stars "set yourself on fire"

when her voice starts in that first song, you just MELT.

http://www.arts-crafts.ca/stars/freedownload/

everything else is perfection. REALLY.

I'm hoping to see them live in a week.

Still don't like 'he lied about death', though.

this band is magic.

In other news I just found out there is a video for "Elevator Love Letter" and that MuchMusic has been playing "Ageless Beauty"!

I think "your ex lover is dead" and "reunion" and "the first five times" are my immediate faves. It's definitely more rambunctious then Heart. (I quietly and selfishly hope they never get too political.)

come on spencer. admittedly, stars is kinda gay

anyway, here's a pic of some geek who met Torquil in Montreal last weekend! (photo credit: felicity redwell. Torque said they'd be in the nyc come march.

jams mitchell, i kiss u

ya thx dude

the passenger & wasted daylight & fixed are the highlights 4 me

also, i think i want the end of fixed w/ "is it your faaaaaaahhuuult" as my ringtone cuz it sounds like "is it your phoooo-ooh-oohone" 2 me

really enjoying bonus track "The Black House, the Blue Sky (Stars vs. Montag)"

Yeah, it's a peach. Of the stuff I'd not already heard, "I Died So I Could Haunt You" is current favourite - Amy's verse into the chugging bass of the chorus is stupendous.

As a whole, I really like the album with a couple of reservations: I never thought I'd say this, but there's almost *too* many vocals from Amy, or at least not enough tracks where she shares duties with Torq - I love their voices together (almost as much as those of Alan and Mimi from Low), and The Five Ghosts is bit light on that kind of interplay. My only other problem is that the production (in parts) feels a bit too dense for Stars compositional and arranging skills to shine. It seems odd, because Tom McFall did an incredible job on Set Yourself On Fire, but this time the songs don't have that space in them - fully recognise this might be an artistic decision.

That's the nitpicking done. It's Stars and I fucking love them. Now I just wish they'd get some proper UK dates on the tour list.

anyone fuck w/ memphis? they have a new album out that im liking on first few listens...tbf id probably like/listen to anything torquil sang on

didn't know about that, will check out.

Rapidly becoming enormously fond of here comes a city. It felt a bit slight initially, and there's a handful of filler, but the good stuff is wonderful, esp. "Apocalypse Pop Song", "I Want The Lights On After Dark" and (current favourite)"I Am The Photographer". Perfect music for breezy spring days, it's getting many replays when I'm commuting / walking about / procrastinating at work etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn0cS5CKOKA

sounds worth a try!

geez, that's what i said 4 months ago.

their last one, a little place in the wilderness is def worth checking out also; same hit or miss quality but there are some killer, beautiful songs

new demos album out, mostly songs from in our bedroom after the war & a few from the 5 ghosts - streamable here:

http://www.thebedroomdemos.com/secretshow/streamthealbum/

Moments have their moments.

In the big deep winter of Montreal, 2006, STARS were drunk.

Two years had been spent carousing the globe, with 'Set Yourself On Fire' in their hands. Home again, they drove the van to a neighbourhood studio to play through some songs they were already planning to record again - in the future, all the way across the tundra, months later - in sun-addled British Columbia.

But the snow was still down in Montreal.

As can happen, these first recording sessions for what was to become 'In Our Bedroom After The War' lay claim to a particular beauty that would shift and differ thousands of miles away, months in the future, in Vancouver.

The studio was Breakglass, run by a dear friend named Jace Lasek, of the band The Besnard Lakes. At that time still a shitbox construction site on the north side of Montreal, Breakglass afforded STARS a refuge from the road, and a steady windowsill to pile up wine bottles. The songs came in bursts, were tracked quickly, given working titles like 'Flack' and 'Fuck U I Love You' and stored one by one in the hallway with the other boxes of tapes. Minds were lost, found again; arguments claimed teeth and nails - love got spit and wrangled back. The band once more became a band and pulled verses from the fumes, bridges from beneath their feet.

From the final, west coast version of the album, only one song, 'Midnight Coward' was not demoed in Breakglass. The others spilled forward. Torq sings both his and Amy's parts in 'Personal.' Evan plays guitar solo after guitar solo. Amy finds new lyrics in every next take. Chris holds the throughline, Patty plays the drums of his life.

With chutzpah, the band moved camp to Vancouver and did the whole thing over again, once more into the breach. New sounds and parts were found, the record was made and released, but something remained on those shelves in Montreal on Rue Clark.

In the spring of 2011, much had changed for the band. Parents had been lost and made, homes left behind and built anew. On a break from touring their new record, 'The Five Ghosts' the band reached back and remembered an affinity with the Breakglass sessions – 'Barricade' recorded with one microphone, an epic solo on 'My Favourite Book'. Jace found the tapes, wine lined the windowsill for a weekend, and the demos finally found their way out of the studio.

Here they are, please enjoy.

thanks, didn't know about this at all

huh, it's split into an explicit and non-explicit version on itunes? weird

New one The North is slowly burning its way into my goods books, which has been the story of Stars for me every time. Especially love this, such a fantastic performance from Torq.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxkcH4jTbtM

i have a chance to see them in a week but logistically it'd be a bit of a hassle. kind of on the fence about it.

I loved Set Yourself On Fire and played the hell out of it when I first got it, and still rate it now. I couldn't help but find In Our Bedroom After The War a bit of a disappointment, although its highlights for me are stellar: 'Take Me To The Riot' and 'Midnight Coward' especially. I remember liking The Five Ghosts more, but I haven't played it since it came out. Haven't heard the new one yet.

have you seen them before, phantompenguin? unreserved recommendation if not, they've been one of my favourite live bands for ages.

Heart and Set Yourself... are their most consistently great albums, although there's terrific songs on all their releases. I've returned to the last Memphis album a lot more than The Five Ghosts, but Stars never made it to the UK to tour that because of Amy and Evan's baby which was a shame (although not about the babs, obv) - I do find that some of their songs only really stick with me once I've seen them played live.

into 'theory of relativity', need 2 spend more time w/ the rest

Finally getting to the new record. Theory of Relativity, Hold On When You Get Love... and Through The Mines are lovely. Do You Want To Die Together is gross.

I hate to say it, but that song actually kind of ruined the entire album for me

I think I might have given up on this band. Set Yourself On Fire showed a HELL of a lot of promise, and lord knows they've got more than enough talent in that band to deliver the goods - but for some reason or other, they just haven't since.

Personally my favorite was In the Bedroom After the War so I've still got hope that they'll get it together again and make a solid cohesive album. Five Ghosts grew on me, I'm guessing The North will do as long as I remember to skip some of the bad songs (even Bedroom had "Barricade" which I couldn't stand).

Yeah, "Do You Want to Die Together" is, by some chalk, the worst song on the new one. Like the rest of it pretty well, and excellent in parts ("Theory of Relativity" is fuckin' amazing). Def. better than The Five Ghosts. Going to see them when they're in Manchester next week, pretty hyped tbh as it's been a good while since they were here.

Just revisiting upthread, Nhex did you ever get round to the last Memphis album? I still listen to that all the time, it's a real pearl.

Add "The Loose Ends Will Make Knots" and "The 400" to the list of songs I like; I was only halfway through the album when I posted above. Mercifully, nothing else on the record is as bad as "Die," but that still means that literally half the record goes by without leaving any impression on me. Still, after the disappointment of The Five Ghosts (speaking of icky Stars songs, remember "We Don't Want Your Body?"), this is mildly encouraging.

Bill: I did eventually get to it... It was all right, but didn't really hook me, it felt maybe a little too laid back? I should give it another listen sometime.

It is pretty relaxed in the main, I love Torq's lyrics on it though and some v. strong vocal work. It had an osmotic effect on me, various songs kept popping up on shuffle on my player and it wormed into my affections with repeated listens. Worth a revisit for sure :)

was just a few days ago wondering what these guys were up to

http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/08/11/339428704/song-premiere-stars-from-the-night

this life is very heartbreaking and sad… so let’s get completely fucking arseholed and listen to some Dionne Warwick.”
this life is very heartbreaking and sad… so let’s get completely fucking arseholed and listen to some Dionne Warwick.”
this life is very heartbreaking and sad… so let’s get completely fucking arseholed and listen to some Dionne Warwick.”

I think I'm done getting excited about new Stars records, but I'd be happy if they could surprise me with something great again.

it took me the better part of ~18 months but i think the north is a p good album tbh

About half of the album is very good, while the other half is pleasant enough, and only one song (the last one--Stars go techno-rave!) is a gross genre experiment on the level of "We Don't Want Your Body" from The Five Ghosts. All in all, their best since In Our Bedroom After the War.

noo don't get my hopes up

i'd only heard like one or two songs from this band but devoured their whole discography last week after winning tickets to their show (which was fantastic)

kind of surprised they're not more ILX canon tbh, "no one is lost" is as good as any of my favorite albums from the last few years

like how is it possible that johnny fever has never posted itt

Amy's vocal performance on 'Are You Ok? is stunning. I think it's a great record.
Steven Hyden had this great line recently that I think applies here-"Sometimes the worst sin a band can commit is doing the same thing really well for an extended period."

they're kind of my comfort food of music at this point. likely my most played band of the last 10+ years.

Set Yourself On Fire was a very, very good album and I really don't think they've matched it since.

"no one of lost" sounds like an ilx top 20 album, no one even nominated last year

"no one *is* lost"

No One Is Lost definitely their best album since In Our Bedroom After The War imo, though not quite as good as that one and Set Yourself On Fire. still pretty dang good though.

hah oh yeah, that's why cryptosicko said. i agree!

im glad that gr8080 got into stars

me too.

still mystified @ no johnny fever posts itt tbh

http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2016/1/Stars-plan-to-release-a-cover-song-each-month-in-2016

https://soundcloud.com/youarestars/it-aint-me-babe-cover

https://soundcloud.com/youarestars/streetlights-kanye-west-cover

This month's:

https://soundcloud.com/youarestars/sets/monthly-cover-series

(I wasn't familiar with the original)

Haven't cared abot them in ages but the "Streetlights" cover is really nice. Maybe the only instance of white people covering Kanye without embarrassing themselves/the listener.

They have a new release, "There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light". it's good too.
8 albums in they are still churning out some consistently good-to-great albums. I mean "Are you ok?"'s new-orderism's may be one of my favorite songs in their catalogue. (also going through a break-up, so heavy rotation for Stars).