the 1975

i can kinda forgive the sequencing for being so weird because i really have no idea how you'd make something that flows at all coherently out of this stylistic grab bag. but iliwys was almost as long and expansive and that's a masterpiece of sequencing so, you know, i have high expectations for this band.

i did already make a radically resequenced playlist that cuts out like a third of the album and i like it a lot better but there's a lot of stuff that i like fine but couldn't make fit at all.

a lot of the shorter tracks feel like interludes but they don't actually work to bridge anything so they're just jarring where they are. like "bagsy not in net" is a nice enough loop but i wish they'd done more with it or placed it somewhere it would have actually worked as an interlude. "shiny collarbone" is a bit more substantial but the same thing goes for it. "then because she goes" is a great half of a song but again the sequencing does it no favours at all.

the other tracks that i like the least are "yeah i know" which has potential but just doesn't have enough to it to keep me interested, and "what should i say" which is a nice groove but i don't care for the vocals at all and it's just lacking something.

another thing with the sequencing is the start of the album is soooo slow with the 5 minute ambient/greta intro and another 4 minutes of orchestral interludes in the first 15 minutes.

the singles are all pretty much perfect except "people" and even that's grown on me. "roadkill" and "i think there's something you should know" are perfect too. "playing on my mind" is very good, it's nice they've finally gotten the acoustic tracks right on this album. no one's really said anything about "don't worry" but it's gorgeous. i'm not blown away by either "tonight" or "nothing revealed/everything denied" but they're still quite good. i like "having no head" a fair bit but not quite as much as "how to draw/petrichor" or the iliwys title track as far as their 6 minute electronic pieces go.

here's my current attempt at resequencing it to satisfy my frustrations with it:
The End (Music For Cars)
Frail State Of Mind
Me & You Together Song
Roadkill
Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America
The Birthday Party
Having No Head
I Think There's Something You Should Know
Shiny Collarbone
Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy)
Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied
Playing On My Mind
If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)
Don't Worry
Guys

i'm still not quite sure if this sequence is better with or without "shiny collarbone" there but in the spirit of the album i'm keeping it around for now. i really could not make "then because she goes" fit anywhere unfortunately. i've never been huge on "people".

"what should i say" which is a nice groove but i don't care for the vocals at all and it's just lacking something

????????????????????????????

ok i'll stop lol

you did prove that you can edit this tight 80 minute record into a tight 58 minute record (which iirc is the length of a brief inquiry)

this album is so many things but it's the opposite of tight

to be clear, outside of the like three tracks i'm not too into, everything on this album ranges from 'very good' to 'the best thing they've ever done'. this is a very good record in spite of the baffling sequencing which actively detracts from it. i've probably been a little too negative due to being underwhelmed on first listen, there's so much to love here anyway.

anyway i want a 10 minute version of "i think there's something you should know"

my edit is like 52 mins but I dare not share it lol

58 mins already feels very sex and the city 2

idk album feels like it whips by for me despite being 80 minutes. might be an oxymoron to consider that "tight" but

it does manage to get away with its length somehow through sheer variety

there was a recent interview where matty said it might be interesting to make the next album short "like hats or spirit of eden" so i'm expecting we'll get their first official double album instead

"like hats or spirit of eden"

:))))))

is "yeah i know" the best song i've ever heard

laughing at how incredible this is

the appropriate response

the way I know I'm a bad fan for sure is I that I don't like "guys"

I don't even really mean this as a knock but this album is a very weird kind of "eclectic" where (with the exception of "people") it's not so much 22 different styles as it is five very specific styles done a few times each to varying degrees of success (dubstep inflected pop, folky tunes, c86 worship, more "straightforward" 80s style/"early 1975" pop songs, gauzy insturmentals)

btw through arguing with someone over whether the instrumental tracks on this album are any good, another person mentioned "the end" is kind of an orchestral rearrangement of "hnscc" from the music for cars ep. i knew it sounded familiar!!!! it also sounds a lot like "lostmyhead," the vocal melody of which first appeared in "facedown" from the first ep; have to think that's on purpose

motific composition has been rebranded as repetition in our stupid capitalist economy; this band's tendency to use similar chord progressions and hooks across their oeuvre is a strength

Is anyone actually knocking them for that

the run of the last six songs on a brief inquiry is so good

this album is so many things but it's the opposite of tight

cant wait to hear

I did try to find the leak but gave up after a while, will wait for Friday I guess.

Matty saying "like hats or spirit of eden" is trolling the OG nerd-stans ITT (and me in particular), but coincidentally I have been listening to Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri's 'Stories Across Borders' which (a) is the exact midpoint of those two records and (b) is 35 minutes long, and if the 1975 give me something in that vein next I'll take it.

... and then I clicked on the Blue Nile thread and discovered soundslike has used a track from that album for his latest Blue Nile tribute mix.

of course

*hivemind fluctuates*

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
i think there's something you should know

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

waiting til friday for this. no idea what to expect based on recent posts itt.

they were using "the end" as the live intro to "somebody else" last year

when do albums generally get posted to streaming sites? i don't normally pay attn to shit like that but i will stay up Thursday nite for this if it's midnight Eastern or w/e

I can't believe Simon listened to this album before I did (waiting to listen on release date like a True Stan)

there's one thing i know for sure and it's that "shiny collarbone" rules

alpine its often at midnight EST but not always the case

I'm falling in love with it everytime I hear it.

I love this thread

#guys

'what should i say' is such a masterpiece. and i really wish that 'then because she goes' would last a little bit longer.

if not an exact match in sound i'm gonna say in spirit (and in length lol) this is the 1975's smashing pumpkins adore

where's that posts very much in character thread

i feel like it's closer to their mellon collie in spirit, i get the adore comparison because of the dual electronics/folk directions they pushed in but adore still manages to be much more singular in vibe while mellon collie is the real stylistic grab bag

i keep waiting for "what should i say" to get corny the more i play it but instead i'm becoming convinced it's one of the greatest songs i've ever heard

lots of cool behind-the-scenes stuff here: https://www.mindshower.ai/ as well as stems for some of the singles

hearing matty's a capellas this clearly is wild

the swirling ambient synth arpeggios in "i think there's something you should know" are so loveless

really wish they'd given us the "frail state of mind" stems

i'd like to meet myself and swap clothes
i think there's some place i should go
...
i think there's something you should know

;_;

is the vocal melody of 'roadkill' the best piece of music on earth? i think so.

i've been waiting for youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

is the vocal melody of 'roadkill' the best piece of music on earth? i think so.

― Nourry, Thursday, May 21, 2020 4:21 AM (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes

yes

wait no

"Me & You Together Song" is the best melody on earth.

i think my favorite songs on this are "yeah i know" and "bagsy not in net"