the Knife - C/D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h85aUeGORyQ

manager (? or whoever that guy is): "the Knife has been an adventure, both for me and for Olof (camera man: "and Karin"). The Knife - thoughts (that) fly around, until separate notes join to form simple but otm melodies - has struck me right in the heart."

Not necessarily, but their music is nothing remotely special or unusual.

i would also say that it would sound nothing like silent shout.

Compared to a lot of music with that sleaziness to it---in second-rate goth bars in the 90s.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if it holds up just as well.

DYIN 2 KNO

I hear generic sounds when I hear Silent Shout. It *already* sounds dated, in a bad sense.

Haterz in '94 would presumably have said irritating-jazz-wailing, film samples over hip-hop beats SO WHAT Massive Attack bandwagoners with no breadth (or something...)

I think that the Knife aren't anything 'special' per se. A few of their songs are really good and contain lyrics that are, in some ways, a lot like ABBA's-- ie vague yet intense images that have some amount of weird resonance. Plus, I think that people know that they aren't some sort of amazing fantastic thing, just that they're doing the poppy pleb-house w/ crossover appeal 'thing.'

so do i, but this is more a reflection on how much i love 'hollaback girl'!

And isn't Burial the 'Dummy' of 2006? ; ) I can hear the Bjork comparisons, I spose, but not really the Portishead. Portishead were always a bit serious, heavy, no? And the Knife seem overtly a pop duo, if a slightly absurdist, cheeky one.

I agree with this to the extent that I believe the surface of their sound isn't undeniably innovative. I think what makes the Knife 'special' is not..the manner in which they create their music, but their sense of humor about the music.
I'm sure this was discussed in other threads, but lyrics like, "I'm in love with your brother.." sung by a bro-sis duo. That's a pretty classic line. "Is it medicine or social skills" and vomiting.. And even though the sounds they choose to work with could be general, I think their humor/sarcasm/playful attitude seeps through the actual beats/landscape created.
Maybe that's why I like their first two albums better, because the second one is a little more 'serious.'
My favorite CD to drive to is their second album.

Im not a unnaproachable guy I actually enjoy stuff that sounds weird and which quirks define themselves as shitty until you listen to it 20 times or something....

I actually like Joanna Newsom, Danielson, Sunset Rubdown, Grizzly Bear, etc...

I just dont get the knife....I don't get pitchfork making it number one of the year I don't get it musically.

to me it sounds like the same thing daft punk put out a year or two ago.

Basically, I've always seen this not as an attempt to create something new, but maybe rather to create an end, in tieing up the strings of past decades' pop.

"Silent Shout" also really needs to be heard on a proper hifi, I don't think it's unlistenable but it can definitely be a tad harsh, clipped and unfriendly through headphones.

you realise some of the biggest defenders of this record are total freaks for techno surely??

jeez I don't know about percentages but I listened to a lot too, even spent a month in berlin and all I can say is my enthusiasm felt like it was starting to drop a bit in relation to declining amounts of surprise in the music... BUT I really liked The Knife record/

Denying this album by way of constructing an argument that sidelines discussion of the music within is too sneaky.

The production on it is excellent, harshness included.

I really, really feel like making a negative comparison to that other big record of '06 that I know you're a fan of (and I still find one of the worst sounding records I've heard in forever...) but it'd be a very cheap zing. Lucky there's nothing but hype connecting them :/

Perhaps The Knife aren't SO imaginative sonically as Portishead, but they've got a similar kind of talent for soundscaping otherwise 'normal' genres...

what i meant by the minimal techno comment was that my plate was already full of electronic music this year so when i reached for something pop or with vocals, i didn't necessarily want more beats. i was completely blown away by the joanna newsom album for example and i think ys is a far better record.

another thing is that with minimal techno ,technology just disappears (at least that's what happens in the best stuff IMO); and with the knife, technology is radically foregrounded. it feels disjointedly cohesive, top heavy. maybe that is its brilliance. there is that same level of complexity and rigor on ys, but it's also subtle and not disjoint.

"Marble House" has that sleazy lilt in the melody. I could picture a Vietnamese whore singing it whilst she does a striptease. And I think that was sort of the point ("some things I do for money / some things I do for free").

-- Turangalila

this sort of sounds like you're getting it!

it also sounds like the kind of thing I was saying when I was resisting SS (all the while being secretly won over as it did the "grower" thing over about 6 months) frankly...

josh also v. otm (about The Knife)

Really, no. (Hee, someone brought it up for you, fandango.)

"Only Skin" alone shits on the whole of SS. From a great height.

And fandango, I'm not claiming Ys is more than what it is (a pretty album with harps and nice melodic moments) or drawing parallels between it and a demonstrably influential album from the past. The burden's not on me.

If anything, looking at who is really into this record, the reverse often seems to be true.

I still think that the "influences" (in terms of the lineage of sonic similarities and resonances which I as a listener perceive) on Silent Shout are really interesting and unusual. I probably wouldn't really have picked Goth as a reference point, though.

Oh, I was being facetious about that.

one of the comparison points i DID think of initially when i first heard silent shout was 'love song for a vampire' by annie lennox.

But I did think from a technical standpoint, more care was taken in the production of this electronic record, than that acoustic one. But then they're two different approaches entirely one building up *from* the details, another trying to accurately capture an evolving performance. Although the cut'n'paste of VDP's string work could certainly be argued to be a little 'built up' in the same way...

this is really unhelpful and irrelevant probably. as (on preview) lex is saying. cosign that (even if I'm responsible for it!)

I never did champion contemporary dance music. What I tried to imply is that I don't hear anything in SS that makes it more appealing (to me) than even bad 90s techno, really.

This year I plan to hear more albums, if only to give myself a chance of ever engaging with other human beings in real life on the subject of music, or indeed getting some paid work offline in the area of music....

I happen to really like the sonic palette of Silent Shout, but when it comes down to it there are maybe 4 or 5 songs I think are spectacular and the rest has yet to grab me. I'm actually still pretty new to the record in terms of number of listens so this may change and some off the other material may grow on me. Today for the first time I put it on as background music (instead of foregrounded, "listening" music) and found that it was a great background record.

-- Turangalila (sonorousvessel...), February 10th, 2007.

I can tell you 100% honesty that I came to like them only when I actually heard the music--I like them in spite of the imagery, the hype, the "package". I actually avoided listening to them for quite a while because I was certain they were another hip low-grade (I could not have concieved of enjoying the music of an act that got Pitchforkmedia.com's #1 album of the year). Awful techno sounds like awful techno to me--and it's usually awful in its utter genericness. The Knife, if they're nothing else, are certainly not generic (or if they are, please point me to the plethora of soundalike acts).

Nobody said that (though we should condem SFA on principle, but that's another story). Personally, I love the idea music as theater. David Bowie was wonderful. I only find it a bit suspect that appreciation of their music, from what I've read in threads like this, is too often linked to context. Like this:

I'm sure this was discussed in other threads, but lyrics like, "I'm in love with your brother.." sung by a bro-sis duo. That's a pretty classic line. "Is it medicine or social skills" and vomiting.. And even though the sounds they choose to work with could be general, I think their humor/sarcasm/playful attitude seeps through the actual beats/landscape created. < --- purely contextual, extra-musical assessment.

Ahem. But this is not the place, as you say.

right, I only have a promo version so can someone tell me whether SS comes with a lyric sheet or not?

because I'm getting really bloody hacked off with this bogus method of attack now. IT *IS* IN THE MUSIC, STOP SAYING IT'S NOT AND IGNORING EVERY INSTANCE OF PEOPLE POINTING OUT EXACTLY HOW & WHERE :rolleyes:

Haha, I find your tendency to grope for support for SS to be strangely endearing.

Turangalila, there's an SFA thread in today's New Answers, you are cordially invited to come and get your arse kicked again (after the Radiohead Youtube Extravaganza debacle).

I can't stop listening to Marble House. It is very powerful. I remember loving this album when it came out and I was working in a store, played it a lot but never bought it, never bought anything cos it made work boring.

But yeah....amazing. Is the first album any good? Are they doing something new soon?

did you hear the live "Audio Visual Experience" of Silent Shout?

Williams acidic circuits mix of Silent Shout is a great remix, not vastly different from the original, just longer and better, really wrings the most out of the arpeggios.

yes, the first album IS any good.

I mean like the....one before the one everyone including myself thought was the first one.

can only re-iterate
yes altho it's their weakest album (best tracks are probably Kino, Parade, Bird and Lasagna).
― vita susicivus (blueski), Friday, 9 February 2007 13:43 (1 year ago)

Are they doing something new soon?

They're on a three year break. Back in 2009/2010, probably.

;_;

Love Silent Shout after originally thinking it was rubbish eejit that I am...

THE KNIFE IS WRITING AN OPERA

Danish Hotel Pro Forma has invited The Knife to write music and libretto for "Tomorrow, in a Year" a Darwin opera.

From hotelproforma.dk:

"In November 2009, it is precisely 150 years since Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, a work that describes the biological and geological world, as it has come into existence and continues to do so every single day. Our view of the world has been changed for ever as a result of the theory of evolution. Tomorrow, in a year uses Darwin’s way of observing and describing the world. Change as a process and the interrelationship of all things is the basic material of the performance."

Olof Dreijer is now at a field recordning in the Amazon to record animals, fish and plants.

Read more at Hotel Pro Forma.dk:
http://www.hotelproforma.dk/side.asp?side=2&id=438&ver=uk

Premiere will be in Copenhagen September 2009.

Love,
Frau Rabid

I've skimmed 50 odd posts by someone who seems to take personal offence that dozens of electro pop fans (including the influential sort that get paid for having opinions) found the last Knife album a singular delight. Like Dummy, I don't think it will be replicated with much success, but I'd love to hear suggestions of other artists mining similar veins.

The obvious one is Zeigeist, and I'm disappointed that their album The Jade Motel hasn't received much traction here, as to my ears it really is one of the finest pop albums of the year. The newer tracks are nearly the equal of "Tar Heart". Röyksopp is definitely on the same playing field, though I've found their albums spotty. There's a Finnish Suomi language group Regina that has a similar sense of play as The Knife, though without the nightmare quality. There's a video of "Paras Aika Vuodesta" on YouTube for a taste.

Any other suggestions would be welcome.

regina is way hit and miss

not heard Regina but Iceland's FM Belfast sound similar to that (quite like 'Synthia'). also not especially Knife-esque but still Swedish and synthy: Le Sport and Slagsmålsklubben

max, with respect to Regina, I don't disagree. But their progression between their first two albums has audible parallels with the development in the first two Knife albums. I found the tracks on Deep Cuts that I initially viewed as filler were growers, so I'm patient in my judgement of Oi Miten Suuria Voimia!. blueski, thanks for the pointers.

Perhaps I'm alone in this, but it seems like the center of creative electronica has migrated northwards to the Nordic countries in the last few years. My favorite artists are increasingly from Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. In perhaps the most critically disdained electronica genre, psy-trance, the Finnish producers have consistently produced the most interesting albums for years now...

While Jade Motel is brilliant, at least 50% of the songs seem to have completely ripped off other songs - I don't mean the overall sound, which although sounding like a Knife tribute act, this is no bad thing, I can just pretend they're Knife b-sides - but whole melodies and riffy bits (Kelly Osbourne- One Word - in particular)(which in itself was Fade to Grey)(which Holly Valance also nicked for State of Mind).

I like people taking existing music and playing around with it to make new sounds, so I don't object in principle to this, but the feeling that you've heard a lot of it before does detract in this case - probably because it would otherwise be quite an outstanding album.

I'm refusing to buy the Zeigeist album on principle since they didn't include "Chasing Your Shadow." WHY YOU NOT DO THIS SIMPLE THING ZEIGEIST

So the Fever Ray album is awesome, reminds me of Peter Gabriel meets Kate Bush meets The Knife. Slower than Silent Shout but with a similar vibe and slightly more instrumentation, first track off the album is on 20JFG "If I Had A Heart", I'll be posting another to my blog in the next day or two and will link.

link for "If I had a heart"
http://www.20jazzfunkgreats.co.uk/wordpress/2008/12/29/20jfg-best-of-2008-fear/

join me in anticipating musics by FEVER RAY (aka one half of the knife)

duhrr

i suck at finding threads
sorry

you know what sounds like teh knife?

orchestral manoeuvres in the dark, 'sacred heart'

So does Bjork's Crying.

what song does "behind the bushes" rip that melody from?? its on the tip of my tongue... is it a pearl jam song?

lol yes it is

haha everytime i listen to that album i mean to bump this thread to lol at the dreijers ripping off vedder & gossard, im glad someone else noticed

so weird and seemingly out of place, yet somehow it makes so much sense. makes the album feel even more outsider and coldly warm, digital steel drums, etc.

its a great riff i dont blame them for stealing it

i thought about doing a poll for "best knife video" but i'd probably end up missing one

i seem to remember that melody taking the form of a high-pitched vedder howl in the song. like, "doo-doo-doot-doot-doo-doo-dooooooo, doo-doo-doot-doot-doo-doo-doooooooo"

that might be wishful thinking tho

yeah above some fuckin rad drums & guitar:

I urge you all to listen to Valerie Dore's "Lancelot". The melody at 03:14 (at least in my version of the song) is very The Knife!

in this video it starts at 04:59

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SxjsI_Y3Ves&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0";></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SxjsI_Y3Ves&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"; type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxjsI_Y3Ves

It is called Tomorrow, In A Year and the premiere was over a month ago.

Three clips with tantalizing Knife + opera stuff here:

http://www.youtube.com/hotelproforma

Studio versions are being recorded for an album in 2010.

holy shit, this is awesome

Wow

holy

d-d-d-damn

btw if you actively hate the knife i can't respect anything you say about music ever

^^^^^^^ cosign

turangalila is a special kind of picardforehead.jpg in this thread

i sort of wish there was a band that actually did sound like enigma and ace of base

Device!

xxpost
http://i38.tinypic.com/2iu6owo.gif

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=748ovyVmPrI

This is the closest I could get with "device music video" on Youtube

white dove had a little bit from both maybe...

wait they were called one dove....'white love' was the song i was thinking of

lol I knew who you meant

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

Device - What Is Sadness?

"Marble House" has that sleazy lilt in the melody. I could picture a Vietnamese whore singing it whilst she does a striptease. And I think that was sort of the point...

― Turangalila (Salvador), Friday, February 9, 2007 10:12 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark

highlight for posterity

I cut your nails and comb your hair
I carry you down the stairs
I wanted to see right through from the other side
I wanted to walk a trail with no end in sight

The moment we believe that we have never met
Another kind of love it's easy to forget
When we are all alone then we do both agree
We have a thing in common this was meant to be

You close my eyes and soothe my ears
You heal my wounds and dry my tears
On the inside of this marble house I grow
And the seeds I sow will grow up prisoners too

The moment we believe that we have never met
Another kind of love it's easy to forget
When we are all alone then we do both agree
We have a thing in common this was meant to be

Now where's your shoulder
What is it's name
What's your scent
Say it again
If it goes faster can you still follow me
It must be safe when it's on TV

I raise my hands to heaven of curiosity
I don't know what to ask for
What has it got for me?
The others say we're hiding
It's as forward as can be
Some things I do for money
Some things I do for free

Yes, this is exactly what I would expect a stripper to sing mid-act, particularly one who was also a Vietnamese whore.

(and, apparently, both a man and a woman)

"I could picture a Vietnamese whore singing it whilst she does a striptease. And I think that was sort of the point..."

This line should be used to describe every song.

a double team from a couple whoring themselves out. also: they're vietnamese.

It is very "Brent D School of Music Analysis"

Some things I do for money
Some things I do for free

"I could picture a Vietnamese whore singing it whilst she does a striptease. And I think that was sort of the point..."

we should ask bill o reilly - for all we know this might actually be the case

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

http://i26.tinypic.com/2ia30ja.jpg

“TOMORROW, IN A YEAR”

AN OPERA ABOUT CHARLES DARWIN BY THE KNIFE

IN COLLABORATION WITH MT.SIMS AND PLANNINGTOROCK

ALBUM RELEASED IN THE UK ON 1st MARCH (RABID/BRILLE RECORDS)

www.theknife.net

* Album track ‘Colouring Of Pigeons’ is streamed at theknife.net & available for download upon signing up to The Knife mailing list*

The Knife, in collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock, are to release the studio version of the opera ‘Tomorrow, In A Year’, on Rabid/Brille Records on the 1st March 2010.

Commissioned by Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma to write the music for their opera based on Charles Darwin and his book ‘On the Origin of the Species’, The Knife decided to make this a collaborative process, working with artists Mt. Sims and Planningtorock for the first time, to capture the huge scope of the Darwin and evolution theme. They extensively researched Darwin related literature and articles, with Olof attending a field recording workshop in the Amazon to find inspiration and to record sounds.

‘Tomorrow, In A Year’ is a unique musical project. Richard Dawkins’s gene trees have formed the basis of some of the musical composition, artificial sounds have been mixed with field recordings, with the music inspired by everything from the different stages of a bird learning its melody, to a song based on Darwin’s loving letters about his daughter Anne. These are compositions that challenge the conventional conception of opera music.

Pushing the experimental process further still, composer, choreographer, costume designer and set designer worked separately, only coming together 3 and a half months before the first performance of ‘Tomorrow, In A Year’ in Copenhagen on the 2nd September 2009. Described as “shifting the position of operartic art in a single leap”, further performances of ‘Tomorrow, In A Year’ are confirmed to take place in Athens (8-9 Jan), Stockholm (29 Jan-1 Feb), and Munster (5 June), with further dates to be announced.

Olof Dreijer says: “At first it was very difficult as we really didn’t know anything about opera. We’d never been to one. I didn’t even know what the word libretto meant. But after some studying, and just getting used to opera’s essence of pretentious and dramatic gestures, I found that there is a lot to learn and play with. In fact, our ignorance gave us a positive respectless approach to making opera. It took me about a year to become emotionally moved by an opera singer and now I really do. I really like the basic theatrical values of opera and the easy way it brings forward a narrative. We’ve approached this before in The Knife but never in such a clear way.”

Album track 'Colouring of Pigeons', featuring vocals from Karin Dreijer Andersson, is today being streamed at http://www.theknife.net and available for download upon signing up to The Knife mailing list.

Speaking of the track, Karin said: "The title is taken from Charles Darwin's studies of pigeons, a breakthrough of his examinations, coming home after The Beagle trip, it is when when he started to discover the genetics transfered within generations. It is a track maximizing the results of his studies. I thought of the "diversity of everything" something we have discussed a lot with Hotel Pro Forma, and a non-hierarchical way of seeing things. All the small details he studied and made notes of, like a pile of ants, an ants hill. Also a feeling of seeing things for the first time, overwhelming and shaken, but not afraid."

The Knife In Collaboration With Mt.Sims And Planningtorock - ‘Tomorrow, In A Year’

Released 1st March 2010 in the UK on Rabid / Brille Records

Tracklist:

CD 1

01. Intro
02. Epochs
03. Geology
04. Upheaved
05. Minerals
06. Ebb Tide Explorer
07. Variation of Birds
08. Letter to Henslow
09. Schoal Swarm Orchestra

CD 2

01. Annie’s Box
02. Tumult
03. Colouring of Pigeons
04. Seeds
05. Tomorrow in a Year
06. The Height of Summer

Bonus track

07. Annie's Box (alt. vocal)

"colouring of pigeons" is fairly epic btw

Sounds pretty fun, it brings to my mind 80s pop experimentalists like Laurie Anderson or Peter Gabriel (whose influence was already there on the Fever Ray album). Is Karin imitating bird calls in the beginning of the tune? I'm not sure if the English bits in the middle of the tune are necessary, IMO this type of song might work better with just wordless vocals. Who are the other two vocalists on the song? I liked the more classical opera bit the other woman was singing.

Yes "Colouring of Pigeons" is fucking fantastic.

I was about to repost Youtube clips of this already posted upthread by StanM and go "we've already talked about this, haven't we" lololol go me.

Feel free to repost and retalk :-)

um
what's that last line in the mp3 comment field supposed to mean?

Vocals: Kristina Wahlin Momme, Lærke Bo Winther, The Knife, Jonathan Johansson
Drums: Hjorleifur Jonsson
Cello: Halldorophone: Hildur Guðnadóttir

wow!

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

A colleague went to see the opera in Copenhagen, and said it was excellent. i'm really looking forward to this.

I hope there's a DVD release of the opera, don't know if there's one planned.

oh man I would buy that in a (wait for it) HEARTBEAT

every time I come back to "Colouring of Pigeons" I end up playing it on repeat for about an hour

btw as someone who has had to memorize some fucking evil pieces of music (seriously who in their right mind does "Carmina Burana" or "War Requiem" off-book) I am feeling the pain of the singers on the first half of this so deeply

coincidentally i chose this week to finally get around to hearing the knife's debut album (had only heard "kino" before) - it's really good! better than deep cuts i think, though not as good as silent shout.

I hope there's a DVD release of the opera, don't know if there's one planned.

― StanM, Wednesday, 6 January 2010 16:12 (2 hours ago) Bookmark

There'll be a 2CD + DVD version of the album dropping a few months after the initial release I bet.

this is so exciting it makes me want to fly to copenhagen

Ha lex, I have been playing that first album nonstop for the past week!

this is so exciting it makes me want to fly to copenhagen

Is it still on? I hope not 'cos I was there for a couple of days last week and all I did was despair at the exchange rate and have a big row with my girlfriend.

wow

broke down and bought the deluxe edition of Silent Shouttoday

hooray

might have to give Silent Shout another try. Hated it at the time but I'm so obsessed with Fever Ray right now that I might now be ready for it

you're never "ready" for Silent Shout...it rapes your soul and leaves feeling more and less human.

at the same time.

also, in case any one wants to hear Olaf's solo work since silent shout, seek out ONI AYHUN- he's released three two track EPs...beautiful

http://www.dataairlines.net/releases/data-airlines-the-knife-data013/

Damn this slow connection, still waiting for it to download...

broke down and bought the deluxe edition of Silent Shouttoday

Do you have the Fever Ray deluxe CD/DVD with the live stuff? It's equally awesome.

I am likely breaking down on that this week

in my new spirit of adventure and listening to things i might otherwise have dismissed i was gonna ask whether the knife are any good - but instead i have put 'silent shout' on and hey it's pretty good isn't it? kinda stoked to hear this opera

I think everything they've released ranges from good to holyshitastonishing

:D awesome. have paused album after three (very good) tracks to give this colouring of pigeons thing a spin but will return to it in a second. they seem to have an excellent grasp of space, timbre and structured tension - in some ways it's reminiscent of some of the better minimal postpunk

http://www.dataairlines.net/releases/data-airlines-the-knife-data013/

Damn this slow connection, still waiting for it to download...

― Not the real Village People, Tuesday, January 12, 2010 1:43 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

*gets intrigued, clicks link, reads description, slowly backs out of room*

Ha! I'm a sucker for interesting covers, these are boring, on the whole.

I'd say "samey" rather than "boring"; listening to them all at once is a little fatiguing but a few in isolation are pretty great (that version of "The Captain" is excellent, for example).

so I didn't get the deluxe edition of Fever Ray but I did receive the Hannah Med H soundtrack yesterday ^_^

Anyone see this movie? Is it worth checking out?

so I didn't get the deluxe edition of Fever Ray

Fix this ASAP k thx bye.

http://i50.tinypic.com/15yz0r4.jpg

https://www.bengans.se/popup/knife_tomorrow/int.aspx?language=en

hmm, is this worth $24 to me

yes, but can I get it cheaper is the real question

Come on Dan, fork out for the knife. (there's a Spoon album on the way as well, btw)

now seems like a good time to mention my new side-project Fork

i know that's label copy, but jeeez they make it sound awful

yeah, I wonder if they're trying to lower our expectations or if it sounded really really amazing in Swedish

it's not really the writing style that's the problem imo.

yep, they make it sound really boring, when in reality, songs based on Dawkins' gene trees should be RIDICULOUS AWESOME. Color scheme not helping

The "gene trees" are more commonly known as "biomorphs". I remember playing around with Dawkin's little program ported to a mac 20 years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EjZw7A3ii8

is this only gonna be available through this website? Can't find it on amazon

it will be widely available upon release i think, a dutch online shop has it listed with a march 1 release date

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOMORROW IN A DAY STREAMING @ http://theknife.net/ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tomorrow, in a year /:

holy fucking shit this is great

fuck yeah: getting the mp3 + CD pre-order combo RIGHT NOW!

okay "Seeds"!!!!

hmmm, so far "pigeons" seems by far the most accessible thing on this.

Seeds is great ... not really feeling the rest though so far :/

this entire thing is so my type of shit it is a little scary

I don't like it :-/

yeah, hate to admit it, but so far I'm struggling :-/

approaching this as super-experimental music and not as a knife/fever ray kinda thing, i think it's pretty epic

approaching this as modern classical music, I think it's riveting

disc2 is pretty much flawless

xpost really? how?
not being a bitch hi dere, genuinely interested in your pov

I want to buy now, but if the CD is getting US distribution, would hate to undercut that. Does anybody know?

First off, I think the singing is gorgeous.

Secondly, the mix of ambient soundscape with intermittent pockets of rhythm reminds me of some of the more interesting choral pieces I've seen done by local Boston composers in the past 10-15 years.

I also like way percussion is omnipresent but doesn't exclusively define an identifiable rhythm, taking those instruments out of the realm of establishing a beat and turning them into mood enhancers, much like percussion in symphony.

I really dig the way the synths stand in for strings/woodwinds in creating the foundation for the singing, even if a lot of it is purposely (or, via distortion/reverb, gives the impression of being) atonal.

It's basically an avant-garde style that I totally dig; there are enough nuggets of conventional music-making in there that it isn't totally foreign and baffling, but there are enough turns to take me off guard. "Geology" is a great example of this, where the backing music and voice are kind of off in their own worlds doing their own thing, then suddenly veer together into consonance before the voice wanders off on its own again and the synths swoop to catch back up, etc.

The whole thing feels like the type of piece that is a total bitch to learn, but once you do and things come together it's incredibly fun and reqarding to perform.

well, this certainly sounds like... an avant-garde electronic opera!

Oh, I'm excited to listen to the whole thing tonight. I've loved the Youtube clips so far.

http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/~Music/Lucia.files/Diva.jpg

more like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymCP6zC_qJU

I think it's great.

come on, this is bollocks

Once you hit Colouring of Pigeons its basically the new Knife album...if Karin was singing. I really wish it was Karin singing. Also if you listen to Olaf's recent solo work as Oni Ayhun you can here moments in Tomorrow, in a Year that are very similar. The Hight of Summer-OAR 003 Side B...Tomorrow, in a Year-OAR 002 Side A.

ugh, xxpost what an embarrassing tryhard

What do you think of the piece, Turangalila? I've never knowingly heard Fever Ray and only know a handful of Knife songs (which I've generally enjoyed) but so far, I find this really enjoyable and distinctive as a work of pop-influenced electronic art music. The electronic sounds are sometimes really powerful on a visceral level for me. I like the work with voices as well, the dynamics and use of breathy timbres and hints of pop melody that finally come together. There were one or two moments that reminded me of Glass.

btw my previous comment was directed at that awards show thing

I actually haven't heard it yet, Sundar. I only heard one bit which sounded vaguely Einstein on the Beach-ish. You guys do make it sound like the sort of thing that would appeal to me. :)

i love how the audience just clap politely when karin takes her veil off

so Drowned In Sound and The Quietus have gone mad for this - will the US press follow suit?

I mean it's not like it isn't utterly brilliant

i listened to it once, couldnt listen to it anymore, im sure its v good but i dont 'get' it

Anyone feeling this? Not sure whether or not it's worth it for me to pick up a copy later today.

It's fucking incredible.

Yeah, maybe I'll just grab a copy anyway. Loved Silent Shout, Fever Ray, and I'm listening to "Colouring of Pigeons" now and the hocketing is great.

Most of it is more impressionistic than that song, but the whole thing is still incredible.

Awesome, thanks! I think I'll pick it up.

I think the whole thing is streaming on The Knife's website still if you want to preview it?

Oh wow, thanks for the heads up dude! Listening now.

2nd disc is stronger than the 1st, which reads (to me) as sort of a generalised restatement of Partch/Parmegiani/Stockhausen/Glass/etc. The 2nd disc is like those things filtered through The Knife, with some added Laurie Anderson and maybe Elodie Lauten--the far-reaches of the definition of "accessible," probably, but catchy nevertheless.

I wonder how that matches the staging; I have the distinct feeling that not having the visuals is removing an integral component from the first half of the piece (which does end up scanning like placeholder recitative in spots).

where does feminism come in?

― friday on the porch (lfam), Sunday, 11 February 2007 04:27 (3 years ago) Bookmark

I did my undergraduate dissertation on Silent Shout and its exploration of identity, focussing on the feminist elements. Ten thousands words with academic sources used to support my arguments...

I really want to see Tomorrow In A Year "performed" so I can understand the context of it better. Although I love Variation Of Birds for the way it seems to be shitting on principles of cheesey dubstep and still sounding more exciting, listenable and brutal.

Also when you think about the leap from Deep Cuts to Silent Shout came via a soundtrack, the mind boggles at what they could have lined up for their next project as a group.

really kind of hoping it's a full-on industrial aggro rush with more opera singers

I did my undergraduate dissertation on Silent Shout and its exploration of identity, focussing on the feminist elements. Ten thousands words with academic sources used to support my arguments...

YSI?

First disc is marginally better than the second IMO although I know that's not a popular opinion. Not a weak moment throughout. Title-track is IMO the best part of Disc 2 and hasn't been APPROACHED by any review, as if it's just too monolithic and vast to even acknowledge. It's great, of course. Disc 1 is simply staggering electronic art from start to finish, Disc 2 is affecting avant-pop with elements of avant-garde scattered asunder. Transition into Colouring Of Pigeons at end of Tumult is insane. Epochs is epochal.

This might be album of the year.

It's absolutely unreal.

This might be album of the year.

It's absolutely unreal.

Yes.

Listening to CD quality on good headphones now and wowowowowowow!

i listened to it once, couldnt listen to it anymore, im sure its v good but i dont 'get' it

My preordered CD arrived last week and someday I may decide to listen to this again.

haha yeah me too. it's been sitting there on my coffee table for a week now.

I just finished listening to it again

It's actually inspiring me to seek out more abstract classical music that I probably should already be up on

i listened to it once, couldnt listen to it anymore, im sure its v good but i dont 'get' it

Sounds like something I would say in the Vampire Weekend thread, tbh.

Cannot WAIT to listen to this properly, once I get onto a network without a weekly 7gb upload/download cap.

I have the idea that a DVD release of this opera - which I would order straight away if it was announced, even though I'm now totally unengaged by the music - would almost certainly help sell the music to me. Now, it's like I'm missing one crucial puzzle piece.

hey, Nick Southall will probably like this!

seriously why is all of ILM not going baloney about this wondrous music

Because ILM is not actually into avant-garde classical music.

but it's not *just* avant-garde classical...there's electro, noise, field-recording, pop, ambient...

...and it's plain great music that succeeds on many levels - surely this is recommendation enough, even for those who don't usually go for this sort of thing?

ILM is not into electro, noise, field-recording, pop, ambient...

gay, electro, noise, field-recording, pop, ambient music

Is it ok to say I was sad it wasn't more obviously about Darwin?

xp i miss the gay, awful, house, music, meme

ok you're all gonna think me mad but the way I'd make this a single album would be to get rid of 'seeds' and the 'annie's box' alt vocal take

and then it really WOULD be flawless IMO - for some reason 'seeds' doesn't quite do it for me - it's a bit like an overlong rewrite of 'race: in' by battles

seriously why is all of ILM not going baloney about this wondrous music

Come on, easy. This is a fucking great album but very difficult to "listen to" all the way through. Doesn't lend itself well to one saying "Oh, think I'll give this a spin today, I miss these harrowing ambient classical doomsday opera songs."

That said, I love it. Functions on a similar level as Scott Walker's The Drift, and is just as accomplished.

annie's box alt is great, just discovered - scrap um....er...um. make 'schoal swarm orchestra' half as long or something maybe

this is alright i suppose, it's not hateful but it seemed a little constricted and dull after a while

eagerly awaiting LJ's "why isn't ILM going bananas over To Nije Sala" thread

can someone point me towards some "avant-garde classical music" which is similar to this? because I know nothing about avant-garde classical music and this album just keeps getting more amazing every time I listen to it.

Really looking forward to hearing this.

Re: avant-garde classical music, I just listened to a recorded broadcast of another brand new opera, Emilie, by the fantastic finnish composer Kajia Saariaho. It happens to also be based on the life of a historical intellectual (the 18th century astronomer/physicist/mathematician/linguist/philosopher (and soul mate of Voltaire) Emilie Du Chatelet) and it also employs electronics with an instrumental ensemble (Saariaho's standard practice). It's a monodrama-- just Emilie (Karita Mattila) reflecting on her life. The music, like everything I've heard from Saariaho, is truly experimental yet ravishingly beautiful.

I'm guessing the Saariaho is going to be further out there than "Tomorrow, in a year" so adjust your expectations accordingly

Oh I don't know. If TIAY actually sounds anything like The Drift, it might be the further out in some respects.

I couldn't help but think of Tomorrow, in a Year while reading nabisco's excellent column, "Why We Fight" (http://pitchfork.com/features/why-we-fight/7773-why-we-fight-1/) a few weeks ago. I find it a little ironic and somewhat disappointing, then, that Pitchfork's critic gave the album a 6.9. For sure, not all bold or adventurous music is inherently good, but I think a record like this deserves a lot of praise. The Dreijers (and their collaborators) have clearly committed a lot of energy into this project, and it shows; the music is nothing short of awe-inspiring. While it doesn't literally sound like The Drift, I do think that's an apt comparison. (I might add Medulla to this category as well)

Can the Saariaho broadcast be found online anywhere?

Sundar I think it was a high quality live Radio France stream, which a friend of mine captured to his HD and then sent me a link for (he has a private distribution list for his radio stream captures). I can send you his link but you have to promise not to repost it anywhere on teh webs cause this fellow gets really mad if he sees his links anywhere online. ILXmail me!

TOMORROW, IN A YEAR IS COMING TO THE BARBICAN!!!

I HAS A TICKET!!!!

::EXPLODES WITH HAPPINESS::

oooooooooooooh shit

I bet it is best experienced live.

mad jealous

^^^

Melbourne in October.

This is tonight. I had almost forgotten. This is the problem with buying tickets so far in advance.

Anyone else going?

I wish :(

I wonder what on earth seat I will end up getting. Seem to recall you weren't allowed to choose on their site, it was just dished out.

Almost bought tickets for this, but I didn't like Tomorrow, In A Year enough.

Biggest gig regret recently is fucking MAGMA at the barbican last october.

Wait, you regret going to that? That show was AWESOME. You crazy.

Nononoo I regret missing it, not going!

pretty psyched about this tonight. got front row tickets :-)

How did you get to choose what tickets you got? Damn!

Wait, you probably got them gratis. :-(

Oops, sorry Davek - it was a really good show, but you know that already.

Listening to the opera again to try and psych myself up for it. It's weird how I was crazy excited a few months ago, but it's all worn off through getting excited about other things in the meantime.

nah i paid, just got them very early. It was good fun tonight despite loud crisp munchers next to me.

ARGH loud crisp munchers at THE OPERA? Disgusting savages.

I ended up having a really good seat, right in the middle of the front block, perfect view.

Sounded absolutely AMAZING, like really full on and phenomenal. Songs like Annie's Box and Colouring of Pigeons, performed live (with film projections and light show) were o_0 astonishing.

However, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I do not understand contemporary dance. What was it Mark S called it on that thread? The Encyclopaedia Of Ways To Wiggle. There were these 6 dancers prancing around, and I'm not sure if they were supposed to represent micro-organisms or breeding pidgeons or what, but there was a lot of odd wiggling to music involved.

Nearly got my head taken off by the lasers during the experimentation scene. I expect that kind of thing at a Chris Cunningham show, do not expect laser related accidents at an opera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgs6du21tRc

they were taking the piss here weren't they?

haha I assume so

I like to think of it as an irony-laden take on the sexualisation of pop music videos which would tie in with their ideas of gender subversion.

I did my undergraduate dissertation on Silent Shout and its exploration of identity, focussing on the feminist elements. Ten thousands words with academic sources used to support my arguments...

YSI?

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Tuesday, 9 March 2010 22:27 (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Clearing out some old memory drives and I found my first draft of this - sadly the finished version seems to be lost to the mists of time and cyberspace, but if anyone actually is genuinely interested in a shoddily referenced and not-so-brilliantly written discussion of Silent Shout then feel free to webmail me.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-knife-finally-working-on-new-album,55042/

just make Silent Shout II plz

dunno if it's just me, but silent shout rly strikes me as the single-most dated sounding album of the 00's. i kinda had this reaction upon first listening back in 2007 or whatever it was, tho.

http://www.unitedspongebob.com/pictures/misc/kelpo.jpg

just do like eight split singles with zeigeist even through they're broken up. thanks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8YCdFlvpL0

well that was dull and aesthetically dumb

Not if you like high heels.

"Shaking the Habitual." Is that the name of the new album?

psyched

Oh yes, bring it on

http://i.imgur.com/S0I9l.png

The Fever Ray show here was easily the coolest concert I have ever seen.

Got your tour dates if you want it

http://theknife.net/

I actually don't own a single Knife album but as a Fever Ray fanatic I'm so thrilled to go

Silent Shout >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fever Ray

nah, they're equal

I still think the debut is the best tho

I'M IN LOVE WITH YOUR BROTHER
WHAT'S HIS NAME?

tried so so so many times to like 'Silent Shout' but that album has always eluded me (even after falling head over heels for Fever Ray)

try The Knife instead

On trying hard to like Silent Shout when loving Fever Ray - http://devonrecordclub.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/the-knife-silent-shout-round-35-nicks-choice/

If this is even 1/2 as good as live as Fever Ray was (and it most certainly will be), I'm thrilled. CGN and Hamburg for me, please.

hm the ticket website isn't loading. finally, i get my very own kraftwerk tate modern experience.

same here :-)
or :-( rather

locked out 4ever. :'(

There’s space for a couple more London dates I hope…

Roundhouse dates don't seem to go onsale til Friday, unless I'm mistaken?

there was a presale today for people on the Knife's mailing list
there's a presale for members of the Roundhouse tomorrow
and then properly go on sale on Friday.

There probably was a presale presale at this rate...

pre-sale sold out? FUCK YOOOOOU.

Amsterdam is not, yet when clicking through tickets are listed as "Unavailable". What a crap presale

Can only select "1" ticket, subsequently there's "THE QUANTITY YOU HAVE REQUESTED IS MORE THAN WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN STOCK." So this presale's over I guess

pfff was in meetinga ll morning and now find the Brussels pre-sale is sold out - FUCK!

Never received an email with the needed code to enter the presale... :-(

I got a code. It was bugger all use

I literally don't know one person out of about 50 who tried (plus everyone on this thread) who got a ticket. I wonder if the whole thing collapsed?

for me I think the refresh that got the page to load after 90 minutes of trying came about three seconds after my previous failed refresh, so who knows when the successful people (if existent) managed to sneak in.

I got tickets... There was another crowdsurge URL after the Knife's own website fell over, and the code worked on that. Annoyingly at 9am it said that the London tickets weren't on sale until 10am, but I tried again around 10 minutes later and miraculously the tickets were on sale!

Admittedly it took some co-ordination on keeping an eye on several social networks etc to find out about the new address and some luck...

What a fuck up.
Hoping to get tickets when the general presale starts in two days time.

yeah. i'm not optimistic.

(do these kinds of things ever go off without massive system collapses?)

didnt think there were so many obsessive Knife fans around - i'm probably naive

tickets for extra shows have just gone on (pre)sale

TOO LATE ALREADY FFS.

after being simply unavailable they're now supposedly available, except not in quantities of 1 or more. worra mess.

agh maybe I won't even bother trying to do this

I’ve given up to be honest. They also break my arbitrary £20 max ticket rule too.

"Your current position in the queue is 1750."

oh well i'm boned.

amsterdam: currently no tickets available
ffs

i congratulate myself on managing to add tickets to my basket on seetickets, but by the time i entered my details it was sold out.

1450 in the roundhouse website's queue now!!!!!!

Server down ---> sold out
Oh well...

are tickets really £89??

they were £27.50 or something like that. u looking at that touty third-party website that nme links to?

amsterdam sold out too. trying to fight anger with forced indifference...

My position in the queue just lengthened by over 1000, I was at 2000 or so and now I'm at 3253. Fuck this frankly.

they were cuter, matt

AND they knew the doorman

When did The Knife become the sort of band who break ticket websites anyway? Has any act cultivated mystique better over the last 10 years or so? (NB - don't say Burial).

well i made it to the front of the queue to get the inevitable SORRY: NO TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR THIS PERFORMANCE for both of em. IT'S BEEN FUN GUYS LET'S DO THIS AGAIN.

Xp yeah I'm a bit surprised by the level of demand here. Maybe I'm out of the loop but when did kids start obsessing en masse about the Knife
I always thought of them as slightly bigger Annie from Norway types

To be honest, as good as they were live when I saw them on the Silent Shout tour at The Forum, we were surrounded by such insufferable pricks that it almost ruined the experience.

They were about the same size in 2004 but Annie's career has nosedived and the reputation of Silent Shout in particular has only grown since its release. It also helps that a) they pretty much never play live and b) they're doing so in pretty small venues.

I saw the knife in nyc when silent shout came out, it was awesome

also helps that they make it a full a/v experience as opposed to just two people lazily tapping keyboards and singing disaffectedly into a mic.

Yeah, the live dvd of that tour is great. Fever Ray 2010 was awesome, one of my favorite concerts ever. Ah well, still have the dvd. And the memories. Just no tickets..

urgh - guys, pls don't rub it in

I came across the planet and saw 2 out of 3 2010 Fever Ray shows,* ** there's some weird new mystique going on for sure

*then went home & went one state away for the Tomorrow OG cru opera

**one of these was unplanned but so and etc

Well, I'm glad I caught the Fever Ray show (NYC), sounds like I'll not be seeing these ppl live again anytime soon...!

amazon preview of the first single!!!!

aww yeah

supposed tracklisting for this looks nuts

might as well

A Tooth for an Eye — 6:04
Full of Fire — 9:17
A Cherry on Top — 8:43
Without You My Life Would Be Boring — 5:14
Wrap Your Arms Around Me — 4:36
Crake — 0:55
Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized — 19:02
Raging Lung — 9:58
Networking — 6:42
Oryx — 0:37
Stay Out Here (feat. Shannon Funchess) — 10:42
Fracking Fluid Injection — 9:54
Ready to Lose — 4:36

i find it hard to believe that the Knife have named two songs after characters in a Margaret Atwood novel

19 MINUTES LONG CENTER PIECE FUCK YEAH

This is a 100 minute long album?

ILX pre covers etc

Fracking Fluid Injection

Aha.

http://blastr.com/assets_c/2009/01/BottomsUp-thumb-550x309-11893.jpg

you can listen to the single here: http://www.junodownload.com/products/the-knife-full-of-fire/2122776-02/

with pauses every 30 seconds or so, annoyingly :|

aaaaaand they took it down :(

If someone's still interested in catching them live and not that interested in paying 100 bucks a ticket, they've been confirmed for Primavera Sound yesterday. Which in my case only adds to the pain, but.

2 minute preview: http://alicesoderqvist.tumblr.com/post/41358562196/daveboogie-the-knife-full-of-fire-2minute

full track:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Fp_dV-MxNBY

This video contains content from EMI, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.

fuck

unavailable in my country http://i.imgur.com/9TtS6uh.png

allegedly this is "Full of Fire" live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYE3ym9jbUE

looks like the full track is on soundcloud so check er out before it gets yanked

haha, that's the single? jesus.

haha I am sitting here going "um I don't know what I think of this oh wait AWESOME"

Shaking the Habitual indicates the contents.

well also the work they did on Tomorrow, in a year

also oni ayhun

My take hearing the full track is that the album may be more of a Oni Ayhun feat. Karin Dreijer Andersson affair, the Fever Ray project freeing Olaf from playing to sis's electrogoth tendencies...

oh sanpaku u tease

silent shout > ayhun > fever > old knife

the album may be more of a Oni Ayhun feat. Karin Dreijer Andersson affair

i'm fine with that (i think?)

This is of course great.

'full of fire' is O_O in a really good way.

this is fucking incredible

is there a >64k version of this

looking forward to the album, but not a fan of this track at all tbh.

So so so fucking good. The rest of music should just pack up and take 2013 easy.

i ripped it from a soundcloud link

eg http://offliberty.com/#https://soundcloud.com/m3ch4n01d/the-knife-full-of-fire or http://offliberty.com/#https://soundcloud.com/krisiiiiiiii/the-knife-full-of-fire

allegedly that's 128, although it doesn't sound great to me

this is bloody boss

never gonna listen to this again until the album comes out, otherwise I'll burn out

the restraint is sweet

looks like it's already been blocked

Fortunately I can keep the tab open and keep repeating till my browser crashes. Which is basically what I'm going to do.

youtube upthread still works for me

this is pretty crazy

My only reservation is that this does sound more like an Oni Ayhun affair. Not a bad thing at all in itself. It's just that they've built up some mighty high expectations given the trajectory of their output.

That said, it's no surprise The Knife were going to sidestep people's expectations. Not to mention it's a 98-minute long album. For what it is, this single is bloody fantastic.

We have actual video for "Full of Fire"

http://www.spin.com/articles/the-knife-full-of-fire-video

can you share your app for posting to Facebook and ilx simultaneously?

Patented, sorry.

I'm not seeing a video, just Swedish links I can't understand.

UPDATE: Like the many leaks that have emerged of late, the video has already been taken down. We'll add it once it's live again

I think I'll just resign myself to waiting until this comes out officially, otherwise I'll keep being way too excitable.

"Full of Fire" is amazing

there are mp3's of this single at good quality out there on the regular channels / if you're good at google / if you follow the right folks on twitter.

very excited about this.

think that probably Fever Ray is the best of the best.

So wanted to love Fever Ray, but that album bored the hell out of me. "Full of Fire" is fantastic though, wow.

we have at least two explicit oryx and crake references (and since they are separate songs there may or may not be more)

30s previews of every track

https://soundcloud.com/theknifefans/sets/the-knife-shaking-the-habitual

That's a tropical, sweaty sounding album. Deep Cuts steel drums return in a few places, as do Tomorrow, in a Year field recordings.

68 days. Only 68 long days.

I dunno... as you would expect, it sounds impeccable. But is a chorus too much to ask for? Maybe I'm getting old :/

I don't think we'll get the pitch-shifted sea shanties of Silent Shout.

Based on the Soundcloud previews:

::"A Tooth For an Eye" - Recalls early 00s Knife.
::"Full of Fire" - Oni Ayhun funhouse brilliance with Karin playing along on vocals.
::"A Cherry on Top" - Sounds an awful lot like something I own (from Autechre's EP7?). It's a 9-min track; could go anywhere.
::"Without You My Life Would Be Boring" - Endearing, not a major standout from these previews. This album seems to showcase Olof's talents much more than Karin's. I miss the melodicism of the last two proper albums.
::"Wrap Your Arms Around Me" - Definite single material. This sounds massive. Viking Goth? Strong Karin vocals. This should be one of the long tracks.
::"Crake" - Interlude, straight out of TIAY
::"Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized" - Still a complete mystery what this 19-min track will do. Can't wait.
::"Raging Lung" - Very intriguing. Creating something close to conventional from TIAY ingredients.
::"Networking" - Richard D James will be proud (Radiohead, this is how it's done).
::"Oryx" - see "Crake"
::"Stay Out Here" - There's a longer preview now. Shannon Funchess! This sounds goooood.
::"Fracking Fluid Injection" - 10 min track, eh?
::"Ready to Lose" - A more natural progression from Silent Shout and Fever Ray.

The soundcloud preview has been removed...

https://soundcloud.com/kinfan/the-knife-shaking-the-habitual

via Pitchfork:

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/news/49315/9d6064dc.jpeg

The Knipe

I'd join the kappa nu iota phi epsilon frat.

what do we call this aesthic? pictureplane and a lot of witch-house is known for this. it's celebratory ugliness. like buchowski, but self-conscious.

According to the Amsler grid top right, someone's developing macular degeneration.

http://www.drcarmelinagordon.com/sites/all/themes/danland/images/amsler_grid_printable.jpg

HOLY SHIT I SEE A RED DOT IN THE CENTER WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?!?!?

it means u have dotsopia sorry dude :(

video up now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoH6k6eIUS4

I love this single. The video did nothing for me, though... except confirm how good-looking Olof is.

weird that the biggest vibe I get from the song is 'she's lost control' but maybe that's just because of those hollow drum sounds

I have no idea what's going on with the stereo field in this song but it's like a 3D movie, I'm in awe

i love the single displaced snare hit at 4:51

so with like, the title and the music video is the theme of this album finding quiet, manic twitches in the stultifying routine of domestic life? i'm down

vinyl cover http://www.rabidrecordsstore.com/Content/296.jpg

The Knipe

very Peng! looking

fucking love Full Of Fire so much. damn cannot wait to hear/see this live at primavera. i am going to shit myself with joy.

this was great when i was listening to it earlier today, now that i've been awake for 24 hours it's kinda freaking me out.

madder than ever about those ticket fiascos now.

the dark undertow of "full of fire" reminds of of K-X-P

right now this might be the only example where I approve of rhyming "fire" with "desire"

I automatically love any song that rhymes "fire" and "desire".

i say no to that video.

the payoff at the end was worth it imo

People are going to end up listening to Full of Fire on hallucinogens and freaking out because it really does just keep throwing things at you.

I am pretty much fine with them getting more extreme with each release.

I expect nothing less

The tune is a bit too metal/industrial for me, but wow what a video! I've never seen anything so queer accompany a tune by a (relatively) mainstream act. At first I was a bit worried about such dark, aggressive music being used in a video like that, because it felt like those beautiful queer images were meant to be disturbing, kinda similar to how conservatives like David Lynch use images of non-normative sexuality as a source of horror... But the final image of the scream confirmed the combination of the video and the tune isn't about horror but anger, anger for all those people/lives/memories being swept under the rug by the mainstream.

Agree, in this case. When it comes to experimentation, there seems to be a line of intensity for me that artists can cross - once they cross it, their work sort of loses its power to seduce me. I'm not sure if it's an apparent loss of structural discipline, too much chaos. It's happened with some of my favorite artists - Bjork (Vespertine is, appropriately, the swan song of her reign. Medulla has brilliant moments, but it signaled the beginning of this transition. Volta was the deciding evidence.) Scott Walker is the latest example. I will stan for Tilt/Drift to the end, but I haven't had much interest in exploring his new record (is that unfair?).

I'm not sure if this is The Knife's Medulla. Actually, I had thought that Tomorrow, in a Year was (and I did enjoy that one). So I am pleased that this one is less experimental. I suppose my only gripe thus far is that it doesn't sound as close to perfection (in aesthetics, production, concept, cohesion, execution) as Silent Shout does. It's pretty unlikely that an artist achieves such an outcome twice (let alone once) in their career.

Who knows, this album could turn out to be shaggier but in some ways superior to its predecessor...? Having now listened to nearly 30 minutes of it, I remain optimistic.

Given the StH track titles, shall I let Karin and Olof compel me to read the Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake?

Oryx and Crake is fantastic.

yes

I didn't find much to appreciate about the video (visually dull, conceptually obvious, little connection to the aesthetic of the music), but I like your take on it, Tuomas.

Can't stop listening to those previews. I predict Pitchfork gives this thing at least a 9.4

I'd venture to say it might have 10.0 potential. It seems to tie a lot of threads of their sound together - the loose playfulness of Deep Cuts, the cold majesty and impenetrability of Silent Shout, the experimentation, live instrumentation, and sampling of TIAY,... while forging an identity of its own (Dark Twisted Fantasy, anyone?).

"Full of Fire", "Wrap Your Arms Around Me", and "Raging Lung" are fine examples of the duo reigning in some of the perplexing elements of TIAY into something equally powerful, but more accessible.

Having only heard thus far the longer previews that have now disappeared, three remaining unknowns that I think could make the difference between 'critically acclaimed' and 'masterwork':

(1) "Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized" - It's a 19-minute track, for crying out loud.
(2) "Stay Out Here" - How well Shannon Funchess is folded into the mix. The little we've heard of her vocal is promising.
(3) "Fracking Fluid Injection" - Is it 10 minutes of discordant animal sounds?

Full of Fire is incredible. It reminds me of hearing Portishead's Machine Gun for the first time.

i'm really not feeling this single yet ://///

(oryx & crake is a great book though)

the first time i listened i was ~impressed~ but just thought it'd take time to love and it's just not happening: it's just punishingly aimless for 9 minutes and that's it. i don't think it's the lack of hooks as the lack of personality that i'm missing.

I don't think it's aimless at all, it knows exactly where it's going.

yeah but where is that?

It's like they've tried to create the exact feeling of being stuck behind a couch after doing a combo of nasty class As at a three-day party.

Still haven't made my mind up about it to be honest.

Down a long dark tunnel where terrifying things continually fly at your face. (xpost)

well yeah it starts out like that and then it carries on being like that, it doesn't actually GO anywhere

I think it's very disctinctive, or is that not what you mean when you say 'personality'? I've only heard it twice yet, but in the car it sounded awesome - this must fantastic on a great soundsystem in a club which is what I think it aims for.
xxxpost

(obviously Ronan's frame of reference is a bit different :)

xxpost damn

it also turns out that once you retreat to the safety of silent shout, it makes you really really not want to hear "full of fire" again

My first impression was that the production is a bit dated too, like a version of Spastik with a touch of 2006 M_nus about it.

But I like them enough to listen properly, and not while at work.

I think it's very disctinctive, or is that not what you mean when you say 'personality'?

i think i mean "not enough karin" - her voice is just one of the terrifying flying things rather than a focal point in its own right

the funny thing is when silent shout came out it made deep cuts seem so inadequate in retrospect BECAUSE it was too obvious and hooky

I think the electronic modulation of her voice is entirely different from how it was done before. Sometimes I think there's no fucking around with it at all. There are a few voices in this song (which may be terrifying flying things). Anyway, I must listen to it some more to get my head around it.

this actually sounds like black strobe, when arnaud took over and did all that shit nobody liked.

What, schlocky goth-rock?

It sounds like the sort of vaguely industrial dark and punishing warehouse techno that's been around for years definitely, the basic template is pre-anything that's being talked around here. There's a lot going on though sonically, I like how it just gets crazier and crazier and no four bars seem to be the same.

It sounds like the sort of vaguely industrial dark and punishing warehouse techno that's been around for years definitely, the basic template is pre-anything that's being talked around here.

this is total bollocks.

this isn't some hardcore "oh you don't get it" thing - it's just a thumping piece of gothy techno that smothers one of the more interesting vocalists working in music today, yet by her presence manages to fail as a techno track.

there's a spaciousness to this that is a bit different than 'recorded in a factory' but there's definitely industrial (TG?) vibes coming off

wish it went a bit heavier tbh, but otherwise, firson first impressions this is brilliant

TG vibes because there's a lot of modular synth stuff happening here

it's doing a lot of stuff at once and pulling it off, which is very cool, everybody is scrambling for different ref points. to my ears i'm hearing a bit of TG in the roughness of some of the sounds, but more modern, a bit of mouse on mars playfulness, black album prince darkness in the dissonant percussion. i can totally see this going down well with the industrial, whitehouse adoring, fashionista, s&m, queer, trans, punk lot. dunno what to call them, but that lot that have those parties cosey club etc

not massively into it, her vocals have always annoyed me, but it's still quite an achievement imo. i really like his solo stuff but have always found it a bit plastic, which this most def is not. looking forward to seeing how these tracks get remixed too!

it's just a thumping piece of gothy techno that smothers one of the more interesting vocalists working in music today, yet by her presence manages to fail as a techno track

This is a much better criticism than 'it sounds like x act from the mid-00s', which is the bit I disagree with. Like I'm not up on industrial at all but it feels like they're reaching further back into the same source material as Black Strobe or whoever but ending up in a different place.

I kind of agree with people who are saying that Karin doesn't really feel central to the track, although I wouldn't assume that both members of the band haven't made a conscious decision to smother her here. The initial ILX reaction to Silent Shout (the tracks) was broadly nonplussed as well.

find me another bit of gothy techno that has sounds in it like this plz

I can't even begin to unpack "how I feel" about the new song because I'm so blinded by it on a technical level

(As probably noted upthread) I never loved The Knife's production until Fever Ray / TIAY but this just sounds better than, like, anything

What I find disappointing about the track, even though I like it okay (especially that cool stereo pan bass effect) is that this sort of industrial/distorted sound is such a common thing for electronic artists to do when they want to go "hard". Aphex Twin did it, Speedy J did it, Mouse on Mars did it, etc... Maybe this is because of my personal taste (I don't like industrial or "rock" sounds in my electronic music), but is this really the only route they can take, are their imaginations so limited? Why not go gabba, why not go techstep, why not do some heavy percussive shit? But no, it's always the same sonic palette use to signify hardness.

there was a lot of electroclash that sounded like this back in the day, when they engaged with the whole "real electro" styles. miss kittin's non-hacker stuff etc... maybe it's a grower but i'd wager this (track) sinks like a stone, judging by the amount of "interesting"s i'm seeing as initial reaction. "interesting" is basically the death knell for anything.

this sort of industrial/distorted sound is such a common thing for electronic artists to do when they want to go "hard"

i don't want the knife to go gabba but i do agree with this. plus just because something is aggressive or unpleasant does not mean it's daring or interesting.

yeah, as a total synth geek it's quite exciting that somebody has developed a decent enough language to make a POP album out of these kinds of sounds.

xposts

there was a lot of electroclash that sounded like this back in the day

LOL

The only electroclash band I feel you could possibly be talking about is Adult.

Maybe this is because of my personal taste (I don't like industrial or "rock" sounds in my electronic music), but is this really the only route they can take, are their imaginations so limited? Why not go gabba, why not go techstep, why not do some heavy percussive shit? But no, it's always the same sonic palette use to signify hardness.

They could have gone dubstep...

The only electroclash band I feel you could possibly be talking about is Adult.

there was more than this, it just wasn't very popular for some reason.

there was a lot of electroclash that sounded like this back in the day

LOL

do you want to explain this comment?

seriously is this what passes for opinion?

LG I don't think you're hugely off-base but if you were to ask me to describe what were the main features of Electroclash it'd be a) gleeful piss-poor production and b) Avenue D rapping about pee

i don't remember miss kittin ever being this aggressive/hookless? even "professional distortion" was fairly straightforward by comparison

just because something is aggressive or unpleasant does not mean it's daring or interesting.

yes

it'd be a) gleeful piss-poor production and b) Avenue D rapping about pee

sounds like you really need to use the bathroom

lolllll

LG provide an example, if there was a lot there must be one or two avaliable on youtube or something, and calm down, it's only a message board

There was a fair amount of electroclash that sounded a bit like this and those tended to be the bits that were influenced by Front 242, Nitzer Ebb etc. The similarities exist because they're reaching into the source material but this is better produced and has a load more going on in it.

Given that The Knife produced an opera two years ago I think it's safe to say that they have a bit more imagination (and more ways of sounding uncompromising) than Tuomas is giving them credit for.

lol@piss-related comments

if you were to ask me to describe what were the main features of Electroclash it'd be a) gleeful piss-poor production and b) Avenue D rapping about pee

like any dance genre it's retrospectively shrunk by negative critical discourse surrounding its demise. there was a lot of more authentic electro stuff done around that time under that banner that this track reminds me of.

also the idea that connecting THE KNIFE to electroclash prompts mockery is a bit off.

xpost I'd have to do a bit of a discogs trawl through old comps and tracklists to be honest. adult is the obvious choice but there were other one-off acts doing similar things.

i mean sure, it obviously is impeccably produced as you'd expect, but as an idea this sound is not particularly original.

Given that The Knife produced an opera two years ago I think it's safe to say that they have a bit more imagination (and more ways of sounding uncompromising) than Tuomas is giving them credit for.

I liked the opera album, and thought it had plenty of imagination! I wasn't saying they can't be imaginative at all, just that this particular track is a rather unimaginative attempt at sounding hard.

pretty sure some industrial and electroclash tracks were better/as well produced as this but n/m

rather unimaginative attempt at sounding hard.

so otm.

xpost nashwan yeah, probably.

like any dance genre it's retrospectively shrunk by negative critical discourse surrounding its demise.

I wasn't aiming for negativity! Bad production + "pee" was what I love/loved about EC

fair enough... it is true that that happens though, at the time of a trend all sorts of stuff happens then eventually the worst dregs which become synonymous with that genre, because it's easier to define it that way.

At any rate, I think this new song is exactly as "boring" and "hookless" as the songs "Silent shout" and "We share our mother's health". And I barely have to say again that "boring" and "hookless" are negative terms that describe things that to my ears are positive