Field Music

Too bad they broke up, but The Week That Was hits the spot just as well.

Yeah, not bad, but needs a few more listenings I think.
School of Language is bit boring, though.

i wasn't too excited by the TWTW album.. zeus probably otm about needing more listenings

woah

http://pitchfork.com/news/36878-field-music-return-with-double-album/

Awesome. Cool cover.

Double album means the whole thing might be longer than an hour?

that new song is pretty cool. i don't listen to them that much, but they seem like a really smart band.

that is a good cover. i was never terribly impressed by either of the offshoots, they seem to do a much better job when pooling their creative resources

i prefer the week that was to field music. they do genesis way better than elbow do. i'd be more excited about a double concept album by them

Measure comes out February 16. So glad, I thought they broke up for good!

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11584-measure/

nice song

"it's their White Album"...

i was never terribly impressed by either of the offshoots

I really, really liked The Week That Was. As usual, though, it was too brief. I hope there's a second one someday.

first impression of the new record:

pros: interesting xtc/mccartney meets some math rock sound, catchy melodies.
cons: too long,probably not constantly successful.

too long

this is a big shame. one of the strengths of the first record is how compact and un-noodly it is

they tried to be a little Deerhoof-y-experimental here, sometimes it works. sometimes not.

but,again, it's only my 1st impression.

Absolutely floored by the new one. Combined with their two other (flawless) albums and wonderful solo projects, I'm solidly convinced that Field Music is one of the most significant bands of the past ten years. They're on par with SFA for quality/complexity/catchiness.

There's a fussy math-rock quality about them that kind of irritates me, but not aws much as it irritates people whom I try to turn on to them.

It is a lonely and not entirely enthusiastic fandom.

Very anxious to hear this!

i've gotten a couple of friends kinda into them via 'in context' but yeah

i was pretty much entirely unimpressed by the week that was / school of language so i'm struggling to get the enthusiasm together to check out the new one

I think it's definitely better than the side projects, by a long shot (although the last song on The Week That Was album was great).

"Scrath the Surface" is the song.

^yeah, that's a good track

I adored their first album, but everything since, including the new one, I've liked less and less.

FWIW, here's my ranking of their output thus far:

Measure
Field Music
The Week That Was
School of Language
Tones of Town

Saw these guys (and friends) perform a tribute to Fleetwood Mac last night! Mind-blowingly spot on, and with a tiny amount of their sound creeping through. They can do no wrong!

I've yet to hear the new one and I never did hear the School of Language album, but I find it really weird to see Tones of Town way down at the bottom of your list, considering that is what got me into the band in the first place.

I think they played recently at Beat Kitchen. I'll catch them next time when I an buy the new album from them. So looking forward to it!

Tones of Town >>> s/t

The new one is massive and dense, so it'll take a while to assess its overall worth. "You and I" is really nice though.

I find it really weird to see Tones of Town way down at the bottom of your list, considering that is what got me into the band in the first place.

To clarify - I love *everything* these guys have done. I just love Tones of Town the least. But I fucking love it. :)

I love the sound and production of Tones way more than the self-titled, but I enjoy the songwriting a bit more. The new one seems to marry the complex poppy writing of the self-titled with the knotty dissonance (and amazing production) of Tones to incredible effect.

I think they played recently at Beat Kitchen.

Nah, they cancelled their U.S. dates because of illness. I was kinda bummed about it -- the band I used to be in was opening the show, even.

So I really like the new one, I think. I mean, individually a lot of these songs sound great... but its just way too much to digest. I really loved how tight and concise Tones of Town was. I don't feel like the sprawling nature of Measure plays to their strengths. Still lots of good tunes though.

Yeah, it's not a knock against any of the material really but there's an amazing 12- or 13-track record lurking in there. Still one of my faves of the new year.

I think this is one of the coolest albums I've heard in a while. Love it.

An album that takes quite a few listens to fully wrap your head around (at least for me). But it's still great. I have a feeling that there won't be quite as many b-sides as there were with previous albums. This band was always one of those that had some amazing b-sides on their singles releases (e.g., 'Can You See Anything,' 'The Breakfast Song' etc.).

I found it to be pretty accessible actually.

The sequencing of the songs is superb.

Love the wacky reinterpretation of "Don't Pass Me By".

been redecorating the bathroom with this on repeat all week and i absolutely adore it - critics need to get behind this in style and hook the brewis brothers up with some mercury type hype - for a double lp i don't think it lags a great deal and its so varied and sumptuous that it just flies by with the melodies sort of buzzing round the house even after the record has stopped ... love it

Yeah, the critics have been missing the boat on these guys since day one. Real shame since these dudes spin circles around their counterparts. It's an unjust world, I tell ya.

I mean for fuck's sake:

Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me [Started by kshighway (ksh) in January 2010, last updated 1 minute ago by Number None] 584 new answers
Field Music [Started by Tom May (Tom May) in August 2005, last updated 2 minutes ago by Darin] 5 new answers

Not really a good comparison, I mean 87% of those posts aren't about Miss Newsom or her new album.

Well, female Tiny Tim was the first artist thread I saw. Substitute whoever.

measure is really really great.

oh wow

...and the brothers solo record, School Of Language (or whatever it's called) while yer at it.

next few days = massive listenathon pre-determining what I will be ranking my best of '10

this has top 10 potential

Field Music liveblog Santafest '10

have a putative list of stuff that might make my list, and am wondering what to add to it - suggestions?

I'd like to see a list without any outside influence. :)

i have listened to this once and altho i try to give any album time, especially when the band in question has earned that with their prior output, i will note that i am contemplating staying at work overnight so i don't have to listen to this again on the commute home.

While I wouldn't go that far, I was similarly nonplussed

The Noisy Days Are Over and Disappointed was an awesome way to start an album but to rest of Commontime was drudgery and that seems to have spilt over into this

Measure still their best by miles obv

it's no week that was but what is?

I really dig it - too many gauzy dreamy numbers but the ones that are sharp are sharp. It reminds me of Wasp Star but with more charm.

Okay, so it turns out that Open Here is their best album yet. I tried to recall the last time a Field Music LP blew me away this much and I realised none of their prior work has, not even Tones of Town. Quite remarkable, since Commontime bored me.

Open Here > Tones of Town > Plumb
> Commontime > Field Music > Measure

such is the wonderful variety of ilx that I would pretty much reverse those arrows

Curious to hear why your prefer Open Here to Commontime, turrican

The first and last tracks on Open Here blow pretty much everything on Commontime out of the water, IMO.

Measure is overlong, riddled with filler and a slog, but there's a great record in there somewhere. One of 'em has to come last, though.

(I've since come around to a fair bit of Commontime - 'The Noisy Days are Over' and 'Trouble at the Lights' particularly)

First listen to Making a New World. I’m ... not sure ... about it. I think it feels shorter than it is, which is a good sign.

Haven't picked it up yet but probably will do once payday rolls around.

From a commission and all about the aftermath of the first world war, isn't it?

I do wonder why Field Music have faded so much. I think they maybe grew too obsessed with working on a single sound, and they've worked the life out of it

I'm sort of annoyed such a bunch of nitwits have taken the title from a Paul Nash masterpiece, which is a really beautiful haunted title as well as a painting - which I can't imagine their music matching the gravitas of tbh!

Might be the first time Field Music have been described as “such a bunch of nitwits.”

probably melt cunts as well!

they most likely are led-by-donkieys type feebs that became radicalised by threat of austerity finishing off 6 music!