Algiers -- The Underside of Power

Yeah, not that funny.

ned you posted rick wilson, you should expect some good-natured ribbing

anyway I'm looking forward to the NPR stream or whatever

*scratches chin idly*

algiers set supporting depeche mode from this week up on dime now

Anyway, as I said:

http://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/06/19/533237337/a-band-apart-fractured-fury-algiers

So, I interviewed all four members, as well as Adrian Utley and Ali Chant, Ben Greenberg and Randall Dunn. Three months of intense work at times but I'm sure glad I did it; everyone was a pretty incredible interviewee -- a lot of terrifyingly smart people, in essence -- and this piece could easily have been at least three times as long based on their answers to questions alone.

nice one . gonna read this later.

Will definitely read the article later. That second track is a lot weirder/noisier than the first, which I liked better and which reminded me of The Heavy (who I like, so that's not meant as an insult). Ultimately, though, I know myself - this is the kind of thing I admire a lot, but wind up never actually listening to that much.

Fantastic, Ned. Since I tripped across these guys in your tweets I've had a lot of great listening and thinking.

xpost You might surprise yourself when you hear the whole thing -- but I understand that impulse very well.

Great read Ned! Very cool.

This is my album of the year at this point. And while we're talking about it, I wrote about them for CLRVYNT and also found them to be a super interesting bunch of people. Very smart, very interesting perspectives on... everything really.

http://clrvynt.com/elder-interview/

Ah, sorry, wrong link: http://clrvynt.com/algiers-feature/

Hey we can talk about Elder too.

haha, both great bands!

i really liked their first album & v hyped to see them live for the second time next month. thanks for the long article ned!

You're welcome! I hadn't realized how exhausted it would all make me but I'm kindly weirdly wiped out today.

And now you can all finally hear it and judge for yourselves.

http://smarturl.it/TheUndersideOfPower

Still my album of the year, easy.

This album absolutely rules and I'm definitely looking forward to exploring it further.

Can't help but think that Matt Tong made the right decision.

― The Anti-Climax Blues Band (Turrican), Tuesday, April 25, 2017 6:01 PM (one month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah so this is incredible, *perfect* sequencing

I'm a minute into this and... DAMN

this album really harshly reminds me of the fact that so many bands would benefit from having an actual singer

Ah, got an even better bonus for you -- so when the advances first came out, an incredibly detailed breakdown of all the tracks accompanied it, explaining specific points of inspiration, who wrote what song, what they were thinking of, created by all four bandmembers. (It was a big help for my piece, but also because it essentially answered a lot of my initial questions, and let me pursue other points of discussion.)

Anyway, NPR is now running an edited version of it along with links to all tracks -- this by no means covers everything they discussed but it's a hell of a lot of it.

http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2017/06/23/532904335/algiers-unpacks-its-kaleidscopically-dense-the-underside-of-power-track-by-track

And even more handily, they've included a playlist connecting not only to their own songs but a variety of the performers and songs referenced/sampled:

https://open.spotify.com/user/npr_music/playlist/0ZcfxhLxDzP3PsT0IZZIC9

Go nuts.

haha this is the exact opposite of Vince Staples' "look, just listen to the music and make your own connections to it before you come back to me to ask 'what's it all about, man'" stance

it's still not quite connecting with me on the same level as y'all but this is some impressive stuff. closing track is an especial treat (actually that whole run near the end is great)

between this and vince it's been quite the day for new releases

that one really, really industrial one is where dan will lose his shit the most, i predict

I've been waiting for a week when I can really dedicate myself to this, but my early reaction was this is the album TV on the Radio sometimes hinted at but never delivered. But maybe next time I listen I won't think/hear that at all.

this album really harshly reminds me of the fact that so many bands would benefit from having an actual singer

I don't think this can be stated enough.

Also, I don't know if a side-effect of my reaction to this band/album should be "fuck off forever, Zeal and Ardor" but it's definitely popped into my head a few times.

I'm still quietly amazed that Franklin considers himself -- as he said to me directly! -- much more of a guitarist than a singer. He's definitely not interested in being the perceived frontman/focal point of the group.

Pitchfork putting DJ Khaled and Jeff Tweedy in their "new albums to listen to" roundup but not this has me deeply annoyed

Yeah, I've been wondering if there's any particular reason as to why Pitchfork has basically ignored this album.

this rocks

Yeah, I've been wondering if there's any particular reason as to why Pitchfork has basically ignored this album.

― MarkoP, Friday, June 23, 2017 11:52 AM (forty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it seems very "Pitchfork-y"

it's too good and they're scared

This and Kendrick tied for my favourite LP of 2017 so far.

Well this is a thing isn't it.

okay so this album...

...yes?

it's very good isn't it? i mean, very VERY good. If Ministry circa Psalm 69 had teamed up with the Four Tops and made a super-intelligent protest album, this would be it. The vinyl I got sent the other day comes with some lovely packaging and a free 7" too.

If Ministry circa Psalm 69 sounded even half as good as these guys, I might still be listening to them.

What he said.

his album really harshly reminds me of the fact that so many bands would benefit from having an actual singer

I don't think this can be stated enough.

Also, I don't know if a side-effect of my reaction to this band/album should be "fuck off forever, Zeal and Ardor" but it's definitely popped into my head a few times.

― a butt groove but for feet (DJP), Friday, June 23, 2017 11:16 AM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah he's a great singer

I've been waiting for a week when I can really dedicate myself to this, but my early reaction was this is the album TV on the Radio sometimes hinted at but never delivered. But maybe next time I listen I won't think/hear that at all.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, June 23, 2017 11:06 AM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

also agree w/this, the Young Liars EP (as corny it is to be "their early EP was the best" lol) had a rawness about it that changed as they went on, or honestly maybe it was just those songs stuck with him in a way a lot of their later stuff didn't (with exceptions)

just read Ned's article and the accompanying breakdown of the different tracks. so refreshing to read a piece that concentrates wholly on the creative process

Too kind -- it helped that by listing who all was involved (and since I knew their work to one degree or another) that after I made the initial pitch and it was accepted, I followed up with "I'd really love to talk to everyone who worked on the album too" -- and the editors signed off. After that I was off to the races.

I fucking adore that NPR article, great job. I put off reading it until I familiarised myself with the album a bit, because I didn’t want to have any preconceived expectations before listening. But boy, this piece (and the track-by-track analysis) really does give another dimension to this already complex record. Especially for a person like me—English is not my first language, so it really helped me catch some nuances/references in the lyrics. Thanks.

You're most welcome. Complex is the word, but it's definitely a very immediate release too -- it's an obvious comparison point (so obvious I didn't bring it up in the article in the end, though I batted it back and forth) but in terms of ambition and layering and hooks all at once, there's more than a hint of PE/Bomb Squad circa It Takes a Nation of Millions (not to mention in terms of documenting the wider context of its creation). It's also obviously not the only album since then that's taken that as a cue, but it's a hell of a strong example.

Credit to that (one of those) piece(s) that referenced this, which I had never heard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frKJee1zwS0

This is immense.

It's a big step up from the debut

Hymn for an Average Man feels like Portishead's ideal next direction

Good interview in the Quietus

http://thequietus.com/articles/22709-algiers-interview-the-underside-of-power