Beach House

Record's top three of the year for me, though. Parts of it sound like The Marble Index as produced by Phillip Glass, which pleases me muchly.

it's a really good record -- and "go team" and all that -- but i'm kind of surprised by the blanket omg reception it's getting

haha, it took me a second to figure out this wasn't about "Beach Chair," too

i just saw them last night and it was a gorgeous set, with that nice drifting, lazily precise sound (and decent mix). they're also both great people, had a bunch of drinks with them afterwards.

Any thoughts on 'Devotion?'

Lush and pretty, especially "Turtle Island", but I need to give it a closer listen.

Is that "Chamber of Hearts" song on it?? They played that over a year ago when I saw them and it was really, really great, better than anything on their first album (which I enjoyed)

Big fan. It is almost a rerun of the previous album, which is fine by me. Maybe a little more ooomph in the production

really like "gila" a lot

yea, 'gila' is a gem in this box of cubic zirc

Art
http://a955.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/33/s_5062ef6ecfe8383cc1908dac105d13f2.jpg

Jan 26 2008 7:48 PM

Greetings, Shalom Aloha I am Art Vandalle, ERT I am very thanks to you for my additon to your pages of myspace. Your music is a great elation to my spirits. I especially enjoy when I am bathing. Keep up the greatness of your work hope to see you soon at a concert. Much blessingsness

Art Vandalle,ERT (VAN-dell)

"Greetings Shalom Aloah" is pretty brilliant

Devotion is an *amazing* album, but I'm thinking every review should probably mention Kendra Smith.

If I found the first one pleasant enough but am not really feeling the need for more of that thing, does Devotion have any surprises for me?

it does sound like kendra smith, and sounds (musically) a fair amount like galaxie 500. devotion is wonderful though, first thing I've heard by them, and just heard it for the first time yesterday

I was swooning over this album for a good three or four weeks straight. I still really like it, though I have less desire to put it on now.

all the right ingredients, boring album - TERRIBLE lyrics...

I think it's rather lovely. Haven't paid much attention to the lyriz tho

Apparently the singer is related to Michel Legrand, composer behind Umbrellas of Cherbourg, among other things.

She's hawt in that "always looks like she's trying not to laugh" kinda way

listening to this album for the first time, this is beautiful and perfect for right now.

I like "Gila". Lazy, sad. Nice guitar.

This album is good but it's lost its luster as the months have gone by. "Gila," "Heart of Chambers," and one or two others are still really strong but I'm not feeling pulled back to this record. It's just sorta sitting in my library now.

I saw them live not too long ago, and I liked their sound, but I think Mazzy Star did something similar, but much, much better. "So Tonight That I Might See" is a great album that deserves more of your time if you like this.

But her voice is really great. She could elevate pretty much any material with it. "Home Again" wouldn't be one-tenth the song it is without her voice.

That's true.

she sounds a lot like Kendra Smith, which is a big plus in my book (and Opal >>>>> Mazzy Star)

i know and love Mazzy Star but don't know Opal at all. Devotion is beautiful and deserves it's own love.

I'm really enjoying this, more than I thought I would.

Enjoy it a lot, but I wish they had a producer who would push them. The Spector-isms are awesome & have their place, but there's a wealth of untapped potential in this band.

What I've heard of this new disc sounds almost exactly like their first disc. It's kept me from downloading the new disc. Am I missing some progression in their sound from disc one to disc two?

the songs are better by a wide margin

That first record came close to creating a new mini-genre. I love the sound of it so much, it took me a long time to let go of it and embrace the new album.

i like Devotion a lot.

'Master of None' off their debut is one of my fave songs of the past few years.

"Master of None" is pretty amazing on its own. But Devotion is a lot stronger from start to finish. Agree with John though, i get the sense when listening to them that they can take a huge step forward. Still, for their second album the progression is a good one.

Really fun to watch her sing live too.

Yes. Amazing live. When I saw them in Toronto, she reminded me sometimes of Judee Sill. I told her so, and she said, "Who's she?" at the same time her bandmate said, "Oh no!"

That's good to hear, that they're good live. Maybe one of my two problems with them (the other is that their rhythms/chord progressions get repetitive, and I'm kind of in a glass house on that front) is that I don't always get a sense of involvement - it was more the case on the first record though. Her growth as a singer between the two seems pretty pronounced to me.

Good to see you Owen!

Yeah, you really understand just how good of a singer she is when you see them live. Not to overrate their live show, though - it's still just two people hangin' out on stage. The white outfits are nice, but it's not like there are any pyrotechnics.

Anyway - J0hn is completely on the mark. This band is capable of genius if they possess the ambition to reach for it.

such a great album, it's in my top five for 2008 at the moment.

Right, there's nothing amazing about their live show. They both sat most of the time when I saw them. But her voice is something to behold in a live venue & watching her facial contortions is a pleasure unto itself.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2578/4093209793_8925884428.jpg

Recorded in upstate New York, in a converted church called Dreamland with producer/engineer Chris Coady (who has worked with TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blonde Redhead, and a bunch of others) Teen Dream is the third album from the Baltimore-based duo Beach House, and their Sub Pop debut. The new album gives voice to a full universe of unbridled imagination, and the manifestation of Teen Dream has been a welcomed and all-consuming obsession for Beach House the past 9-12 months. Teen Dream will arrive packaged with a companion DVD featuring a video for each song on the album, each by a different director.

Track listing

1. Zebra
2. Silver Soul
3. Norway
4. Walk In The Park
5. Used To Be
6. Lover Of Mine
7. Better Times
8. 10 Mile Stereo
9. Real Love
10. Take Care

will be released on January 6, 2010.

also has just leaked, looking forward to this record.

i like that cover.

i'm sure i went looking for this thread when i first heard these guys but couldn't find it..

i like devotion a lot, though have not yet heard the self titled. surprised as to how popular they seem to be. can't argue with any of the comments about the kendra-isms. they're not terribly ethereal though despite the liberal use of reverb

love this band, sooooooo listenable and dreamy. Stoked for new songs, because I get "You Came To Me" stuck in my head a lot.

new track Norway on their myspace sounds great, really looking forward to this now

♥ ♥ ♥ ¨°º¤ø ¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø ♪♪♫♪...♪♫♪♪...¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø♥ ♥♪♪♫♪...♥ ♥ ♥¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤♥ ♥ ♥¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø♪♫♪♪♪♪♫♪ ♥¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø♥ ♥¨°º¤ø♪♫♪♪♪ ♥ ♪♫♪♪♪ ♥ ♪♫♪♪ ¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø♪ ♥ ♪♫♪♪ ¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø♥♪♫♪♪¸„ø¤º°¨¨°º¤ø♥

DUDE

thank u blog view

fans of this might also dig speck mountain, both of whose albums i think are fantastic

Yes, Norway sounds great, and unexpectedly 'full' though the drum machine is still there

this is amazingly good, they have branched out a bit and it has done them wonders.

welcome to Sub Pop, Beach House.

i'm looking forward to this album a lot, probably won't be picking up that leak any time soon since i've got so much other crap to listen to, but it'll be mighty handy come winter. beach house is a member of the group of bands inside my heart that includes the smiths, leonard cohen and destroyer and all those other charming warm crooners. i like how beach house don't want to amaze you with their melodies, but just lull me down and slowly seduce you, like drinking wine on a hot day.

I was really taken with the Speck Mountain album last year sometime but I fear it might be adrift in a sea of promos now - would listen to anything new by them though.

Beach House are one of the best indieish things I've seen this year fwiw - nothing in that blurb Bee OK posted would make me check for it in itself but I'm sympathetic to them cos of seeing them live

wow first song is pretty. thise guys rule

hmm actually more cute than pretty

yea i love this band

haha whoa i couldn't even tell that the cover art appeared in this thread revive

I really like "Silver Soul". I always thought that she was a good singer, but this takes it up a notch. Her melodic instinct (the beautiful little uptick when she sings "act a fool" near the beginning), just the quality of her voice (especially the "it's happening again" refrain), and her technical ability (she sounds kickass no matter which octave she's singing in) are all really standing out for me on Teen Dream.

this track sounds great--working with an outside producer should be awesome for them.

Somehow this song is just...weak. It's got a really unfinished, tossed off feel to my ears.

really digging this album!!!!

all the press i've read about them says that the lead singer has classical training. is this true? (it's a canard of music journalism and often it turns out to only be half-true.)

if it is true, it's quite amazing that she sings the way she does, with that deliberately low-affect voice, staying comfortably in a mid-range. she never betrays any "singerly" mannerisms at all.

so what directors contributed to the DVD?

The new albums is v.v pretty btw.

The constant sense of stretching and rising in 'Zebra' is incredible.

zebra is the highlight for me

reminds me a lot of fleet foxes?? i dont know this kind of music very well but i get a kind of "shoegaze fleet foxes" vibe

yeah that's EXACTLY the vibe i got, which sort of bugged me but i find this a lot more tolerable than FF

It's not really very Fleet Foxes, although it reminded me of the Radio Dept a lot.

so... youre saying kevin and i are wrong?

i'm hoping you're wrong, because i like beach house and can't stand fleet foxes ;_;

its less the music than the soft production & the vocals

I've only heard a couple songs but I definitely got a Fleetwood Mac vibe on one of them. Don't think it's Fleet Foxy at all, but there is a 70s thing happening.

what max said

so so pretty and deliberate, really dig the pacing of the album. otm 'bout the 70s thing, with the organ etc.

but it doesn't sound old

fuck this is beautiful

The vocals don't sound anything like Fleet Foxes! There are hardly any harmonies for one, and the singer is, like, female.

yeah i fair dislike fleet foxes but this is hella good. don't really think it should be made as a point of comparison

I don't think "comparison" is the word. They're doing different things...the vocal timbre is just similar is all

I got sad when a stream of 'used to be' disappeared from the internet. Will grab this when I get home.

the singer is female but she sounds like a dude

only occasionally, but v much on 'Norway'

definitely assumed it was a dude until i saw this thread

don't understand that at all! husky voice, but very feminine.

I made the same mistake all the way up until I saw them live on the last album. Like, I knew there was one guy and one girl in the band, but when I showed up I was surprised to see the guy barely uttered a peep, if at all.

best album of 2010. ;-)

It's kinda ridiculous that I already have two favourite albums of 2010.

silver soul is the highlight on this album.

but that'll change soon i reck; so many standouts.

Best album of next decade (so far).

Really looking forward to this. Saw them @ teh Orange Show last March, and they played some of the new stuff, which sounded great. Nice folks too.

The female singer sounds like late Joni Mitchell.

must admit this album grows dull about halfway through. songs are too long.

still love the drum machine, though.

pretty and nicely simple album indeed,sounds very 90's (like a more roughly red house painters,low,tram,mazzy star etc..)

though maybe it is getting a little dull halfway through..

Agreed on the back half being relatively weak. I noticed that a few weeks ago and made a bit of an effort to pay more attention to the songs near the end, but none of them really stick for some reason.

I mainly just listen to the first two tracks now. The other two Beach House albums are like that for me, too: 2-3 songs that I like a lot, and then a bunch that I find a bit bland.

first track is the best by a long shot and colored my initial impressions i think

yeah. and the version of "used to be" on the album seems slightly inferior to the version released as a single a while ago.

this album fucking ripsssss.

"walk in the park" is particularly lovely, and i actually like the new "used to be" better.

I think Norway is the worst thing on here - surprised it turned out to be the single, and I really like the end second, but nothing on here comes even close to touching Zebra.

Also there's one track whose name escapes me with an intro that I keep expecting to turn into Neon Lights.

beyotch hizzouse

Whoever said Fleetwood Mac'y was totally right, especially on "Lover of Mine."

teen cream dream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKE4xoN7f5o

I really wanted to like Teen Dreams. But like the other 2 albums I keep wanting more from there sound. I even watched Jimmy Fallon to see them, and was left wanting more. I think Hope Sandoval fills my need for this kind of music. Maybe it's not fair to compare the two, but Through The Devil Softly has me full on dreamy sleepy music of this kind.

This album is amazing

vocals remind me of the Walkmen more than anything else.

vocals remind me of the Walkmen more than anything else.

That would actually be a pretty wonderful duet. Either singer guesting on the other's record would be okay with me.

At first I thought there was a choir of ghosts behind them.

that fallon performance was excellent btw

BNM bomb

9.0

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13872-teen-dream/

i'm psyched to listen to this album, i fell deeply in love with them and spent months listening to devotion twice a day when i first heard it. it was a good couple of months. i didn't really give the debut due opportunity, but what i've heard from this one has blasted my expectations into the stratosphere.

I quite like this album; don't know any of their early stuff. Sort of halfway between Slowdive and Mojave 3.

Though the review is spot on, certainly not a 9.0 (yet another Pitchfork record store clerk overstatement). It is a lovely album, if a little epicene and inarticulate at times.

man i've always found this band pretty boring but the first four or so songs on the new one are fantastic. they seem to have grown a little bit of a spine. the second half seems less interesting but i've been listening to the album in order so maybe i'm just getting tired of their sound after a while.

"the second half seems less interesting"

10 Mles Stereo is one of the best songs on the record.

nah you agree with me

pretty and nicely simple album indeed,sounds very 90's (like a more roughly red house painters,low,tram,mazzy star etc..)

though maybe it is getting a little dull halfway through..

― Zeno, Tuesday, January 5, 2010 6:13 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

my wife thought this was a dude singer too btw

yeah i dont know why everyone was all up in my grill about that

The female singer sounds like late Joni Mitchell.

― Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, January 1, 2010 8:31 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i thought that said "THE late joni mitchell" and i did a dubz-take

great alb btw - my $0.02

i dunno im genuinely baffled by ppl that can't tell this is a woman! the timbre is unmistakably feminine imo

GET OUT OF MY GRILL

nah you agree with me

pretty and nicely simple album indeed,sounds very 90's (like a more roughly red house painters,low,tram,mazzy star etc..)

though maybe it is getting a little dull halfway through..

― Zeno, Tuesday, January 5, 2010 6:13 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

― congratulations (n/a), 17:35 יום חמישי 28 ינואר 2010 (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i changed my mind a little after some more listening:
the 1st half is better, yeah, but the 2nd half also has some good moments, like 10 Miles Stereo, which is one of the best tracks on the record.

about the singer: she sounds like somewhere between Nico and the singer from The Walkmen

I'm a big fan of all the usual references for this band (Nico, Cocteaus, Mazzy Star, Galaxie 500, Low, etc.) but can't seem to get into them to any huge degree. Just more of a "ho hum, this is kinda nice" reaction. What am I missing?

i think they are not dreamy/spaced out,and more direct,clear and rough than the acts youve mentioned.
so they fit somewhere inbetween those acts and more earthly stuff like Fleetwood Mac and The Walkmen

i like the fact that, as a final result, everything stays relatively simple and unpretentious on the record.

this album is just as good as devotion. a bit unremarkable but that's how they roll.

I'm a big fan of all the usual references for this band (Nico, Cocteaus, Mazzy Star, Galaxie 500, Low, etc.) but can't seem to get into them to any huge degree. Just more of a "ho hum, this is kinda nice" reaction. What am I missing?

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Thursday, January 28, 2010 1:23 PM (2 hours ago

you mean BESIDES A SOUL

Precisely.

this is a v. v. pretty album

zebra is AMAZING. def will be one of my favorite tracks of 2010. matt dc nailed it that stretching and rising feeling they give you on that track is something else. plus the fleetwood mac moves just seals it for me.

"certainly not a 9.0 (yet another Pitchfork record store clerk overstatement)."

ok, i admit thats more or less what i thought in the beginning,(good but not great) but this album is a much more "grower" thing than i thought.
and fuck it - the 2nd half is as good as the first.it just took a little time to realize it.
only "used to be" is skippable imo.

i hate that pitchfork record store

songs should all be a bit shorter imo

i don't think this album is better than its predecessor but they're both at least 9.0 albums to me. i feel like they're naturally embedded in their style they couldn't really ever make a bad song or album, even the most boring beach house song would still be lovely and warm, would feature her voice etc.

i hate that pitchfork record store

― brews before HOOS (s1ocki), Thursday, February 4, 2010 2:44 AM

my wife thought this was a dude singer too btw

Even after finding out the girl was the singer, I looked up the credits, thinking "well maybe the dude only sings lead on some of the songs"

u guys are weird

transvestite!

I'm a big fan of all the usual references for this band (Nico, Cocteaus, Mazzy Star, Galaxie 500, Low, etc.) but can't seem to get into them to any huge degree. Just more of a "ho hum, this is kinda nice" reaction. What am I missing?

yeah, this is how I feel. i think they sound pretty good whenever they come on, but I'm never really swept away ... haven't heard the new one ...

I don't think this is quite as good as Devotion, but I fucking loved that record and I'm growing to fucking love this one too. It does need time though, the first three or four listens left me unimpressed. Now, "Silver Soul", "Walk In The Park", "10 Mile Stereo" and "Real Love" are knocking me sideways.

boring shit

Awwww... don't talk about yourself like that, Ian.

hey, is that ian zamboni of zamboni sdtks? that's a FUCKING GREAT blog, dude.

This is definitely a good argument for the beauty of content-free recordings.

What – ILM?

Ha! No, this record. It's not meant to be a zing, either. I feel like nothing happens on this record and it's perfect for it.

yeah, it's pretty basic and introverted for most of the time (with some nice nuances), a little MOR even,and i say that as a positive things.

owen otm

for me this album is just one big giant heart throb. the best moment is when she sings "i take care of you."

but "in a year or two"...

they're so good at ending songs with beautiful heartbreaking choruses that go on forever

like i said, songs go on too long

Beach House = sex

Even they think so...

“This record has a lot of sex in it and it has more balls"...

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/beach-house

Talk complete balls though...

beach balls

ball house

liked the fallon performance but wasn't sure about headbanging to a song without a beat

i was disappointed by her fashion choices on that TV appearance.

so they got the Hope Sandoval approval - said she liked them, and that they remind her of Opal.
we can all relax.

we can all relax.

by taking quaaludes and listening to hope sandoval?

i don't know if i can ever listen to this record as i'm struggling to believe it can possibly live up to the spluttering hype it's getting everywhere

The more I spin this album, the less I'm convinced it's any good.

Kind of starts to sound like if Grizzly Bear started making repetitive, monochromatic songs with a female lead vocalist, instead of their usual over-orchestrated kaleidoscopic indie-pop thing. Maybe a good thing for Grizzly Bear fans... but I just think it's really boring. Not even bad, just boring. Which is probably why it reminds me of Grizzly Bear. Not bad... just boring.

if you find beautiful melodies boring then yes there is not much besides those on this album

sometimes i feel like it takes all sorts of retarded INNOVATIVE/EXPERIMENTAL/PSYCHEDELIC superfluous tags for people to be able to fuck with killer pop tunes these days. i'm sure if you ran this dream-pop album through animal collective's synth meat grinder it would'nt get knocked for being boring; but it also wouldn't be any better.

I love a good dream-pop album but this isn't dream-pop, it's more like mope-pop.

Better yet: snooze-pop.

so beach house reminds you of grizzly bear if grizzly bear started making music like beach house

ah, the good old days when beach house songs sounded like beach house songs written by beach house

so beach house reminds you of grizzly bear if grizzly bear started making music like beach house

Well, yes, but you're making it sound stupid. I mean, imagine if Slayer started making music like Beach House, it would be a bit different, right? So it's got something Grizzly-esque to it, their sense of neutered dull boring-ness or something.

Also, for an album full of "beautiful melodies" and "killer pop tunes" it sounds surprisingly dull to my ears. Even compared to, say, the new Hope Sandoval record (hopefully a fair comparison) this album really falls flat. Where are these tunes you speak of??

ah, the good old days before grizzly bear invented boring-ness in music

did you ever like or listen to beach house before this album, ilxor? because i can't imagine anyone being surprised or dissapointed that they would put out a record that sounds like this. if you just never liked beach house i get it that it's not your thing, but you're kind of accusing them of doing exactly what they've always done + tacking on a random grizzly bear diss.

did you ever like or listen to beach house before this album, ilxor?

I'd previously heard the first album and a couple songs from Devotion. Pretty much thought "oh, this is nice, I'll keep an eye on this band in case they turn into something awesome down the line" and moved on to other things.

You do have a point, though, maybe I've just never been the ideal fan of theirs. Though I've seen the hype around this new one and I try to give things a fair shake, regardless of past judgments, so...

+ tacking on a random grizzly bear diss.

Also, not really a random diss -- I said the Beach House album specifically reminded me of Grizzly Bear if they were less orchestrated and had a female singer, and that both were not really bad/offensive but seemed musically neutered and boring, in one way or another.

This album reminds me of beautiful melodies that I heard elsewhere.

i wish grizzly bear sounded more like beach house, then i might actually not think they are rubbish

I prefer Beach House actually! "Take Care" and "Norway" are two songs I like more than anything by GB.

the songs usually have a good melody in there but--and i say this as a fan of much minimalist pop--they really don't have enough going on, melodically or texturally (sp?), to justify their lengths. the changes in texture are often predictable in a (don't hate me please) coldplay sort of way--ok, bass here, drums here, etc.

not that this is bad by any means, just predictable and a bit zzzz. and somehow less mysterious and odd than the first two records.

they had a really fragile, very particular aesthetic going on and it was probably wrong to imagine that they could work variations on it endlessly. although maybe they'll put out a killer 4th record and surprise me.

the changes in texture are often predictable in a (don't hate me please) coldplay sort of way--ok, bass here, drums here, etc.

This is something like what I've been trying to say.

i really love 'teen dream' - and didn't care for the first two albums - but not for the 'melodies', more for the texture of the thing (the middle section of "real love" when the drone comes in and creates this odd suspension/tension between all the other elements in the song is probably my favorite moment on the whole album)

honestly if most of us (including myself most of the time) have this reflexive blinkered indie/mainstream dichotomy, there's really a similarity between how these guys and coldplay build simple melodies and sustain (some) interest via measured shifts in instrumental texture. i say that not solely to criticize one or the other band.

but i get the feeling that most people who like beach house would not be caught dead appreciating coldplay. i suppose coldplay's lyrics are a good enough reason for that.

and yeah there are some nice moments of texture on this new LP but not enough of them IMO.

sorry that 1st sentence was garbled. try again:

"honestly if most of us (including myself most of the time) didn't have this reflexive blinkered indie/mainstream dichotomy, we'd recognize that there's really a similarity between how these guys and coldplay build simple melodies and sustain (some) interest via measured shifts in instrumental texture."

i don't see how you guys don't view this as a step up on the first two records--to me it's the exact same sound palette with a lot more depth.

that being said as long as their songs all pretty much work the exact same tempos while not really doing anything interesting rhythmically, they're not going to make a masterpiece, they're going to make nice records.

I like this new album, quite a bit. Not sure I'm going to love it forever. Also, great to see the Grizzly Bear abuse is being continued in multiple threads! way to go ILXOR---
so funny they have become the whipping post when bon iver/fleet foxes are producing far more boring music and equally as "lauded"

i'm probably more down on it than i would be if i weren't posting on this thread.

??

Also, great to see the Grizzly Bear abuse is being continued in multiple threads! way to go ILXOR---
so funny they have become the whipping post when bon iver/fleet foxes are producing far more boring music and equally as "lauded"

I'm not making Grizzly Bear into a whipping post, I just said this new Beach House album with its expanded sound palette reminds me of Grizzly Bear. I don't care for Bon Iver or Fleet Foxes either, but that's not the point because Beach House remind me of neither of those bands. If they did, then I'd have said so.

Way more tonal and rhythmic and dynamic variation in Grizzly Bear than in this.

Beach House is on today's World Cafe

Baltimore dreamers Beach House sound a whole lot different live than they do on record, especially when they’re working with their recently expanded live lineup. So even if you don’t like paying for the same songs twice, Beach House’s new iTunes Sessions EP might be worth checking out. For the EP, the band– in three-piece form– turned in reworked versions of five old songs, as well as one completely new one: “White Moon”.

Tracklist:

1. Walk in the Park
2. White Moon
3. Norway
4. Silver Soul
5. Gila
6. Real Love

has anyone heard this?

haven't heard this, but I'm still loving Teen Dream, more than I thought I would

here is just the new song, it's nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yrgv9FB99c

wow, based on early listens (it just arrived on emusic), teen dream is a major step-up from the prior two full-length discs, in every possible way.

it's great.

i don't know if i can ever listen to this record as i'm struggling to believe it can possibly live up to the spluttering hype it's getting everywhere

― trembling blue knees (electricsound), Wednesday, February 10, 2010 9:30 AM (6 months ago)

i listened to it and it doesn't, though it's still decent

seriously came here to post how much i loved the guy's voice. i'm even more amazed now.

i'm so in love with "zebra". it's an utterly perfect thing.

i wish the rest of the album was as good as zebra

^

They were boring when I saw them open for Vampire Weekend.

that's a really strange bill, beach-house and vampire-weekend.

Not really, I'd imagine tons of overlap between the fanbases of the two bands. Sonically, maybe a little, yeah.

Their sound is very pretty, but I could not imagine a set longer than the thirty minutes they played. Reminded me of Mazzy Star, all that twinkly melancholy.

I can imagine. When taken in very small doses of two or three songs, the band is lovely, but I have a real hard time with a full-length.

i don't have a hard time listening to the full album, and i enjoy all the tracks at least to some degree, but more often than not i find myself just playing 'zebra' or 'walk in the park' repeatedly

They've definitely got a template of sorts, but I find the newest album to be really solid from beginning to end.

revisited teen dream today and for sure best album of 2010!!!

does anyone have TMZ type shit on the guy and girl in the band? are they like deep and transcendent lovers or something? they gotta be.

In an interview with this week’s NME, sepia-poppers Beach House get rather lavish about their forthcoming fourth album, Bloom.

According to Alex Scally, one half of the group, Bloom – co-produced by Chris Coady, who worked on the most recent albums by Cold Cave and Gang Gang Dance – will be “their own Pet Sounds or Disintegration, not in sound, but as something which feels like a definitive statement.”

“I could make the pop music I hear on the radio”, Scally continues. “Victoria [Legrand, Beach House vocalist] has a great voice – we could easily churn out a Rihanna hit. It would take about 15 minutes. And then she’d just have to wear no clothes and I’d have to get a tattoo or something or something, and then the next thing we’re huge for, like, five minutes. But if that was going to be our course, it would’ve happened a long time ago.”

though the new song via pitchfork today sounds exactly like a Teen Dream take, which is great.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aRSDzmAy-X8"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I feel like I pretty much missed this band in the flurry of bands named beach coast and best house and beast coach

getting around to the s/t now, and it's great - perfect for a week of sub-freezing weather and probable snow

I think i do get why some ppl bag on bloom, but I really love it, listened to it more than any other 12 release probly.

Need 2 check beast couch.

lol beast couch, that's even better

hmm first track of Bloom sounds kind of like a scrambled Eyes Without A Face.

Ha someone last summer posted ewaf video on bloom thread!

lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la172kVbXQI

LOL their own Pet Sounds.

Here's another band (like Tame Impala) who I wasn't ready to embrace but then two or three tracks from Bloom started worming their ways in and now I have to admit I like them a whole lot

I like it, too, but that quote upthread is hilarious. Sound like some pretty unlikeable people.

Beach House perform outside in their atmospheric short film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgD8vWIB8hs

they come across as massively earnest arseholes in interviews and i get why people think they're boring but i think this band is pretty good

most recent record is my favourite. on teen dream the songs seem too long - bloom is like a more revitalised version of that album. also sounds a lot more like the cocteau twins than anything else they've previously done which is obviously ++++

i also really like the s/t and its quiet intimacy.

Saw them at FYF over the weekend and dug them. I like how they inhabit their own space live (kinda like how the Cocteau Twins do). Was mostly meh about the albums, but would go see them again.

Enjoyed the new songs at the show tonight, I think they were 3 of them. Nothing innovative, a little more streamlined and direct than usual.

once i had a girlfriend and we were on a long drive and i played walk in the park. when it ended she said, cautiously and seemingly embarrassed -- for me, not for her -- that she didn't really like the band beach house. she clarified: "i dislike them."

still one of the worst opinions i've ever heard.

so much for that relationship

o.g. 'methinks'

feel like my feelings about this band are the opposite of everyone else's, i like the first two albums, "devotion" is my favorite, i don't care about the rest

i like beach house but i don't quite get into as much as i feel like i should or w/e. i saw them open for the clientele right after their first album came out and i thought they were good but i forgot they existed til the next album, probs bc the clientele was so good that night.

I love the s/t more than anything they've done since, but I admit that my love for the first record is probably because of that feeling of "potential energy" that it contains, of unrealized potential. "Teen Dream" makes me angry when I'm in a bad mood because of how safe it plays, and I've had moments when it's on in at a coffee shop when it makes me feel depressed that people want such safe and pretty music in their lives. At the same time I've slow-danced at weddings to "10 Mile Stereo" and had endorphin rushes for miles so who knows. Probably issues with dream pop in general

Beach House was the ultimate "ooh, what's this?!" band whenever I heard someone else playing them, but once I had the albums myself I hardly ever intentionally listened to them.

Beach House is okay if someone else is listening to them, but I'm not likely to put them on myself.

lol

Ha. Exactly.

yea xp tp fgti when devotion came out everybody talked about how good it was but that it still didn't "match their potential." people liked the record but were more eager to see what they would do in the future.

agree that teen dream and bloom are boring records. but yea lol when i hear them in the background i think "yea this is good" but i am never motivated to listen to those two records

they played a secret show here in bmore a couple months back of all new material, it was all good, nothing new, but i'm not a super fan. i don't think they ever expected or wanted to become as big as they did, and frankly they seem a bit bummed out/confused/paralyzed by it...

it makes me feel depressed that people want such safe and pretty music in their lives.

"take care" is pretty dangerous if you are in a situation where you don't want to start crying

i agree that all their songs are very similar but it's not something i resent. "reliable" is the word i'd use. has anyone seen this? it suggests you can run a "beach house" filter over any song and come up with predictable results....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iLeYUKCqhUc

let me try again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iLeYUKCqhUc

?

i know y'all don't care much about beach house but NEW ALBUM

http://pitchfork.com/news/57120-beach-house-announce-new-album-depression-cherry-and-world-tour/

Yes, the sleeve for the LP and CD (pictured above) are made of actual red velvet.

http://i.imgur.com/42GB5ZP.jpg

Ha! I just made a post to that effect on fb.

New song:

consequenceofsound.net/2015/07/beach-house-premieres-new-song-sparks-listen/

I think it's the best song they ever made.

a little heavy on the MBV imo

it is good though, i kind of lost interest in this band after the first couple albums despite their critical rise

ahh yea it is a beautiful song actually

this album needs its own thread...

i love it

Reminds me that I forgot to listen to the last album.

the last album was really good, check it out

well it leaked. thoughts so far? happy that there's more variety for sure.

feel free to message me for a link (it's not hq though)

space song is really doing it for me

OH MY GODDDDDDD GUYSSSSSSS

DEPRESSION CHERRYYYYYYY

i'm really not trying to exaggerate here when i say that DEPRESSION CHERRY might just be the greatest music i've ever listened to in my life

at first the second half of PPP seems a bit overwrought but then i ease into it and it feels juuuust right.

such a strong 70s vibe from this one

a little heavy on the MBV imo

this does not compute

They took a big step forward on "Bloom" by going full-on Cocteau Twins at times, things can only get more awesome by adding MBV to the mix.

"levitation" is fantastic. contender for best first impression an album's made on me since the latest valet album, nature

Hmm.. I gave it a couple of goes. Despite some nice tunes, I can never get beyond 'uh-huh they've been listening to (X) a lot' with this band, and that eclipses my enjoyment of their music almost entirely.

Not sure I love this song either - drums are really ploddy and don't really carry the rest of the elements in a satisfying way. It sounds like a collage of lots of nice ideas pasted haphazardly on top of each other with little allowance for propulsion or groove.

more if the same, only back to lo-fi and reverb. more dream pop.
nice melodies.
very relaxing.
and i like the fact they moved back instead of commercialsing themselves for good.

no immediate "hits" too which is great, cause Beach House best songs are the growers imo

I might ration myself a song or two a week just to space out my appreciation of this, I know I'm going to love it.

After 2 listens i'm affraid it's somewhat too monotonic.

highlights for me: bluebird, sparks, PPP.

dunno if I'll listen to the leak but "Sparks" is fucking fantastic. Agreed that it's the best song they've done so far.

I don't need every album from these guys, but this album is just what I needed.

not really feeling the last three tracks...everything else is pretty spectacular tho

especially the last half of PPP. wooooaahhhhh

Either it's boring
Or I'm old.

Loved the previous two records though

Yeah, I'm not really into this either. Everything after the third song just passes me by until Days of Candy which I really like as it reminds me of Julee Cruise. In Bloom is by far my favourite of their albums. This one is a big step down in my opinion.

Fans of the yacht side to Beach House may dig We Only Part to Meet Again by Mister and Mississippi. Spotify, YouTube playlist,

I will give this a shot. I like this band a decent amount but they're one of those bands who, other than a few really well-crafted songs, rely very heavily on atmosphere, so I feel like I only need so much of them.

Every past album = one or two truly excellent songs, surrounded by ten other songs that are similar and good but less distinguishable. Haven't heard the new one yet but wasn't crazy about the single.

i love depression cherry so much

this is somehow even more romantic sounding than their previous albums. It's very nice

The album is a dream, y'all are on crack

^^^

I took a nice walk today and listened to devotion, still think there is much that is wonderful on that album. turtle island really stood out, that tune is gorgeous

i give up. Cherry is a grower and it's great.
especially Wildflower.

this is not on Spotify as of yet. see that it got the "Best New Music" tag today.

yeah the album comes out next friday so i don't understand why it went up so early

The album leaked in June, so there must have been a copy floating around the Pitchfork office since at least then.

Hearing it for the first time - it's like all the other Beach House albums: 100% pleasant but blurry, with a few transcendent moments.

My opinion of this record has grown a lot more positive with subsequent listens. Above comment still more or less applies, but I'm playing it really loud at the moment (not something I usually do with Beach House) and it's making me here the record in a whole new way. Opening two tracks in particular are really terrific at full volume.

This album is beautiful and it may be my new favorite of theirs.

agree that it gets better with multiple listens. I put it on when I have 40 minutes to kill and just want to levitate a bit

they are a pretty fantastic live band right now if they happen to be coming your way

o rly? I saw them many moons ago when they toured in support of devotion.. was just the two of them and a drum machine

excited to hear it's a grower. only listened once so far, but i'll put it on again tonight

it's a grower but it stopped growing for me at some point

xxp i saw them last week with a drummer and a bassist/keyboardist. they sounded massive on some of the newer stuff.

i think this is my favorite album so far this year, loving it.

so perfect for a Southern Californian like myself.

a total bore

nah

they are playing this album on repeat at variety roasters in bushwick fyi. it sounds good against the ambient background hum of the coffee roasting machine.

I love the last three albums but only Space Song is sticking with me this time.

The cadence of PPP, so mesmerizing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJLQfOQbtyE

Her voice at 5:35...wow

HAH. clearly the wrong video. oops. let's try that again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYQJKvNcMHU

5:35 tho

http://pitchfork.com/news/61531-beach-house-releasing-new-album-thank-your-lucky-stars-next-week/

Well, there's a surprise. I hope it's good. I've been struggling to get into Depression Cherry. It feels a bit half-asssed after Bloom.

such an awesome move. bought the bundle, listening to DC in full for the first time now

"10:37" is a perfect song, though I find the "House Made of Dawn" reference confusing. Not the only spot on the album where they borrow a book title for imagery.

thank you lucky stars for "elegy to the void"

yeah that song stopped me in my tracks this morning

opening track is killer too

is this album a glass of Ny-Quil like the last?

you say that like nyquil is a bad thing

when I'm sick

is this album a glass of Ny-Quil like the last?

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, October 13, 2015 7:29 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

damn that's cold

i discovered that the supermarket's music playlist switches to beach house if you go after 11pm

at least nyquil tastes pretty good?

Definitely liking this new one more than DC, although I'm willing to keep trying with that one too

I'm heartened to find that they still can write songs

"Rough" was the first one to get me from this album.

"She's so Lovely" is pretty good too

that elegy to the void song

I like Space Song more than anything since their first album, holy god. what a debilitatingly pretty song; listening to it for the first time was like rounding a corner and suddenly seeing a shovel coming rapidly towards my face (but in a good way). Somewhere Tonight and She's So Lovely are goddamn delightful as well.

also one reference point I can't shake with their 2015 albums is LITA's resurrection of Lewis last year - i.e. all of a sudden there's a whole new album full of the same general aesthetic (except it plays totally differently) while you're still waiting.

depression cherry is excellent music for spring-cleaning to.

'elegy to the void' closed out their set in LA last night, and wow.

i'm really liking how a lot of their recent cuts, from depression cherry and tyls, seem to be a lot more jammy and sort of trance-influenced. PPP and 'Elegy,' for example, seem quite different from the more 'pop' structure of their previous work, especially teen dream & bloom (RE: everyone who thinks their sound is too consistent and boring).

I had thought I was over Beach House but GOD DAMMIT I AM NOT OVER BEACH HOUSE. Both 2015 albums are magnificent.

yep

they are both really fucking good

I saw them live last night in Montréal. They were wonderful. I had no idea her voice would be that good. I love their songs, their arrangements and their melodies, but Victoria's voice was the star of the show.

Don't you disappear in the mirror againnnn

I've been racking my brain all week trying to figure out who Victoria Legrand sounds like and now I'm a little disappointed to finally figure out that it's Martha Davis from the Motels. Hrmph.

totally, a lot of their aesthetic comes straight from the Motels

Not really, just her voice.

noooooooo

i do not really hear it

it's there, you just need to open your heart. Suddenly Last Summer could easily be a Beach House jam.

There is a mournful catch in Legrand's more emotive lines which sounds like Davis (and that catch was pretty much the entire appeal of the Motels for me). But Legrand brings a lot more to the table. At times I think of them as Cocteau Twins doing a David Lynch soundtrack.

Speaking of which, have you heard Lera Lynn? Her aesthetic is 100% Lynch soundtrack, and there's definitely some crossover with Beach House.

Referring above to Lynn's current album Resistor. There's earlier work that's more trad Americana.

interviewing this band in a couple weeks and i have zero idea what to ask them. they're the greatest boring / most boring great band on the planet, right? what do you ask a band that has written and recorded one glorious song dozens of times over a decade or so?

Speaking as a relative newcomer to their music, the things that I'd be most interested in hearing about would be their beginnings, what they consider to be their biggest influences and what prompted them to release two separate albums pretty much back to back last year.

ask them about their development as a live band, because as i've noted previously, they're a really really good one these days.

I'm curious about the name. Wikipedia says the name "just seemed perfect" to them, but the associations of protected privilege threatened by climate change seem almost implicit. (A lot of the music conveys this sense of waiting to be inevitably overcome by something; they recorded their last two albums in Louisiana.) So, I dunno, you might ask them what their experience with beach houses was, as actual places or as images, before settling upon the name? Maybe they get asked that all the time.

https://charlierose.com/video/player/28556

xpost

ask them about the obvious difficulties that come from their name being mixed up with "beech house"

i haven't watched the charlie rose interview so it's possible he may have already asked them about it

That is one boring interview. Rose throws out what you would expect and the responses are just typical collegiate artistic drivel. Better to just put their music on.

agreed that the responses were boring, but I thought Rose did try to push them - asking pointed questions about the creative process and getting fluffy answers.

but the thing is, I think their responses are the honest truth. i don't think their sound could come out of an intentional, deliberate method of songwriting.

Yeah. They're just a lot less thoughtful than their music lets on.

Which is cool! Their music is great!

You can ask if their aesthetic is so set that if they came up with something different and cool they discard it as being off-form. You could ask them if they think of louder faster songs as a sell-out move, or just something to keep in their back pocket if they ever hit a wall. You could ask about the attentiveness of audiences as they've gained more and more fans, or newer fans. You could ask them if beauty in and of itself is enough, and you could ask them if that is super cynical to even ask. You could ask them how Low has managed to release album after album of mostly slow, mostly great stuff that has showed significant evolution without losing its innate Low-ness, though that question might be better suited to Low.

touché

geez

Haha, the last one was a joke, but I was serious about the other ones! I like Beach House fine, and some of their stuff is really pretty.

why would anyone want more variety and surprise in the age of mass uncertainty and diversion?

neue jesse is right that you need to ask them about their name. also, i would be interested in hearing about their lyric writing process, specifically for the song "elegy to the void."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgR-PUXv98k

yussssss

Equal Mind is really something. These guys are damn prolific. One of those "samey" sounding bands I can't quite get bored with.

They do one thing very well and that's about as much as you can ask of anything

this is gorgeous stuff

I've only heard bits of this so far but I've been listening to a lot of Beach House lately. I've always found it tough to rank their albums, but right now it would go something like this.

Bloom (the one that got me into them)
Depression Cherry (didn't rate this at first, huge grower)
Teen Dream
Beach House
Devotion (this one doesn't seem that essential to their back catalogue, more of a bridge between the first and third albums)
Thank Your Lucky Stars (Majorette and The Traveller are the only ones I really love on here)

my personal ranking:

depression cherry
teen dream
beach house
devotion
thank your lucky stars
bloom

note that this is all on a rating scale of like, 9.3-8.8

They do one thing very well and that's about as much as you can ask of anything

yea i love this band

really happy to see all the DC love

beyond love is a beautiful track

and this album nails that anodyne vibe

I think Bloom will always be my favourite but Depression Cherry is comfortably in second place now. It's one the biggest U-turns I've done on an album in recent years.

Finally got round to giving the compilation a listen. It is indeed great and probably a better listen than maybe three of their albums.

my feeling is that depression cherry will age the best out of all their work so far

Looking forward to hearing DC,never listened. First I want more time with this tho, it's nice.

been listening to these guys a ton lately, here's my ranking:

bloom
depression cherry
teen dream = thank your lucky stars
devotion

haven't listened to the self titled yet

i'm glad everyone mentioned depression cherry. i liked it when it came out but haven't revisited it in a really long time. when i put it on again each song sounded so warmly familiar, even though i had probably only listened to each track a couple times.

"Sparks" is such an amazing song and I wish they'd do more in that vein.

I am surprised I thought Teen Dream would be the popular favourite if LPs being ranked.

i've never heard DC until this week, and i didn't even know TYLS existed- and i listened to bloom and teen dream a lot in their times, devotion only some. TYLS started playing on youtube without me being aware it was not DC. it's wonderfully direct imo. loving the hell out of one thing right now.

not at all surprising to me that bloom would be the favorite. like they said in the interviews before the album dropped, it feels like their definitive statement that they've been working up to until that point. i resisted for a while but i had to admit that it stands apart from the rest of their excellent discography

never change, beach house

Depression Cherry is has been a wonderful, much-repeated listening experience since i read this thread.

i have since fallen head over heels for teen dream, so it is now tied for second with depression cherry in my power ranking

depression cherry is so good

how are they live? they are coming to lovely Southern California this month and thinking about catching the show, especially since it will be on a Friday night.

i saw them after depression cherry came out and they were extremely good live, total mastery of dynamics, really filled the room.

I saw them around Bloom and it was great for the same reasons.

They're great live. Saw them on the DC/Thank Your Lucky Stars tour. Hearing songs from "Bloom" were explosive and the recent material, especially "Beyond Love" was aces

I agree they are amazing live. Go!

excellent live. would definitely go.

it's kind of weird to mention, but what stood out to me was the BASS. for some reason hearing the bass/organ lines on a really loud, crystal clear sound system added another dimension to their music.

That's not weird Karl. I didn't notice that at all nth that's the beauty of music?

I've seen them every time I've been able to, probably 7 times, always great. Alex plays the bass with his feet!

they sold out before i was able to get tickets. i'm so bummed but seeing Swervedriver two nights later anyways. i will get a live fix this weekend after all.

they're coming to play the santa fe opera house soon, which, after my first visit there last night, is a really magical venue

I've found everything post 'Bloom' to be aimless and plodding. I guess I'm a pop kid.

I've enjoyed a bunch of what they've done since, but yeah, I miss the sharper songcraft.

I recommend the setlist generator on the beach house website if one is attending a show. You can request 3 songs. Not sure how much they adhere to it but it's fun

Would be cool to see the ilx consensus on favourite album. Bloom is a perfect pop record and really life affirming but feel like depression cherry is on par, it's just the missing half.

teen dream imo. they are all good though

Bloom

Bloom is easily my favourite. Probably Depression Cherry in second place.

Teen Dream

The debut and its musty sickness

i made a poll Best Beach House Album (So Far)

xpost

my personal ranking from most favorite to least favorite:

Depression Cherry
Teen Dream
Beach House
Devotion
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Bloom

note that this is on a scoring scale of 9.3 - 8.8. they're my favorite.

Ha, well, I guess I'm a contrarian then - I think Devotion is pretty beautiful - it was my entry point so probably special to me. And I loved Thank Your Lucky Stars, the slightly tougher sounds kicked it into new territory for me.

I used work with a guy who loved Teen Dream so much he couldn’t even listen to the newer stuff with the more cosmic sound.

i made a tweet out of this, but this is what each Beach House album would be like if they were films:

S/T: Super 8 home movie
DEVOTION: psychedelic underground cult classic
TEEN DREAM: coming-of-age fantasy
BLOOM: nocturnal road trip blockbuster
DEPRESSION CHERRY: retrofuturist space epic
THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS: wintry lone drifter tale

I used work with a guy who loved Teen Dream so much he couldn’t even listen to the newer stuff with the more cosmic sound.

i met someone who refused to listen to anything past devotion. i was like uhh you're really doing yourself a disservice there

I think there's a certain degree of conscious returning to earlier minimalism on dc-tyls after the widescreen dream pop of Bloom. Most of the vocals are also bereft of the thick reverb as well

still haven't listened to Thank Your Lucky Stars. Depression Cherry became my favorite recently. vinyl copy of Bloom developed a skip that makes me so angry I resent the whole album. Saw one of my favorite concerts at the Hollywood Bowl circa Teen Dream. Devotion has our song.

TYLS is equal to or better than Cherry

going to give it a shot over the weekend

Yeah agree with you Moodles. TYLS also sounds great after DC as a pick me up record.

****new beach house****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08qd-vsHbaY&feature=youtu.be

psyched for this. they shot a music video in an art deco movie theater here nearly a year ago, i wonder when that's going to turn up

oh nice, more in the sparks vein

flappy bird: That video is out! I think. For "Chariot," from the b sides comp.

ha yeah i just watched that and yeah that's definitely it

The new song came up on a Spotify playlist I was listening to on shuffle. I was 95% sure it was gonna turn into a soundcloud rap track until Victoria started singing

a flash in the pan
― Stephen Bush (Stephen B.), Saturday, November 18, 2006 2:42 PM (eleven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol

new album 7 out May 11.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRBEc4GP7cY

i love you beach house

Fuck ya

So glad they didn't take a hiatus following the last two shot run

i was listening to beach house when i got in a car accident on monday :(

depression cherry kind of traumatizing now

Hope you're ok

love this band

YES

their career path has been remarkable & ideal imo: a gradual rise spread out over a decade from very humble beginnings to arguably one of the 10 most popular & certainly influential indie bands in the world.

Personal list of artists with the most consistent quality per decade:

60s: Mingus
70s: Can or Black Sabbath (although their late 70’s albums are not as consistently brilliant as the rest)
80s: Prince
90s: Stereolab
00s: Spoon
10s: Beach House

We also worked with Sonic Boom (Peter Kember). Peter became a great force on this record, in the shedding of conventions and in helping to keep the songs alive, fresh and protected from the destructive forces of recording studio over-production/over-perfection.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy shit. Anticipating the fuck out of this. My guess is it will bridge the gap between the last two and bloom but this is based on nothjng

love when the drums kick in on dive.

Guitar part on dive really brings to mind temptation by new order for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-eBDrE25ec

hell yeah that's good

cover art for this album is amazing

stupid how many people seem upset on RYM that it's called "7" - it's their seventh record...

well RYM feels like the seventh circle of hell so that makes sense to me

lol man

i am excited about this album

yeah, everything i've heard has sounded great! i'm holding off until the rest of it is released

listening to depression cherry right now, there are so many beautiful moments on this record especially "days of candy" solo that starts at 2:57 ~~~ whoooooohhhh~~~

Beyond love ruins me

Beach House - 7 (2018)

Thanks bee OK

Teen Dream turns 10 today.

I probably haven't listened to Beach House in a couple of years (time flies), but put on "7" and "Teen Dream" just now and it's all so almost unbearably pretty.

Music is all about FEELINGS man and the stuff that hits me the hardest I don’t want to stumble upon or listen to while I’m frying an egg or emptying the trash

Wrong thread
Anyway yeah I was wondering what they’re up to ...

Frying eggs, obv.

Sorry Ma, Forgot to Hit You in the Feels

Anyway yeah I was wondering what they’re up to ...

3 years since 7 came out. *drums fingers on table*

I want to say they might be working with ... Lanois?

Quarantine Dream

IIRC they scored an installation, but yeah I'd like a new record too.

Music is all about FEELINGS man and the stuff that hits me the hardest I don’t want to stumble upon or listen to while I’m frying an egg or emptying the trash

they posted this to their IG acct last week:

https://imgur.com/a/EQ6hn26

they're my all-time favorite band, so I follow them very closely. on a podcast appearance, Victoria mentioned that they were already working on new music before the pandemic hit, and the pandemic just caused them to keep working on more music, not knowing when they'll stop. it'll continue to move towards a sonically cinematic realm in the way that the past albums have but in a more explicit way like 7. they've also hinted that they're interested in touring less(?) and making/releasing music more. so we may be coming into an embarrassment of riches when the time comes!

whoops -- did the image link wrong

basically, a fan commented on their latest IG post asking about a new album, and they responded saying they're currently working on it!

https://i.imgur.com/rW7G01J.jpeg

they've also hinted that they're interested in touring less(?) and making/releasing music more. so we may be coming into an embarrassment of riches when the time comes!

― winters (josh), Friday, September 10, 2021 8:30 PM (yesterday)
=======================

shame about the touring since I always enjoy seeing them live....I have noticed on the last few albums that Victoria's not singing as forcefully as she used to - definitely noticed it in the live shows too. so one reason for them touring less would be to relieve the strain on her having to perform multiple nights in a row. whatever form they appear, it's gonna be great though, they can't seem to make a bad record.

https://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/2021/11/08/beachhouse-oncetwicemelody-art.jpeg

from Sub Pop's website:

"ONCE TWICE MELODY is the 8th studio album by BEACH HOUSE, who formed in 2004.

ONCE TWICE MELODY is a 2xLP, featuring 18 songs and presented in 4 chapters.

BEACH HOUSE is VICTORIA LEGRAND, lead singer and multi-instrumentalist, and ALEX SCALLY, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. They write all of their songs together.

OTM was Produced entirely by BEACH HOUSE, a first for the band. Like their previous record 7, the live drums are by JAMES BARONE. Live drums were recorded at PACHYDERM studio in Minnesota and UNITED Studio in LA.

The Writing and Recording of ONCE TWICE MELODY began in 2018 and was completed in JULY 2021. Most of the songs were created during this time, though a few date back over the previous 10 years. Much of this recording was done at APPLE ORCHARD STUDIO in Baltimore.

ONCE TWICE MELODY was mixed largely by ALAN MOULDER, but a few tracks were also mixed by CAESAR EDMUNDS, TREVOR SPENCER, and DAVE FRIDMANN.

For the first time, a live STRING ENSEMBLE was used. Strings were arranged by DAVID CAMPBELL

Across the 18 Songs, many types of STYLE, SONG STRUCTURE, and SPIRIT can be heard; Songs WITHOUT drums, Songs centered around ACOUSTIC guitar, mostly ELECTRONIC Songs with no guitar, wandering melodies, repetitive melodies, Songs built around the STRING SECTIONS. While there are a lot of new sounds, many of the drum machines, organs, keyboards, and tones that listeners may associate with previous BEACH HOUSE records are still present throughout many of the compositions."

•••

there are also tour dates all over the world from Feb - July 2022!!!!

Excited about this but not really sold on the idea of it appearing in four installments over the next few month.

I get the sense that it’s partially integral to the experience of the album and partially to have control over the release of the album as they've publicly expressed frustration over how all their records have been leaked waaaay early on

albums released on sub pop are about the only ones that still do leak months in advance

What’s with the CAPS

that’s a GOOD question

i'm looking forward to this because 7 was their best by quite a margin

Is there a RELEASE DATE?

the full physical album will be released on Feb 18th which is when the last chapter will be released on streaming

the four parts are being released on nov 10, dec 8, jan 19, and then feb 18

OTM

Nov 10? That’s tomorrow (tomorrow…tomorrow…tomorrow)

https://i.imgur.com/dLxy08W.png

excited for this but on the other hand i hated it when hayley williams adopted almost precisely this same release strategy for her album last year - i might just listen to the first part and then wait for the rest in february

i think the hayley williams album was particularly unsuited to that release strategy because its sequencing was so chaotic. i think bill callahan did something similar recently and it wasn't as bad

OTM

― A Pile of Ants (Boring, Maryland)

OTM

definitely sounds like beach house, just with some string arrangements

second track reminds me of chromatics, a little synthpoppier than usual with that bassline

but after hearing these i'm not really sure i can tolerate a beach house double album (or quadruple ep as it's being presented), even when they're at their best it's not really like i want 90 minutes of what they do

I’d say Thank Your Lucky Stars / Depression Cherry was their best, and about that long in total

based on the first song, it does seem that they have taken the rapid chord changes of "Dark Spring" (first time I heard that it knocked me on my ass) as at least a frequent if not encompassing stylistic template, after the previous records uniformly used a more glacial framework…ohmigod, this second song! I am so fucking there for this…

i'd gladly take a monthly quadruple album from this band

^^^^^^^^^

seriously who complains about too much music from a band as good as this

"Superstar" is awesome

"Through Me" has a bit of a Stranger Things vibe. These guys rule.

Unsurprisingly this is good. I've yet to hear a song from them that I actively dislike. They're like Cocteau Twins in that way for me.

i was most taken by the first two, particularly the title track (quarter LP title track?), but it's all good

They're like Cocteau Twins in that way for me.

yeah, this is the first beach house to come out after i finally caught cocteau fever, and i was immediately thinking of them about a minute into the ep :)

and of course as soon as the last track ended on this ep, spotify went straight on to cherry-coloured funk

but tbf, spotify throws me to cocteau twins after just about think i play with a keyboard in it and singing, due to aforementioned cocteau fever event. love that duo!

it's just at this point beach house have a very familiar bag of tricks, even though they've rejuvenated things a bit with 7 and this new material too

Feels like they're going harder here than on previous albums but it's all a matter of degrees with Beach House. Opening of "Pink Funeral" reminds me of Susanne Sundfor's Ten Love Songs.

Once Twice Melody sounds like the title to a particularly bad Glee episode.

Love “superstar”.

It does not sound like Chromatics at all for me though

Production is very meticulous (maybe too much?!)
But the songs themselves are kinda Beach House generic, except Superstar which is the best song here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf7hoM5RdeU

oh wow "over and over"

this whole chapter is great but especially "new romance" and "over and over"

if this first half of the album we've got so far was just the album, it'd possibly be their very best

Thanks for the reminder! This is, predictably, lovely stuff.

Early limited discussion in this thread is fun. "What do people think?" "Flash in the pan." "It's nice." "Gorgeous." Ten months pass.

pondering how to approach this in our EOY poll. Is it justified to vote for only half an album?

fuck, ESP!

pondering how to approach this in our EOY poll. Is it justified to vote for only half an album?

― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Wednesday, December 8, 2021 bookmarkflaglink

Personally treating the whole thing like a 2022 album (and in fact, have been putting off listening to it until then - same with the Big Thief stuff that's come out this year.)

chapter three is out, or up, I guess…it's difficult to convey how deeply this record and this band affects me…I guess in saying that I heard Loveless first in '94 and it knocked my on my ass, and then really went hard with the Cocteau Twins five years ago after not fucking with them ever, goes some distance towards how much this record —and the prior two— hits the spot…I want to see the tour REAL BAD, assuming it happens, but I have a 1 year old and there is of course no way to know when she could have adequate protection…

(and in fact, have been putting off listening to it until then - same with the Big Thief stuff that's come out this year.)

Glad I'm not the only one, though I did crack on some of the Big Thief tracks.

I was excited to listen to this, then I noticed there is one more "chapter" to go.

this might be me favorite 'chapter' so far. I don't want to hype it too much, for those waiting until the album is complete but these are amongst the best songs they've ever done.

Couldn't wait, this stuff is so lovely. "Over and Over" is the one that really leapt out to me.

I don't want to hype it too much … but these are amongst the best songs they've ever done.

Listened to the new songs twice and nothing has grabbed me. So far def prefer 7 to this. Still good stuff tho!

Yeah, my first reaction is it's definitely no better than their best stuff, and probably not quite as good as Teen Dream or 7. But, like, so? Shoot it into my veins!

(Which autocorrect tried to change to "shoot it into my van," which I will also accept.)

Not feeling this, sadly.
The songs seems too "mechanical",no emotion. And the vocals robotic filter is annoying.

IMO, The best song from this so far is Another Go Round, which was recorded for a soundtrack a year ago or so.

Would you pass judgement on a novel before you've read the final chapter!?

If it's good, yes.
If it's bad i would stop reading long before the last chapter

Your loss, you're missing out on the big twist! (Every book you never finished has a big twist you missed.)

the twist is that it all takes place in dean martin's guest house

beach house is keyser soze

The house was in the mountains all along

Beach House is NOT the father

I don't know how a Beach House fan could listen to "Superstar" without being swept away in its grandeur.

love every single thing Beach House has made; this 3rd chapter may be my overall favorite out of these 3 released so far

I like Beach House but can't be fucked with this chapters thing, I'll just listen to it when they finish eking it out

“Masquerade” is the goth new wave banger I didn’t know I wanted them to make.

hey - i've always liked what i heard from this band, listened to a few things here and there but i guess i was kinda tuned out for a while and associated them with the GAPDY era pitchfork, etc etc

what's the best place to start?

Devotion would be my pick

Teen Dream would seemingly be the consensus pick. My personal fav as well.

Bloom is my favorite

it's an interesting question, where to start. because for those first two albums, s/t and devotion, they were kind of lo-fi in terms of their sound. that's part of why the expanded sound of teen dream hit so awesomely and felt kind of sensorial.

i wonder if depression cherry would be a weird place to start?

there's no wrong place to start, really

bloom would also be a wonderful entry point

Bloom
7

And the new one would be what I’d recommend but they’re very consistent. Almost any album is a good starting point.

7 and Bloom also my favorites.
GAPDY? Do I even wanna know what that is

Listened to the new songs twice and nothing has grabbed me. So far def prefer 7 to this. Still good stuff tho!

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger),

same

7 and Bloom also my favorites.
GAPDY? Do I even wanna know what that is

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Tuesday, January 25, 2022 12:26 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

ha it's a whiney coined acronym, i was using it more for shorthand for a certain period of indie rock

GAPDY poll

my starting point would be depression cherry, played loud

I'd say (omitting Once Twice Melody):

Teen Dream -> Bloom -> Depression Cherry -> 7 -> Beach House -> Devotion -> Thank Your Lucky Stars

wow I like it when there's a lot of different opinions on which is the best, sounds like a deep catalog

Just searched and Bloom won the poll

Best Beach House Album (So Far)

I just threw Thank Your Lucky Stars on to DEFY YOU and it’s BEAUTIFUL

Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars are my faves. Considered them a bit of a guilty pleasure for the epic coffeehouse sulk of "Walk in the Park" but stopped feeling guilty and just submitted with those two albums.

So the roll out for this and Big Thief are kinda similar.

First album's really not that great. Devotion is pretty good and "Gila" is all-time, but by now that album is deep in the shadow of the subsequent albums. It's worth starting there only to see them evolve into something much fuller soon after that. But if you're just looking to start with where truly they hit their stride, you could just start with Teen Dream and then go chronologically from there. The run from Teen Dream > Bloom > Depression Cherry is pretty stellar.

7 is their best by a fair way

Yeah devotion is more subdued but as mentioned it’s worth it for the journey to their later stuff

<i>I'd say (omitting Once Twice Melody):

Teen Dream -> Bloom -> Depression Cherry -> 7 -> Beach House -> Devotion -> Thank Your Lucky Stars

― winters (josh), Tuesday, January 25, 2022 11:20 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink</i>

my order here has to do with 1) chronological order of their more "major" works (the first 4 in the above sequence), then 2) chronological order of their more "minor" works (the last 3). by no means does it suggest any hierarchical view I have of the quality of their output

I'd say (omitting Once Twice Melody):

Teen Dream -> Bloom -> Depression Cherry -> 7 -> Beach House -> Devotion -> Thank Your Lucky Stars

― winters (josh), Tuesday, January 25, 2022 11:20 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

my order here has to do with 1) chronological order of their more "major" works (the first 4 in the above sequence), then 2) chronological order of their more "minor" works (the last 3). by no means does it suggest any hierarchical view I have of the quality of their output

― winters (josh), Wednesday, January 26, 2022 4:00 PM (0 seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

sorry folks -- sleepy Mercury Retrograde brain *upside down smiling face emoji*

ahhh sorry for the misread!

It’s here! And it’s one of the most gorgeous vinyl packages I’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/tEcSHbcu52

— kyle (@solace) February 17, 2022

My not so great attempt at an “unboxing” video pic.twitter.com/ViJQXs3ewP

— kyle (@solace) February 17, 2022

extremely bee gees, as is the depression cherry artwork

not my thing at all, but when you're the mayor of fartin island you get used to being lonely

Digging into it in full now. I can’t help but contrast it to last week’s double album from Big Thief, which is so full of shifting styles and pacing even while always retaining its Big Thief-ness. Beach House on the other hand are going for a sustained 80-minute vibe. (n.b. I haven’t gotten all the way to the end yet.)

Neither approach is better nor worse.

Digging into it in full now. I can’t help but contrast it to last week’s double album from Big Thief, which is so full of shifting styles and pacing even while always retaining its Big Thief-ness. Beach House on the other hand are going for a sustained 80-minute vibe. (n.b. I haven’t gotten all the way to the end yet.)

Neither approach is better nor worse.

Not a lot of activity on this thread now that it’s fully out. Is it just an anti-climax since folks have had enough time to acclimate to it?

I put off playing most of the EPs other than few cursory listens. Initial standouts for me are the title track, “Runaway” and “New Romance”. Still absorbing the back half.

still waiting for my copy to arrive

It's funny how many of us praise Spoon for their foolish consistency yet I get quite bored with Beach House. I might absorb the new album with less resistance if it were 35 or 40 minutes long.

Has there ever been an epically Long Beach House song? I feel like that could d happened on this album. Like if you really want us to settle into the vibe, give us one that really envelops.

this album is just too much at once, there's good material here but it doesn't justify the length at all

When Bloom came out I was disappointed because it seemed so similar to their previous albums and I wanted something wild and fresh from them. I'd listened to S/T, Devotion and Teen Dream dozens of times but couldn't get into Bloom. Then after Depression Cherry / TYLS I realized that Beach House is just really good at exactly what they do. From S/T to 7, it's incredible stuff, and to pull off such consistency in craft and execution, for 16+ years is extremely rare. I'm excited to get a full listen in on Once Twice Melody.

It is kinda their great strength and great weakness at once. There are times when this feels like a slog and other times when it’s just a perfectly sustained mood, and I think that perception has more to do with me in any given moment than it does the quality of any one song.

Well said

I'm digging the seasick swoon of "Modern Love Stories". Beach House LPs usually take about six months to embed themselves in my heart so I'm just rolling with it for now.

same here. i tend to be disappointed in their latest in then a couple years later it's in my usual beach rotation

Maddens me when they pull that shit on black athletes because hello, they're the only ones with a platform. When it's some "average" citizen making the complaints the dismissal is just as quick but the rationale changes to "pfft they just want free shit"

Oops

over and over is fucking incredible

^^^^^^

Beach House’s new album Once Twice Melody is No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart this week, Billboard reports. Of the 20,300 copies the band sold in the first week, over 70% of those came from vinyl sales.

this makes me realize how out of touch i am with music and how it works, how it sells, the formats, the amounts, the band involved, absolutely everything

this seems like a bizarro clip from a 1970s world where no one bought music (note: i love beach house etc etc, not ripping them)

just sign o the times etc

what's so hard to understand, karl? the people that would be into this band would want to invest in a physical manifestation, as I did. I am somewhat surprised that enough people bought the record in enough numbers that it met that metric…but not that surprised…

not surprised at all that they're on top - i think that's great! i'm more just surprised that a #1 album in the US "only" sold ~20K copies in its first week. but i think my brain is still calibrated for 2000-era sales figures

I wanted to have a day-of-purchase experience with the new album but wasn't in the vicinity of a proper record store that day. I wanted the CD and visited a Barnes and Noble that was supposed to have it in stock, but they couldn't find it; I ended up buying the standard black vinyl across the street at Target, who weren't stocking the CD.

visited a Barnes and Noble that was supposed to have it in stock, but they couldn't find it

Yeah, this seems to be par for the course. I've pretty much given up buying music there. The last time I went was to pick up Neil Young's latest which, three weeks after release day, was still sitting in a box in the back that they had to dig out. Can't tell you how many times prior to that I heard, "well it says we have it in stock, but I can't find it".

Beach House’s new album Once Twice Melody is No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart this week, Billboard reports. Of the 20,300 copies the band sold in the first week, over 70% of those came from vinyl sales.

this makes me realize how out of touch i am with music and how it works, how it sells, the formats, the amounts, the band involved, absolutely everything

― the world's undisputed #1 fan of 'Spud Infinity' (Karl Malone)

that quote makes it sound better then it is. if you look at the Billboard Top 200 you can see Beach House is at number 12. when you factor in what is being streamed then it actually drops and they are talking about pure sales without streams. the only reason i know all this is because i was tracking Spoon's new album. it debuted at number 38 last week in the Top 200 but fell out of the Top 200 in the second week. Big Thief was number 31 in the Top 200 last week but also, surprisingly, fell out of the Billboard Top 200 this week as well. ILM couldn't keep it in there i see,

https://pitchfork.com/news/kanye-west-posts-studio-photos-with-beach-house/amp/
Thought this was gross.

Beach House now also collaborating w/Pete Davidson.

This is so good. I'm really impressed. I've always liked, but never fully loved this band. I always heard lots of good "vibe", but the songs never clicked for me. I don't find that to be the case here, as soon as "Superstar" was over I was absolutely hooked.

https://pitchfork.com/news/kanye-west-posts-studio-photos-with-beach-house/amp/
Thought this was gross.

― Chris L

Agreed.

still letting this record sink in, but there are already 3 greatest-of-all-time beach house songs on this one: over and over, masquerade, and modern love stories

also, is modern love stories their first use of acoustic guitar?

title cut has acoustic, fairly sure there are others on the record without checking…

Beach House’s new album Once Twice Melody is No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart this week, Billboard reports. Of the 20,300 copies the band sold in the first week, over 70% of those came from vinyl sales.

wow

was mentioned before, top albums sales chart isn't the top 200 that incorporates streaming, just pure sales like the pre-2014 chart.

as the industry has become increasingly streaming-centric recently those two charts have diverged a lot more and now it's pretty normal for indie acts who are a popularity tier below the ones who regularly chart in the top 5 anyway to get #1 for album sales on weeks that there's no bigger new release. haim had a similar outcome in 2020, getting #1 on the album sales chart while only reaching #13 on the top 200.

Okay I appreciate the humor

Honestly not far off from the truth https://t.co/9XCHkkD9O3

— Beach House (@BeaccchHoussse) May 4, 2022

I think the staggered release ultimately killed OTM for me, the front of the album is overplayed and means I lose interest before I get to the less familiar stuff toward the end. Hats off to those who waited til the whole thing was out.

Yeah I kind of miss the electricity of ‘7’ and its tour. I saw Beach House recently and the energy just wasn’t the same. The gig I saw in 2017 was eardrum shatteringly wild.

one of my favorite in music, all-time, is the instrumental passage near the end of the end of "Myth", where it adds in the synth-strings for the first time, and somehow the thudding toms which have been present the entire song seem even more pounding. i don't listen to beach house for the lyrics -- i would be hard pressed to name more than a few snippets. but the name of the song, "Myth", alone is perfect for the feeling when those strings come in

Was first dance at our wedding.

<3

I know

silent thinking "damn, what a great choice" several times over.

I've always loved Beach House, they are one of my favorite bands. I've recently come around to fully accept their programmed drum sound.

Myth is such a great song, very swoon-worthy and perfect as a first dance song. It makes me wish I had gone to your wedding, Alba, even though I hate weddings

For me they’re like a continuation of Cocteau Twins’ HOLV period but stripped back to the emotional core, i.e. more or less perfect

(another band to whom programmed drums are essential)

good lord there is so much emotion in 'depression cherry', i'm eight years too late but i cannot get it off the stereo. recommendations of where to go next, either within their catalogue or something of this ilk?

I think if you scroll back in this thread you’ll see some rankings of favorites but generally I’d say you’re safe with everything from Teen Dream to 7. The albums before TD are a little rawer, and the newest double album is too much of the same all at once.

I think Once twice Melody is excellent, maybe two or three cuts are merely okay & too lachrymose, the majority is poignant and manna for people like me who are way into analog synth… and furthermore, last year, after 20 years in which pop, r&b and hip-hop artists were my favorites in contemporary music, Beach House, nominally an indie rock act, were my favorites…