"Away" is fucking beautiful. Please give it a chance. "Call Yourself Renee" and "Judey on a Street" are some of my favorite Okk songs, but I think the whole albu is relatively seamless. It's a different vibe but it hits in all the right places with its varied, evocative arrangements and intense, introspective atmosphere.
Aw, I listened to this the first time this morning and thought it was pretty charming. I think the lyrics are the obvious draw here and maybe a bit stronger than they're given credit for here, but otherwise this assessment is probably right. Feels like a softhearted flip side to Star Wars, which I liked a lot when it came out and which I've come to love. I enjoyed listening to this but I found myself waiting for the hair-raising rush I get listening to "Random Name Generator," "You Satellite" or "Magnetized."
Revisited Hummingbird this morning and was very pleased with how well it's held up. "Mt. Washington" to "Colombia" to "Bowery" is a killer closing stretch.
I'm glad it does something for you and I agree that going all the way back to Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See, Sheff has been staggeringly consistent. It just moves me the least out of all his albums. I find it a touch overwrought and kinda distant. I do love the hell out of a lot of tracks on there though, like "Piratess" and "Rider." It's not bad by any means, it's just my least favorite!
Stacked week here and I obviously haven't listened to everything yet but I gotta speak up about Okkervil River's "Away." This band was a significant part of my college experience and I feel more personally connected to their music than most things. Sheff's writing is consistently intelligent, disarming and intense without sacrificing a certain kind of poetic uplift that I rarely find executed so honestly. The band may have had some lesser work over the years (I Am Very Far is what I'm thinking of) but their discography has at least two all out classics in Black Sheep Boy and The Stage Names, and I've gotta say that as much as I enjoy The Silver Gymnasium I think this new record is his best since those two. Okk was always something of a rotating cast so I don't really have a problem with there being an all new lineup. What gets me is how strikingly beautiful and evocative the instrumentation is, not to mention some seriously absorbing, affecting songwriting and lyricism. I've only given "Away" a few spins but damn, I didn't expect it to floor me like it has. It's one of the most powerful records I've heard all year.
Honestly what bugged me the most was that All Hands on the Bad One was the choice. I'm of the mindset that nearly every one of their records is better; gimme The Hot Rock or One Beat any day.
Superb album. Got a chance to speak with Angel after a hypnotic show on the Half Way Home tour in a small coffee shop in my hometown. She might not remember that but I sure do. What a magnetic, sincere personality.
I know folks have already talked about it, but like, can we talk some more about how fucking great the Prima Donna EP is? It sucks the air out of the room every time I turn it on, it's so goddamn huge.
The ending of "Futura Free" is actually one of my favorite parts of the album. It brings home the powerful, nostalgic feelings of the record in one supercharged rush for me. Everything about it is fantastic. I agree, the interludes aren't perfect but without that keyboard lick sprinkled throughout the album the ending wouldn't hit as hard.
I lean toward TYLS because it hits the dustier, more cryptic aspect of their sound harder which really appeals to me and has some knockout songs. "The Traveller" and "Rough Song" especially are some all time favorites for me. That said, Depression Cherry is phenomenal, though it took the longest to grow on me than any of their albums for some reason. I have both on vinyl and they're spun very often. Incredible band.
This is great! Not sure I get folks' gripe that there aren't really "songs" here. I mean it's a goddamn masterclass in songwriting. The melodies are gorgeous and he wrings the hooks out of "Solo," "Nights, "Ivy" and "Self Control" for all they're worth (which is quite a bit). Those four songs alone just leave me speechless. As much as I love Channel Orange (and I'd rank it as basically a masterpiece and one of the best albums in the last decade), there's a certain detachedness to some of the songwriting there, whereas here it feels like all his passion is in every moment. I might still like CO more as it maybe is a little more consistent but I'm really enjoying spending time with this.
Return to Cookie Mountain
Dear Science
Young Liars EP (it's better than most band's full albums!)
Seeds
Nine Types of Light
Desperate Youth
I flip flop on the last two depending on my mood and still love both dearly. I haven't really given Desperate Youth the time of day honestly but every time I listen to it I think it's fantastic. I also am not convinced Seeds is really a better record than those two, but it carried me through a dark time in my life in the fall of 2014 so it gets points for personal significance. And it has "Lazerray!"
For me, this is a classic album top to bottom. I would go so far as to say it's one of my favorite albums of all time. It changed the way I thought about music. "Tonight" and "Wash the Day" don't get enough love; it's one of the strongest endings to a record I can think of. To be clear, I'm a huge fan of Dear Science as well (and would argue that "DLZ" is the closest rival to "Wolf Like Me" in their catalog, but maybe it's too much of a downer to really be a party starter but that's what I love about it) and will go to bat for pretty much any of their records. There's something about their sound that really gets to me in a way almost no band since 2000 has. It's a perfect blend of influences, experimentation and ear-catching beauty.
To Be Kind.
In all honesty though, 2014 was a fucking banner year for summer albums. They Want My Soul and Sunbathing Animal were huge for me, and I did listen to To Be Kind a ton, it was like this big void that opened up right before the last summer of my senior year in college started.
For 2012 vibes, Beach House's Bloom is always a go to. Channel Orange too of course.
For all time I might have to go with Daydream Nation.
And by this I mean this exhaustive list of instrumental guitarists. I love Daniel Bachman and James Blackshaw and am excited to have some rabbit holes to dive down.
Nice! I live in the Triangle area and wish you safe travels! Will contribute something. My favorite driving album is probably Being There by Wilco but I'm also a fan of anything Spoon.
It's an incredible record. I can't stop listening to it. "Unforgiving Girl (She's Not An)" is just so effortless. "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales" brings me to tears. The opening of the album with the buildup in "Vincent..." It's just so well-constructed and nimble. A rock album hasn't grabbed me like this since at least Titus' "The Most Lamentable Tragedy" but this is so much more down to earth and refreshing.
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