mewithoutYou - "it's all crazy..."

[Ian]

On the other hand, I think their previous albums were mediocre at best.

I am very much not a fan of this opinion. :|

[murlough23]

Hmm - I'm not sure that we're really disagreeing on all that much, unless you are saying that the sound of a voice is not at all an indicator of its source's emotions (which seems a silly position to take).

I'm saying it's not a complete indicator. I think it does a great deal to indicate the emotion that the vocalist is trying to convey. But if you're trying to judge whether it's genuine, I don't see how you can do that without some analysis of the lyrics (and perhaps an understanding of where the person is age and maturity-wise).

I'm not even sure what we're arguing about on this one.

Whether a fully objective claim can be made that a vocalist is "powerful".

btw, for recent indie stuff, I think you'd like the new Grizzly Bear more than this.  The vocals are well-sung in a more traditional sense, and it's alternately creatively layered and artfully sparse, often within the same song.  I'll put something up at the pub.  The harmonies aren't as emphasized as, say, Fleet Foxes, but the boys can harmonize.

I've been delinquent about sampling your Pub tracks (or really anyone's), so I should get cracking on those.

And I'll admit that I'm a sucker for vocal harmony even when what's being sung about is potentially vacuous. (See "Quiet Houses" by the aforementioned Fleet Foxes.)

[bloop]

I'm saying it's not a complete indicator. I think it does a great deal to indicate the emotion that the vocalist is trying to convey. But if you're trying to judge whether it's genuine, I don't see how you can do that without some analysis of the lyrics (and perhaps an understanding of where the person is age and maturity-wise).

I have to give some folks credit for acting chops or real felt emotion.

Whether a fully objective claim can be made that a vocalist is "powerful".

Haha.  I didn't know I was arguing that.

[NinjaRob17]

I am very much not a fan of this opinion. :|

I was thinking this as well. I mean, I'd agree if you were referring to [A-->B] Life and I Never Said That I Was Brave (the latter of which is just kind of bad), but Catch For Us The Foxes and Brother, Sister are both great albums in their own regards.

[spacebrat311]

eh. I think their entire sound was a less effective version of what bands like At The Drive-In were doing first. Until they dropped that with this album all they had going for them was intriguing lyrics, which is just not enough for me.

[Josh]

My review: http://thehurstreview.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/mewithoutyou-its-all-crazy-its-all-false-its-all-a-dream-its-alright/

[murlough23]

This album is growing on me slowly. I'm particularly taken by the track "The Angel of Death Came to David's Room". It makes me even more sad that the show Kings didn't survive, because this song would have been the perfect fit for a climactic scene in its eventual series finale.

[Ian]

That and King Beetle are both pretty stunning.

[spacebrat311]

There's so much going on lyrically in Angel of Death... I'm so glad I just took a class on 1 and 2 Samuel recently.

[bloop]

"The Fox, The Crow..." video on EW.

[Ian]

Heh, I liked that a lot.

[dgp11776]

Just got my LP from Burnt Toast Vinyl in the mail today.  Just looking over it nearly left me speechless.  The best looking LP packaging I've ever seen!  I won't spoil it for bloop.

[bloop]

 

I can't wait.  I'm on the east coast, so it should be here soon, I would imagine.

[dgp11776]

I'm surprised I got it before you since I'm farther south.

After listening to the full thing on vinyl, I wish I could go higher than 10.0 in my journal.

[bloop]

I emailed them today to tell them I still haven't received it as it was sent a week ago and media mail is usually a bit quicker than this.

[dgp11776]

Ack, that stinks.

[bloop]

They said it takes up to seven days, I'd imagine not counting Sunday, which means it should be here by tomorrow.  I'll give it until Friday to send them another "never received" notice.

My in-laws are over anyway, so I doubt I'll be able to actually listen to it until Sunday at the earliest anyway.

[murlough23]

My in-laws are over anyway, so I doubt I'll be able to actually listen to it until Sunday at the earliest anyway.

Playing it nice and loud might be a good way to urge them to leave if they stay too long.

NP: "Heads Will Roll", Yeah Yeah Yeahs

[bloop]

Haha - I love my in-laws, but they're older people.  They prefer much smoother voices than Aaron's.  By "smoother", I mean Nat King Cole (you can't get much more silky than that).

[murlough23]

Haha - I love my in-laws, but they're older people.  They prefer much smoother voices than Aaron's.  By "smoother", I mean Nat King Cole (you can't get much more silky than that).

I love my in-laws too, but the one time they stayed with us, they were being sluggish about getting their stuff packed and getting out the door the last day. I helped them along by watching a particularly obnoxious episode of SNL that I'd taped from the night before.

NP: "Dull Life", Yeah Yeah Yeahs

[bloop]

There are episodes you can separate from the SNL pack as particularly obnoxious now, as opposed to just kind of obnoxious?

[murlough23]

There are episodes you can separate from the SNL pack as particularly obnoxious now, as opposed to just kind of obnoxious?

Well, that's the thing. I knew "kind of obnoxious" would be the minimum required to get them out the door. Any extra obnoxiousness was, in this case, a bonus.

[dgp11776]

My in-laws are coming this weekend, too.  My father-in-law and I spend hours upstairs listening to old Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Elvis, and Miles Davis records.  Yeah, he's awesome like that.

[spacebrat311]

My in laws are....

yet to be determined.

[bloop]

Got it!  The packaging is beautiful.

[bloop]

I just looked at the actual media.  I thought disc 1 was broken at first.  Oh my goodness gracious, WIN!!!

[dgp11776]

That etching really made the whole package for me.

[bloop]

heh. avatar-ized.

[ajyouthguy]

i know this is 3 months old or so, but back on the first page was a little bit of debate over their song "Allah" and so forth.  Today, Christianity Today's main site had an article about that...not about MWY, but about Christians in the Middle East using Allah because it's the Arabic word for God.  if anyone is interested, here is the link...

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/august/14.15.html

[murlough23]

i know this is 3 months old or so, but back on the first page was a little bit of debate over their song "Allah" and so forth.  Today, Christianity Today's main site had an article about that...not about MWY, but about Christians in the Middle East using Allah because it's the Arabic word for God.  if anyone is interested, here is the link...

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/august/14.15.html

That's interesting. A friend of mine (who ironically now lives in Southeast Asia) once told me that the word "God" actually had Nordic origins, so basically it was probably first used to refer to some deity (or deities) that would be considered pagan from a Christian viewpoint. I'm guessing it got adopted because the outgrowth of Christianity from its origins in the Middle East spread most rapidly into Europe, but then I'm not an anthropologist.

I point this out because I have to admit that it rankled me a bit at first to hear a Christian band using the word "Allah". I thought it was some weird, pantheistic sort of thing. Now I realize that culturally, that's a normal way to refer to either the Christian or Muslim God in certain cultures. Since the word we use for God was essentially borrowed from people who practiced a different religion, I have to put that in perspective and not get hung up on language.

NP: "Peacemaker", Green Day

[murlough23]

So during my road trip last month, my wife would often start to nod off in the car during long afternoon drives, and she'd get irked when I'd nudge her awake to pick a new album after whatever was previously playing on the iPod had run out. One day she said she didn't care when I asked her to pick something, and just told me to leave it on shuffle for a while. After a few songs, "Bullet to Binary, Pt. 2" came up, and suddenly she was like, "Alright, I guess I'll pick something!"

[NinjaRob17]

So during my road trip last month, my wife would often start to nod off in the car during long afternoon drives, and she'd get irked when I'd nudge her awake to pick a new album after whatever was previously playing on the iPod had run out. One day she said she didn't care when I asked her to pick something, and just told me to leave it on shuffle for a while. After a few songs, "Bullet to Binary, Pt. 2" came up, and suddenly she was like, "Alright, I guess I'll pick something!"

It would've been worse if it was "Bullet To Binary". 

But I don't think you have that anyway.

[murlough23]

It would've been worse if it was "Bullet To Binary". 

But I don't think you have that anyway.

I remember sampling A --> B Life back in the day, and that was the first track. Told me pretty quick that mwY wasn't my style.