Drums and Guns by Low.

I feel like this one is going to get an even chillier reception than the actually-quite-good The Great Destroyer did. To me, though, on first listen it sounds like a major breakthrough.

Know what sucks?

The new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

For the record, I loved their debut.

PS Arcade Fire has probably leaked in its entirety, in case any of you are like into them.

Maybe this has been discussed before but what is so hard about waiting until an album comes out to listen to it? Why must people have to get the leaked version? We had this discussion when people were getting tracks off of TVotR's 2006 album confused because they had the leaked version. I loved Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Arcade Fire's debuts but what is so hard about waiting until they are available on CD?

To quote a brilliant line off of the amazing Fargo, I just don't understand it.

I like my gratification now.

Besides, how else would I handle January 23rd except by slowly acquiring all those albums little by little, starting last September?

Of Montreal (god i love it)
Shins (very very good)
Earlies (ok this one kind of sucks but I like them)
Menomena (very interesting)
Deerhoof

For the unscrupulous, leaks are true release dates. And after the year we just endured, who can blame us for looking ahead?

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
Maybe this has been discussed before but what is so hard about waiting until an album comes out to listen to it?

Why on earth would I?

quote:

Why must people have to get the leaked version [ . . . ] I just don't understand it.

LD posted one good answer to this already in this thread:

quote:

I've also started downloading advances of as many of my most highly anticipated albums as possible, to be able to take advantage of week-of-release sales at the record store (quite often $9.99).

Also, leaks help me take care of playing catch-up at the end of the year. If I can get a leak when I don't have any recently released albums I want to hear, it allows me to avoid having 5 recently released albums waiting for me later on.

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
Maybe this has been discussed before but what is so hard about waiting until an album comes out to listen to it? Why must people have to get the leaked version?

People always like to be ahead of each other. I do think some people like to show how tuned in they are saying "I liked that record before it was even out" but I think listening to a leak to ensure the album is worth buying is reasonable. But I always worry that the leak isn't the right version, is badly mixed, or sounds like it was recorded in an old cassette boombox. The first full version (leaked) of the new Hold Steady I heard sounded AWFUL.

Leaks come from those in the music press or industry whose JOB it is to be 3 months or a whole quarter ahead of the curve.

Music geeks (exhibit A: here) follow suit because the internet and certain P2P engines let them.

Piracy is our friend.


And for the record, the Menomena record that P4K praised today is good in spots, but stops short of being great and climactic. Its an interesting listen, though. If you like Coldplay or early-to-mid Radiohead but wish it were weirder and quirkier (like, say, David Byrne weird) then you should give it a listen.

There. I just said, in 55 words, what most reviewers will say in 10 times that many.

quote:

Originally posted by Vykromond:

quote:

Originally posted by FragileKidA:
Maybe this has been discussed before but what is so hard about waiting until an album comes out to listen to it?

Why on earth would I?

exactly

I like the new Menomena record quite a bit as well as the new Shins record.

Am I the only person who doesn't like Deerhoof? I just can't get into them. Haven't heard their new record but "The Runners Four" annoys me.

quote:

Originally posted by Yay!:
And for the record, the Menomena record that P4K praised today is good in spots, but stops short of being great and climactic. Its an interesting listen, though. If you like Coldplay or early-to-mid Radiohead but wish it were weirder and quirkier (like, say, David Byrne weird) then you should give it a listen.

There. I just said, in 55 words, what most reviewers will say in 10 times that many.

Coldplay? Hardly. It's wayyyy better than that.

Coldplay IS good, dude.

And you can't tell me Menomena doesn't heavily borrow from Britpop. Coldplay (or Snow Patrol or Keane), for better or worse, is the mainstream's gatekeeper for Britpop right now.

quote:

Originally posted by beeswax49:
I like the new Menomena record quite a bit as well as the new Shins record.

Am I the only person who doesn't like Deerhoof? I just can't get into them. Haven't heard their new record but "The Runners Four" annoys me.

I felt that way about the last Menomena album. Just didn't get it. As for Deerhoof, I loved the Runners Four, my 14 yr old son loved the Runners Four and my 9 yr old daughter loved the Runners Four. Generation spanning Deerhoof love! To me it sounds like Led Zeppelin if they abducted Robert Plant and replaced him with a japanese schoolgirl. I'm liking, but not yet loving Friend Opportunity.

quote:

Originally posted by beeswax49:
Am I the only person who doesn't like Deerhoof? I just can't get into them. Haven't heard their new record but "The Runners Four" annoys me.

I rarely join in this sort of thing but yeah, I'm your soulmate on this. I've listened to everything Deerhoof. At least 5 times. At the behest of people who assured me that this time I would get it. I believe I can now say with qualified objectivity that gat damn, that is some bad noise and also for them to get off my lawn or something.

Almost always with stuff a lot of people I respect like I can see what they see in it but... ??????????????????????????????

Deerhoof = great.

A simple equation to be sure, but totally iron-clad.

Both the Menomena and CYHSY albums are (legally) streaming.

I really liked the Menomena album, even though I thought the last half of the album wasn't nearly as good as the first. "Wet and Rusting" will undoubtedly be on my end-of-the-year song list.

I'm only halfway through the CYHSY album right now (at "Satan Said Dance", which I like) but it seems pretty solid. I don't have their first album yet so I can't compare it, but it seems good so far.

And I'd probably like Deerhoof much better if they had a different vocalist. I haven't heard anything from their new album except "+81" (which was fairly good) but I doubt I'll like it any more.

quote:

Originally posted by Yay!:
Coldplay IS good, dude.

And you can't tell me Menomena doesn't heavily borrow from Britpop. Coldplay (or Snow Patrol or Keane), for better or worse, is the mainstream's gatekeeper for Britpop right now.

I hear more Flaming Lips than Britpop. But I'm not completely anti-Coldplay. But they lost me with "X & Y"

I listened to most of the Menomena record on the stream at Barsuk's website. It's... I mean, it's good, but I can see myself liking it but never loving it.

quote:

Originally posted by stereo:
And I'd probably like Deerhoof much better if they had a different vocalist.

This is also how I feel about Deerhoof (and Arcade Fire as well). Can't give any rational reason why, but it just doesen't sit well with me. It's strange though, because I like CYHSY and Danielson well enough, and those voices have been classified as "challenging."

This Tuesday should be pretty fun. Shins, Of Montreal, Menomena, and Fujiya and Miyagi. I hope to post some impressoins next week after I have digested these.

Where is CYHSY streaming? They only have 4 songs up on myspace.