Emeralds-Classic or Dud?

You know, the droney Midwestern wizards. What do you guys think? Heard the new shit? Good stuff all around. I say...Classic! Yep, already classic.

Too early to tell, methinks. I like their shit so far, though. Can't wait to see them in No Fun Fest.

Solar Bridge is beautiful. On Hanson. These boys keep improving, not that the early shit isn't top-notch. What I'm sayin' is-I'm feeling their current trajectory.

Worlds better than some of their so-called counterparts.

SO CLASSICK

tuff guys

anything like the Detroit Emeralds?

http://krakow.zenfolio.com/img/v5/p485529486-3.jpg

I enjoyed them very much on the Pain Jerk/Emeralds tour that passed this way a couple of weeks ago. A few more shots here: Pain Jerk/Emeralds/Muscletusk

Not heard the newy yet but I completely love Solar Bridge, even if I couldn't point to anything specific about what they do that raises them above similar acts for me. Downloaded some live sets and found them rather hit and miss, but the good ones were lovely.

Very sad to have missed the recent UK tour, not least because support on some of the dates was from Birds of Delay, who I saw a year and a bit ago and thoroughly enjoyed (much more harmonically rich and blissed-out live than the records of theirs I've bought since, some of which are pretty harsh).

(birds of delay is a terrible name)

this new emeralds is really something, juzt hearing it for the first time now.

"What Happened" rules.

plus it's fun to imagine Fred Willard saying it

solar bridge and what happened are both good

What Happened is the first I've heard by them. I'd say "it's a gem" but that would a) be cheesy; b) not even come close to how awesome I think it is. Mesmerised by it right now, to be honest.

Solar Bridge > What Happened, but Wh is still nice

I'm going to see them open up for Throbbing Gristle in Chicago. Oh, and they're playing in a church.

Jealous?

Yes, since you ask ;)

what happened and solar bridge are both very nice. what I like about these guys is that there are little melodic touches all over the place. pretty close to "new age" territory sometimes, but that don't bother me none.

I'm going to see them open up for Throbbing Gristle in Chicago. Oh, and they're playing in a church.

Jealous?

Shit, I didn't know they were gonna open! That night's gonna be great, can't wait!

Hey, y'all! I have two extra tickets for Saturday's show in Chicago...want to come with?

BUMP

anyone heard that new 2lp?

no but I am looking forward to their merch table in Chicago

wish What Happened was on vinyl.

Does no one want tickets to the show on Saturday? I'm not scalping them, guys. I'm gifting them.

the new 2lp is great! how was the show?

I finally bought What Happened last weekend. Jeez. This shit is straight up AMAZING. "Living Room" especially is gorgeous. I love the guitar loops that just get eventually eaten up by the synths. Solar Bridge and the 2LP are great too, but I think WH is their best.

A coworker of mine passed "What Happened" to me... it's really excellent. I keep reading about people seeing these guys play in basements & backyards. I'm hoping I can hear that for myself.

finally heard "alive in the sea of information". see people hear "drone" and think "boring" when they should be thinking "heavenly buzzsaw that opens the thousand gates of perception."

I know there has been a bit of discussion in the rolling drone thread, but I thought I'd hit this thread because their new album, Does It Look Like I'm Here? is playing tonight through the hd 280s. Solid album. The longer track, "Genetic" is so good. I ate the best turkey sandwich from Whole Foods tonight too.

Kinda confused that they broke out of the tons of bands that sound exactly like them to become the most popular.

yeah i mean that never happens. ever.

please tell me about more contemporary bands that use analog synths like these dudes

xp

completely forgot that i have a copy of the pain jerk/emeralds tour cd. i should play it. don't think i ever did. anyway, like i said on the other thread, the new one has really grown on me. the mego thing. also on my mego hit parade and simliar in some ways to the emeralds stuff is the new album by ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER. one guy. never heard him before. starts out as straight up noise and then goes into ambient/mellow territory. i like it a lot. Daniel Lopatin. that's the guy with the unwieldy name.

please tell me about more contemporary bands that use analog synths like these dudes

Zombi

who totally rule btw

Kinda confused that they broke out of the tons of bands that sound exactly like them to become the most popular.

I get where you're coming from but... their music really is v. approachable. esp that new mego disc. a handful of well-recorded, melodic, short, new age-y pop ambient songs. not that surprising that people are digging them more than most acts working a harder "drone" or "noise" angle. (admittedly zombie are neither of those things.)

It's not just approachable -- I think Emeralds' music really has its very own sound. They may share techniques and inspirations with artists like Oneohtrix Point Never, Jonas Reinhardt, et al, but their music has a very specific quality that I don't get from anyone else. I wish I could put my finger on it; it has to do with the loops upon loops upon loops, the sense of many different parts, all spinning at different velocities.

Oh yes please this is total KateBait.

And hey, I love me some Zombi but this is a different kind of headspace, less proggy more ambient drifty.

I ordered the new one. Dont suppose anyone has the s/t vinyl they could sell to me?

There's a wibbly wubbly warped tapeloopness to this that reminds me of Cluster. The sounds are slippy slidey as well as shimmery.

I've always felt they remind me of Force Majuere era TD

Which is my fave TD

A bit, yes. I can see that. But I'm not sure that they have that kind of streamlined smoothness that TD have.

OK, I've just reached Genetic which is straight up TD territory with those big Minimalist Composer arpeggiators in the background and I'm in heaven.

Genetic is awesome but just wait til the title track hits you in 2 tracks time

I'm going to be a slathering mess by that point if this album keeps up delivering the goodness like this...

This album just came out on emusic this week, fyi, for anyone who uses that site. I'm anxiously waiting for my June dls to come in.

you all should check out Skyramps as well, if you haven't already. iirc it's McGuire and the Oneohtrix Point Never guy.

yeah that Skyramps record is awesome. I picked that up because I liked Oneohtrix "Rifts" and now I feel like I need to dig into the Emeralds stuff too ...

FWIW, I totally recommend buying the vinyl version of the Mego release. I listened to 320s of the album for a week or more, and felt like I really had a handle on the record. But when my mail-ordered wax finally came, it sounded almost like a different record. Ok, I'm exaggerating. But the space of it blew wide open.

yeah this is a band that is best heard in full fidelity.

i think i like the minimalism of Along The Way and Sequitur more than the more dense Does It Look Like I'm Here. The other Emeralds stuff i don't own on vinyl so I don't hear it as often.

the Steve Hauschildt album is better.

― miss me belial (crüt), Friday, December 18, 2015 5:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Does It Look Like I'm Here... This album. Man.

I blasted it on the drive down Mount Haleakala after watching the sunrise at the peak with my wife this past summer. It was fitting.

Shit. That sounds amazing. This record can soundtrack so many drives btw.

It certainly was!

Studio - West Coast worked just as well for the Road to Hana the next day!

i think i like all the steve hauschildt albums more than emeralds'. btw he is releasing a new album in august - https://stevehauschildt.bandcamp.com/album/dissolvi

the Steve Hauschildt album is better.

― miss me belial (crüt), Friday, December 18, 2015

crut were u referring to "Where All is Fled" here?

that one is maybe the best one

I need to spend more time with those records

I also really like the S/T Outer Space LP that John Elliot put out (in 2010, lol)

been listening to these guys again lately and idk... what made the band special imo was the interaction between the three players. they were almost better as a live band

the only band that scratches that itch for me now is bitchin bajas

I’d say it was a mistake for them to part ways but their last record was their weakest by far. Anyway I will never tire of Does It Look Like I’m Here.

y'all should try mind over mirrors :)
i agree about the character of the interaction being more interesting with all emeralds on deck

in MOM there are vocals but they're much more interpretive and djong yun-like than songwriter-with-words type of vocals
strong pulse, good vibe, enjoyable every time i see them (which is every chance i get, lol)

listening to bellowing sun right now, thank you! i like this a lot

I’ll check both out

Anyway I will never tire of Does It Look Like I’m Here.

― Scam jam, thank you ma’am (Sparkle Motion), Friday, July 6, 2018 5:00 PM (thirty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Same. Stone cold classic.

solo-wise i think Hauschildt has been the one i've gravitated to the most. I like Mark McGuire's stuff as well but after awhile i stopped keeping up with him.

New Steve Hauschildt album is absolutely lovely in a "I listened to Selected Ambient Works 85-92 and 76:14 and decided everything should just stop right at that moment" kind of way.

Works for me

Their 'moment' seemed to be a relatively short one. I saw them at ATP in, I think, 2010; I know their sound had changed quite dramatically by then, but there was already a sense that they had moved beyond anything transgressive and were a bit daft and jock-ish - particularly John Elliott's (ironic or otherwise) sky-punching. Maybe that was always the case.

Anyway, Does It Look Like I'm Here? sounding great right now. Of the other stuff I find McGuire's output bewildering but like Beyond Belief and the VDSQ album and always had a soft spot for the Skyramps record.

i think i like strands and where all is fled a little more but dissolvi is still quite good

xp God, that sounded pompous! That murky, transgressive scene from the early 00s seems a world away.

Not feeling the new Hauschildt - sounds like Synkro from about 5 years ago. ‘Ketracel” off Stands is an utter masterpiece, though.

They're reuniting to play Primavera Sound next year! Hopefully more shows to follow...

After a decade in the aether, Emeralds are back to perform live @Primavera_Sound in June 2023. Thanks to all the believers out there 💚 pic.twitter.com/frhFtpLHAS

— John Elliott (@MineralDisk) November 29, 2022

ahhh great news! i don't think any other band has been able to capture the synced-by-ear swirl of sequencers and delays quite like they did. bitchin bajas comes pretty close, but different vibe

Y E S

"Just To Feel Anything" didn't grab me at all but still

Just to Feel Anything made my top ten that year. Here's hoping there's a tour. Mark McGuire's solo albums on Editions Mego and Dead Oceans have all been pretty good listens.

I really liked the Outer Space album and a couple of those Mist records, as far as solo projects go

I liked Steve Hauschildt's run of solo albums from about 2009 to 2018 too, realized I missed one in 2019.

Hoping this leads to more shows and maybe some new studio material.

yes those are good too, I forgot abt them!

Remastered version of Does It Look Like I'm Here? out today with 7 bonus tracks

Listening to the bonus tracks. Goodly stuff. The long version of Genetic is quite a thing.

whoa 28 minutes!!

It *goes*.

I was intrigued by the Pitchfork review of the re-release. I liked the piece just found the idea that the band wanted to 'determined to melt behind their instruments' kinda funny. My signature memory of seeing them live was of John Elliott punching the air and roaring with glee from behind his keyboards.

*were determined to melt...

I saw them open for Throbbing Gristle in Chicago, 2009, but I don't remember much other than "surprisingly good", I had not heard the records at the time but started picking them up afterwards, "What Happened" was my gateway

*Allegory of Allergies* was the first thing I heard, which I think I yoinked from what.cd (RIP). I saw them live at an ATP event and thought they were great.

Allegory is prob still my favorite, there is a newer Bandcamp version that restores most of the cassette material missing from the 2LP, but (frustratingly) not quite all of it

Oh! Didn't know about that - will have to go and investigate.

extended versions! so good

it was originally a 120-minute tape

I think I have the whole thing buried on a hard drive somewhere but will go the Bandcamp route for sure.

Read somewhere that they are prepping a reunion, which !!!

ooh!!

excellent

with Yellow Swans and Emeralds reuniting, next thing you know NNCK and Tan As Fuck will be touring by end of next year.

(an aging noiser can hope)

If those four toured as a unit, OMFG

Okay wtf just found out Solar Bridge is improvised with no dubs or edits??????