Tame Impala - Lonerism

saw them live on saturday, crowd was hectic

i think they're going to get pretty popular over the next year or so - at least as far as indie bands go

i see Pitchfork gave this a 9.0 today. wow, i'm surprised.

Endors Toi is great! The album is very good

but too retro to put it in my best of the year list

This is awesome

i have only heard some of this but the drummer in this group is the bomb, huh. he is like a modern ringo. on seem like we-.

i think kevin parker played everything on the album, so that would be him i guess?

I picked this album up with "Shields" in HMV's 2 for £15 offer today, which I thought was a pretty decent deal. I loved the first album (excellent soundtrack for driving, I found) so I'm looking forward to the new album. I'll report back when I've had the chance to give it a listen.

i like this!

reminds me of a rock band version of manitoba/caribou

i think kevin parker played everything on the album, so that would be him i guess?

yes. and in innerspeaker too

reminds me of a rock band version of manitoba/caribou

OTM

I don't think this is much of an improvement on Innerspeaker, but that's OK b/c both are great.

I do think this is an improvement over the last album, but I can't really articulate my thoughts on why quite yet

I guess the short answer is that the highs are higher, to these ears at least

it's better cause the amount of good songs is higher

i like caribou/manitoba, but i don't get this record. agree that 'elephant' is quite nice however. basically johnny fever otm.

"feels like we only go" is pretty good. the rest I have to listen to more.
I know it's been said a thousand times before but I can't help thinking it's lennon singing new songs when I listen to this. it's a weird feeling... but kinda nice !

I kind of cringe at the Lennon similarities tbh. But I still love this.

Second to last song with the ridic long title is a standout.

OK, I'm totally in love with "feels" now.
and the album is very good. the only tracks I don't like too much so far are the heavy/rock ones ("elephant" and "mind").
the p4k description of the voice is pretty otm : "Jayson Greene described Parker's voice vividly as "like someone trapped John Lennon's vocal take from 'A Day in the Life' in a jar and taught it to sing new songs."

has there been any melody's echo chamber talk? i suppose this is not the place for such.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBaW1RyGUz8

The similarity with Lennon is uncanny, but just get over it I guess? The record sounds nice, though not exactly revelatory.

I find the introduction of early 80s analogue polysynths to be a big distraction for me, I haven't got to the point where they seem integrated into the sound of the record, they are just getting in the way at the moment. But that could just be me.

more than The Beatles, the album reminds me of Todd Rundgren, esp. the wizard, true star record

oh, now i see the remix above..

I too am getting much more Todd than Beatles.

It's taken a bit of effort but this is beginning to sound like album of the year to me...everything I hoped MPP would be but wasn't.

fridmann has destroyed this record

Well I don't think it sounds like the Beatles actually. I like to think it's the recording of jam sessions Lennon did with some members of pink Floyd, during late night/early morning LSD marathons, between the end of 66 and mid 67 !

the sound is too clean and modern to be recorded at 67

imo the swirling rhythmic stuff they do really elevates what in any other context might be a boring set of songs

really into this record anyway

Yah I like that there is almost an Escher-like approach to songwriting. I may be wrong about that though.

I’m really digging this at the moment. I ordered the vinyl yesterday so I’ll be giving it more time soon. I’m kinda surprised because I remember listening to a bit of their debut and not enjoying it at all, finding it too saccharine I think. I’m sure this one isn’t much different in terms of its palate but I chucked it on in the background last week while doing some chores and found myself stopping a few times being wow-ed. Usually I’m on the fence when it comes to anything Dave Fridmann produces (with a few notable exceptions) and this does bear many of his signature sounds but it seems to work here. I just hope it’s not one of these flash in the pan albums that I listen to obsessively for a week then never touch again.

Is it me or the vocals are too low in the mix ? sometimes you can barely hear them (and most of the times I have absolutely no idea what he's saying !)

it's part of the charm i think.
great record.

yeah, it's good and it's not a big problem but I think it would have been better if the vocals had been mixed a tiny bit higher. for instance, in the "elephant" remix above, the vocals are clearer and it makes me like the song more than the original !

it's retromania, but fuck this is really good.

just bought this. 2nd "indie" album I've bought in 15 years!

anyone have any opinions on the Melody's Echo Chamber album, which I guess was produced by Parker...?

Re-listening to it on headphones to prepare for their show tomorrow in Chicago. The album did take me a few weeks to get into, but I dig it. I was worried about Fridmann's heavy-handed clipped drum sound, but I think he was relatively restrained and did not do the same old thing. The Amazing with members of Dungen are opening.

The drum sound is a major reason why it caught my attention. Flaming Lips are one of the few other post 2000 rock acts I've liked. Most "modern" rock I've heard put aside heavy drums and bass, god only knows why.

anyone have any opinions on the Melody's Echo Chamber album,

it's vastly better than tame impala

Hmm, sounds like a must hear then, considering how much I love the Tame Impala.

love this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wycjnCCgUes

yeah that's great

MEC = cross between Tame Impala and Lush to my ears, w maybe hints of Best Coast in there, but I haven't listened to it all the way through yet or anything. I don't think you'd hate it jvc to be honest

Tweet from Michael Azzerad: "I've been going to rock concerts for 40 years, and last night's Tame Impala show was the first time I've ever seen applause for a drum solo."

so far, I find MEC a bit meh.
there's tame impala's production and all the arrangements and tricks but it's a bit... shallow. I don't really like the voice and no song has grabbed me yet.
maybe it will grow...

I do like the voice, so maybe that's part of the reason

after several spinning:
Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control
and
Be Above It
are the best songs on the record imo

regarding MEC : I don't particularly like her voice, I don't particularly like the songs... and I hate the kids/french/silly stuffs (the lyrics in french are unbearable) !

as for Lonerism, "nothing that has happened" is great (but the instrumental jam is a bit long), also "apocalypse" and "keep on lying"... and of course, "feels".

arew Tame Impala and The Scientists the most popular indie acts that came out of Perth?

Bon Scott grew up in Freo iirc

Are these guys worth seeing live? They came through town a year or so back and I heard bad things. I could definitely see how they would be dodgy and not so good live. However, I'd be curious to see if they've stepped it up since they're getting more high profile. This stuff could be really interesting live if done right.

Saw them a couple of months ago and I thought it was fine. I was afraid of something like 2 hours of psychedelic nonsense. But yes not everyone liked it.

feels like we only go backwards is a jam

this reminds me of my youth. this is 70s prog-rock. i used to love that kind of stuff. but somehow i can't really take symphonic rock serious anymore.

A Tampa lime.

This has got me going from suspicion to "hmm maybe" to, wow this is really great. Elephant hooked me in - sort of a cross between T-Rex and Canned Heat. But 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards' and the accompanying video has hooked me. There are little moments in that track, particularly the harmony where the guys sings 'Every part of me says go ahead' that I keep wanting to skip back to.

The more I hear these guys the more I feel like they're really a seventies power pop band buried under a bunch of modern psychedelic gloss. That's not a bad thing! But half the time when I hear them I think they're Shoes or something.

dog latin, I had a similar experience. I went from occasionally streaming it on Spotify to buying the album and listening to it at least once daily for the last three weeks. It's great. "Apocalypse Dreams" is my jam at the moment. "Elephant" is great too, and "Keep on Lying."

So, this is basically Olivia Tremor Control for people born after Nevermind came out, mixed with a healthy dollop of Dungen, right?

Not hating on the retromania (been diggin' Unknown Mortal Orchestra a ton, and, err, Uncle Acid), but...I dunno, guys. Gonna give it a second spin. They've certainly done their psychedelic homework, I'll give 'em that.

what's the link with "Nevermind" ?
anyway, I haven't listened to this in a long time... and I don't think I will anytime soon.
basically this album is: a good song + other tracks, for me now.

Two good songs at least - Elephant and FLWOGB. Yes it's retro. It does fit into some sort of continuum that includes Dungen, OTC, White Denim, maybe a bit of Ariel Pink without the cloyingness. I like them when they rock out a bit too. Any "tsk retro" dismissals are pretty lame IMO. I was very suspicious at first, but the guy knows his way around a song when he can be bothered. Pity Lonerism suffers from having far too many aimless drifty bits.

See also "Apocalypse Dreams" - great song.

I was using Nevermind as a barometer of age, as in the people who will dig this most are the people for whom indie music began with, I dunno, Beach House or something. No aesthetic connection implied.

I listened to this back to front the other day and, for the most part, it has held up really well. Fridmann's mixing saves it from being just another retro psych record and takes it to the next level.

I think this may be a case where this has crossed over to a more general public thus making some record nerds angry.

So, this is basically Olivia Tremor Control for people born after Nevermind came out, mixed with a healthy dollop of Dungen, right?

i can see the OTC connection (i'm a fan of OTC) for sure, but tame impala, especially on lonerism, dials down the longish/experimental passages between the poppier stuff.

THERE ALREADY WAS A BAND CALLED POND

Loved this album a year ago (ya'll crazy that there are only one or two good songs on it). Burned out on it, though.

n/a otm

had that phase too (xpost), but i returned to it lately again. most of it is pretty fucking awesome.
Be Above It and Nothing.. are the highlights imo

listened to the whole album last night driving home from a friend's house. i think the drumming is what puts this over the top and separates it from other vaguely retro psych acts.

i think the Rundgren's Wizard/star vibe in the production is what makes it special.

There's something quite strange about the drums:
you can actually feel they were recorded separately from the rest.

also, sometime i'm daydreaming of a good metal cover to Be Above it. someone gotta do it.

that would be sweet. my jam on this album is "why won't they talk to me?" i'd be open to hearing all different sorts of cover versions of that song.

heard this today in the hair salon. good stuff!

upthread matt dc said: "It's kind of a slavish recreation of a sound but they're pretty good at it"

just curious - what sound is that?

The tame impala sound

eh, I think about this album now and then because I work right in front of the garden on the cover !

IFLWOGB and Elephant still pop up on shuffle now and again and I always enjoy them. Don't much care for the rest though.

update !

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127354883@N08/15328528021/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127354883@N08/15328528021/lightbox/

I was listening to some songs again (while taking the pictures) and IFLWOGB is still great.
I can't shake the impression of hearing Lennon, though.
His lost jam session with Pink floyd circa 1967 !

Nowhere near as sonically inventive or as expansive as '67 Floyd. I like them a lot, though. So glad they've eschewed the gigantic Fender reverb on the vox that so many bands use to mitigate lame singing these days. #getoffmylawn

i hate that effect. just sounds so lazy.

the new pond record 'man it feels like space again' is very entertaining. (the TA offshoot, not the pond from portland.)

new single is amazing. a big step up imo

I attempted to get a thread going here: Tame Impala - Forthcoming 3rd LP

I feel bad about taking a dump in your thread. The last third of the new track is actually pretty okay.

Wasn't sure where to post this, but how was that Melody's Echo Chamber EP so slept on this year? It's gorgeous.

more than The Beatles, the album reminds me of Todd Rundgren, esp. the wizard, true star record

― nostormo, Friday, October 19, 2012 6:05 PM (five years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^this. the one-man studio jams to the drum sound to the warmly layered analog keys & synths & vocals in places). the instrumentation/arrangements/production makes me think of "Tic Tic Tic, It Wears Off" or the psych-soul of "When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Boulevard". the bass playing is real cool and it really nails that 70s studio aesthetic. none of the songs stick out too much except "Elephant. kind of a horror glam rock song, more like T-Rex. it's incredible but sounds like it's from a totally different album lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6CZTDCb7g4

I am relistening to this today and Keep On Lying really stood out before Elephant. I agree with the person who said that the fuzzy synths are the best thing about this album. Whatever the exact combination of influences is, the sound is great.