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October 23, 2006

Listen To The New Damien Rice - 9

We don't need artists to entirely reinvent themselves between albums, but when someone does their "thing" as well as Damien did the "bleeding-heart simple-strum singer-songwriter" on O, a retread would be a reject. "9 Crimes" had us worried, but thankfully, 9 is peppered with enough glimpses at growth to avoid being a disappointment. Hear it at AOL.

Some tracks are boring ("Animals Were Gone") and some are carbon copies of O tunes (try "Blower's Daughter" analogue "Elephant," using that sparse-strumming then cello then wailing then full band recipe to perfection), but songs like the rootsy "Dogs" and the upbeat folk of "Coconut Skin" show Rice is at least cognizant of his stale strum patterns. "Grey Room" is already one word toward the Anatomy soundtrack on which it'll inevitably appear, and "Accidental Babies" is gonna make a ton of self-pitying lonely-hearts give in to streams of tears and ill-advised hours with old photo albums -- but that's what the core Damien Rice fan really wants, isn't it?

Best of all there's some rock groove going on, with the "Fuck you!"s of "Rootless Tree" and the slippery slink of "Me, My Yoke And I." All in all, enough to please the old fans while allaying fears that he's a one trick pony.

And we're still waiting for a Lisa Hannigan solo effort.

Posted at 3:41 PM
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18 Comments

is it me or the aol site doesnt really play the music?

Posted by: potatojunkie at 10/23/06 3:58 PM | Reply
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*And we're still waiting for a Lisa Hannigan solo effort.*

Yes.

Posted by: raw at 10/23/06 4:07 PM | Reply
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I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Damien was playing "Elephant" throughout 2003-04, and was calling it "The Blower's Daughter Part 2". Hence the similarity.

Posted by: Steve at 10/23/06 4:16 PM | Reply
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if anyone gets around to making mp3s of this one, please send me an e-mail at standonlytofall | AT | gmail | DOT | com.

Oh, and yeah, "elephant" used to be known as "blowers daughter part II" and damien's been playing it for some time now

Posted by: standonlytofall at 10/23/06 4:50 PM | Reply
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fuck u stereogum, you obviously don't get damien rice and all your compliments are just hidden backhanded critiques, just like your previous post about the stunning first track previewed here.

Posted by: telex at 10/23/06 4:59 PM | Reply
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Telex, I like Damien Rice as much as you apparently do. But that first track was far from "stunning." It was, in fact, quite boring -it felt like a b-side from O. Except that I heard the b-sides from O, and they were better than "9 Crimes."

I guess stereogum just doesn't "get" damien rice and his poetry. Maybe your journal, volume 34, would like to hear about this. Careful - I hear teardrops are hard to write on - wouldn't want to tear the paper of your heart, would we?

Seriously. That was a more positive review than you're going to hear anywhere else, I guarantee it. The album really isn't great - sooner or later, I'm fully expecting Dam-o and Amos Lee to announce their union as the same artist.

Posted by: DH at 10/23/06 5:14 PM | Reply
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eh, i like o.

but too much damien rice makes me want to die a little on the inside.

something about listening to too many singer/songwriters makes me feel this way.
guess that means i just prefer bands.

Posted by: Crystal at 10/23/06 5:36 PM | Reply
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Can ANYONE listen to the music. or does everyone get the same stupid Error as I do

"Sorry, There was a problem retrieving all the data for this content"

Or somepeople get 'install Mozilla activeX plugin'
when you install that...it still doesn't work -O_

Could someone make a recording of this album and put it on megaupload or something?.

if you're busy. please take THE NEW 'THE WHO' ALBUM!!!!! with you aswell.

kind regards.

Frank

Posted by: Frank at 10/23/06 7:33 PM | Reply
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ummm try explorer...SUCKKKAAA.

Posted by: frankie's alter ego at 10/23/06 11:43 PM | Reply
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I have to say that most have these songs have been doing the rounds live for a long long time.

I have a radio recording of 9 lives from back in 2001, and remember him playing me, my yoke and I at his very first (irish) album launch in my (very small) hometown. And again in London, last time I saw him live in 2003.

He might be growing, but it's more a case of theming his releases - also, it could be a case of him having more money to do put the extra production in for more powerful tracks...

Posted by: Sean at 10/24/06 6:05 AM | Reply
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ummm try explorer...SUCKKKAAA.


I get the same bloody thing in I.E

Posted by: Frank at 10/24/06 7:41 AM | Reply
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anyone have the MP3s of the new cd?

Posted by: Brandon at 10/24/06 11:04 AM | Reply
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u just compared amos lee to damien rice? ha, what?!?! I like amos lee, he's nice to listen to, has some cool tunes, but he's not even in the same league of songwriters as damo.
Want to place bets on some of those reviews by the way, i've read a few already and they're great for the new album...douchebag

Posted by: Telex at 10/24/06 5:26 PM | Reply
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http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=46294FCC606267CF

For the people that also hate AOL and their stupid ERROR.

You can thank me by uploading the new THE WHO cd here.
would apreciate that.

Posted by: SomeonegotTHEWHO?! at 10/24/06 9:40 PM | Reply
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I can't get it to work in Firefox 1.5, but it's running on IE 6.0 just fine. F***ing AOL.

Yeah, Elephant's "This has got to die . . . " might as well be the "And so it is" intro to "Blower's".

Oooo, everyone's favorite bald bleeding heart liberal vegan midget Moby is on AOL too!!! AND PAUL STANLEY? I may have to pull an all-nighter.

Posted by: jeff in NY at 10/25/06 11:27 PM | Reply
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Huge thanks Telex - all the other versions I've found have been banned by now. Same problem with the Who album, but best place to watch is http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3693&page=630 - you need to be a member to access (free) but worth doing as many new albums appear early...

Posted by: Dan at 10/29/06 9:28 AM | Reply
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Elephant was originally called "The Blowers Daughter Part 2", silly.

Posted by: Elisa at 11/05/06 11:18 PM | Reply
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went to the aol site mentioned to AOL site that was indicated where to "listen", never was able to hear a thing..seems most messages at this site say the same thing..why does this site advertise them when it doesnt work for most people?

Posted by: lloyd at 11/10/06 2:03 AM | Reply
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