Hercules and Love Affair

The idea of Antony singing over house music just feels wrong to me but I'm willing to be convinced otherwise. Will give this a listen this evening.

there is most definitely nothing wrong about blind, especially the frankie knuckles remix... its oh so right

i think frankie knuckles should remix the whole album

The persistence of this thread keeps making me give this album another try, but, really, it does nothing for me. Most bafflingly overrated ILM faves since... Junior Boys?

heh, telling

just broke my 'no hype machine at work' rule in order to scope these dudes out

'Hercules Theme' sits very well with Escort's 'Starlight'

Well predictably I loves it all, esp. the Goldfrapp remix. No mix of 'Blind' really stands out for me, all good.

think maybe the constant triggering of "it's a blue" could've instead been a selection of cut up lines, bordering on Todd Edwards style. just doing that to the opening line only feels almost...lazy? still great tho

there's a h&la remix of kathy diamond floating around certain secret filesharing sites

it's kind of dull

Most bafflingly overrated ILM faves

what's so baffling about people loving something that sounds like arthur russell, disco, and house with pop vocals. plus DFA seal of approval. seems tailor made for ILM.

(p.s. not being cynical here, it's a great record! probably the best thing I've heard so far this year)

"Blind" is stuck in my head like crazy

This really is fantastic, except for "True False, Fake Real" - I could easily live without that. Just too many cartoony sound effects for me.

someone give me the tracklist ... my version is missing some

also the jr boys comparison makes no sense, save that for folks talking about that boring ass kelley polar

should be "boring-ass" not "boring ass"

I have to give this another listen myself. Love the Goldfrapp remix and the production on the s/t but Antony's voice just kills all things dead for me.
And, no, I don't hear Arthur Russell in Antony's warble.

i dont think anyone compared them as vocalists

Then what's the AR some folks are hearing in this?

i imagine that its going for a similar art-disco vibe, probably overstated comparison but it makes sense as a touchpoint

i imagine that what folks are hearing is it's going for a similar...

I've only heard Blind, but as far as I can tell it's just disco punk with added Antony...this stuff has been done ad infinitum over the last few years.

Did I hear a shit mix of it or something?

I guess it's the fact that it is Antony who's singing over the top, which is what sets this apart, Ronan.

"Hercules Theme" is the shit

tbh i don't get very much 'punk' from "Blind" at all ...? i guess unless you mean how they generally master/engineer the bass+drums on DFA records in gen.

im not the one to defend that tho, i much prefer the knuckles mix

Ha, why do you find Kelley Polar boring, deej?

i dunno, after reading that thread i expected to like it! even Vahid who's normally overly discerning about shit like that couched his crit of the first one in "i really like it but..." He sounded like me talking about Dilla's "Donuts." And when Andy K likes "boring" music I'm usually w/ it too (lol grown folx R&B) but this was just really bland

I think it just struck me as functionally useless, emotionally one-dimensional - vocals are pretty plain and too restrained, production unexciting. i dunno just real hard to get excited about. I think w/ music like this i prefer it to be unabashedly pop like phoenix or whatever, and this was repetitive/hypnotic like track-y dance music but w/out the actual rhythmic drive to keep it grounded. too airy and ethereal, not enough physicality

Are you talking about the first album or the second?

both really

I like the first one better, but in either case, it definitely hits a lot of my pleasure centers: vocal harmonies and strings in the context of rhythmic, synth-based dance music is pretty much unbeatable for me.

yeah not a huge amount of punk I guess, I suppose I mean nu-disco then, disco that sounds post-dfa or post-lindstrom.

I was at a party at the weekend and it dawned on me when some guys played 3 or 4 hours of that stuff how fucking BORING it is.

I've seen Prins Thomas or Jonnie from Optimo play amazing sets of slow motion stuff, and it's quite eclectic and weird, but an entire set of nu-disco just sounds like a warmup DJ to me.

And that's what I get from "Blind" too, just kind of a weak song/track, with neither of the force of either.

I haven't actually thought "Oh I don't like this" in any meaningful way about anything in ages either, so apologies to rain on the party. Highly possible it's just me and my listening habits.

i feel you ronan.

i dont think yr alone in getting a kind of trip hop vibe from a lot of that stuff

yeah for definite, it's definitely some kind of post-internet music version of chillout or triphop...just kind of like "party music" too but in the worst possible way.

I don't know if Hercules and Love Affair is more interesting than that overall, I think I was hoping for something kind of emotionally affecting like old Chicago house and it doesn't really grab me in that way.

If i were you i'd check out the other tracks before passing judgement, def - this record has range. there are some tracks im tossing on initial judgement but its got some joints

Yeah I will do for sure. When is it actually out?

march 10 I think

what is the tracklist everyone's looking at btw? i got some version w/ 10 tracks...

i've got one w/ 10 too

i think it's the real one

so no classique

i thought classique was a separate release

1. Time Will
2. Hercules' Theme
3. You Belong
4. Athene
5. Blind
6. Iris
7. Easy
8. This Is My Love
9. Raise Me Up
10. True False, Fake Real

an entire set of nu-disco just sounds like a warmup DJ to me.

so true!

but "blind" when played in a club (and preferably the "club mix") just sounds like it has come from outer space. the vocal makes me feel how i imagine it would be to be on opium. so warm inside!

the knuckles mix to me sounds like BAD funky / handbag house. hated that sound then, hate it now. mr. knuckles can do so much better.

A couple tracks aside (inc. the Hercules Club Mix of Blind), the album sounds (from a production standpoint, at least) like a slightly "edgier" version of a Naked Music release.

Okay I am listening to the Hercules Club Mix now, it seems a lot more interesting and not as horrible and middy as the original mix, I can imagine enjoying it in a club since there's actually some space in there.

that original mix is wretched tho, it sounds like the Scissor Sisters.

ronan do you mean the original "blind" or the frankie knuckles mix? i find the original sort of boring--one of the weaker on the album i think--but the fk remix is way is lush and pretty without losing any sharpness or bounce; its totally danceable and interesting and perfect for antony

xpost haha ok

jaymc's tracklist is the same thing I've got

hehe, yep! I really can't believe how hackneyed the music in the original is.

now liveblog 3: the frankie knuckles mix

after 10 seconds of this I've decided a cup of tea would be more pleasing.

Listening to the whole album after a week of living (and liking a lot) with "Blind," it sounds ok to pretty good. I wish Frankie Knuckles had done the whole thing.

sometimes i wonder if you like big dumb hooks, ronan. it's really okay if you don't, but to call 'em hackneyed makes me say duh! really loudly at computer screen.