Yeasayer - Odd Blood

some talk in the 'all hour cymbals' thread, but i have a hunch that this one is gonna outgrow that thread

so, they got the NYT feature treatment earlier this week http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/arts/music/31yeasayer.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

& the album is really great -- delivers on the stadium anthem qualities of '2080' and 'sunrise' across a whole album. in the pfork.tv video of them working on "ambling alp" there was talk of the song getting "too queen" but it appears as if that was where they wanted to go

in any event, this is probably gonna be the 'bitte orca' of '10, so let's rope it all in here

Eh, I'm only sold on about half the album. When it works, its really really good... but there are some huge clunkers.

the first song & the last two songs definitely pale to the rest of the album, but i think everything in between makes up for it. and i really only find the first song to be skippable in so far as i might as well just start at "madder red"

something about their last album was off-putting for me. curious about the new one, tho.

(otoh, two killer songs from the debut, iirc)

this one is way better, daniel -- it's much more coherent and rooted in song structure

I still think they sound like they're wearing some serious Mental Jewelry.

2080 is such a terrific song, if this album is as good as that im in

That old-fashioned-sounding filter/distortion on the first track = lo-tech.

Specifically, lo-techno?

so this is a weird album

songwriting is way more solid than on the last one--but it feels like its missing something

Didn't care for these guys at album #1 but I've been spinning a few songs from their next one and the much-discussed addition of all things synth/dance to their sound makes it... actually really awesome so far.

Will have to see how the album holds up when I hear it, though.

Btw I predict a Pfork Best New Music and, let's say... 9.1 by next week's end, depending when they run the review.

The vocals on part of 2080 sound like Wolf Parade. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

"2080" is sorta lame, these new songs are much better!

2080 is good but in a way that you dont really think abt or anything

the first track is great! i dunno about the rest yet

This is such a spotty album. Giving it another shot right now and the first half, outside of the opener, is growing on me. Seems to start to fall apart a bit starting with "Love Me Girl" though.

wtf guys 2080 is amazing

2080 is amazing but this album sounds like a band who know what they're doing as opposed to having stumbled on two/three really good songs

yeah the rest of that first album, like i enjoy it while i'm listening to it, but never remember much about it after the fact

i only vaguely recall two songs from the debut

Seems to start to fall apart a bit starting with "Love Me Girl" though.

b-b-b-but...Rome! and Mondegreen!

"mondegreen" is great, yeah

wtf mondegreen was the dictionary.com word of the day today; i had never seen it before in my life

I predict no "best new music" for Yeasayer. I think this album is hella corny. I think most reviewers will feel the same, except for maybe the UK which has generally shit music press

"hella corny"

I've listened to Odd Blood at least 15 times front to back since it leaked, and never once did that descriptor come to mind.

Did you just happen to skip the song ROME?

Lou Bega via Hipster

your radar for what is derivative and cheesy is clearly out of wack

Your tolerance for boring music has tricked you into thinking Grizzly Bear isn't just that.

^^you seem to believe Yeasayer is good? Johnny Fever needs to take his temperature, I think the heat is getting to you. YUK YUK

I win, go away

Btw I predict a Pfork Best New Music and, let's say... 9.1 by next week's end, depending when they run the review.

Raising my prediction to 9.2, this is exactly the type of album that Pfork will go nuts over next week. Also predicting a year-end top 10 Pfork finish and top 25 or so here on ILM. It's a great album, perhaps a bit of a grower. J0rdan, that first track is perfect when you loop the album on repeat; helps it transition, slowly, into another solid song cycle all over again. Kindly excuse the AnCo comparison (it's a good one, though, because plenty of people know MPP by now), but it's a bit like "In the Flowers" in that it's a transitional track before the album hits full-on pop song mode for the next few tracks.

this album is pretty mor, huh?

Raising my prediction to 9.2, this is exactly the type of album that Pfork will go nuts over next week.

no way jose

arrrrgh we do we need to predict what pitchfork will give this?

i'm trying not to be that guy but SERIOUSLY

otm

btw I PREDICT AN 8.1

Predictions are fun, it's like Vegas stakes on ILM. If you get the rating on point you get made fun of, if you predict the rating at all you get made fun of -- everyone wins! Er...

predictions are as fun as zing attempts from poster "emily's cheese"

predictions are as fun as zing attempts from poster "emily's cheese" call all destroyer

(Emily's Cheese posts are clearly in a lower circle of hell all their own.)

Cover connection:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WtT-4WauMl4/SyZhL0kMWFI/AAAAAAAABj0/cAD8DYopo_I/s400/YEASAYER-+ODD+BLOOD.JPG http://www.warpedrealitymagazine.com/images/Andrea/New_Order_Technique.jpg

Yeasayer in the Wall Street Journal today:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704259304575043153075091186.html?mod=djemLifeStyle_h

if i was in an indie band getting wsj coverage would be goal #1

Especially to point out that your guitar tones "sound like pickaxes striking rock, or speeding motorcycles."

dance music is the REAL world music

This is the WSJ quote that baffles me:

"Bands are no longer trying to re-create that feeling they had when they were 15, listening to music on the radio," says Mr. Tuton.

REALLY???

this thread title reminds me of this thread

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=77&threadid=67976

So I'm blown away by this record, probably more than by anything else I've heard this year. Every track yields all these great surprises; sonically, it's just about perfect. But I'm a songwriting guy at heart, and I'm not sure what these songs are about. Does anybody have any theories? Does the band talk about songwriting in interviews? I'd love some context.

Whether or not you think I'm in some circle of hell and have shit taste, this IS a pretty weak album. Please listen to the lyrics. ONE is decently catchy, but his Jesus revival on stage gimmick and their relentless attempts at ID magazine posturing (their ambling alp video a prime example) reeks of trying too hard. Surprised nobody here seems to see that. Plus the songs just aren't that good.

VALUABLE NEW POSTER

THANK YOU SARCASTIC POSTER

OUCH IMO

YES!!!!!

"plus the songs just aren't that good"

Please listen to the lyrics.

I don't do this with really ANY music... much less Yeasayer, thanks.

WE GOTA POPIST IN DA HOUSE

This is garrrrrrbaaaaaage. I'd be embarrassed to play this record to anyone I know. It's that terrible. Is it just me or does anyone else think the lead singer has the most cloyingly nasal voice in hipsterdom today?

Perhaps even worth than his voice and the amusement-park type melodies is the fact that beneath all the layers of "modern" production, the lyrics are just cliched sentimental shit.

In the spirit of innovation, does anyone have anything better to listen to than this?

It's catchy. Its production is, I'll admit, repetitive and lazy... but at least it's upbeat. Everything that has been reviewed by PF or cokemachineglow has been boring and a derivative of some former act.

I am craving something new, and I'll be down for anything... so long as its not Vampire Weekend.

Until then, my lowering of standards to accept 'Odd Blood' is a necessity.

maybe not the musical paxil you seem to be looking for, but the new Gil-Scott Heron is very good.

aesthetic is kind of this intense mishmash of trends and sounds from the last decade, but all those colors and styles mix into an unappealing mess, like when youre young and you think you can make the best crayon of all time by melting them all together, but instead all you get is this brown, waxen turd

agree with mr. shirts. I like the new Four Tet a bunch. New Liars is a mixed bag IMO

So, this is a really good album (I think my taste in indie must be the exact opposite of Emily's Cheese).

Makes me think of a cross between Buckingham's work on Tusk (raggedy weirdness) and his work on Tango In The Night (rhythms, synthetic sheen).

i can't get enough of O.N.E.

Just what I need. Another hipster record that I don't understand.

I think my taste in indie must be the exact opposite of Emily's Cheese

^

buckingham is a good comparison point! still cant quite get over how MOR a lot of moves on this record are for one thats being hailed as some triumph of brooklyn art-rock

starting now i'm suggest banning anyone who uses hipster in this thread

I hate this record, but once again Tim makes it sound so good! Tropical-sounding Buckingham should theoretically be the best thing ever.

starting now i'm suggest banning anyone who uses hipster in this thread

don't be a brat you lousy hipster

would like to hear big balearic edits of most of this

i mean, prolly, when i hear it

ambling alp is pretty awes tho

also kickass video

buckingham comparisons are prolly more stuff like Bwana tho

btw I PREDICT AN 8.1

I REVISE MY PREDICTION TO A 6.1

LOL

I was way off-base with mine (9.1, 9.2).

so uh wow....streaming this now and scottpl is totally otm about the second half. i liked these guys a lot better when they weren't attempting to be a synthpop band?

Yeah I'll say from about 3-4 spins through the album as a whole, the first half holds up a LOT better than the second.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nLiQBV6A7c

second half is a grower

this is kind of album you just kind of have to give yourself over to, i think

i resisted for a while but eventually i was sort of like, "damn, choonz" and just let it happen

yeah i think he's underselling the second half a lot - certainly the crux of the album is the 2-5 range, but i think "rome" & "mondegreen" are pretty good songs - who pays attention to their lyrics anyhow

this is kind of album you just kind of have to give yourself over to, i think

^

who pays attention to their lyrics anyhow

Fixed this for you, J0rdan.

yeah i don't disagree

it may be missing the point of yeasayer to appreciate this album is a bit more streamlined, but listening to songs like "worms" and "wintertime" on the lat album i just hear a lot of flailing around & a sort of dearth of ideas -- i don't think that applies to 'odd blood'

I love, love, love "I Remember" - thanks to Matos for turning me on to it.

"I Remember" = Tears for Fears comparison in scottpl's review OTM.

I reckon this album stays great right up until "Mondegreen", and even that has that kinda awes subside-into-ominous-synth-drone ending.

I actually like the progression of the album, the way it gets dancier right up until "Rome" basically.

"I Remember" and "ONE" probably my favourites.

2010 feels so indie for me right now :-/

me 2

lol this afternoon i am desperately trying to like samples of the sade or g s-h records enough to buy them and make them the first non-indie 2010 purchases

haha yeah btw this, v weekend and joanna newsom im on some circa 2006 for myself

My top so far for 2010: VW, Lindstrom & Christabelle, this, High Places, J Stalin

I need a lifechanging R&B album to start balancing things out.

im glad i base my music taste entirely on how attracted i am to the band/singer

mine are vw, los camp, hot chip, this & then yelawolf

i think the lead singer of yeasayer is pretty cute

haha i think the bass player is

yeah he is too

is the whole yelawolf release good? heard a track today and liked it a lot.

yeah it's amazing

i'm so-so on the songs i've heard from this record, but the cowbell part on o.n.e. is great.

I just image-googled Yeasayer and while I can see re the guy on the left I'm not sure otherwise:

http://stereogum.com/img/thumbnails/posts/yeasayer-tightrope.jpgp

Let's try that again:

http://musicmule.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/yeasayer-koala.jpg

in that pic i wld only say guy on right but that is a bad pic

the bassist is second from left, he's cleaned up a bit now

yeah im basing this mainly on the vid that jordan said upthread

koala gut

If you want the guy on the right come to Australia. Every man and his dog looks like that here (though usually they are neither clutching nor standing proximate to koalas).

that sounds like an empty promise i have seen home and away u liar

hot cowbell playing from the one time i saw them play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyRbmotB3P4

kinda enjoying the recent trend of explicit nudity in p4k band videos

yah, the yelawolf is pretty good; need to check out the j.stalin

Man, these guys are throwing some *major* copper.

(I like this album so far)

Someone played me "Ambling Alp" way back in '09 and I remember thinking, "This is not what I remember Yeasayer as. This is great! They have given into the synth-pop God! I tend to be predisposed toward groups that make that move." I revisited the song today. Several times. Bridge is enormous. Losing control of the language. Will check album.

Man, these guys are throwing some *major* copper.

― Shannon Whirry and the Bad Brains, Friday, February 12, 2010 5:24 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

haha oh god ouch!!!

some neat sounds, but the lyrics are bland enough for dance music.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/TikiS/Funny%20Stuff/ohnoyoudidnt7pt.gif

I really love these guys live. Perhaps I should give the album(s) a proper try, though I'm pretty sure the first one is Not My Thing.

Love this album. Liked the last one plenty, love this one. Lots of big '80s influence—Talk Talk; Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon—done in a natural way.

It is kinda funny to see the ILX split on this, mostly because I loathe the vast majority of schmindie these days and try to stick to the punk and metal threads.

It's kind of weird seeing "Mondegreen" shit on in multiple reviews- yes, the lyrics are stupid, that seems to be the entire point! It sounds manic and uncomfortable and completely unsexy, and it works.

I feel like MGMT fans will really like this

^this is otm

It is kinda funny to see the ILX split on this, mostly because I loathe the vast majority of schmindie these days

^

Loving this album so much. It would be a shame if lots of people ignored what is effectively a Lindsay Buckingham album produced by Basement Jaxx on account of it being baltimore/brooklyn indie.

Interesting how balanced the songwriting talent of the two main dudes is.

a Lindsay Buckingham album produced by Basement Jaxx

<3 this description!

a Lindsay Buckingham album produced by Basement Jaxx

ILM shark-bait gussying up a very poor album.

Yeah this is pretty good once you get past the singer. I like them a lot more when they put him through the electronic blender.

There are two separate singers. I assume you're referring to the guy on "Ambling Alp" / "I Remember" / "Rome" / "Love Me Girl" / "Mondegreen".

It's the guy on O.N.E I'm not keen on.

Ha! He seems more standard indie vocalist to me (maybe that's yr problem?)

Not sure which of the dudes' songs I like more, though the Ambling Alp guy is a bit more fun I think.

He reminds me a bit of a sharper version of the Cut Copy guy. They're kinda the most Australian sounding American band ever.

!!! Perhaps unsurprisingly I don't see it really. But I'm intrigued by this notion.

(I assume you're referring to the O.N.E. singer there btw)

I can see the Lyndsey Buckingham comparison but for some reason the band reminds me more of Depeche Mode.

And I get Duran Duran wafts, for some reason.

I like O.N.E. a lot but have not heard the album.
Hearing a lot of culture club? and yeah, cut copy.

Have only heard "O.N.E." and LOVE it!

just heard o.n.e. for the first time and thought it sounded just like level 42.

ONE video looks cool, don't like the edit of the song though. The second vocalist's part that comes in near the end is my favorite part of the song and it is handled kind of strangely

http://vimeo.com/10044003

holy hell these guys are the real deal live

They really, truly are. Even the stuff that I was meh on on the album (see: Grizelda) were pretty awesome live. The reworked versions of All Hour Cymbals tracks were good as well.

Really not into the vocal stylings of the I Remember guy in general, but it's pretty damn powerful on that song. Took me seeing them live to really get into it though.

I should add that when I say "in general" I mean in other bands (reminds me of Maynard from Tool a bit), but I love him all over this album.

Video for 'Madder Red' stars Kristen Bell and a really creepy pulsating blob of flesh. Wierd

http://pitchfork.com/news/39750-kristen-bell-stars-in-new-yeasayer-video/

haha that was kind of great

I haven't heard these guys I don't think but I was just now writing a song about Primo Carnera and I went to do some research and it turns out they already wrote a song about Primo this year, so they are on my shit list now

lol

all the good song subjects have been taken.

New one is all over the place in a good way

Have only heard the singles so far, but the album sounds promising. I Am Chemistry made my favourite 25 songs of the quarter.

I'm listening to this song. This isn't Yeasayer, right? This is like when The Horrors put out Sea Within A Sea, right? I hate this band! This isn't real!

I had forgotten how hard this album goes