Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

I fuck w that Manassass record. It is remarkably solid for a Stills-helmed double lp (but tbh I can’t really speak to much of his non-CSN(Y) or Buffalo Springfield work)

This album still smacks and at the weekend I took my guitar into the garden and played passable renditions of 'Spud Infinity' and 'Red Moon' to my long suffering neighbours

years later, like an epitaph
we read it and we cry

After a very busy and amazing weekend, last night I had a very intense dream about Promise Is A Pendulum

Heh. Awakening six minutes ago, I had "No Reason" and its flute part in my head.

last night i drank a beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd7n2U6V9o0

excellent radio session, including a very energetic version of "red moon and the highest-quality recording of the rock "dragon" so far

whoa that version of dragon is excellent

yeah it's really something

that little breakdown near the end of "Red Moon" is awesome! :)

here's a question that may hurt, a little. the snake's poison. what are the WORST TWO songs?

if i had to boot two, i would first boot Dried Roses. then, with much hesitation, i would show Sparrow to the door. i would apologize to them both

sparrow is fine but sooooo slooooow

some repetition, too. is that one of your two? are you supporting me at this difficult conversation at the door? because i gotta say, Sparrow, i do like the 'she has the poison inside her, she talks to snakes and they guide her' stuff a lot

I've grown to really like/appreciate "Sparrow," though I guess it's the song I would miss the least if it had been omitted

https://i.imgur.com/SVwCvBi.png
https://i.imgur.com/HiRE0EZ.png

i do think that "sparrow" is impressive lyrically, and idk if i would voluntarily cut anything on the album, but i do have to be in a specific mood to really appreciate that song

I love “Sparrow” but it’s my One Song Too Many on this record. Just brings the whole record to a grinding halt. I tend to skip.

But I really liked it as a single (or whatever that prerelease was), it’s just misplaced here.

does anyone else have a second? i feel naked in calling out Dried Roses

Pry "Sparrow" from my cold dead hands

what would you offer in its place. WE DEMAND BLOOD

It hurts to say, but I would offer a whole "Flower of Blood." It's cool we don't actually have to make these choices tho!

(I think the trip-hopiness of that song doesn't gel with the general vibes of the album as well as most other songs)

I guess "Dried Roses," why not. Glad not to have to lose any, though (as J. said)!

Karl, shall we sing

whatsa gonna taaaaaaaaaaa

eeeeeeeeeeee

looked like you needed a third there

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91MDCAJgN9L._SX425_.jpg

(sorry)

AL’s IG Story right now is her asking if anyone in Brooklyn has a 3-string capo she can borrow (“it specifically has to be a 3-string, I need it to play certain songs”)—with the addendum: “Oh, and I need it tonight!”

#capogate

I woke up this morning to a notification that my Discogs order had shipped.

“What Discogs ord— oh shiiiiiiiit, it appears I drunkenly and very unwisely bought a copy of Adrianne’s Stages of the Sun on Thursday night.”

DM for bootleg copies, I guess. I might as well spread the love around this joint, since I paid more for this than I’ve ever paid for a musical object before.

https://bigthief.bandcamp.com/track/dragon-new-warm-mountain-i-believe-in-you-demo

they released a demo of the title track for a charity comp

LOL I did the same thing with Stages of the Sun.

It's... not great.

Flew to Seattle to see them last night with my daughters. Great show!

A few notes:

- Sound was generally very good, but the first few songs were very boomy in the low end - mostly the kick drum which was way too hot & echoey for the space & the vibe (it mixed in well when they rocked out, but overbore in the quiet moments)

- Adrianne & James both started the show in hoodies. It was cute. A few songs in, Adrianne took hers off to reveal a short blonde do.

- James has terrible drummer posture! I feel like if he doesn’t sit up straighter he’s going to do himself an injury.

- So many guitar changes! I think they’re revelling in being big enough to have guitar techs/roadies to do them that way.

- They played 5-6 songs I didn’t recognize, I think new ones.

- They played a really cool chuggy, almost metalesque version of “DNWMIBIY”. On paper it shouldn’t work, but it really did.

- Adrianne took a bunch of solos & Buck was very subdued. I was getting a bit of a vibe of maybe she’s crowding him out a bit. And unlike every single one of his solos, most of hers kind of killed the momentum of each song they were in. Partly because she stopped playing rhythm when she went for it and Buck just kind of stood there instead of picking up the rhythm part. Just let the guitarist be the guitarist, Adrianne! You’re already the star. Her solo in “Not” got the loudest applause of the night, though, possibly including the final round calling for an encore.

- One very short encore consisting only of a wonderful arrangement of “Mary” and I forget which other song.

- Last song of the regular set was a crazy fast version of “Spud Infinity” featuring Adrianne’s brother (I think?) on Jew’s harp (including a solo!)

Oh! Also I got a “Spud Infinity” long-sleeve shirt from the merch table.

the chicago gig last week was really special-- lenker had to sit the whole set due to a "head-banging" incident on the bus so we pretty much got an acoustic set. lots of songs that they hadn't rehearsed so we go to see them figure out the arrangements in realtime. it was really something else

some highlights include a straight up 4-on-the-floor house beat in the middle of dragon and lenker figuring out how to sing simulation swarm over the red moon chords and rocking the fuck out.

bummer to hear about the drum sound at the seattle gig cuz my friend and i both agreed that the chicago gig had the best live drum sound we've ever heard

just saw them in portland, opener was having some troubles and the band played a short set with no encore so idk if there was some behind the scenes drama or…? set was like 2/3rds new stuff, vibe was kinda weird, sound was pretty awful but that venue is notorious for bad sound. I had a great time but def curious what was up!

Roseland, right? What a lousy place to see this band.

yeah exactly, it’s a dump

it is ... although I have to say, I saw Ghost there and it fucking ruled! :)

- So many guitar changes! I think they’re revelling in being big enough to have guitar techs/roadies to do them that way.

― war mice (hardcore dilettante), Tuesday, May 3, 2022 7:33 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Would have guessed this was a function of all the alternate tunings she uses?

Seeing them next week, not sure what to expect (given these reports)…

DC show a couple weeks ago ruled. A lot of parents with their children there — enough that my wife and I both noted it anyway.

She nailed the solo on simulation swarm at the DC show. I do agree that Buck was less in the forefront than he was when i saw them a few years ago

some off vibes at the saint paul show, chatter that she's maybe had an injury of some kind? i hope they're all doing okay. scuttlebutt on their reddit is that this tour has been seriously weird all around

catching up on that live recording up thread. love how that "red moon" goes so motown towards the end. and yeah, the souped-out "dragon" is incredible.

Anyone at the L.A. show tonight? I’ll be there tmrrw.

I saw them last night at the LA show. pretty rad. Insane guitar solo from Adrienne in there. closed with 'cattails'

unreleased song 'stay' sounds incredible...unusually conventional for them

Don't know if I've said it already, but the bit of the album that hits me in the stomach EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. without fail, is on "Promise Is A Pendulum" when she sings:

"I'm not saying I'm not jealous, or scared any more, I'm just saying..."

..and it's that strangely unresolved dangling line. It fucks with me. They're really good at doing this. They do it at the end of "Change" as well. It's counter-intuitive to just tail off like that, but it's dramatically effective.

The only song I can think of that pulls it off so effectively (for me) and also leaves me emotional is on Robert Palmer's "Johnny & Mary" where at one point he just sings "Runnin' around...." just before an instrumental section. It destroys me!

oof

Hey this really sucks @bigthiefmusic pic.twitter.com/9g026B64Pa

— Olivia Katbi 🌹 (@oliviakatbi) June 3, 2022

i think that's awesome to explain the situation. Israelis /= their government