Fuck Buttons: Pretty/Noisy band on ATP Recordings: Dígame Más Por Favor

Awesome live. Killer band.

I saw them live about two years ago and remember thinking they were doing a terrible Black Dice imitation.

^^

NO WAI

Much more blissed out with a bit of a power-violence edge.

Saw them live at Truck Festival this summer and they were my favourite band of the festival (quite possibly of the whole year) by some way. Sublime enveloping blissout fuzzdrone. I'm now kicking myself for not seeing them when they came to town a while ago.

The 7" is good but slightly disappointing after their live set and the free mp3s they put up on their website a while ago. I gather they've really mellowed and become a lot less noisy in the last year or so, which I'm very happy with, and maybe the two posters above me would be too?

Also, the ex-tracker-nerd in me was super-excited that there's a video of them (live in my town where I somehow managed not to bother seeing them) on youtube and they seem to be using Impulse Tracker. I hope it really is.

xposted there. "two posters above" = not Whiney, obv.

well, i HATE their name and the tracks they had on their myspace as of a few months ago were derivative swill. i already have enough music like this in my life that those are plentiful reason to ignore them for the rest of time

You're doing a great job ignoring them.

Definitely pretty Black Dicey BITD although fun with it. Not heard any of their new stuff but they are dudes and deserve to have people give a shit about them

I love the full length album so far ("Street Horsssing"). It's got some really blissful moments on it.

Agreed. I think I'm more excited for them opening on the Caribou tour than I am for seeing Caribou. "Sweet Love For Planet Earth" in particular is just an amazing song.

only heard one song, bright tomorrow i think. didn't do much for me. the record cover def looks like a bad black dice imitation.

The full disc is available to stream at AOL. I like a lot of what I hear, but parts of it are so abrasive that it's almost painful. That's not a criticism, just an observation.

Streamin on PTW this week with a feature:
http://www.paperthinwalls.com/listeningparty/index?id=62

/plug

I'm a bit out of touch and don't know Black Dice but this sounds like Mogwai v1.1 to me, though that's a good thing.

New wave hippies don’t protest
They do it on little screens
Recovering 90’s ravers
People who bought the wrong jeans
Occasional psychos
They’re mostly just nice folks
It’s like a new disease

I like that song.

It's less weird than Black Dice. Possibly less interesting, in many ways. But prettier, for sure, most of the time.

Brooklyn Noise with the crusts cut off.

zzzzzzzzzzz

more awful than m83, even

in pitchfork they described HEALTH as good but not great or anything, which is pretty much how I feel about them. Okay but pretty lacklustre, HEALTH on the other hand....

zzzzz seconded

I like that opening song, but agree the pretty melodies aren't that interesting. Not worse than M83 though.

Not worse than M83 though.

Those screaming vocals make it more abrasive than M83, but the "ick" factor from M83's last disc -- e.g., that car crash song, the "a piece of brain on my hair" lyric -- is about the same as on this F--k Button disc.

Still, parts of it are interesting.

yeah this is disappointing -- not noisy or pretty enough, a lame middle ground. nice fuzz tone, too bad they use the same tones one each track

Is the name a Gertrude Stein reference? :P

A tad surprised by people's reception of them on this thread.

I saw a set by them at SXSW on the advice of my friend Piotr who compared them to Black Dice "but more ravey" I believe he said -- and I just loved their live set myself! Thought it was a lot like a more poppy, ecstatic version of Yellow Swans.

The recordings I've heard since then have been fine, but largely in the context of already being blown away by their energetic, fun/ loud gig.

Very psyched to see them again in PDX next month and hopefulyl we'll get a live thing or something from them on the next YETI.

This record is really straightforward, much more so than I thought it would (could) be. Hardly noisy or weird at all. The 'tribal' bits are pretty lame--like a well meaning housewife at a community centre afro-drum workshop--and the vocals are dogshit but this passed the time on a train journey OK.

e.g., that car crash song, the "a piece of brain on my hair" lyric

I LOVE that song!

yeah i could see them being much better live. the record just doesn't stack up melodically, texturally, or rhythmically. if you live in portland it's practically impossible not to hear better 'noize music' wafting from someone's practice space just walking down the street (ilx caveat: i'm joking! kinda ...) this stuff is like twee noise

It just bothers me a bit that their mix of noise and melodies is considered anything special or new, since bands like Black Dice have done that better for years (and moved on even). As been said already...

I want more twee noise

One of my law partners just walked into my office and saw the first word of this thread title on the taskbar at the bottom of my computer screen. NICE GOING WITH THE BAND NAME, F---K BUTTONS.

BLACK DICE SHOULD SMASH FUCK BUTTONS

Black Dice >>> M83 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Fuck Buttons

Patchy but the 2-3 better songs on the album are way more exciting than Black Dice. However, lameness of tribal bits = OTM

Saw them in Ft. Lauderdale opening up for Caribou. I think I saw them use a GameBoy, and the one dude used a little plastic kid microphone. They managed to ape Liars, Black Dice, Boredoms etc. I have to say, I've never had a harder time staying for a band's set, and I saw Drowning Pool when I was 16.

For those wondering, Caribou was equally boring.

I'm thinking of going to see them tonight, despite all the negative comments on this thread.

fuck this thread: this album is awesome. as savannah smiles says: if this is "twee noise", then yes -- bring on the twee noise. i like that description, actually; like it just as much as i loathe and despise the idiotic david-keenan-esque "oh no, you can't actually *enjoy* the noise you're listening to" approach.

they're supporting mogwai -- another name guaranteed to have the usual suspects knee-jerking all over the place -- in the UK later this year, i believe. get the fuck in.

how were they live, baaderonixx, anyway?

yeah this album is great. sure, they're pop-noise (only vaguely noise related album my wife likes), sure it's nothing absolutely groundbreaking, but it's just such a fun album. i listen to this way more than i ever listened to black dice.

oh yeah, and they're good live, and nice guys, too (i don't know them, just met them for a few minutes).

Looking forward to seeing them at Green Man festival, of all places.

i take back the comparison i made 3 months ago, now that i've spent more time with the album. it's actually pretty good, falls toward the back of my top 10 of the year (so far). going to see them with Mogwai definitely definitely.

Big fan here, I think the album is great - it sounds like the music-ification of the sound inside my head at times.

Fuck Buttons = Noise Coldplay

Well done for conveying so much intense self-satisfaction with a four-word post

Fuck Buttons = Noise Coldplay

-- brightscreamer, Sunday, 22 June 2008 23:47 (Yesterday) Link

If you actually wanted to be accurate you might say a Noise Death Cab For Cutie.

Or perhaps you could just listen to them without trying to throw in an unuseful genre expectation and actually enjoy them.

Fuck Buttons = Noise Coldplay

so RONG it's not even funny.

I dig that comparison

DJ Mencap Mister Craig stephen = Noise Coldplay

are you drunk?

they should show this thread in schools. Anyway, grimly, in the end I didn't go. As I get older I find myself less and less inclined to go to shows on my own (when I could watch LOST on my couch). I fucked up

this is shaping up to be my album of the year. whatever proportions the drone/distortion/melody/harmony/pop/wistfulness work in, it's perfect to these ears.

What is this Black Dice I should seek out that's similar to "Sweet Love For Planet Earth"?

What are you talking about? Black Dice are great. But they are no Fuck Buttons. Or maybe that's the other way around...

What is this Black Dice I should seek out that's similar to "Sweet Love For Planet Earth"?

― Leee, Friday, 3 October 2008 03:54 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Um, the rest of the only album they've released? Nothing really hits that high though.

i think he means, which black dice album should he check out if he likes slfpe.

get creature comforts and broken ear record.

Andrew Hung Fuck Buttons are writing. 17 minutes ago - Comment

J***** S****** at 16:38, on 10 February
u actually write that stuff? i thought it just came to u in an acid trip

John Cummings at 16:40, on 10 February
more writing, less facebook updating.

^mild indie lulz

New track up on Pitchfork. I'm diggin' it a bunch. Seems like people are divided on these dudes. I like the "Noise-Lite" approach. Make it semi-palatable but still bring the carnage. I'll bet their new record is gonna be huge.

Video for the new track:
http://www.vimeo.com/atprecordings

That's about half an hour too short!

Album's maybe a little bit samey, but hard to tell after just one listen.

l34ked?

y3s

c001

this is excellent.. current standout 'the lisbon maru'

kinda samey more ravey less screamy

Why does your display name imply that the Atlas Sound disc may not come out this year? I thought it was confirmed for next month.

(BTW, very much looking forward to the F--k Buttons disc, too)

parody of the ILM thread name

I don't expect this new one to reinvent the wheel ... but fuck it, I wouldn't want it to either.

Am seeing them in Glasgow next week (as long as I remember to go and buy a ticket). They were epic supporting Mogwai in Edinburgh and I expect great things in a smaller venue.

I like this new one.

more ravey less screamy

Haven't heard the new one yet, but can say I would be satisfied with a subtle push in this direction.

Wow, it really does (in places, anyway). I mean I hate to damn stuff I dig with unfathomably uncool reference points, but first track is like "oh hey, Everything Is Wrong piles on the fuzz-bliss". Just me? Or alternatively, stop pussyfooting and admit it's just as much later Moby, but we can't talk about that in public?

I missed them live last week for some really stupid reason. Maybe I was just scared that they wouldn't live up to the excellent previous occasion.

They were excellent in Glasgow, albeit hampered slightly by the venue's shite acoustics. (Same place I'm seeing SunnO))), which doesn't bode well at all. Unless they totally redesign it and sort out its sound-design, stat.)

Andrew Hung was hanging out by the T-shirt stall as we made our way out, so I collared him and said what a top gig it was. What a lovely dude: he genuinely seemed delighted to meet fans, and appeared to really give a shit what people thought. Huge respect.

Heh, when I saw them at a festival I bumped into him later watching a pretty much unknown band (this in itself impresses me as most bands there seemed content to lurk backstage apart from their set) and told him in rather incoherent terms that FB were awesome and he seemed genuinely pleased and friendly, yes.

I wish I'd gone now! Really not quite sure why I didn't.

This is so great - Flight of the Winged Serpent (or whatever) is an amazing closer. It's the big thumping Underworld-style beat that does it.

Well done Andy Weatherall for introducing them to the concept of a groove.

fuck me

this album

Out today. Amazing reviews across the board including album of the week from the times, the observer and a bunch of others. Great stuff.

Disney Hair

I wasn't too impressed by their debut but I'm really liking what I'm hearing on the new album. Space Mountain is fucking beautiful.

Can't get past the mammoth first track yet, but it's good enough to be top ten single of 09 no doubt

These guys really know how to start an album, don't they?

This album is fucking massive. Been playing it all week since its release.

this on headphones btw

yup yup

Not sure i like it as much as street horrsing but its prolly a lot more consistent.

bits of SH with all the sparkly bells were kinda shit but then i think mebbe i was missing the point

OMG @ Rough Steez tho

This Reminds me of the last Growing alb and Broken Ear Record mainly

Rough Steez reminds me of a noisier, more expansive version of Ratatat.

i don't know who that is

a pokemon, i think

makes sense, Olympians reminds me of that Chris Brown song abt michael phelps a bit

an awesome pokeman

Some of this still sounds like Merriweather Post Pavillion to me, but I still love it

this is excellent.. current standout 'the lisbon maru'

kinda samey more ravey less screamy

― LEGOS by Atlas Sound (coming eventually, 2009 or 2010) (Future_Perfect), Wednesday, 16 September 2009 16:55 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Spot on. I can't stop listening to this.

The Lisbon Maru (for those who didn't know) was a Japanese transport ship sunk in 1942 by a US ship - it turned out to have been carrying 1800 allied POWs, most of whom died. A tragic but very interesting story. I don't know what that means about ravey noise bands but it's an interesting story. ( http://www.lisbonmaru.com/ )

what Ben said about "The Lisbon Maru" when i interviewed him for emusic:
"My granddad was a survivor and he escaped. He was shipwrecked for days, but he managed to survive."

yes, this could be album of the year for me.

^^^

blown away by this. am listening to it every chance i get.

You guys have any idea what that instrument is making the higher-pitched sounds in the middle of Olympians?

Glass organ? Flute? (both, sampled and thrown together?)

yes, this could be album of the year for me.

It really is pretty much uniformly fantastic, isn't it? At the moment I'm all about the bubbling noises in Phantom Limb.

Olympians is peak for me bcos its so fucking funny, reminds me of some of the shitty new age music i was dling from blogs for like a week of this summer.

uh actually come to think of it, it reminds me off of Dan Deacon's last album.

Thanks StanM, either of those would make sense.

I'm still not feeling this as much as Street Horrrsing, but it seems to be revealing more of itself with every listen, so ...

This is awesome, getting a similar but arguably more consistent kick out of this as the Field's last album earlier in the year.

I could see Kate adoring this.

I have no idea of what people are hearing in this.

Layers and layers and layers of gorgeously beatific fuzz plus some truly uplifting military-esque drum patterns.

first song sounds a little like someone strapped black dice to the front of a freight train made up of power chord synths

i'm hearing people who listen to this respond either rapturously or disgustedly; not much in between.

tbh, i wld prefer a version of black dice that was MORE aggro, not less

I would prefer a version of Black Dice that played shit that sounded like Creature Comforts for about 8 hours straight, but that's neither here nor there.

At its worst, this sounds like a more accessible, dancey version of recent Black Dice. At its best (SURF SOLAR, LISBON MARU), it sounds like a freight train made up of power chord synths exploding angel vaginas.

I've been hammering this album for days to an extent that I now have loops playing permanently in my head. This has gripped me much more immediately than Street Horrrsing, which I enjoyed but never really got into, though I must revisit it with my new-found Fuck Buttons loving perspective.

pretty excited for the london show tomorrow; their biggest headline show to date i think + Clark and Andy Weatherall DJing so will be a great night

contenderizer otm but hav u ever listened to pre-b&c black dice?

i've gone from "hey, this is a lot better than the first one" to "woah this is k-awesome" very quickly

I could see Kate adoring this.

Likewise.

hav u ever listened to pre-b&c black dice?

― plax (I know, right?}

Yeah, I been listening since the Gravity single. But, honestly, I'm kinda glad they dropped the HC noise angle.

i'm only half with u on that since creature comforts is maybe my favourite album ever

Well, it's one of my favorites... Definitely my favorite BD record.

first song sounds a little like someone strapped black dice to the front of a freight train made up of power chord synths

black dice + spiritualized?

m83 + boredoms?

tbh super roots 10 isn't a million miles away

Anyway, this is such an insanely formulaic record (Fancy Orange Buttons thing), and it's such a GREAT formula. Take one vaguely BOC-like bonkety-bonk percussion loop, run the shit out of it, stick a freight train made of power chord synths exploding angel vaginas on top, and go to town. Thing it calls to mind more than anything else is a M83 take on Vangelis. Set Fire to the (Chariots of) Fire.

CU: entire print run

serious -- running strong for the best thing I've heard in 09

u r right it is insanely formulaic tho

should buy it, i just have a 192 leak which is prolly only halfway there

formula means shit when the most thrilling parts about this are the SOUNDS

I actually think its a lot flatter than street horrsing

always love how they bury the guys's vocals in the mix tho

Ai agree about the majesty of SOUNDS tho. Plus it would be good for getting married to. Or like montaging honeymoon photos.

Big mountain! Hotel lobby! Her look pretty!

i found the album very effective when i was warming up for a bicycle race--chariots of fire type inspiration

Yeah, I want to ride around listening to this with my fists up in the air like a giant V-for-victory. For several hours. Except it's cold.

So much better produced than any M83.

didn't like this the first couple listens, then listened to it on headphones and did a 180. pretty awesome. at the same time, not much empty space in there - kind of fatiguing to listen to

turns out u were right btw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jBdxOFMuj8

so gonna happen

well-timed yall. i picked this up over the weekend but just got to it today and damn, it's a hell of an album. i always love it when bands turn a solid first record into a really really great second one. and i'd like to register my approval of this description:

a freight train made of power chord synths exploding angel vaginas

also for an album made w/all electronics (i assume anyway) you can just TELL that they had a blast putting it together

much as i love this album (possibly my favourite of the year) i don't think it's any better than the first one (probably my favourite of last (?) year). less shouty vocals, yes, but i don't buy that there's more groove here.

i'm hearing people who listen to this respond either rapturously or disgustedly; not much in between.

I'm pretty ambivalent, tbh. it's OK, but as with street horrsing, I find the noise and drones and wooze enervating; the beats tiresome.

Really love it, but think the first was a little crazier/better. Also, isn't Lisbon Maru a bit of a retread of Sweet Love...? Definitely one of the albums of the year tho.

my fully-automatic record player scratched the shit out of side b, sigh.

How are they live? I'm seeing them weekend after next with Growing, hoping this holds up well live.

I loved 'em (see above). Seen them twice now and if you get them in the right venue they're LOUD.

just what is so thrilling about the part in the lisbon maru when the synths come in? it gives me the chills

especially on big ass cans with tons of sub bass

i think its that their music is not about songwriting, it is about exploiting the frequency range to its fullest

yup yup

very beginning of this album never fails to recall the 'wonder-inducing', repeating melodic theme from Goonies for me. Like, notions of Chester Copperpot, et al. Track 3 is def the "images from wedding montage" track, without a doubt. Heavy Mogwai-y vibe, etc.

dang, track 4 is even more of the "wedding montage," victory-in-nature vibe.

who likes the new album? i'm debating whether i should get it or not

shut the fack up

cold

get it.

yeah this fuckin rules

this is really great

i should get the album?

sb'd u for that

ok then

You should get it and then listen to it until you get it.

makes sense, will do

"Olympians" is one of my favorite tracks of the year. So triumphant.

oh shit

i avoided this band for a long time because i hated their name (dumb i know) but this is really good

no i hear you; i had their first album for a year before i listened to it cuz of the stoopid name.

its also not really what i expected at all from the 'noise' label people are throwing on it, i'm getting way more of a jarre/vangelis vibe

vangelis and orbital are the main things i get off them

perhaps it's time i finally check out orbital then!

more mogwai/black dice

xp oh FUCK YES if you like Fuck Buttons and you have a taste for kitsch and disco you'll LOVVVVE Orbital.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dera1hWRoIg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCgVaLrTpr4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q25Zx6B5HJA

i'm kinda meh on both mogwai/black dice; something about FB presses my buttons har har more than them

I definitely hear the Mogwai in there. Bits of Space Mountain kind of remind me of Orbital, the thumping drums in Feathered Serpent are pure Underworld though. Such a 90s record!

srsly growing: http://hypem.com/track/663226/Growing+-+Rave+Pie+Only

not to beat a dead horse but this album does indeed rule...if you go on long runs or long drives or listen on headphones the pleasure is increased ten fold...

Saw them last night, good show.

on my way out to see them can't wait!

holy shit! also, made me totally change my mind abt the new album which sounded fucking fantastic live! Bright tomorrow and ribs out were highlights tho

I quite liked the record, but live I didn't get it. They need some actual beats or something if they are gonna do the rave thing - their songs kind of build but just don't go anywhere. I mean there are more interesting noise acts and I'd rather go to a proper rave than stand around getting bored to the brand of pseudo-techno they serve up. They're kind of caught between the two pillars without bridging them very well imo.

nah its great when the guy starts hitting the big drum

This album is still fucking amazing. Right now "Olympians" is my shit.

good time for it to be!

good point, will play at full volume asap

idk this'll sound like a slam but sometimes this strikes me as a mashup of sts9 & explosions in the sky~

i don't know sts9 but their melodies are straight-up second tier postrock (kind of a big reason i love them tbh)

really enjoyed them live tonight. my ears will never be the same again.

The Lisbon Maru. Good morning

they were good last night but the support band blew them off the stage.

who was supporting?

Missed this :(

last.fm says Factory Floor was the support, just listened to this free mp3 http://www.last.fm/music/Factory+Floor/_/Post+Is+Here and it reminded me of something from 1982 or thereabouts that might be Death in June.

yup, factory floor who came across like primo TG jamming with DNA with the burundi drummers doing their best motorik rhythm impression. could have been horribly contrived and dated but was the most refreshing thing i've seen live in eons. their recorded work doesn't begin to do justice to how good it is live. it took my best self control to refrain from screaming right through their set. (PS had never heard them before last night).

Factory Floor are far and away my favourite live band of the last few years. I've seen them blow every act they've ever played with off stage.

prolly one of my 10 favorite bands currently making music

new solo album from Ben Powers is fucking fire

ysi

Free track here - http://www.pitchfork.com/news/42355-fuck-buttons-power-goes-solo-as-blanck-mass/

Land Disasters sound ridiculously good. I can't wait for the album. Though, it's pretty much Fuck Buttons without the tribal rave beats/screams.

new solo album from Ben Powers is fucking fire

'what you know' is better than any fuck buttons song

and i love those guys!!

Land's Disasters is kicking my arse all over the place. Have ordered the album without hearing a leak of it first, which is rare for me these days.

What a gloriously euphoric noisy ambient sound - great + makes me want another FB album soon as well.

Not hearing what you guys are hearing in that track. To me it sounds as a decent if unspectacular ambientish track

this album kinda reminds me of a more sparkly bvdub

Then I must listen me to some bvdub now

Blanck Mass album out today

http://www.rock-action.co.uk/index.php?id=252

This Blanck Mass record really is really fucking great. Really.

I like it.

still need to listen to it

Find it hard to think of this as something other than eternal Fuck Buttons build-ups. Am constantly waiting, yearning, for the crescendo.

When I manage to get over that my next thought is of Moby...

"what you know" is one of the best songs ive heard all year

"What You Know" is stunning. A godlike genius moment on an uncommonly brilliant album.

"what you know" IS stunning (listening for the first time). sort of wish it did something other than oscillate on the table like god's penis, but it does make a lovely noise in the process.

Thats all it has to do for me pal.

"what you know" = (((((((d-_-b)))))))

anyone know if this has a US release?

New Blanck Mass 12" a-comin', 21 Aug: http://blanckmass.bandcamp.com/album/white-math-polymorph

Um, hail the Olympic spirit or something, I gather.

Listening to 'White Math' now and it's fucking amazing.

Be sure to get "Hellion Earth" too- no idea if it's going to get a physical release but it's a free download on his Soundcloud, and like a third side of the Software 12".

http://pitchfork.com/news/50720-fuck-buttons-announce-new-album-slow-focus/

Yessss. Blanck Mass has never really done it for me.

https://soundcloud.com/alltomorrowsparties/fuck-buttons-the-red-wing

stoked for the noize

Excellent news. I thought Blanck Mass was equally as great as Tarot Sport.

Blanck Mass was nice enough, but missed something compared to Tarot Sport, which I thought was magnificent.

l3 @k 3D Butt0nS

4nd It'5 pr3tty gr34t, t00

Fuck Buttons = Node Cosplay

Audio: full set at the Best Kept Secret festival in Amsterdam, last Saturday : http://3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/playerpage.program.26959933.html

and there's a complete show in HD from 2009 here:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4h2XGENb6qj4fJDaqcCrA1Rr9KsOnKEY

First listen and this is Tarot Sport pt 2, which is fine! Great! It's what I wanted!

This is good but you can almost see the dry ice coming off it. Definitely less dancey that the last one and I maybe miss the Weatherall influence, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Was TS that dancey? Saw them at Sonar years ago and the whole set felt like an agonisingly slow build up to Flight of the Feathered Serpent.

Yeah it's only really Surf Solar and Flight of the Feathered Serpent but those are two pretty monumental bookends.

Yeah this is definitely a whole lot darker than Tarot Sport, which is pretty uplifting almost all the way through even if it only achieves full on dancefloor euphoria lift-off at the end. ALL KILLER though, whereas I always skipped Rough Steez and Phantom Limb off TS.

Can UK ilxors let us know if this is good and can they like rip this shit and upload it somewhere please? - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01c3hqf/Glastonbury_2013_F***_Buttons_Glastonbury_2013/

Not really a fan of screamos but there was this great indie guy at www.camtogays.com

Definitely some sonic derivation from TS and overuse of a few timbres on this record that the band seem to have fully embraced as "their" timbres (chiefly the high pitched synth found on Space Mountain at the end, which is present on no less than three tunes here iirc), but I really love the use of space, the buildups, and overall quality. It's a much more consistent record than TS, with lower highs and higher lows.

I loved TS in theory but very quickly lost any interest in putting it on - I think production or mastering made it sound extremely flat. I wonder if I should check out the new one.

Tarot Sport was one of my favourite albums from the past few years--still play it every few days, and still find it thrilling (as is the Blanck Mass album, in a very different way). The leak of the new one took me a couple of listens to fully get into, but I love it.

http://pitchfork.com/advance/161-slow-focus/

Stalker & Hidden XS are quite nice on first listen, but atm I'm missing the giant tribal uplifting space pyramids parts a little bit. It will grow, I suppose.

A top 40 UK album this week. #36 to be exact, so we're very pleased. Interestingly, if we just look at copies sold in physical UK record stores, it's the #1.

That is fucking awesome, congratulations

Yes its ace, mega pleased for them!

yay! my copy's somewhere in the post--i need it to hurry up!

Injured my arm air-drumming to Brainfreeze last week

that's awesome/i'm sorry you're injured

They just played in SF and holy shit their set was amazing. If you are nearby when they are playing go see them. Also bring ear plugs.

Saw them in Paris and yeah it was fantastic.

Listening to "Brainfreeze" right now, I am regretting missing them in SF.

I'm seeing them in a couple of days!!

Was always kind of a casual fan of these guys, but the day after an acid experience I listened to 'em and it was just totally OTM and I immediately bought a ticket. My enthusiasm has since waned, but I'm perked up by hearing they're good live. How long's a typical set?

Some of these tracks sound like a mashup of Beyonce and Autechre.

Beyoncæ

lol

Including encore, 80-90 minutes.

When I saw them in 2010, they just played Tarot Sport in its entirety from start to finish with the encore being a track from their debut. But this time around they mixed it up with tracks from the last two records and one track I could not identify - might have been The Whip, but I need to go back and check.

Seeing them here in a week!

Do they ever play their Jonsi remix?

I don't know why I / everyone ignored the new record thinking it was more of the same. Well, it kinda is but deeper. And I loved that same. This band is seriously underused. Red Flag is a belter. Stalker also. Last year's album is GREAST.

They got a fair bit of love on the 77 albums poll. Post here!

There's a gig at the Barbican headlining behind Mount Kimbie and Fennesz in April. Looks amazing.

Oh, my, Lisbon Maru came on now. This is the stuff.

loved slow focus on the first pass, but lost interest after a few spins, then more or less forgot about it. not sounding at all bad atm, though the tracks that initially struck me as filler still do (esp "year of the dog" and "hidden xs").

Only just caught up with the lastest one properly, I think I actually prefer it to Tarot Sport. It's got a bit more edge and darkness. Excellent walking music.

True. Still missing the giant tribal uplifting space pyramids parts mentioned upthread, though the 'filler' tracks are way more interesting on Slow Focus, I gotta admit.

Yeah, Year of the Dog for example is not a track you'd choose to listen to in isolation but as part of the musical narrative of the album it works extremely well.

Also the chord progressions are more interesting and unusual on this one (to my untrained ears, anyway).

just relistened to tarot sport. i think when it came out i listened to it a few times but maybe didn't pay that much attention.

anyway, wow

yeh tarot sport is probably my favourite
love the lisbon maru/olympians middle crux

Anyone else excited for the upcoming Blanck Mass sophomore album?

i feel bad about being a killjoy but i thought the first blanck mass album one of the worst records i've ever heard

i'm excited! The 3 BM tracks released post the album are much more FB-y

New BM album has leaked, is rather excellent--much more FBy than the first one, for what that's worth

Where'd you find your torrent?

idkw anyone means when they say leaked nowadays but the Guardian were streaming it last week, think you can still listen to that

And this morning it appeared on Spotify. And I see Andrew Hung has a new EP too - 'Rave Cave Level 1', which is a sort of FB-y take on 8-bit arcade music

I am drunk and I'm sat here listening to Dumb Flesh and thinking this was the thing the Valentines did after Loveless. It's kinda making sense. I'm very drunk but this is a really good record.

New Blanck Mass very good on first listen.

cosine

yeh i enjoyed it too
very much of the essence of fuck buttons

more frantic, imo, fewer cinematic arpeggios

Yeah but definitely its own thing as well. Sort of bridges the gap between Fuck Buttons and techno.

xpost

It's lovely

'No Lite' reminds me of the Dust Brothers' Fight Club soundtrack

the opener is tops, then it hews too close to Slow Focus territory for my tastes

I'm late to the game on this blanck mass album but WOW awesome. Dust Brothers/Fuck Buttons midpoint is embarrassing but accurate.

It's great, and so's the follow-up EP with Genesis P Orridge

That sounds way more appealing than the first BM album, which I just thought was dull.

Yep, that sounded more like the midpoint between Fuck Buttons and a single unchanging mildly harmonious drone.

I listened to this already some time ago, forgot all about it! It is better than the first MB, not a million miles from the last FB and therefore less bonkers than I was hoping for. Will give it a few more tries.

liked and voted for d7-d5 last year

new track came out a week ago too
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi8QMSMb-Bs

oh whoops let's try that again

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi8QMSMb-Bs

new album preorder : https://blanckmass.bandcamp.com/album/world-eater

World Eater out today.

Feeling this very much on first listen, pretty wild and HEALTH/Tarot Sport-esque. Probably the first time Blanck Mass really clicks with me and does not feel like a lesser FB.

yes, great album

AOTY so far

^^^^^

I opted for CD instead of vinyl

It just sounds like a soundtrack of Bradley Wiggins last wank before he tops himself.

I bow down to yr personal experience

That's a sick burn but I'm maybe 99% sure that Wiggins default choice in that situation would be 'Wild Wood' by Paul Weller.

It's probably cos they were involved in that Danny Boyle olympic opening ceremony/travesty that I make the Wiggins connection.

"Involved" not quite the right word for someone else playing a remix of one of your tracks at a public event. O, how i remember Nirvana and their involvement in my high school formal.

I thought they had actually played at the opening ceremony. Anyways - semantics aside - "involved" "connected" whatever! Some of this sounds like quite hackneyed goth/industrial and some of it sounds like Amon Tobin pissing about with a music app. It is so mediocre I can't even listen to a full track, and have actually tried.

World Eater is excellent. Andrew Hung's solo stuff on the other hand... might be OK if he didn't sing.

dear god that is some worst of 1980s indie voice.

Yeah, wanted to like it, but.... Nooo.

World Eater still aoty I reckon. It's a fucking corker. Has anyone seen this guy do a live set?

It just sounds like a soundtrack of Bradley Wiggins last wank before he tops himself.

― calzino, Saturday, March 4, 2017 1:40 AM (six months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hahaha, this is prime Calzino <3

Great album though, for sure.

Has anyone seen this guy do a live set?

Yes. it was short but 100% worth it.

Didn't totally expect this, but I guess these two new tracks are the logical followup to Rhesus Negative

In Ferneaux, the new 40 minute two track Blanck Mass EP, is pretty amazing.

Very much so.

I'm picking up noise from that fucking truck.

https://www.stereogum.com/2184148/editors-blanck-mass-member-heart-attack/music/

man what, this is a totally baffling combination. how are editors even still around?

They have done an album together before.

Today's necessary opinion: first album still rules; everything else I can take or leave.

Many good things on Slow Focusfor my money

brain freeze, the first track of the third album, is so great too

Love all three albums. A lot.