songs were b-sides

ok this EP is by a *country mile* the best thing BSP have ever done, beyond any scintilla of doubt

is there some way SNA can say after a thread title "22 New Answers (but it's acoleuthic and nakhchivan so don't bother)"?

would significantly improve my ilx experience. thx.

</3

Yeah, God forbid we should actually have to read posts by someone who seems to know what he's talking about... getting in the way of all the toe-curlingly unfunny 'zings'.

yer gang never did get back to me about subediting btw, I think my Salem comment must've done for me :P

Yeah, God forbid we should actually have to read posts by someone who seems to know what he's talking about... getting in the way of all the toe-curlingly unfunny 'zings'.

― Carl Jung Jeezy (Doran), Tuesday, December 14, 2010 12:38 PM

this post has incredible layers. i mean, at its simplest, it works as a subtle but strained zing on acoleuthic. but then if you take it at face value it has this great irony with Doran claiming that acoleuthic knows what he's talking about - which you can make an argue against in general but in this specific context he basically admits he doesn't know the band well, and then affirms that with what he says about the EP - so Doran himself doesn't know what he's talking when he talks about someone knowing what they talk about. and THEN you have the self-referential loop of the unfunny 'zings' part, where it is either an unfunny zing against me, or at the most generous reading, possibly at acoleuthic.

it's like an Escher painting. magnificent.

dude I think you should go for a bracing walk + get some air

extra references to the hebrides, obscure fauna, naval history etc?

This is what I like about them . . .

have now decided upon listening to 'man of aran' that 'the south sound' might be their thus-far pinnacle

it's certainly the best thing GY!BE have put out in a while

Arf! You watching the film or just listening to the soundtrack? The full experience is a thing of beauty.

We put them on at Union Chapel in London. It really was something.

I'm just listening to the soundtrack! It's lovely but yeah I really want to see the whole thing. I take it in that church in Norway they played it live to a video-screening? If so, awesome.

Sorry to have missed out on that - next time I'll be along. Have heard wonderful things about the live-show and clearly the music's getting better and better.

Valhalla Dancehall has finally leaked, release on 1-1-11

Tracklisting:
"Who’s In Control" - 3:14
"We Are Sound" - 4:47
"Georgie Ray" - 3:48
"Stunde Null" - 2:39
"Mongk II" - 4:49
"Luna" - 4:17
"Baby" - 5:47
"Living Is So Easy" - 4:01
"Observe The Skies" - 3:23
"Cleaning Out The Rooms" - 7:11
"Thin Black Sail" - 1:46
"Once More Now" - 11:14
"Heavy Water" - 3:42

finally leaked, release on 1-1-11

leakers need to be more on the ball than this

Agreed! But wisely they released a limited edition with a bonus EP so I already ordered it. But listening sooner is better than later!

Very keen again.

what's that 11-minute one like [/very much in character]

Find out yourself - http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/jan/05/british-sea-power-valhalla-dancehall-exclusive

But anyway, having really liked the debut, loved the second album, and been non-plussed by the last (proper) album, I'm really, really enjoying this, and inspired to go out and get Zeus and Man of Aran.

I suspect you'll love the production and mastering on Man of Aran, at the very least. It's got a disclaimer on the CD about the high dynamic range, FFS.

Aye, I dunno why I didn't get it when it came out.

Just one listen to the new one has allayed my fears that it's the dull side to the stunning "Zeus". They've really hit their peak, hope they come play the US!