black midi - anyone been tracking these?

So I've been playing the album by Black Country, New Road, a seven piece from London that apparently came up in the same scene as black midi. There is a lot of Slint and American Football worship going on, but I think I love it? Definitely not something I'd have expected from Ninja Tune in 2021.

knew they had to get brought up eventually and this is about the right place to do it

I fucking loathe them with every fibre of my being, also they have the worst lyrics I've ever heard

https://genius.com/Black-country-new-road-algorithm-lyrics

other than that, how was the play mrs. lincoln?

Ha, I'll be honest, I had it on in the background while I worked and mostly had the lyrics tuned out. There seems to be nothing original about their approach at all, but the Slint / American Football sound they nail hits some nostalgic spot for me.

I don't know, clearly very divisive overall. They've got the the #2 album of the year over at RYM (I know, I know, but it's useful to see what others think) but it has a ton of 1-star reviews mixed in with all the 5-star ones.

Okay that particular song isn't on the album, I def would have caught those lyrics!

Like, there's something superficially redolent of good stuff in the sound, but imo they have neither songwriting skill nor ensemble chemistry to render that guy's vocals and lyrics anything other than the main focus, and my god, my *god*

Yeah, I was really hoping to like the BCNR album based on what I'd read. There's definitely some cool stuff going on instrumentally, and I feel like I could even appreciate the lyrics (which namecheck both black midi and Slint iirc) if they weren't sung like that, but man, those vocals...are not my kind of vocals.

this is like prog los campesinos

dug what i've heard of this album, but wasn't paying close attention. imago's disapproval is a good sign that i'll probably wind up liking it.

Lol his vibe is kind of 'if Matty Healy was an unbearable post-rock charlatan'

lol imago, the Pfork review made me think of you:

The 22-year-old wordsmith commands the studio while enunciating lyrics with a pompous-prefect quiver. Hearing their recordings for the first time, you might oscillate between irritation and intrigue. You might cringe, then cringe harder, almost enjoying it this time. It may feel like catching a sworn enemy at an open-mic night and realizing, aghast, that he is destined for brilliance.

He is 22, I would cut him some slack.

I'm glad they have a new album coming out, but...I think they may have accidentally become Primus.

https://bmblackmidi.bandcamp.com/album/cavalcade

Finally heard Black Country, New Road and somehow the vocals were worse than I was expecting, fucking intolerable

like it makes you question the entire concept of singing in music

thank you

new bm preview track considerably more promising than their debut. would go as far as to say it's great

also just discovered Squid, who appear to be bad in similar ways to BCNR

yeah they straight up sounds like primus

Digging the new black midi! Getting some major Hausu Mountain vibes from that cover art.

I def can see bc,nr not being everyone's thing, but considering some of the shit that gets tons of ilm love the vox aren't THAT bad.

New single is kind of amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tJ4ISRpl-Q

ok this album is going to rule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4wgnx_Phrw

I like their fusion-y side, and even if I'm not particularly into their vocals, I'd rather have this than a jazz singer

first part has a real hyper almost Contortions vibe

i get why he has this new vocal style, but i kinda miss when he sang like larry blackmon from cameo

They kind of all sing, I assumed that was a different Black Midi kid

ah good point, probably

I just remember that from seeing them live (oh yeah, the short one with the Gang of Four look does the talking, that other guitarist does more of the singing, etc)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Won7s8xJYZM

here it is

still not really into their thing but much better than their debut

oh it's not even a close comparison

Heard this one about a dozen times so far, front-to-back, and it is an assured, creative improvement on Schlagenheim (which was a captivating debut). The recent KEXP set was going to be hard to top for me, but the studio versions of Slow and Dethroned do just that.... and Ascending Forth is a great closer. Can't wait to see them live once again.

there are more people talking about the new Frost album than this on ILM, lmao

always nice when a debut shows promise and the followup realizes it in a more satisfying way, this is v v good, and FUN which is always a plus

xp lol I wish

HERE'S your prog 3.0 lmao

eh, I'd say it's worth a 3.5

lol

man this first song sounds like Mahavishnu…

I just realized that black midi, new road exists and is exactly what you think it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpegm3h79y0

"Hogwash and Balderdash" == "Jerry Was A Racecar Driver"

Black midi
Esp like the name, the drummer, the new hella/primus sounding song ...Their recent kexp session.

all smooth bonkers

— Stephen malkmus (@dronecoma) May 28, 2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0FypjnAZEk

ok their taylor swift cover rules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOT1fOlOExY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIHKnPizo5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yV6f6UKtR8

they're good at this covers thing wow

this album is pretty frustrating to me because i love it when they're not being a little too skronky

I wish you had all continued talking about Nicole Lizée, who needs rock music.

lol

i can post more of the youtube gimmick genre that they got their band name from if you want, it's kinda fascinating though gimmicky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzXDQZzQq6w

as i said originally i'd love to see someone do stuff with the ideas of this stuff that really explores the textural possibilities, instead of just seeing "ok how many midi notes can we have"

all smooth bonkers

must just be me but the hushed tones and buzz around this band makes no sense in my brain - every time I dig in and try to check it out I want it to stop after about 90 seconds -seems like a bunch of jazz school grads trying to be cool