Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

ive been listening to the pre release tracks as a mini album of sorts, after ignoring the stuff for nearly all of 2021. flows nicely, tho nearly every track they’ve released since “little things” has been better than that one

i think that “spud infinity” is my favorite, big old weird america feeling going on

I'm extremely ready for this album to be of varying quality, like all their albums ;)

is there a big thief backlash? i don't want to meet these people irl

The little woodwind & gtr jam at the end of "No Reason" is such hot sh1t... I just love it

exact same sitch as sean gramophone for me.

there will be a backlash, but it'll be dwarfed by the "album of the year / america's best band" hype, i bet.

I thought the backlash happened already (that NYT editor who called them "emperor's new clothes" or whatever)

I wish you could do backlashes where you were like 'yeah they're pretty good but there's quite a few bands I prefer', but the Discourse doesn't like that sort of equivocation, they either have to be The Best or Overrated Nonsense

I will say this: much as I've enjoyed the other preview songs so far, I just don't get what's good about Little Things at all

I wish you could do backlashes where you were like 'yeah they're pretty good but there's quite a few bands I prefer',

thats not a backlash that's you.

I just don't get what's good about Little Things at all

It sounds like listening to your Walkman on a warm summer night in 1989, watching the stars come out...

good description, i think i like it now!

it's this wild shifting shimmering thing & their playing is incredible, really highlights their chemistry as a band. it's also just really distinct & fresh, what else out there actually sounds like this? it's interesting because it's really one of their least singer-songwritery tunes, much more of a free-flowing jam where the vocals weave in and out in the same way as the lead guitar. has anyone figured out what's actually going on with the time signature yet

i wasn't on board with them (i'd heard capacity and wasn't moved though i had enjoyed abysskiss a little) until i was blown away by u.f.o.f. and returning to capacity since then made it really open up for me.

Through it all, the band held on to a firm internal sense of self. “We all have our own Big Thief-i-ness barometers,” says Krivchenia. “We did some stuff that, listening back to it, we were like, ‘Wow, people would flip if they heard this… but it’s not Big Thief-y.'”

Isn't this what b-sides are for?

Good point!

Looking forward to "Big Thief Gets Weird."

In the meantime I'm guessing this next one will be their strongest record by far.

reports from those who've got the album early are that the studio version of "dragon" is a mellow folk tune like adrianne's solo version and not the awesome rock version they've been playing live

hope the rock version is the jp bonus track then

I heard some folks' preorders are arriving already

With this album, Big Thief stand to become my second-favourite Wilco, ahead of Califone

You mentioned that in another thread; I don’t really hear a Wilco connection

I think Time Escaping is when I realised they could pull off the 'art Americana' thing; it reminded me of Art Of Almost a bit. Here's to them overriding their Big Thiefiness barometers more in future

they're better at being "the american radiohead" than wilco ever were

folk version of the title track is absolutely gorgeous but i still hope we get a studio version of the live version

one of the prettiest things they've ever done

yeah this is clearly their best album but also surprisingly cohesive, it's not really a wildly eclectic double album like it seemed like it was shaping up to be. it's all firmly within the folk/country/dreamy rock vibe they'd established even if they get creative with the arrangements. i get why they didn't put the rock "dragon" on here, it would have been quite a departure from that vibe.

read that they recorded the title track at each of their recording locations and might release several of the versions down the road

yeah there's another version coming on the japanese release as a bonus track and if that's not the live version then they're the sort of band where it seems totally possible for it to show up on the second album from these sessions they've indicated is also on the way.

on first listen my favourite of the unreleased tracks are the title track & "flower of blood" which is vaguely cocteau twins-esque

How’s “Red Moon”?

it's good, sounds pretty much like the live version except with additional fiddle, like most of the other country tracks

the album is really so good all the way through, like "sparrow" is probably the weakest track and it's still better in context

lenker is the best songwriter of her generation

"wake me up to drive" is almost a magnetic fields song

lenker is the best songwriter of her generation

― ufo, Monday, 7 February 2022 12:15 (thirty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

while this may be a decent shout, a reminder that a certain ms natalie mering is going to be releasing something this year ;)

nonetheless i am excited to hear this in full, hopefully it'll be arresting all the way through

lenker is the best songwriter of her generation

don't disagree with that, really, but give me Liz Stokes.

Does anyone know why that colored vinyl version on bandcamp is called "eco-friendly"? Is it made out of root beer flavored hard candy or something?

i'd guess it's made from recycled PVC?

i ordered it but now i'm worried that if it's made out of root beer flavored candy i will lick all the grooves away :(

just preordered the regular black vinyl on bandcamp, been trying to avoid this thread and hearing the pre-release tracks

i find that, for me, the way albums are rolled out now with 4-5 advanced tracks trickling out over a few months tends to diminish my enjoyment for whatever reasons

really excited to hear this

all BIG SHOUT OUT TO BIG THIEF FOR SANE VINYL pricing - $25 for a double LP, not bad at all

I don't like this thing where they prerelease like 10 different tracks then make you wait a long ass time for the whole record. IDGI

Well the time flew, we’re 4 days away now…!

the 6 month rollout releasing nearly half of it as singles beforehand was a bit much yeah

insane record

ppl keep comparing it to the white album, but imo it is a thousand percent more tusk

yeah absolutely

if this was their white album then it'd lean into the eclecticism more and have a bunch of goofy throwaways but it's great and cohesive pretty much the whole way through

I love the idea of releasing so many advance tracks

what's it gonna taaaaake
what's it gonna taaaaake
what's it gonna taaaaake

to free
the ce-
lestial
body

"spud infinity" is so basement tapes in the best way

Does anyone know why that colored vinyl version on bandcamp is called "eco-friendly"? Is it made out of root beer flavored hard candy or something?

― Evan, Monday, February 7, 2022 12:19 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Eco Friendly LP is pressed on recycled vinyl and will be a completely random color makeup. Albums will ship around release, February 11, 2022.

https://shopusa.4ad.com/dragon-new-warm-mountain-i-believe-in-you

https://uproxx.com/indie/big-thief-dragon-new-warm-mountain-i-believe-in-you-review/

The New Big Thief Album Is A Masterpiece
Steven Hyden

They recorded 45 songs in all, 20 of which are included on their staggering new double album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. This may strike some as hyperbole but I don’t care because it’s true: As strong as the other Big Thief albums are, they feel like rough drafts for what they’ve finally achieved here. I’ve had a promo of Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You for a few months, and it already feels like the kind of album that’s destined to be handed down from generation to generation, like Automatic For The People or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It’s music I know I will reach for on epic road trips or in the midst of profound grief. An all-timer. A masterpiece. They really did it this time.

I lol'd a little at those other names, only b/c it gives the impression that an album needs to have at least 15 syllables in its title to be passed down from generation to generation.