Excited for the release! Haven't listened too much in the past week or so, so it's gonna feel like new all over again. Keen to read all y'alls thoughts and feelings
same, haven't heard it in a week or so and waiting for release day! really excited to hear it again
I went to the listening party in Brooklyn today and the album sounded incredible on that setup. It was so loud and immersive but still so clear; there were so many little details in the songs that I hadn't noticed before. Kings really hit harder than it ever has, I think that song needs to be played loud so those voices envelop you.
Also, having Gem&I follow Defeat doesn't sound quite as jarring when there is a little bit of time in between to get up and flip the record.
how can they actually get that that wrong it takes some effort in ignorance
I am more offended than the average punter but i feel like AC always end up with publications completely misnaming their albums somehow, it's quite comical...
having said that,that reviewer is clearly a big fan with all the mastery kinda talk, also sorry to bring the first one to the equation but is this the highest number of reviews we have gone without a beach boys reference? the tables finally turn
i missed this one, well they are an inconsequential enough publication that i doubt any of us even give the slightest shit so let the harmonies ring out loud and clear taking whatever comparisons they might draw in their stride, we all know they are far better than that bloody jumped up barbershop quartet, what, you think because there are five of you it somehow makes you better? striped shirts, pork pie hats on and away to bed lads
I mean it's full of obvious choices and 13 out of 15 are 2004-2009, with nothing pre-Tongs, but can't really argue with its authenticity when 1, 3, 5 and 6 are what they are. Fair play.
finally found a digital of The Challenge (Live Edit) (b-side to Defeat single) and wondering if anyone knows what it is?? I was expecting it to be a 2-minute recording of the intro to Strung they played live a few times but instead it sounds like a 9-minute collage of live transitions including that intro. has the band said anything about it?
the freewheeling “Soul Capurer” finds Lennox and David Portner (a.k.a. Avey Tare) trading duties as usual, but rather than the grating syllable trade-offs of 2016’s Painting With, Lennox does the operatic yelping while Avey plays the straight man of sorts
GRATING???????
what do you guys think slant thought of the bathroom flacs?
finally found a digital of The Challenge (Live Edit) (b-side to Defeat single) and wondering if anyone knows what it is?? I was expecting it to be a 2-minute recording of the intro to Strung they played live a few times but instead it sounds like a 9-minute collage of live transitions including that intro. has the band said anything about it?
Yes! Very sweet:
“The Challenge” is a completely improvised track that has only been played in front of a live audience and originated as an unrehearsed intro to the song “Strung With Everything.” Of the song, band member Geologist says: “‘How did we feel about the Strung intro?’ often provided the answer to ‘how was the show?’ But the discussion always ended at what happened that night, without any detailed critique, and never with how it might happen the next. We became aware the same discussions were happening amongst our fans, who were recording, uploading and listening to the shows each night. They took notice and named the section ‘The Challenge.’ This edit is for them.”
I'm calling it now: P4k is going to give this an 8.7 or an 8.8, possibly a full 9.0, because ultimately I do trust them to understand this music for what it is...that Slant review just made me gag.
I'm calling it now: P4k is going to give this an 8.7 or an 8.8, possibly a full 9.0, because ultimately I do trust them to understand this music for what it is...that Slant review just made me gag.
Obligatory "not that it matters, but..."
I don't think they wrote anything for Gem & I release or for the listening party announcements. Feels like they've already checked out from IIN, guessing it will be closer to a 7.0 from them
Is anyone going to the Portland Listening party on Wednesday? I'll be there and would love to meet up with anyone on here since I've been on this forum for well over 10 years and haven't actually met up with anyone on here, but it would feel good to do so. It said on the promotion that you had to RSVP, but I called the venue and they said they weren't doing that and to just show up. Does anyone have any insight into what time the event is happening though?
Anyway, I do love this album and have been listening to it a lot but only in headphones so it will be good to hear it on a proper sound set up on vinyl. The rainy season has officially started in Portland, and this really does feel like a proper fall album that goes well with the overcast rain. It is a great album to really cozy up to. I've been too busy lately to really share my thoughts on this album with ya'll, but once I culminate and collect all my thoughts on it and have the proper time I will articulate it all with y'all.
Here is my interpretation of the lyrics of Gem and I.
I see the song as a reflection of Noah's career and his relationship with his friends and bandmates. The song has this unmistakable melancholic tone to it. Even Deakin's "bum bums" and the haunting hums have this very restless and listless tone to them. A sort of forced enthusiasm that isn't quite there. A sort of self-reflection and confrontation with self-doubt in the purpose of what they are creating as musicians. They went from being largely highly regarded as a band to being largely ignored. The struggle to hold onto the original intentions of why they are making music, the joy of following your own creativity and staying true to your own creative instincts, while constantly being measured against public reception.
For example, from what I hear in the lyrics it starts off with:
"Big with the subtle crowd
But it didn't
Gave into the overdraft
And now it's calling
We got into a holy sound
And we all hit it
Sucked up and we got the shaft
And now we're falling"
This all seems to indicate that they thought they made an impression on the public, that they garnered a certain amount of success and public appeal, but that quickly faded as they diverged from the public's expectations of what they should make next. There is a certain ennui of them making the music they want to hear and are truly excited about only for that excitement not to be matched by public perception, who would have rather they just made MWPP 2. The struggle to continue to trust the pure joy of creating what you really want to with your friends, committing to the excitement of that, even if it means that isn't matched by the public excitement. "Gave into the overdraft" sort of suggests a financial struggle in committing to and trusting your own creativity, there is a sort of sacrifice in not "staying the same." "we got into a holy sound" is representative of a time when they truly created something that penetrated and breached a large audience. There is a sacredness in being able to reach and touch so many people with your music. Do you continue to give the public what they want to hear and ride that success, or do stay true to your creative yearnings?
Exploring what they truly wanted to do as a band meant getting the shaft, falling from public appeal, and taking on the financial burden of no longer being in the spotlight of success. I mean, this is their career. They depend on the income generated from what they do. Noah has to raise and feed his kids after all. How do you grapple with the reality that your music is your career, it is what you depend on to live while holding onto the momentum of fulfilling and staying true to your own creative direction even if it means not garnering the attention needed to meet your own financial means? The self-purpose of what you do is split. There is a self-consciousness to wrestle with, to tap into the public zeitgeist, to be excited and have everyone else excited — to have that attention feels good, to continue to be excited as a band in what you're creating but to lose the excitement of the masses doesn't. You become self-conscious of what you're doing, and you doubt your own creative direction, and it is directly reflected in the financial loss that comes with that. I mean, they weren't able to do their tour in Europe because it was too much of a financial burden.
Not compromising on what you truly want to do can come with real consequences. It makes you doubt and reframe your intentions for what you are doing. How do you continue to maintain excitement and momentum in your own creativity when it is becoming increasingly harder to depend and live solely on it?
I see the "me and them" not only as a reflection on his relationship with the band but also the public at large and their reception. They can change their name by doing something different, or they can stay the same. "Unrigging the game," Noah talks about in other songs how lame music critics can be in shaping people's perception of what is cool and not. "flagging" is a term that suggests being tired and less dynamic. Doing the same thing over and over again, what other people would want from them instead of what they want to explore themselves would result in becoming tired and less dynamic. Reaching continued public appeal would result in losing their own excitement in what they are doing. Each of these statements is juxtaposed against their relationship as a band and their relationship with the public. As a band, they have a pact to follow their own creative instincts and be continuously excited by what they are doing, but that is also always measured against the perception and reception of the public. I imagine it is hard to separate the two when your creativity is also what you depend on for a career.
What is more sacred —staying true to your own creative instincts of what you want to do or just making music that might bring you financial and public success at the loss of being truly inspired? It must be a hard wall to be put up against.
"Let's do it again, and again" is the continued commitment to trust and keep true to what they want to do in the face of it all. "Seeing the sun" is seeing the purpose of what they are doing. Keeping alive the spark of why they even began doing what they have been doing. There is a brightness and higher purpose in that which is beyond success. To not sell out and keep true to yourself, to trust that sacrifice.
"Quick with the compliment
There's nothing in it
Take a sip from a sagging dream
Let's take a minute
Crack open another beer
And let's get in it
Another tip to the golden years
We're probably in it"
I think this part is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Sarcastic almost. Like an imagined reality where they are all continuously trying to live in the golden years of their success. Sipping from a "sagging dream." There is a sort of boredness within that. The regret of not doing what you really wanted to do, losing the excitement of creating, and masking that with "yeah but we're still living the golden years, right?" I imagine them all sitting around middle-aged, tired, burnt out, uninspired, and desperately trying to toast to the memory of the "golden years," and being like "We still got it right?" Sacrificing their own creative direction and doing the same thing over and over again would result in them being uninspired and bored with what they are doing even if it garnered continued esteem and success.
To me, the song conveys the struggle of trying to stay true to and keep alive the band's original intention of making music to begin with, which is the unbridled excitement and joy of making music with friends that is creatively explorative, challenging, personal, and purposeful to each of their own individual creative instincts in the face of the friction of public reception and what it means for it to be a career that they all depend on. They are a band that has always been committed to not "staying the same," and following their own creative instincts despite public perceptions. Which is why they have always been the most exciting band for me. It is why they can continuously make music that feels earnestly new, and truly and honestly explorative and interesting. They truly are excited and love what they make, and it really shows in the kind of music they continuously make and the energy they put into it. It is always exciting for me to follow what direction they are going to take their music because it always feels uniquely earnest. I don't know of another band that truly and continuously makes something that sounds new album to album. Every album is truly different and has its own sonic template and they are able to do this because they don't compromise in what they want to make. They unceasingly do what they want and are earnest and excited about it and it shows in the music they make. Keeping all this in mind, the tone of the song really makes sense.
I guess I can't shit on that Slant review too much because it definitely has its own point of view about the album and articulates it pretty well, but it's a point of view waaay removed from my own. The way they described Defeat just feels like they're hearing something way different from what I hear. And comparing Magicians to Zappa is just... huh??
Artwork – Dave Portner
Bassoon – Sara Schoenbeck (tracks: A2)
Cello – Leila Bordreuil (tracks: C)
Choir – The Murmurations (tracks: D1)
Design – Rob Carmichael (2)
Mastered By – Heba Kadry
Mixed By [Assisted By] – Alex Conroy, Nolan Thies, Todd Carder
Producer – Animal Collective, Russell Elevado
Recorded By, Mixed By – Russell Elevado
Tenor Saxophone – Ben Chapoteau-Katz (tracks: C)
Typography [Hand-Written Lyrics By] – Josh Dibb
Violin – Samara Lubelski (tracks: C)
Written-By – Animal Collective
I'm calling it now: P4k is going to give this an 8.7 or an 8.8, possibly a full 9.0, because ultimately I do trust them to understand this music for what it is...that Slant review just made me gag.
Obligatory "not that it matters, but..."
I don't think they wrote anything for Gem & I release or for the listening party announcements. Feels like they've already checked out from IIN, guessing it will be closer to a 7.0 from them
I think it totally matters, they're still tastemakers, and I respect most of the writers' opinions--and they were a HUGE part of getting people to listen to AC early in their career. P4k was like the band's cheerleader for years.
I think because they released Skiffs last year and there are a bunch of releases coming out on the 29th maybe they're focusing on other music in terms of promo, but I think this will def be B.N.M....
every reading of panda's lyrics on here to my knowledge has either been about him being critical of the band or him jerkin it... i think guys eyes is the only jerkin it song.. summin not about jerking it... and flight was read as ac was the good crew... like he does not hate his boys that much hahahaha.
the guy whose tweet i posted at the top of the page works at/contributes to pitchfork and said in his next tweet that IIN? is "easily their best since mpp" if that's worth anything/tea leaves
I didn't even consider that Russel Elevado only produced the album, not mixing it. I'd love to read an in depth interview with him/the mixers on recording the album
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