ILM Listening Chamber 9

I hated it to start with - all those typical lo-fi indie guitar band tricks with picked chords and an understated feel but it does get much better. I like the slightly off centre vocal line being mirrored by the guitar. Quite lovely in fact.

In the beginning I thought this is XYZ as the first voice singing sounds a little like XYZ lead singer's. But then I realised that the real lead singer who starts singing later has a different voice than XYZ's lead singer and that the music is much lighter than XYZ. That is it, the lightness makes this my favourite listening chamber up till now. Quite repetitive but so calm and soothing. And still melancholic especially in the beginning with the bass guitar solo and the XYZ lead singer's like voice joining in. This is really a jewel. 10 out of 10. Is there an album? I would buy it with closed eyes. Is this XYZ or not? Btw XYZ is a variable/wildcard. David is that ok concerning not revealing the performer?
Sorry for this but as you do not seem to get my e-mail David: Did you receive the track I sent to the music chamber address or not?

Sorry again David. I just got your e-mail.

I like it. It's got a very attractive feel and sound to it, and I very much respect the musicians' adamant refusal to take the song anywhere that would ruin it -- there's a lot to be said for keeping it small. Appealing vocals. I think I might really like an album of this stuff; a single song makes it hard to have enough time to fully get into the musical mindset that suits it best, but I still enjoy it.

No clue at all who it is. I wonder if it's something on K Records? Probably not -- the production style isn't quite the sound I'm used to from K.

This is more like what I thought Coldplay was going to sound like. I like the overlapping vocals and how the clarity of the mix highlights the simplicity of the music. I would be much more of an indie fan if I could find more stuff that sounded like this.

Very nice low-key indie. I like the overlapping vocals, the airy harmonies, the regret-tinged atmosphere. Nothing leaps out at you, but the song is the better for it. Perhaps a little *too* slight, but I imagine it would work even better in the album context. I've stopped seeking out indie-pop since about the beginning of this year, perhaps a little further back even, so it's kinda nice to hear competent indie, if a little typical. Incidentally, I managed to find out who this is and it's a name I've heard before and assumed to be another forgettable indie band like the hundreds that grace the pages of Magnet, so I'm happily suprised that I'm enjoying it thus far.

Hey, Mitch, could you drop me a line and let me know what it is?

This thing about not naming the artist is a little ridiculous Dave. At least for songs you understand the lyrics which are in Google's cache. People who do not want to know who is the artist should listen first and post before reading the postings.
Just for your information it was not the group I thought it could be, i.e Sparklehorse but... find out yourself.

no Alex it's not ridiculous no I said it isn't No.

To me, the reason for the existance of the Listening Chamber is for folks to listen to music completely context-free. No preconceptions, no biases formed on knowledge of the song or the performer. Sure, such biases can be formed on what folks are saying about the track, but the opinions expressed on ILM are diverse enough to withstand such pigeonholing.

So, yeah, I think revealing the artist's name before it's time is a bad idea.

Wow, this is far and away the best Listening Chamber yet. Excellent interplay of voices and guitar, nice unobtrusive bass solo, very down- key but still very hummable. The scratching during the solo threw off my immediate conceptions of this being a humorless indie band, but it wasn't prominent enough to sound gimmicky. I could definitely imagine this group incorporating hip-hop regularly instead of using it once as a joke. I'd really like to hear more of this group.

why will I tolerate 4 hours of repetition with only the most minute changes in one context (techno) but tire after 40 seconds of repetitive guitar? i mean, tortoise (and this) just bore me blind, as beautiful as it is, all fugue-y and everything.

Cute little riff. They (intentionally, I'm sure) sound like an 11th-grade Pavement cover band. Not terrible, but in this world of overflowing data, the worst sin is that of mediocrity.

David, I understand what you mean. I only wanted to say that people downloading the mp3s must have an internet connection and can look for lyrics excerpts from the song in question at Google. So even if no one posts who the artist is the information is there (on the net) and if you absolutely insist on people not telling the name you are like someone who thinks objects in front of him will disappear just by closing his eyes. Sorry for this early morning popular philosophy but I hope you get what I mean. But generally I agree to the idea of the chambers.

Really, who's going to go through that trouble, alex? Unless your admitting to. What's wrong with waiting, I kinda like the suspense.

Not only do I know who this is, I wrote about it on NYLPM oh, so long ago now. Though this mix is clearer and even prettier. This is what Dan thought Coldplay should sound line - well, this is what *I* thought Yo La Tengo should sound like.

What I said about it then: "The real-life [BAND] may be roisterous types, but when I hear [SONG] I think of saucer-eyed boys in basements making quiet sounds for themselves. With its mumbling vocals, with its humming-to-yourself harmonies and with the mousiest scratching I've ever heard, this is private music, in shelter from the world. [BAND], thank goodness, don't sound anywhere near proficient enough to noodle, which is the big risk post-pop runs, and the no-attitude vocal approach means the simple, pretty tune gets room to breathe. Of course you'll be underwhelmed the first time you listen to it, but hide it somewhere on an MP3 playlist and it'll charm you soon enough."

I do not want to hijack (too dangerous nowadays: it could start a world war) this thread Tom, but why should Yo La Tengo sound like this band? They actually sound quite similar to this track on their latest album. But they can sound also completely different as on "Electropura" for example. Yo La Tengo is a very versatile band and that is what I like about them. And live they sound even better. But we had that before, I guess Ned was involved.

I'm pretty much with Mitch on this. I like the delicate layers and overlapping vocals. It starts out a bit lo-fi, but because it's airy and spacious, when other lines and bits being to weave in and out it never feels cramped or compressed.

Also, like Mitch, I was pleased to see who this was, having dismissed them because they seem to only get praise from indie-only types.

I haven't heard this particular song before, but it *must* involve a certain obscenely talented and prolific person, who has barely been heard of yet outside of certain circles. I say this because it bears all the hallmarks that initially caught my attention - the perfect harmonies, the restrained almost monotone vocals that are so oddly engaging, subtle grooves and irresistible rhythms that sway through the song. It's so good as to be almost a paradox - both warm and delicate at once, like a snowflake that never melts. This is the kind of music that I attach myself to for life. Thanks to the person that suggested this one.

Pinback?

yo, what part of the 'wait a week before posting answers' didn't you understand? ;)

David, maybe you should repeat in every chamber thread in the original question that the artist should not be revealed before one week.

Or have a Listening Chamber Guesses Thread - read at your own risk.

The Listening Chamber is great BTW, I must put a permalink on NYLPM (yeah right and do the archives hem hem)

I really like this, definitely my favorite listening chamber so far. Something about its repetition and the slow layering really affects me...that little descending melody as well. It's very melancholic in a wistful way. Indie guitar-rock is usually not totally my thing, but this is really quite nice. I've heard some material from this band before...pretty solid. It almost sounds displaced from time.

A worrying consensus is building up here. Sorry, folks, I listened to it nearly 3 times, but...dreadful lyrics (when you could decipher the mumbling), a plodding rhythm, a truly laughable scratching bit and that same old indie rock guitar sound. The chorus just irritates the hell out of me.

The only good thing about it was the first vocal (i.e. what turns out to be the backing vocal). I like contrapuntal vocal melodies anyway, and this one had the added interest of being in a kind of strangled falsetto. But other than that - bollocks. Indie is still dead.

Apologies to Dave for breaking the rule, but since discussion here seems to have reached its end ...

The track is "Tripoli," off of Pinback's self-titled album -- which I notice Tom has now made available from his Grokepile as well. I submitted it largely because the band had come up in the "new guitar- pop" thread, and I was curious as to how "new" an indie guitar band would need to sound to avoid the "just another indie guitar band" reaction.