Bicep thread

Glue never fails to make me cry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ZxRs45tTg

just is a bop

i think the imagery gets me. i'm scottish - and been there many times - love that place. my heart is away from home maybe

bicep aren't scottish

glue is a bop but

my bad jim. Irish>

I don't think I've ever heard an album fail to deliver on the promise of prior material the way these guys did, even that absymal Aeroplane album from a few years back at least had personality

four tet remix of bicep is really good (opal)

just is a bop

― ||||||||, Friday, June 29, 2018 5:06 PM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

so happy this group have their own thread

Celeste is one of the most beautiful dance tracks I've ever heard. the loneliness of that drum track.

But not many posts here Treeship. I nearly bought this today, but we're away and didn't fancy taking it back on a long train journey. So how is it? One pretty prominent negative opinion above? Do we have more thoughts. I loved some of the singles I heard.

this = the album. If that wasn't clear.

I think it’s great. Hypnotic, vague sense of longing present throughout, some that echoey spaciousness i associate with factory records/“the north”, enough variation between the tracks that it doesn’t get monotonous

The best track is probably glue

It’s a fantastic album that a lot of people seem to dislike on the grounds that it sounds like mid nineties prog house.

Thats not why i dislike it - its just a really predictable, obvious and unthrilling listen, a checkbox of dance music tropes deployed in unimaginative ways, no surprises and no innovation, functional without any hunger. It makes me think of the equally lifeless Jamie XX album, musix made by people who like dance music but dont actually understand it

Its not like the stuff they were doing before the album was particularly innovative and inspired but something like "Vision Of Love" at least felt urgent and kinetic

Yeah, i don’t know dance music enough to say if its innovative. A track like “glue” is compelling though.

i think bicep most certainly understand dance music. kind of ludicrous imo to suggest that after years of dj'ing around the planet that they don't. i detest mid nineties prog house and generally have no time for dance music tropes deployed in unimaginative ways, but i think "glue", "aura" and also "just", in particular, while perhaps not pushing any boundaries are joyful slabs of dance music and it's easy to see why large numbers of people lose their minds to them on a dancefloor. there is a euphoria / melancholy to them that i'd also associate with “the north”. i played "aura" in bicep's home town tonight and it was hard not to have a lump in my throat witnessing what was going on on the dancefloor while it played. but, maybe it's music that is just not designed for listening to?

I think it’s good for listening — i don’t go out dancing really

big room w00t

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPm9RVpwOLQ

Well this was welcome.

Nice.

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

Very nice. Reminds me a bit of a Lone tune from a year or two ago, Blue Moon Tree.

New album January.

😬😅 https://t.co/sbukW5HfKX

— B I C E P (@feelmybicep) January 27, 2021

yeah, how is the album? “Apricots” was pretty great. fully expecting it to place in the EOY. later today perhaps?

Its a good album

Probably a step up on their first in terms of consistency. Very enjoyable, but I find myself wishing they'd mess with formula a wee bit more.

'X' just came up on a playlist and it's an utter banger.

I must give it another listen. It felt a bit samey and one note on first impressions.

yeh didn't return to this after first listen, but will deffo dive back in in the following the weeks

"Apricots" rules

made me listen to the four tet record more tbh

I must give it another listen. It felt a bit samey and one note on first impressions.

― Saxophone Of Futility (Michael B), Wednesday, 27 January 2021 18:49 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

yeh didn't return to this after first listen, but will deffo dive back in in the following the weeks

― nxd, Wednesday, 27 January 2021 18:50 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Seems like the tracks work better in isolation...

I like the vocal bits less this time around (too clubby – not my jam), so my preference goes to their debut. Still, it makes for a pleasant enough outing.

listened a couple of times : good, but not great, which is a shame as i had high hopes.
pretty sure that i read somewhere that when they are going to perform these tracks live, they will be a lot harder hitting as opposed to the album versions which are meant for home listening.
could be that i would prefer to have those versions.

I was afraid I'd overrated the s/t in light of my tepid response to the new one but I'm revisiting it as we speak and what I still find alluring about it almost four years later is the underlying early Afx-esque melancholy, which is all but absent on Isles.

"good not great" seems about right to me after a few listens; individual track definitely pop more out of context. it may well grow on me tho'!

their first album is settling in for me as an all-time favorite i think.

https://ra.co/features/3838

https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/13/matt-mcbriar-of-bicep-treated-for-large-and-pretty-rare-brain-tumour

yikes. glad that it sounds like he's going to be ok

I hope so.