what are you listening to?

[murlough23]

In the case of the new Sufjan EP, my initial reaction to his use of dissonance was that it was a little much for me.

It wouldn't be the first time. See the first half of "Sister", the ending of "Pittsfield", roughly half the instrumentals on The Avalanche, seemingly most of A Sun Came!, and to a lesser extent, the endings of "The Upper Peninsula" and "The Man From Metropolis Steals Our Hearts". In the latter cases, he reigned it in enough to where I don't think it totally interrupts the flow, but it definitely means there's a bit of a learning curve to some of his stuff. At times, I think he does overindulge (meaning, maybe it's fine to trail off into the dissonance, but rein it in a bit!) I'll have to hear the EP for myself, though.

[bloop]

Yeah, I take back pretty much everything I said concerning the headache-inducing nature of the Jars of Clay album. I doubt it's my favorite of theirs (I doubt it would even land in my top three), but it's not the cavern mix I thought it was.

[spacebrat311]

At times, I think he does overindulge (meaning, maybe it's fine to trail off into the dissonance, but rein it in a bit!) I'll have to hear the EP for myself, though.

These are still some of my favorite moments of his. I really like the pure, glorious chaos of them and I feel like a kid banging pots and pans aroundwhen I got bored of making pretty things.

[murlough23]

These are still some of my favorite moments of his. I really like the pure, glorious chaos of them and I feel like a kid banging pots and pans aroundwhen I got bored of making pretty things.

Aha, we've figured it out, it's music for the ADD set!

Kidding. I've heard really ugly, dissonant passages of music that I still find interesting because there still seems to be some rhyme/reason to it being that way. I don't particularly enjoy the gleeful destruction of something that was pretty mid-way through, but then, I bet you could cite me some of my own favorite songs that are exceptions. Bottom line: This is just one of those "Your mileage may vary" things, I guess.

[RedcoatJones]

Had no idea he was even working on anything new. Why even call it an EP at this point? This is just playing into my theory that he's avoiding the inevitable comparisons to Illinois by never delivering a proper follow-up album.

Well, not only is a new EP out, but a full length album is coming Oct. 12: Linkage

[bloop]

Given that an EP is 60 minutes now, and was around 15 minutes before it was revolutionized, can we expect somewhere around a 240 minute full length?!

I kid, of course. Really looking forward to this.

[murlough23]

I kid, of course. Really looking forward to this.

My expectations are guarded. He seems so hell-bent on insisting that he's abandoning the tricks that worked for him in the past.

[bloop]

I think some of those tricks were threatening to become gimmicks, pigeonholing him into an expectation that he would exercise his tropes that he was no longer interested in.

[murlough23]

I think some of those tricks were threatening to become gimmicks, pigeonholing him into an expectation that he would exercise his tropes that he was no longer interested in.

I think you can add to the tricks you've got in your arsenal without completely abandoning things you liked doing. It depends on where his interests lie, I guess, but if his interests suddenly changed to the point where he didn't like the music he had previously made, I have to wonder why.

[Brenden]

He was talking about feeling burnt out and abandoning music altogether at one point, so I think he probably just wanted to do something really different.

[murlough23]

He was talking about feeling burnt out and abandoning music altogether at one point, so I think he probably just wanted to do something really different.

That's probably a much better explanation for the lack of a follow-up to Illinois.

Also, to be fair, The BQE completely changed the rules and yet it was still inimitably Sufjan.

[bloop]

He was talking about feeling burnt out and abandoning music altogether at one point, so I think he probably just wanted to do something really different.

Yeah, this is basically what I think. It's not that I think he isn't proud of what he did before, or doesn't like the aesthetic, but he's an artist that likes to move on, too. I can name a few artists that are among my very favorites that happen to be this way.

[murlough23]

Yeah, this is basically what I think. It's not that I think he isn't proud of what he did before, or doesn't like the aesthetic, but he's an artist that likes to move on, too. I can name a few artists that are among my very favorites that happen to be this way.

My response to that would be "By all means, keep moving forward, but please don't ditch everything we loved about you."

[bloop]

My response to that would be "By all means, keep moving forward, but please don't ditch everything we loved about you."

I doubt any artist could do that even if they wanted to.

[bloop]

New Sufjan Stevens track from the upcoming LP.

http://sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/track/i-walked

*edit* Server is busy to the point of annoying, apparently, but it's there for download which will be nice after a while.

[Ian]

is the new kevin max cd good?

[murlough23]

is the new kevin max cd good?

I've had no luck finding it. It's based mostly off of tracks from an EP that wasn't that good, though.

[Brenden]

I liked the EP, so I'm expecting the album will be good.

[bloop]

I can't find it either, which is surprising given what my resources are coupled with the fact that the album is already released.

[plvarona]

^I pre-ordered the CD from dPulse records.  It was a bit pricey, but it didn't look like the CD was available in a physical form anywhere else.  One good thing is that the pre-order came with an immediate electronic download, which I'm listening to right now.

[bloop]

Well, yeah, I knew one could always get it through legitimate means. 

I wouldn't suggest sharing those files, btw, unless you have some way to scrub them of personal data that is likely embedded.

[murlough23]

I finally got my hands on All Delighted People. I'm most of the way through it, and so far, the dissonance and instrumental freakouts aren't bugging me like I expected them to. (The key here is that the song doesn't completely veer off from its rhythm or sabotage its momentum in any other way - the experimental bits seem to flow with the song, more or less.) It's all inimitably Sufjan without being tied down to a single concept or genre. We'll see if the monolithic last track (which is apparently nothing compared to the 23-minute final track that The Age of Adz will contain) manages to screw me up.

I'm still guarded concerning my expectations for Adz, but less than I was before. Sufjan making electronic music with actual songwriting involved should be interesting, and it sounds like there's a thematic backbone despite his insistence otherwise. (He's really just making damn sure that we don't expect another Illinois.) All Delighted People was apparently a way to collect the odds and ends that were too acoustic/analogue to fit on Adz.

EDIT: Famous last words. 17 minutes of THIS?! Are you serious?

[ewok20t3]

EDIT: Famous last words. 17 minutes of THIS?! Are you serious?

I thought it was overindulgent, as well.

[murlough23]

I thought it was overindulgent, as well.

I hope his sister enjoyed it.

[Wildcatblue7]

Cee-Lo Green--Fuck You

Um, I love this.

[murlough23]

My final (for now) verdict on the new Jars of Clay: Straight B. Four songs that I consider excellent work ("Eyes Wide Open" and the three that close the disc), four mediocre ones that could have been on any special event/City on a Hill-type album (the four that surround "Eyes Wide Open"), three in between that I like but I still think could have been better. The A-game material averages out the C-game material. Not one of Jars of Clay's best, but I appreciate the effort to bring some life to a tired genre.

I reserve the right to re-evaluate when the actual CD comes out and I get to hear it at full quality.

[murlough23]

Newsboys - Born Again

First album with Tait as their lead singer. Works about as well as I expected it to, which is to say, it doesn't.

[ewok20t3]

Newsboys - Born Again

First album with Tait as their lead singer. Works about as well as I expected it to, which is to say, it doesn't.

I just saw them play last weekend. It was so strange seeing them playing together. It was also pretty weird that most of their set was praise & worship songs and DC Talk songs. I think they played more of other people's song than they did Newsboys songs.

[murlough23]

I just saw them play last weekend. It was so strange seeing them playing together. It was also pretty weird that most of their set was praise & worship songs and DC Talk songs. I think they played more of other people's song than they did Newsboys songs.

They sound like another band anyway. I can hear occasional attempts by Tait to write the sorts of witty rhymes that imitate Furler imitating Taylor, but for the most part, it sounds like Michael Tait formed a completely new band and went Euro-pop. I think the gap could have been bridged better if a secondary vocalist like Phil Joel were still on board to share the mic.

Did they do dc Talk songs other than "Jesus Freak"? I think I've heard all three dc Talkers cover that one live in their solo endeavors. I like the song, but it's a bit of a dead horse by this point. Any attempt at covering it is just going to make people think the original was better, anyway.

[ewok20t3]

Did they do dc Talk songs other than "Jesus Freak"?

Yeah, they also played "In The Light".

I forgot to mention, they opened with Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling". *Barf*

[murlough23]

Yeah, they also played "In The Light".

Toby did that once during his solo set opening for Third Day. Kevin max showed up to sing it with him at the one gig I caught. It actually wasn't too bad. That one's a cover to begin with, so I don't mind it being "re-covered" as much, though at the same time, it's been 15 years. Time to let dc Talk go.

I forgot to mention, they opened with Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling". *Barf*

Now THAT sounds like something i'd expect Toby to pull.

And hey, I had to put up with the real thing at U2's concert last year.

[Aaron]

nonstop rotation of The Arcade Fire, House of Heroes, Fleetwood Mac, and Beach Boys

[ewok20t3]

And hey, I had to put up with the real thing at U2's concert last year.

I can't believe U2 would have them as their opener. Maybe they'll have Soulja Boy out on their next tour.

[murlough23]

I can't believe U2 would have them as their opener.

It was "special", just for the West Coast leg of the 360 Tour. The rest of America got Muse instead.  

[ewok20t3]

It was "special", just for the West Coast leg of the 360 Tour. The rest of America got Muse instead.  

That is not even close to a fair trade.

[bloop]

Some of what I've heard about the new Linkin Park album is that it's more experimental, which of course interests me. I always thought this band wasted a lot of potential on appealing to cliches, musically and lyrically, so I'll have to see if this one remedies that, and to what degree.

[murlough23]

Minutes to Midnight was also "experimental". Approach with caution.

[ewok20t3]

I listened to some of the clips on iTunes and I've heard the single. I've not been impressed by what I've heard. You can't really tell a whole lot by the 30 second clips, though.

[murlough23]

Sufjan Stevens - "The Owl and the Tanager"

CREE-PEE. And yet beautiful at the same time. Or else I'm just really effed up for thinking a creepy song can be beautiful. (This is where years of listening to Radiohead will get you, apparently.)

[murlough23]

Linkin Park - "When They Come For Me"

I can't wait for bloop's snarky commentary on this one. Try to catch up, mofo.