quote:

Originally posted by BContrat:

quote:

Originally posted by hophead:
Getting re-mastered and re-released August 18 on a label. I guess thats when we can expect Pitchfork and a few of the others to get around to reviewing it.

Aw, that makes me wish I hadn't paid for this version. I don't love the production.

Yeah, I wonder how far they'll go with the re-mastering. Others have complained about the vocals being mixed too low, but I don't mind that at all. I do find it a little muddy though, so I would hope they clean it up a little. The August 18 date is the physical copy, its being released digitally June 16. We'll know in a few weeks what the new version sounds like.

This album ain't too bad at all. It's gonna be huge, I bet.

It's a gorgeous album that has been climbing up my list since my first listen. I think it will resonant fairly well and get good reviews. But even with it's depth and beauty I don't think even good reviews will allow it to become 'huge'. It's just too depressing and dark to be widely accepted. Especially in the middle of summer while everyone is still dancing to Passion Pit. This will hit the party like Grampa showing up to a kegger.

I'm just making stuff up of course. I know nothing about either keggers or your grampa. I just needed an analogy.

This is very true, though Funeral is hardly what I would describe as cheery, and, well, we all know how that worked out. I feel that (short of P4k dropping a 9.5 rating on it) Hospice will probably be a sleeper hit, especially on forums such as this one, and will likely show up on a good number of critics' year end lists. But even if this album doesn't make them huge, I have a feeling they'll get there eventually.

As for me, the album is hovering somewhere in the top 3. "Two" has been perpetually stuck in my head for the past week, and "Wake" is the most moving song I've heard in a very long time.

It really does need some sort of remastering to bring up the vocals, I cannot understand a single word the guy says

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Originally posted by Chamberk:
It really does need some sort of remastering to bring up the vocals, I cannot understand a single word the guy says

This is the perfect example of an album where the listening experience is greatly enhanced by reading along with the lyric sheet. With the words in front of you, you can understand everything he sings perfectly. I kind of like how they're buried in the music.

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Originally posted by hophead:

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Originally posted by Chamberk:
It really does need some sort of remastering to bring up the vocals, I cannot understand a single word the guy says

This is the perfect example of an album where the listening experience is greatly enhanced by reading along with the lyric sheet. With the words in front of you, you can understand everything he sings perfectly. I kind of like how they're buried in the music.

Ironically, this is by far my favorite of 09 while reading along with the lyrics which is how I first experienced the album. Without the lyrics in front of me, my enjoyment lessens. Sort of a unique situation.

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:
It's just too depressing and dark to be widely accepted.

Yeah, because indie fans just hate "depressing and dark".

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:
It's just too depressing and dark to be widely accepted.

Yeah, because indie fans just hate "depressing and dark".

To be fair, chaos, Shad did say it's too depressing and dark to be widely accepted; of course there are niches in the indie community who like depressing and dark.

I gave this album another listen last night, hoping it had grown on me. Alas, I still felt no connection to the music throughout nearly the entire album. I'm hoping that a remastering changes the texture of the music enough to let me in and enjoy this.

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Originally posted by crob3888:

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Originally posted by Shadrach:
It's just too depressing and dark to be widely accepted.

Yeah, because indie fans just hate "depressing and dark".

To be fair, chaos, Shad did say it's too depressing and dark to be widely accepted; of course there are niches in the indie community who like depressing and dark.

Also, I'm of course refering to the depressing and dark aspect of the lyrics, mood, and music. Typically the "indie community" will latch onto something like Funeral which has depressing lyrics, but still has a beat you can dance to. Depressing lyrics to upbeat music. Very rarely does an album worth of dirges come along that breaks the community consciousness. Compare any of the most popular tracks from Funeral to your favorite tracks from Hospice and then decide wether or not they have the same dark and depressing tone.

Hospice is depressing because of how blunt and real it is. It doesn't diverge into some sort of dream world with dark imagery. It sits quietly by the bed of a dieing lover and waits there, climbing into bed with them while they die. It's not about kids running away from home to become vampires, it's about losing your job at the hospital because you became too emotionally attached to a patient.

This is hardly music that the indie kids will be able to play for their friends in the car on their way to the mall without being laughed at in discomfort. This is for the contemplative full album music listeners that are willing to experience art on an emotional level, and frankly most people just want to dance.

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:
Typically the "indie community" will latch onto something like Funeral which has depressing lyrics, but still has a beat you can dance to.

Wow, you've really got the indie community pegged. We're all looking for independently released dance music. My god, where did the joker Shad come from?

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Originally posted by chaos:
Wow, you've really got the indie community pegged. We're all looking for independently released dance music. My god, where did the joker Shad come from?

Just to let you know, troll, I've been keeping an eye on you and I don't like what I see. I would suggest you persist from your pointless behavior.

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Originally posted by FragileKidA:

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Originally posted by chaos:
Wow, you've really got the indie community pegged. We're all looking for independently released dance music. My god, where did the joker Shad come from?

Just to let you know, troll, I've been keeping an eye on you and I don't like what I see. I would suggest you persist from your pointless behavior.

I can't hear you, I'm too busy dancing to my "indie" music.

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
I would suggest you persist from your pointless behavior.

Are you sure "persist" is the word you're looking for?

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Originally posted by chaos:

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:
Typically the "indie community" will latch onto something like Funeral which has depressing lyrics, but still has a beat you can dance to.

Wow, you've really got the indie community pegged. We're all looking for independently released dance music. My god, where did the joker Shad come from?

Come on, Chaos. I agree that Hospice is brilliant and one of the best albums of the year. But, face it. It's a downer, both lyrically and musically. The fact that it is so depressing limits it's wide spread appeal, even within the indie community. I would think that such a statement is non-controversial.

By the way, seeing that Shad has over 2300 posts, it's clear he's not just some yokel that's popped out of the woodwork. He is one of the most respected regular contributors to this site, whose comments are generally well thought out and written.

quote:

Originally posted by The Fall of Troy:
But, face it. It's a downer, both lyrically and musically. The fact that it is so depressing limits it's wide spread appeal, even within the indie community. I would think that such a statement is non-controversial.

Makes you wonder how Black Sheep Boy, More Deep Cuts, In the aeroplane over the sea, funeral, takk, OK Computer, The Wall, Blood on the Tracks, artists like Nick Drake, Bjork, Joy Division, Leonard Cohen, Low, and many others became popular and widely accepted.

You know, I hope you're right chaos, because I think Hospice is a really good album that could impact a lot of people if it could get widely listened to. I also appreciate that you responded with examples of albums and artists that can actually bring some meat to our discussion. However, I still think there aren't a great deal of major similarities in the albums you sited and The Antlers album. Black Sheep Boy is popular, but check to see what the most popular tracks on the album are: "For Real", "Black". These songs are straight up rock songs with catchy hooks. Same with Funeral, "Rebelion (Lies)", "Wake Up", "Neighborhood #1". Ok Computer "Karma Police", "Paranoid Android". The lyrics might be dark, but the music makes you feel good.

Also, the dark lyrics are distanced from reality in most cases. They are told in metaphor or dream images (example: all of In The Aeroplane Over the Sea) which allows you to experience everything from the outside. Mom throws dishes across the floor and Dad sits and thinks about all the million ways to die. This is depressing if you think about it, but if you don't want to think about it it's just a cartoon. You can sing along pretty comfortably when you are saying something like "Our Mother should have just called you Laika". That isn't the same level of depressing lyrics as you find on Hospice.

You're right though. There is a market for "dark" emotionally impacting music, and it's probably much larger than I give credit. But I still don't expect even Pitchfork is capable of turning Hospice into the next Funeral.

Maybe someday we will find out. And like I said, I really hope you are right.

Well if you listen to "Hospice", 'Sylvia' goes soft, loud, soft and I'd hardly call it purely depressing, on "Bear" the chorus is very lively and the song as a whole can hardly be called sad, dark or depressing. "Thirteen" is just an ambient, instrumental that isn't depressing or sad. "Two" is an upbeat, catchy tune. So I guess I don't really see the album as all that dark, sad or depressing.

Okay, I will give you this. If you ignore the lyrics a few of those songs you mentioned could be mildly uplifting. So I agree, they are not sad "on a whole". But even without lyrics "Two" could be the soundtrack to the funeral scene in a major movie. With lyrics it's a machine gun fire of in your face depression. Look lyrics over. They starts off with the narator in the hallway being told that his loved one's illness is terminal and that they are going to die. It stays in the upper registers and the rhythem could be called bouncing perhaps.

"Sylvia's" soft/loud/soft is a desperate plea for the woman to give up on suicide. "Bear" is one of the few times the album moves to a purely figurative distance in the lyrics, but it's still about living with a terminal illness.

Personally I think the most uplifting song on the album (and perhaps my favorite at the moment) is "Wake". Where the narator sortof lets go of the burden their sick loved one has been, and finds a way to get on with their life. The part where he says "I've got the keys, I'm letting people in" gives me chills every time.

Good discussions going on here. No sarcasm. Very good.