seriously, this dude's voice is fucking incredible
― they are either militarists (ugh) or kangaroos (?) (DJP), Tuesday, 4 June 2013 15:23 (ten years ago) link
Yes and yes again.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 4 June 2013 15:34 (ten years ago) link
he's just really good at making 70s singer songwriter stuff he should stick to that
He is but thus my Nilsson-in-the-80s comparison point I made upthread. He's smart enough to know his metier AND to extend it.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 4 June 2013 15:35 (ten years ago) link
I ordered this through Rough Trade MONTHS ago, when it was not yet released in the US. Now it is, it's everywhere, but I still haven't gotten anything from RT. Sucks, because I really want to buy it (yeah, I'm one of those crazy people you read about that still buys these things) but I know the day I do, there will be a package from Rough Trade in my door.
― henry s, Tuesday, 4 June 2013 16:58 (ten years ago) link
fortunately you can listen to it on Spotify while you wait for your copy to show up
― they are either militarists (ugh) or kangaroos (?) (DJP), Tuesday, 4 June 2013 17:05 (ten years ago) link
i've bought this but its also on grooveshart (if your office will not permit spotify).
― give life back to old guys (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 4 June 2013 17:27 (ten years ago) link
Holy shit is he ever great live. There wasn't a single track that didn't hit harder than the studio version.
― Simon H., Thursday, 4 July 2013 13:19 (ten years ago) link
fyi this album is pretty much flawless
― big black nemesis, Puya chilensis (DJP), Friday, 5 July 2013 21:12 (ten years ago) link
I like his singing on Queen of Denmark! It sounds so loose and fun. The couple times I've sat down with this one his voice sounds too mannered and cleaned up. Produced. Doesn't fit the material. Maybe I'll fall in love with it on next listen
― flamboyant goon tie included, Friday, 5 July 2013 22:14 (ten years ago) link
Paraphrasing a bit I just recalled from the live show: after taking a moment to mourn the advance of anti-gay laws in Russia, he mentions that he's just written a song about Putin entitled "Smug Cunt." "That's not a joke. And I don't care if he sprinkles polonium on my Pop Tarts." Pretty sure he launched into "Glacier" after that. <3 <3
― Simon H., Saturday, 6 July 2013 06:19 (ten years ago) link
When this is good it is very good indeed.
― djh, Saturday, 7 December 2013 23:58 (ten years ago) link
I bought the miniLP because Beth Orton is singing one of the tracks.
Hm, interesting
― Mark G, Sunday, 8 December 2013 23:35 (ten years ago) link
I wonder if Biggi from Gus Gus is being invited to produce lots of albums now? (Perhaps he already did so?)
― djh, Tuesday, 24 December 2013 18:39 (ten years ago) link
saw this guy on letterman. was the song he performed representative? b/c i'm still not sure it wasn't a joke. it was horrible, listless, dull as shit. maybe his lyrical approach in general reveals what he was trying to do here but out of context it was almost a parody of mopey singer-songwriter lyrics.
― ★feminist parties i have attended (amateurist), Thursday, 9 January 2014 05:39 (ten years ago) link
Reminds me a bit of nilsson
― Sufjan Grafton, Thursday, 9 January 2014 06:30 (ten years ago) link
the slice that is a parody of mopey singer songwriters anyway
The stilted songwriting works some of the time, particularly on 'Glacier' which I find affecting partly because he sings things like 'And creating spectacular landscapes. And nourishing the ground. With precious minerals and other stuff." Something very bathetic about that.
― An embarrassing doorman and garbage man (dog latin), Thursday, 9 January 2014 09:59 (ten years ago) link
Self-conscious self-parody is a big part of his deal.
― Tim F, Thursday, 9 January 2014 11:27 (ten years ago) link
smdh at how anyone could miss the humour in GMF
― Deafening silence (DL), Thursday, 9 January 2014 11:40 (ten years ago) link
One of the great things about this album is how it's a monomanaical breakup record written from the perspective of someone who knows full well that they're becoming so boring that their friends have started avoiding them.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 9 January 2014 11:44 (ten years ago) link
(And yet still can't stop banging on about it)
^^^^
I think a lot of the time he chooses deliberately ridiculous lyrics as a way of getting across that extreme emotions are often ridiculous (because overblown, or because corny, or because cliched, or because incoherent) though still sincerely felt.
― Tim F, Thursday, 9 January 2014 12:07 (ten years ago) link
yep
― An embarrassing doorman and garbage man (dog latin), Thursday, 9 January 2014 12:09 (ten years ago) link
Matt OTM.
― Deafening silence (DL), Thursday, 9 January 2014 15:21 (ten years ago) link
I can find some of the (same) lyrics deeply irritating and some close to genius, depending on my mood.
I must admit I don't like the "... and other stuff" because it feels incomplete or tossed off. I sometimes get that same feeling with the swearing in a kind of some of it is powerful *quality swearing* and other times it is a bit of a waste - other words might have said much more.
― djh, Thursday, 9 January 2014 17:56 (ten years ago) link
He's said in interviews that he hones the lyrics for ages so it's not tossed off. It's a deliberate stylistic choice - to run against the grain of a sweeping melody with awkward or abrasive language. Doesn't mean you have to like it, obviously. I like "other stuff" and love him in general but I sometimes wish he'd gone for a more conventionally elegant rhyme. I looked up the interview I did with him where I mentioned that line and he said: "I have to say, not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I’m particularly pleased with that line, 'And other stuff'. Because of how it functions in that song, and it works."
And then later: "I guess the first time that I noticed it was maybe reading Henry Miller. It was, 'Oh, this is just like people talk', and that’s interesting. Just how people talk is interesting. And that combination, I guess that’s what I’m fascinated with, the combination of literature speak and how we actually speak, and then profanity, because profanity … you know, I would get in big trouble for using a swearword when I was a child. I’d get slapped in the face. But, let’s face it: those words can’t be replaced by anything else. I mean, I could have said, 'I hate this bloody town' but that’s not what we would say, you know."
― Deafening silence (DL), Thursday, 9 January 2014 21:35 (ten years ago) link
Nommed for a Brit. What a turn-up.
― mike t-diva, Thursday, 9 January 2014 21:42 (ten years ago) link
I agree that some of the swearing is needed and works. And - particularly as one of the few things I know about Grant is his language skills - other times I just wish he'd flicked through his thesaurus or racked his brains for a different word.
(I *do* like the album a lot.)
― djh, Thursday, 9 January 2014 21:48 (ten years ago) link
Xpost As an amateur songwriter I fucking love that approach, and stuff like that
― An embarrassing doorman and garbage man (dog latin), Thursday, 9 January 2014 21:50 (ten years ago) link
"and other stuff" is great, it undercuts the pomposity of the lyrics beforehand.
Similarly, I also love the bit in "Sigourney Weaver" where he starts singing about feeling like Winona Ryder in "Dracula": "and she couldn't get that accent right / and neither could that other guy".
― Tim F, Thursday, 9 January 2014 22:05 (ten years ago) link
Reading this thread for the first time.
can't think of many comparisons that really work.
Am I the only one who thought Brandan Perry when I first heard him? Their voices are incredibly similar imo. That's a compliment of course. The song "Pale Green Ghosts" even sounds like late-period Dead Can Dance.
― LeRooLeRoo, Thursday, 9 January 2014 23:46 (ten years ago) link
Grant's turn on a Piano Magic album was a pretty good DCD impersonation
I have a hard time with his solo records, and I had a hard time with the last Czars album (with it's god awful autotune) but sometimes it feels like it really works.
― akm, Friday, 10 January 2014 02:30 (ten years ago) link
xp First time I heard Sigourney Weaver, knowing nothing about Grant's sense of humour, I laughed out loud. It felt liberating, like I didn't know you could have a lyric like that with a voice like that. If Malkmus or Mark E Smith sang that line it would be funny but expected - Grant doesn't sing like someone funny and I find that dissonance exhilirating.
― Deafening silence (DL), Friday, 10 January 2014 08:57 (ten years ago) link
New video for Glacier is extraordinary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QLrMK9qBtYY
― Deafening silence (DL), Thursday, 16 January 2014 10:09 (ten years ago) link
http://youtu.be/QLrMK9qBtYY
― Deafening silence (DL), Thursday, 16 January 2014 10:10 (ten years ago) link
Re: Sigourney Weaver... I wondered why the absurd lyrics dont detract from the beauty of the song and I'd guess that it helps add this sense of joy (that I think is present in the music and vocals) along with the melancholy, making it all richer for it.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 16 January 2014 17:54 (ten years ago) link
xpost fantastic video
― An embarrassing doorman and garbage man (dog latin), Friday, 17 January 2014 01:09 (ten years ago) link
v cool video, also super relieved there was no Dallas Buyers Club content at the end there.
― Simon H., Friday, 17 January 2014 02:17 (ten years ago) link
I didn't know you could have a lyric like that with a voice like that. If Malkmus or Mark E Smith sang that line it would be funny but expected - Grant doesn't sing like someone funny and I find that dissonance exhilirating.
Don't get it -- how is what this guy is doing different from what e.g. Neil Hannon does?
(Don't get me wrong, I love Neil Hannon and think there should be more Neil Hannons. Neil Hannae?)
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Sunday, 9 March 2014 20:50 (ten years ago) link
It took me way too long to love this guy.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 9 March 2014 20:50 (ten years ago) link
He sings on the new Hercules and Love Affair album.
― djh, Sunday, 9 March 2014 20:56 (ten years ago) link
Neil Hannon is often jokey, never funny
― continually topping myself (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 9 March 2014 21:41 (ten years ago) link
I am at his London gig right now (husband duty) and am wondering why nearly every song kicks off with dreary 'Imagine' piano chords. Dude, change it up!
― MaresNest, Sunday, 9 March 2014 22:23 (ten years ago) link
wondering why this is getting the big push now - saw an advert on the tube earlier. good album but thought it was a bit more underground - dude's presumably gonna be everywhere now
― You cannot interrupt his tea stirring because it is his holy trick (imago), Sunday, 9 March 2014 22:36 (ten years ago) link
I hope he ascends to being the most famous and celebrated
― continually topping myself (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 9 March 2014 23:58 (ten years ago) link
given how GMF keeps popping into my consciousness at the oddest times, he may already be part of the way there
― You cannot interrupt his tea stirring because it is his holy trick (imago), Monday, 10 March 2014 00:01 (ten years ago) link
GAH no I'm not jealous oh no
http://bellaunion.com/2014/04/john-grant-announces-november-uk-orchestral-tour/
Just over a year since the release of his critically-lauded second album Pale Green Ghosts, and with numerous Best Album of 2013 accolades and a Brit Award nomination to his name, JOHN GRANT has announced news of one of his most exciting ventures yet.This November will see the former Czars frontman embark upon a seven-date tour accompanied by the Royal Northern Sinfonia in which John’s celebrated catalogue will be reworked and reimagined with a sumptuous orchestral setting, alongside the world premiere of some especially written new songs. John Grant’s creativity, unique songwriting and wonderful vocals combined with thirty four musicians promises a one-off musical experience. The tour will be orchestrated by Fiona Brice who has provided arrangements for the the likes of Roy Harper, Vashti Bunyan, Anna Calvi, Midlake, Placebo, as well as John himself.
This November will see the former Czars frontman embark upon a seven-date tour accompanied by the Royal Northern Sinfonia in which John’s celebrated catalogue will be reworked and reimagined with a sumptuous orchestral setting, alongside the world premiere of some especially written new songs. John Grant’s creativity, unique songwriting and wonderful vocals combined with thirty four musicians promises a one-off musical experience. The tour will be orchestrated by Fiona Brice who has provided arrangements for the the likes of Roy Harper, Vashti Bunyan, Anna Calvi, Midlake, Placebo, as well as John himself.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 April 2014 16:54 (nine years ago) link
'Outer Space' plays over a good scene in The Skeleton Twins
― GhostTunes on my Pono (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 10 October 2014 18:22 (nine years ago) link
He played at the Royal Festival Hall last night with an orchestra backing him and it was fucking incredible, virtually flawless, like some early Scott Walker shit with added gigantic synths and self-loathing. I've seen him live before but this was something else, never quite appreciated how brilliantly he can pull off a sudden register jump before.
― Matt DC, Monday, 1 December 2014 13:07 (nine years ago) link
the 2013 album I most regret not discovering in time. His tunes on the Hercules & Love Affair record are good too.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 1 December 2014 14:26 (nine years ago) link
oooh cate le bon produced this new one...fingers crossed it breaks his streak of weirdly lousy albums
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 11:42 (three years ago) link
"the only boy" is also on this. it sounds really nice. the lyrics are a bit much. it probably shouldn't be ten minutes long.
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 12:24 (three years ago) link
I thought this revive was going to be related to the Facebook ad that uses "Black Belt":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ekg56Ji56o
― Dana Jel Pey (DJP), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:35 (three years ago) link
beard man gets paid
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:47 (three years ago) link
I was gonna mention it in the PSB/Tag Team thread.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 13:48 (three years ago) link
Ha I was going to mention it, too
― Dana Jel Pey (DJP), Wednesday, 24 March 2021 14:14 (three years ago) link
I finally am catching up on the albums after Pale Green Ghosts and just started Love Is Magic and, well... there's pretty much no way the live version of "Metamorphosis" could be worse
― Dana Jel Pey (DJP), Thursday, 25 March 2021 13:37 (three years ago) link
he's obviously a brilliant guy and a great singer but my suspicion is he needs just the right collaborators to shield him from his worst instincts...this is why I'm semi hopeful about the new one
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Thursday, 25 March 2021 13:59 (three years ago) link
I think Colonel Mustard did it in the billiard room / Yeah yeah
I might have to peace out on this
― Dana Jel Pey (DJP), Thursday, 25 March 2021 14:05 (three years ago) link
Have posted this on the Gus Gus thread but worth putting here, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3mwdn0rYjA
― djh, Sunday, 23 May 2021 19:05 (two years ago) link