Beauty Pill - Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are

SOUNDS great, the songs aren't really clicking for me yet but it sounds like a many-listen type deal

yeah the tunes can take some time to sneak up on you, "For Pretend" and "Near Miss Stories" and "Afrikaner Barista" are the hookiest ones for me. the production definitely is kind of the big thing about it, though, the dolby mixes were so ridiculous i wish that more people had an opportunity to hear them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAF1eELjxzM

Really glad this finally came out - seemed for a long time like he'd never put anything out again.

I wish I knew how to appreciate the production stuff more - I bought the Cigarette Girl reissue vinyl and it came with a download of some file format that doesn't seem to show up in my iTunes, which is the precise point where the audio fetish stuff becomes kind of a hassle for me.

But yes - excited to hear this. Smart Went Crazy were deeply underrated, I always thought.

love this record after one listen

i can't believe how right this sounds on first listen, as stated above.

http://clatl.com/cribnotes/archives/2015/03/28/thor-harris-of-swans-weighs-in-on-beauty-pill-describes-things-as-they-are

he's right the production is very early-90s tchad blake style, the whole effect is a prettified/melodic soul coughing at times.

Kind of hit and miss song-wise

I'm a fan of violinist/keyboardist/vocalist Jean Cook who has also been performing with Jon Langford of the Mekons for a bit.

the highs on this album are absolutely incredible

it feels like the album indie could have been

'ann the word', 'steven and tiwonge' and 'dog with rabbit in mouth, unharmed' (so far) are all just…monstrous

glad you dig it!

is that a second otm inside a week lol

thanks for repping this and your vice writeup. really glad i became aware of this band

no prob! have you ever heard Smart Went Crazy's Con Art? much more guitar-driven than Beauty Pill but still very creative in its arrangements.

nope but now i'm gonna have to

just finishing this album now

second 'ann the word' is…too much, my god, it's amazing

weirdly the album's first two tracks weren't so immediate but i persisted and the rest has been staggering

of course now i've listened to the first two tracks again and yeah ok the whole album is amazing

oh this is the best album ever, was trying to remember if there was a thread while I was listening to it today

the highs on this album are absolutely incredible

Yep, but then unfortunately there are a few other more self-indulgent cuts that lose me

the shorter version of the album that was displayed as a museum installation in 2012 and started with "Afrikaner Barista" and ended with "Near Miss Stories" probably would've been a little more perfect but i love the long woolly version of the album in and of itself.

dang this is something

my favorite song is "when cornered" which is probably the closest this record gets to post-hardcore

but also when i was talking about this album the other day i figured out i associated it with scritti politti (in the fractured composition production but also generally soundwise it kinda reminds me of anomie and bonhomie) and prefab sprout (idk chad clark's gentle deadpan delivery kinda reminds me of paddy) so this record's kind of a weird singularity for me

https://octave.is/beautypill/jump-they-say

link not working for me

it was a temporary upload

Bleh. Had emailed myself the link when Maura(?) posted it on Twitter as I'm only now in a position to listen to anything ... coughcoughYSIcough? :/

How did I not listen to this album before now. It is the best music ever.

Was trying to work out why this album made me feel like 2001. Then I realised it was because it's like The Dismemberment Plan's Change meets Bows' Cassidy meets The Beta Band's The Hot Shots II.

v on-point comparisons. think beauty pill is more intricate still

Well it's like it takes the intricacy of all of them and sacrifices nothing in the blending.

yes!

Imago-Tim F accord of 2016

Dp you like Game Theory / The Loud Family? I feel like that is spiritually similar to this if not sonically.

Will check it/them out! fwiw we accorded on quite a few things last year, and the KING albun is my record of 2016 so far...

So as not to derail this excellent Beauty Pill thread I will post something represent elsewhere.

Was trying to work out why this album made me feel like 2001. Then I realised it was because it's like The Dismemberment Plan's Change meets Bows' Cassidy meets The Beta Band's The Hot Shots II.

― Tim F, Wednesday, February 17, 2016 5:17 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you might already realize this but Chad Clark produced most of the Dismemberment Plan's albums!

I read that after I had made the connection in my head and felt ashamed of my brain for being so obvious.

lol

was a huge fan of smart went crazy's 'con art' and beauty pill's 'cigarrette girl from the future' EP, but their first album was such a bore i just forgot about them. it felt like they were aiming to that sort of dave fridmann empty(?) grandeur that basically defined his production work on mercury rev/flaming lips albums and ended up with something bloated and ultimately tuneless.

this album is amazing.

i think The Unsustainable Lifestyle is a really good and fascinating and misunderstood album, especially lyrically, but yeah, it's not on the same level as Con Art or Describes

^^ tbh, i never listened to the album since then, and at the time i didn't really gave it that much of a chance.

I discovered Describes in late February and have been kicking my own ass ever since: the album I wished I'd heard in 2015.

http://www.beautypill.com/schedule/

WED. APRIL 26, 2017 | ARTO LINDSAY & BEAUTY PILL | ONE LONGFELLOW SQUARE | PORTLAND, ME $18

THURS. APRIL 27, 2017 | ARTO LINDSAY & BEAUTY PILL | ONCE BALLROOM | SOMERVILLE, MA $20

FRI. APRIL 28, 2017 | ARTO LINDSAY & BEAUTY PILL | BELL HOUSE | BROOKLYN, NY $20

SAT. APRIL 29, 2017 | ARTO LINDSAY & BEAUTY PILL | BLACK CAT | WASHINGTON, DC $20

SUN. APRIL 30, 2017 | ARTO LINDSAY & BEAUTY PILL | BOOT & SADDLE | PHILADELPHIA, PA $20

Plus he wrote liner notes for the new Arto Lindsay album coming out in APril

I've had this back in rotation the past month and it is sooo good

it really really holds up, last five tracks are an especially amazing run

think 'dog with rabbit in mouth, unharmed' is my pick these days

listening to king krule's new album, reflecting on how if it weren't rubbish it might sound a bit like this album

On Tuesday in a post shared w/ the public on Facebook, Jean Cook said she is leaving Beauty Pill. Her last live gig with them is tonight at a special $49 ticket benefit with panel discussion thing at the Howard Theatre in DC. She notes she has deep love and respect for the generosity and commitment of the group’s members.

My brother sent me this album for my birthday this year. My god, it's incredible. I've been humming "Ann the Word," "For Pretend," and "Steven and Tiwonge" nonstop since I heard them.

:)

very good album, hope they do another one at some pont

.... why did i imagine this whole time that you already loved this record djp

So glad I got to see them record parts of this at Artisphere in Arlington, then saw the installation, then finally heard the finished thing - it's an amazing record that clearly took a long time to gestate, and it all paid off. By the sounds of it their old label can get fucked, although hopefully it'll be back up on streaming soon. (IIRC Chad has the rights, finally, and it's tied up in some sort of legal issue at the moment.)

XP: probably because it is an extremely DJP album

Amazing album

this is the best album ever made

there's a new EP coming soon, they just put it on bandcamp if you want to join the preordering fun. preview track is lovely

one of my favorite prince quotes is a heavily featured lyric in that song

I was pretty sure I instantly knew which lyric you meant, but had to look it up and I'm glad I did.

Here's the Bandcamp link: https://beautypill.bandcamp.com/album/please-advise

this is the best album ever made

― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, November 4, 2019 6:25 AM (seven months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Upsetting news from yesterday that Chad Clark was hospitalized due to problems with his artificial heart

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cey6-WhOiAZ/

This tweet from today is encouraging

Hello, good people. I am alive another day!

I am in a very good hospital with very smart doctors. I have health insurance.

Some other good news: I am at the very top of the heart transplant list.

My current heart is a ticking time bomb, but I remain optimistic I will survive.

— Beauty Pill (@beautypill) June 15, 2022

Wow

He just posted via Bandcamp that a new heart has been found and he's going into surgery in a few hours.

And good news this morning.

Friends: Chad @beautypill is out of surgery. New ❤️ is working well. He will be sedated to recover until tomorrow.

I will continue to update as I know more. Thank you for all of your love, support, and good vibes.

— erin m nelson (@erinbalancing) June 17, 2022

this is the best album ever made

― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, November 4, 2019 6:25 AM (seven months ago) bookmarkflaglink

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, June 5, 2020 4:38 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink