Okkervil River

...perfect for every fall, it turns out. I picked up the 2xLP early this year; the fourth side features a sidelong field recording (including a patch of rain), which is a nice alternative to the "fourth side etching" most bands are doing these days.

3 weeks out and i'm still listening to "Mary On a Wave" on repeat, this is the best song of his career

― ciderpress, Wednesday, September 28, 2016 12:05 PM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

still stand by this

not sure if I'd go that far but it is a blissful thing

couldn't agree more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiOJBGjnV04

hmmmmmmm

while it's sonically completely different from Away, which imo was a masterpiece, I think the songwriting seems on point

dang i figured Away was gonna be a Final Album for the OR bandname

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ7bMUsOu7w

Not exactly my taste but oh well, in many ways finding a new direction is a sign of life - long live Okkervil River

dad rock is cool in 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG3YIoW_2zs

I liked Away a lot, and this is better than anything on Away

ooof I completely disagree, this is diminishing returns on the "sad tales of showbiz" Sheff vein of songwriting (despite the autobiographical addition)

this is better than anything on Away

https://i.imgur.com/sSgATjF.gif

it's got a good melody though

Sheff's "inspirations" playlist for this record features "Let's Go Out Tonight" which is not a huge surprise but unfortunately there's just a little too much going on for full-on Blue Nile worship

his is diminishing returns on the "sad tales of showbiz" Sheff vein of songwriting

Agree that he'd run that muse into the ground. But he finds the emotional core of each of these stories, and I am very there for those turns of phrase

i like the crispness and glossiness of the production. i wish that carried through to... the other two songs i've heard from this

though on revisit i like what's going on in "pulled up the ribbon" too. "don't move back to la" is borrrrrrring in a way that away never was

can't imagine he'll ever top Away for me though i think i thought the same thing about Black Sheep Boy a decade earlier and then my tastes changed

I appreciate that Sheff is both restless and prolific even if the results have been wildly variable in quality for the last few records. That's a lot more than I can say for basically all the other big indie singer-songwriters who came up around the same time.

also I had no idea they covered "Candle on the Water" for the nu-Pete's Dragon OST. That must have been a nice little check.

So this compelled me to listen to the album, and there are times when it feels like a worthwhile sequel to Away but it loses the plot something awful in its second half. Lots of wild swings; tries to do way too much and breaks the spell, which I guess is the story of post-Stage Names Okkervil River. It's gonna be worth excavating though; there are a few knockout songs ("Love Somebody" and esp "Pulled Up The Ribbon") and even some of the long winded songs have these little moments of bliss scattered throughout them.

this is my favorite of the singles so far, love the dizzy melancholy vibe

diminishing returns on the "sad tales of showbiz"
otm but imo the autobiographical addition really lifts it

Simon, where's that inspiration playlist?

https://open.spotify.com/user/okkervilriver/playlist/74vXlXmcChs5sJ5Z8azPNk?si=6XKjKURHQImbFIZUZ1JUjA

nice!

Also, someone asked me to make a representative CD80 and it's really tough! This is the best I could manage

https://open.spotify.com/user/suckerblues/playlist/4i8gfO0gt8LEFXnFlkpBpY?si=vTvBNF7mTXiC32Rfvxc_aw

Can't think of another band that can turn me both on and off as hard as OR

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/19/602258666/first-listen-okkervil-river-in-the-rainbow-rain

I just realized both this record and the new Manics explicitly reference Caitlin Thomas

nice coincidence, i listened to away yesterday during a very long commute. that could be a favorite album of all time for me in a few years. i can think of very few records that approach it in mood and ambition (the great american music club records come to mind and not much else).
i also kinda think van morrison should cover at least half of it

Halfway through the new one and it's gonna take a bunch of listens to sort out whether the sonic pivot works or not. the Blue Nile influence is definitely palpable and "Love Somebody" even evokes the 1975 a bit, but I don't think I like Sheff writing in this deliberately broader lyrical mode. "Pulled up the Ribbon" has grown on me a lot though, their best single in a long time.

Album definitely feels like work in away that Away never did. Also a classic case of "songs don't justify their length" syndrome

yeah it's a really weird record. I liked a few tracks on first contact but like with Silver Gymnasium Sheff seems to be chasing down a set of ideas that don't play to his strengths

otm and otm

can one of you journalists call Will and ask how he cleared the Kinks riff?

Sheff's "inspirations" playlist for this record features "Let's Go Out Tonight" which is not a huge surprise but unfortunately there's just a little too much going on for full-on Blue Nile worship

― Simon H., Tuesday, April 17, 2018 11:29 AM (two days ago

*clicks furiously*

which Kinks riff?

k3vin the BN influence is only really felt on maybe 3-4 tracks, fair warning

haha I am an okkervil fan at baseline so it's not strictly necessary, was just making an in character post

The 'Waterloo Sunset' riff is in the new song.

xp

"Famous Tracheotomies" is great, not least because while it references "Waterloo Sunset" structurally it most resembles "Celluloid Heroes."

https://www.reddit.com/r/indieheads/comments/8hov84/hi_im_will_sheff_frontperson_for_the_band/

I've been so out of the Okkervil loop for the last ten+ years that I didn't even know so many albums had come out, but I decided to give the latest one a spin and it's quite nice. Never thought I'd say that in 2018.

The new one has its moments but, as discussed upthread, Away is a bit of a secret masterpiece.

I really like "love somebody"

^ Yeah, that's the one that really stuck out for me.

great song, he talks a bit about it here https://uproxx.com/music/okkervil-river-interview-in-the-rainbow-rain-love-somebody-video/

album's a grower too, Sheff's such a humanist (reminds me of DFW, less mathematically rational, more spiritual)

yeah he seems like a good dude for sure

New monthly live series and request tour this summer, one album per month. I actually really appreciate that it's a digital-only affair (there are too many boutique vinyl releases these days), even if the whole thing is a little steep for me.

First release has a gorgeous, glacial "For Real"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuI3rA0Odls

apropos of nothing, "The President's Dead" plays *very* differently these days. Try it!