― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Sunday, 31 July 2005 22:35 (eighteen years ago) link
― arif mardin, Friday, 25 November 2005 22:33 (eighteen years ago) link
― subgenius (subgenius), Friday, 25 November 2005 22:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― erv (Abe Froman), Friday, 25 November 2005 22:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― Jimmy_tango, Friday, 25 November 2005 23:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― andrew s (andrew s), Saturday, 26 November 2005 01:26 (eighteen years ago) link
― Matt McEver (mattmc387), Saturday, 26 November 2005 02:08 (eighteen years ago) link
― lemin (lemin), Saturday, 26 November 2005 04:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― Matt McEver (mattmc387), Saturday, 26 November 2005 04:22 (eighteen years ago) link
File under: Perfect Sound? Whatever.
― nancyboy (nancyboy), Saturday, 26 November 2005 11:44 (eighteen years ago) link
― thousands of tiny luminous spheres (plebian), Saturday, 26 November 2005 23:58 (eighteen years ago) link
― mcd (mcd), Sunday, 27 November 2005 04:22 (eighteen years ago) link
Upon relistening, The Meadowlands really is a pretty devastating record. I'm really hoping these guys can keep it together long enough to make another record.
― Simon H., Sunday, 27 July 2008 03:00 (fifteen years ago) link
How the fuck has this thread gone all this time with no mention of "Everyone Choose Sides"? Agreed that devastating is as good a word as any for this.
― rogermexico., Sunday, 27 July 2008 05:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Everybody on the planet should see these boys/middle aged men live too.
― Fer Ark, Sunday, 27 July 2008 06:42 (fifteen years ago) link
I only like the distorted songs at the end of this album.
― abanana, Sunday, 27 July 2008 09:36 (fifteen years ago) link
For a lol indie band I like these guys a lot. And I fucked up and missed them at the Adelphi.
― Noodle Vague, Sunday, 27 July 2008 13:20 (fifteen years ago) link
i really like the song 'Happy' but the rest bores me
― rockapads, Monday, 28 July 2008 07:38 (fifteen years ago) link
Saw them at the borderline in london a couple of years ago; was one of the best live shows I've ever seen. Still not tired of the Meadowlands.
― G00blar, Monday, 28 July 2008 10:01 (fifteen years ago) link
i throw "the meadowlands" on a few times a year and it still sounds totally sad and real and close to the bone. saw them live in 2003? 2004? and they were totally excellent and very funny.
― Emily Bjurnhjam, Monday, 28 July 2008 10:12 (fifteen years ago) link
Boy did I forget about the Wrens. I mean, I clicked on this thread thinking, "never heard of this band", and read like five posts before I realized I once owned The Meadowlands. I must have sold it or something because I no longer have it and it clearly didn't leave an impression on me...considering giving them another shot...
― RabiesAngentleman, Monday, 28 July 2008 10:23 (fifteen years ago) link
I take The Meadowlands off the shelf, listen to "Happy" and "She Sends Kisses," and put it back. But damn am I satisfied.
― call all destroyer, Monday, 28 July 2008 14:18 (fifteen years ago) link
There are a lot of bands where the bio seems beside the point, but I know the Wrens' backstory makes the band mean more to me. My introduction to them was this still inspirationalTimes article that I can't separate from what's on The Meadowlands. Everyone Choose Sides and This Boy Is Exhausted put their daily struggle front and center, which makes all the relationship songs feel epic because you know what it took them to get to the point of being able to tell their tale. The Wrens = hope for all middle-aged rockers.
― dad a, Monday, 28 July 2008 15:19 (fifteen years ago) link
The Meadowlands is: totally fantastic, totally emo, totally not indie-pop. The beginning of this thread is: totally hilarious.
― St3ve Go1db3rg, Monday, 28 July 2008 18:10 (fifteen years ago) link
i still haven't heard Secaucus... i liked meadowlands fine (it did seem a tad over-hyped at the time) and i'll pull it out every six months or so.
saw em live last year in Philly in the basement of a church(?) and they were pretty fuggin great
― will, Monday, 28 July 2008 18:32 (fifteen years ago) link
I didn't get Wrens - that Meadowlands was overrrated - i cheated it in the wrong sequence - then i saw them (THE WRENS) live. Oh man. The reasons I love music
― Fer Ark, Monday, 28 July 2008 21:23 (fifteen years ago) link
Noodle Vague.
Next time Jacko does one hold a Vague banner.
― Fer Ark, Monday, 28 July 2008 22:17 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm ashamed at the number of "though it was overrated"s in this thread
― skygreenleopard, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 16:53 (fifteen years ago) link
Don't be ashamed ^ we all got there in the end but maybe not as quickly as you. Well Done
― Fer Ark, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 17:03 (fifteen years ago) link
Are we not liking this record now? For crying out loud, what the hell is there not to like? It's on the shortlist of best records of the 2000s, people! Geez louise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 17:17 (fifteen years ago) link
ten tons against me and you've goneI put your favorite records onand sit aroundit spins aroundand you're around againstruck dumb while drugs run at how high reedscue every memory at half-speedsjust like....charles, hold-me-downsI'm-coming soundscut crap, who's filling shoes like these anymore?past clumsy crushes beneath Thrill Pierhopes pinned to poses honed in men's room mirrorsa sophomore at Brownshe worked Lost & FoundI put your face on her all yearfrom five rows of photos when you wroteof posed you, dressed blue, a backyard boatsigned at the bottom with this quote:(#4 North Shore) a cape may addressyour new one I guess'all's well in hell and all here's hoping'she sends kissessome signed 'with Love, Beth oooooo xxxxx'she sends kissesour oldest jokesome signed 3 sixesour shore town knockdown sure was funyeah, white trash, what have youI fired replies back gun by gunpast Seven Wrecks I read your four answers: 1. your move 2. I'm tres involved 3. move on 4. love, BethI walk it downthis tourist town'just thought I'd' callsjust friendsshe sends kissesand all at once back doors blow openshe sends.... in envelopes stamped w/ 'Hope & Hearts' - ripped right openshe sends...but I'm corrupt - I wrote back good luck
― DUDE, I DON'T LOSE (call all destroyer), Friday, 12 June 2009 20:43 (fourteen years ago) link
from the above lyrics, the following line stands out for me as incredible:
"hopes pinned to poses honed in men's room mirrors"
such a great observation, expressed with a great deal of poetic poise.
― charlie h, Monday, 17 January 2011 10:29 (thirteen years ago) link
I still don't get it.
http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/the-wrens-meadowlands-round-14-toms-selection/
At what point does its brilliance reveal itself?
― yugi ex, Monday, 19 September 2011 21:41 (twelve years ago) link
it took me at least 5 listenings spread throughout the course of a month before i even began to consider coming back to individual songs.
they have their strong moments, but the lyrics in "happy" make me cringecringeCRINGE despite being my favorite song of theirs. and i spent too much of my disowned teenage years listening to nu-metal that that ~voice~ has always struck me as the kind you'd hear opening for Staind that sometimes i turn it down on the bus just in case anyone is actually critical enough to judge the squibbles emitting from my headphones
― Hullo, I'm Jon Moss (kelpolaris), Tuesday, 20 September 2011 01:55 (twelve years ago) link
I like the album a great deal but it's not by any means an easy listen.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 20 September 2011 02:01 (twelve years ago) link
Apparently the new record's done, partially spurred on by a near-death experience. They signed a new deal a few weeks back.
http://wrens.com/25th-year-wrap-up_and_record_is_wrapped
― Simon H., Friday, 5 December 2014 17:13 (nine years ago) link
Neat. Scary circumstances though, yikes.
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 17:28 (nine years ago) link
do we know which wren is writing there?
― call all destroyer, Friday, 5 December 2014 17:58 (nine years ago) link
I assume it's Kevin?
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 18:07 (nine years ago) link
I was assuming Charles?
― Simon H., Friday, 5 December 2014 18:07 (nine years ago) link
I'll put in $5 on Kevin
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 18:08 (nine years ago) link
some of the other recent posts are written by charles for sure
― call all destroyer, Friday, 5 December 2014 18:09 (nine years ago) link
Given their luck, maybe they all got cepsis.
― Simon H., Friday, 5 December 2014 18:16 (nine years ago) link
that'd be charles
― the portentous pepper (govern yourself accordingly), Friday, 5 December 2014 19:13 (nine years ago) link
Dammit!
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 19:18 (nine years ago) link
The Meadowlands is probably in my top ten all time records. I almost dread anticipating this new record. Yet can't wait all the same.
― a pleasant little psychedelic detour in the elevator (Amory Blaine), Sunday, 7 December 2014 23:44 (nine years ago) link
Alright, looks like it reeeeaaaaally is done this time (the album)? I just happened to randomly google them to see what the latest is...
http://www.wrens.com/it-was-five-years-ago-yesterday
― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Saturday, 5 September 2015 22:24 (eight years ago) link
aw
http://www.musictimes.com/articles/68199/20160321/wrens-frontman-charles-bissell-shares-cancer-diagnosis-news-facebook.htm
― dc, Tuesday, 22 March 2016 19:49 (eight years ago) link
just the worst news
― thom yorke state of mind (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 22 March 2016 20:05 (eight years ago) link
hopefully it's not dire. he's so self-effacing that it's hard to really tell.
― dc, Tuesday, 22 March 2016 20:48 (eight years ago) link
Yup, it was 2017. Sigh.
― Evan, Saturday, 16 September 2023 14:10 (six months ago) link
there are two versions of "three types of reading ambiguity" that he previously released in 2015 and they're both relatively close to this, though one is two minutes longer and the other is a minute longer. both have a bunch of kalimba overdubs that aren't on this one at the very least. the final version is going to have kevin's bridge cut out though (it's "hold on" on the aeon station album) and i think he mentioned scrapping some of the verses at some point? he also released an instrumental of "at irish exit" in 2016 and he's clearly swapped a lot of the guitar parts there compared to this one. there were other fragments of songs that he posted on soundcloud after bits and pieces got cut from the album (a scrapped bridge from "and it's all guns & arrows" among other things) but i can't track those down now.
also worth comparing the "crescent"/"as i've known" here to the version from 2010/2011 - he's added a ton of overdubs since then, including some great new parts, but it's also so much denser
― ufo, Saturday, 16 September 2023 14:23 (six months ago) link
ufo thanks for all this including the insight - but I gotta know - where did the leak come from and how do you know it was the version as of 2014 specifically?
― Evan, Friday, 22 September 2023 14:03 (six months ago) link
i don't have much insight at all! i saw it mentioned on hipinion (lol) and found it on soulseek but idk where it came from or whether it really is a 2014-era version of the album (that's just what someone claimed there). the tags do say 2014 and that would seem to make sense with the other versions of some of these songs we've heard but that's very hard to say with any real certainty or anything
― ufo, Friday, 22 September 2023 23:02 (six months ago) link
charles posted about his mental health over the past years ahead of the big album announcement happening tomorrow/friday
https://www.wrens.com/news-etc/2023/10/5/the-mh-post
― pitted (blue6ave), Friday, 6 October 2023 03:00 (five months ago) link
very glad to hear he's doing better these days
― ufo, Friday, 6 October 2023 03:28 (five months ago) link
https://www.carcolors.net/news/happyannounceday
charles walked away from his sub pop deal to revive absolutely kosher, and is also doing nfts of alt versions of tracks because he's somehow still excited by them
... of course that's how this would end up
but at least the album is on its way at last
― ufo, Friday, 6 October 2023 13:42 (five months ago) link
Very sad the band couldn’t come to terms on a 20th anniversary Meadowlands reissue.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Friday, 6 October 2023 18:21 (five months ago) link
the final "old death" is pretty great except the drums are mixed real weird, they're buried beneath everything else. it totally realises the ambition of the leaked version otherwise, though there are a bunch of structural changes. it's fascinating how different it is, sounds pretty much totally re-recorded. such a shame this isn't the triumphant comeback single of the wrens because it really is a triumph
the alt. version of "and it's all guns and arrows" is lovely too, way better than the leaked version. you can really get a sense of how much time he's spent obsessing over the arrangements if he has alternate versions like this lying around lol, it's quite different to the early version and i wonder what it'll sound like on the album.
"i'll bear" rules too, and that's a track that didn't make the album!
car colors is such a bad band name though, idk if that or aeon station is worse lol
― ufo, Monday, 16 October 2023 22:52 (five months ago) link
congratulations to charles for finally releasing some stuff https://carcolors.bandcamp.com/album/old-death
― pitted (blue6ave), Friday, 17 November 2023 06:38 (four months ago) link
should also add https://www.carcolors.net/news/old-death-released-unto-the-hideous-world
― pitted (blue6ave), Friday, 17 November 2023 06:42 (four months ago) link
here's the three songs, they're very good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X832hhLW-s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbUtB-MFNk8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5Rq3wHp7p4
― ufo, Friday, 17 November 2023 07:18 (four months ago) link
"old death" is so fucking good. i really missed charles's voice
― is he disgruntled adrian? (voodoo chili), Monday, 20 November 2023 22:48 (four months ago) link
does anyone have a non soulseek link to the 2014 demos?
― aggravatedyeti, Friday, 24 November 2023 13:40 (four months ago) link