EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints

Ex-Gowns, polarizing opinions about "California" on thesinglesjukebox and best new music on pitchfork which ought to get her some attention. What say you ILM?

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=3335
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15386-past-life-martyred-saints/

loltroversy

I like the song/album alright, but I'm not crazy about it.

Fuck ILM, you made me boring.

In all seriousness though I really like what she's doing. Gut-level it reminds me of discovering Chan Marshall or Xiu Xiu for the first time... musically I guess Sonic Youth is the closest reference.

I think I might be going to some sort of quarter-life crisis so her music is hitting somewhat close to home right now.

Funny you bring up the "gut-level" thing (even though that wasn't what you were getting at). There doesn't seem to be much about the album that humanizes EMA at all. It's kind of impenetrable and distant in a way that seems like too much work if I really wanted to crack it. She's not writing/singing/performing from a gut-level imo—it's just a hollow activity.

I like 'California' the least. Elsewhere it reminds me a bit of Warpaint and one song apes Elliott Smith.

Overall good impression but not something you'd want to listen to while walking around town...much more of a late-night record.

I like the intimacy and in a lot of ways it reminds me of what's going on here with the Denver music scene. But yeah, it's sort impenetrable in a weird way and lots of it feels like I should know some back story about her previous band/herself before giving this another listen. I don't dig her aesthetic too much... there's a huge amount of fuzz that feels incredibly modern and yet utterly pointless.

I think the record being distant and impenetrable is sort of the point. While many songs in here could benefit from a dose of raw emotion, the mood and idea behind the record is about feeling hopelessly static. Out of place. In limbo. I understand why this disengaged stance wouldn't really invite anyone to hear it - "if she doesn't care, why should we?" - but if you're coming from the place as her or even feel remotely estranged it's an interesting perspective to hear.

Saw EMA last week supporting Scout Niblett and thought she was far superior to the main act. The Grey Ship easily one of my favourite tracks of the year so I really hope she does well out of this.

There was apparently a five star review in last week's sunday times (uk). Anyone able to access it from behind the paywall?

I really like this album, better songs than Warpaint certainly, but good god she's a clunky lyricist.

Utterly predictably, I like this just fine.

I don't find her inpenetrable or distant or anything, I like the subtle emotional tones of her voice. She's not exactly wearing her heart on her sleeve, but that doesn't mean it's not there. Restrained, introverted. If you're not willing to "put in the work" to appreciate that subtlety, then it's probably just as well. She's not the chick sitting at the front of the bar in a low-cut dress and flashing smiles at everyone, she's the chick sitting at the back of the bar hiding behind her hair in a shapeless t-shirt, but you can tell just by looking at her, that she's going to have the more interesting stories.

I am worrying, though, that I'm listening to a lot of new stuff today and I'm liking almost all of it. Which either means I'm getting more reasonable and less discerning in my musical taste - or I'm getting bad at spotting in advance things that are gonna annoy me so badly I really shouldn't listen to them.

California is easily the worst song on the record, though. Initial listen, it's all about the slow builds like The Grey Ship and Red Star.

Really sick of the kind of comments that are "OMG a woman's vocals, presence etc. are not as easily accessible as, say Katy Perry = TEH FEMININE MYSTIQUE!!!" that's just kinda sub-Klondike "help! a woman is talking, I must disengage!" BS imo. But whatever. That's more about the two reviews posted at the top of the thread than anyone on this thread.

While I like this a lot sonically I actually think she's a bit blunt with the introversion, which works against her.

I'm kinda boggling that it could be considered inpenetrable at all really.

i don't want to love "california" as much as i do.

the rest of the album is fairly solid but i'm not really blown away or anything. it seemed stronger toward the beginning. might give it another listen.

I'm kinda boggling that it could be considered inpenetrable at all really.

Yeah, I completely agree. I found Red State really difficult but this is such an open and honest album. Adore it.

I too do not understand the hype. Well crafted mostly yes but a bit soulless. And why do people like California? Is it the lyrics? The song is a bit one note to me.

Not just the lyrics but the delivery, too. I really like that song.

Yeah, forgive me for that post upthread... trying to remember what I meant by "intimate yet impenetrable" and mostly coming to the conclusion that this is something else I've posted post-bong rip and intermediating between ilx/reddit/jewel staite's twitter.

Listened to this 3 times and am really unsure what to think. The songs are just okay... I've reread that Pitchfork review twice now and seemingly still can't figure what it is that warrants this to attain a BNM, and not just simply a decent rating.

presumably they did a quick show of hands for 'so do a bunch of us dig this record' and it turned out a bunch of them dug the record

alternatively, cthulhu

kelpolaris it seems you spend a lot of time mystified by pitchfork

I think if you make the sonic/aesthetic choices that she has you probably WANT people to think you're a bit on the inpenetrable side but the lyrics are so obvious and upfront they undercut that.

People bitch about indie rock all the time but I'd listen to a lot more of it if it sounded like this. I think it helps that the lyrics are casually brilliant and not just some afterthought.

This girl and Gowns are like JT Leroy to me.

^^
please elaborate

Exploitation of one's own backstory + extreme catharsis w/out any payoff, no comedy, no anger, no epiphany.

I think if you make the sonic/aesthetic choices that she has you probably WANT people to think you're a bit on the inpenetrable side but the lyrics are so obvious and upfront they undercut that.

this is an interesting read, maybe plays into owen p's JTL comparison? (which, ok, frankly i don't get. read sarah way back when and found it full of comedy and epiphany, no anger.) when it's working, i like california's combination of arty indifference and poetic directness. just as often, though, it doesn't work and feels simply "arty" to me - smart & well-appointed, but a bit empty. wish i found the music more engaging.

haven't heard the album though, and i'm interested enough to plan on it.

before or after the rapture?

after, of course

that's not fair. that's not fair at all. there was time now. there was, was all the time i needed...

[just noticed sysiphus - cool!]

except with the letters reversed

Exploitation of one's own backstory + extreme catharsis w/out any payoff, no comedy, no anger, no epiphany.

I couldn't disagree with this more tbh. I mean, I don't think it's funny but anger and epiphanies seem to be the backbone of it for me.

generally not what one thinks of when one thinks of j t leroy these days, i thought 0w3n was suggesting she was actually whitehouse and EMA was a fictional creation

i like this record! i think it could be seen as blank or po-faced in some way but i'm not sure it is. i don't know. i wonder if there is a dividing line between ppl who think "i've bled all my blood out / these red pants don't show that" is clunky and those who think it is funny

that's like my favorite lyric on the record

it's both clunky and (a little) funny. doesn't strike me as great.

i thought 0w3n was suggesting she was actually whitehouse and EMA was a fictional creation

yeah, but that's only a small part of "one's own backstory + extreme catharsis w/out any payoff, no comedy, no anger, no epiphany." the whole description just throws me, though erika = terminator makes sense.

she is quite tall.

heavily reinforced

She'll be back.

Sorry. Have SB'd self.

guys - she's not the terminator - i've met her parents. they were pretty cool.

I like the record and I don't really want to get into my reservations. I'm chuffed that people are going to bat for this.

Me too, and they really are: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/artist-to-watch-ema-s-spellbinding-noise-folk-confessionals-20110517

i don't want to be THAT GUY, but imo this record is complete dogshit and that it has so much critical acclaim is utterly baffling. I don't see how even the most generous music fan could rate this as any higher than "Deeply Average", and I guess there must be some sort of conspiracy to make it popular.. yeah

This is not good though, surely?

haha yeah its terrible we were all just saying it was good to prank u lol

you have to admit we had you going for a minute or so there bro... lol.

maybe u just like shit music lol

What's so bad apart it apart from it being hyped, merked?

It's growing on me after me initially only enjoying 'California'... sounds more Gowns-y with each listen.

i like the video! it's funny, not like SUPER funny, but funny enough. easily amused, i guess...

and yeah, PLMS was hella retro to begin with

The difference, if it really needs to be pointed out, is that PLMS was the 90s of Rid of Me/Live Through This -type confessionals, whereas this seems to be taking cues from, I dunno, Third Eye Blind or something.

http://pitchfork.com/features/update/9338-ema/

The difference, if it really needs to be pointed out, is that PLMS was the 90s of Rid of Me/Live Through This -type confessionals, whereas this seems to be taking cues from, I dunno, Third Eye Blind or something.

lol this is ridiculous, it sounds like belly

also it is like really good.

I think it's her best single. It's fun as hell, but about as pointed and barbed as most of PLMS. It's sardonic on the surface, but you can still hear the heavy heart underneath.

I hate this single so much

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ otm

It's grown on me quite a bit over the last 24 hours, but I still have no idea what to expect from the album.

the first single seemed to be a natural extension of the sound and attitude of the last album. this one, tho . . .

is an extension of the attitude of her on stage... I remember seeing videos of her live at the Pitchfork festival a few years ago and being really bummed. Realizing then that there's no way I want to ever see her play live.

But I don't hate this song. Kinda indifferent. So far based on this thread I'm not sure if that opinion is allowed!

lol. it's allowed, i'm pretty sure!

i don't like the song, which could put me in a near-exclusive club. who knows?

i swear like two days before this revive i found myself wondering what happened to this terrible artist, guess i know now

The album is half Alternative Nation mixtape (bad) and half spooky PLMS vibes (good). It really sounds like two different artists to me.

I have very much cooled on EMA's older stuff, both PLMS and Red State, after revisiting so I don't have a dog in this fight. I just find the change from "This is great, it sounds like the 90s" to "This is terrible, it sounds like the 90s" kinda perplexing. (I would really like if she sounded like Belly, I absolutely *loved* Belly.) I guess it's more like... use better descriptors, please.

It's in the voice basically. I don't care at all if something sounds like something from the 90s but she has a very generic rock voice and a weakness for melodrama when she lets rip whereas in the more restrained, hypnotic songs I think she sounds fantastic. Any less derivative? Probably not, but I far prefer it.

Is this gonna be her Celebrity Skin?

It's gonna be her 'New Jersey'...

i was alone in the citaaay

Only one listen in, but aside from "So Blonde," where are the songs?!

This album makes me sad. I almost want to take back my support of Martyrs.

It is *because* of Martyrs that this album (so far) makes me sad.

I think I'm in love with her and all that I think she stands for. She just seems happy and so well adjusted and free and a real lover. She seems way more of a lover than a critic.
I like to play her music alone and play it loud, maybe with a pint or two. I love how there is a seeming disconnect between the sparse electronics and guitar and the richness of her vocals. I love the subtle changes within the songs. Some parts are so amazing that you wonder if they were happy accidents instead of immaculately sequenced. Have not been this big of a fan of an artists first two albums since Le Tigre or the White Stripes.

he's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

blonde

http://25.media.tumblr.com/9cd48e9a89876c2b37488e88bc6bc8a4/tumblr_n1ikrphI9h1todheko1_400.gif

I mean I know this song is not ~typical EMA~ but I have such a soft spot for summertime sunny day shoegaze jams that I just want to listen to it on repeat

guys what if this song is actually better than anything that Lush or Ride did

warm lush overdriven guitars with stoned reverby vocals, suneshine all around, crack open a beer and chill by the pool

song owns video owns vibe owns

this is one of those songs that like seems like it sounds like a million other songs but when I actually stop and try to think of other songs that sound like this w/ this vibe i just draw a blank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfkKIH6ggcA

2 yrs later and still blasting "So Blonde" for zenith summertime vibes

New album, Exile in the Outer Ring, out August 25!

the new song is good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7epnE7mxPM

I know nothing
Lasts forever
If you don’t love me, someone will

8-)

Love this new song!

I've not really followed her career deeply so I don't know if this is as strong or not compared to previous stuff but this new album is A+

Haven't heard the new one but Past Life Martyred Saints is still amazing 6 years later.

Goes for like $6-7 on discogs these days... what's the deal? Not that it's super indicative of anything except supply > demand but still... did it not age well for most people?

This reminds me that I once opened for her and Downtown Boys and she (and they) were extremely nice & cool

I see her albums pretty cheap in used bins a lot as well. but in general music by non cis male solo artists tends to have diminished resale value (with some exceptions of course)

I'm sure her somewhat avant leanings aren't much help either

i still give past life martyred saints a spin every now and then -- it holds up well, though California doesn't feel like as much of a standout single as it once did (for context, it came in at #3 on p4k's eoy singles list). I don't think i've played anything from the second album since the year it came out

perhaps "suffered" a bit from overexposure, always seemed kind of niche to me in its aesthetic

it's also quite dark so for me personally it's not something I listen to that much

I was very impressed with the theme of the last record. really enjoyed the interviews about the kinds of ideological conversations she would get into and how the best shows were always at the boundaries between the cities and the suburbs, she had her finger on something being able to address those issues without falling into easy condemnations, while at the same time not letting the evil off the hook. what she does isn't always a kind of pop music I intuitively get, but y'know local bay area family means I root for and I thought that last one was going to be her biggest

I hope she doubles down and goes further into it now that 2020's made all those issues even less ignorable

i know i gave the full album a spin at least once but i don't recall much about it. should try it again. "california" was/is tremendous

I listened to this again a few months back, and its still a very impressive record in the way that Fetch the Bolt Cutters is a very impressive record, though my enthusiasm may have dimmed a tiny bit.

PLMS takes me back to an alternate reality, somewhere in 1997, where this album sits comfortably next to Sonic Youth's Washing Machine and Cat Power's What Would the Community Think.

I think the description upthread of how she evokes both the best and the worst of the alternative 90's is otm. Her songwriting - like most of the songwriting of 90's alternative - leaves a lot to be desired, but she's great at evoking a past life. Problem for me with the follow-up albums to PLMS is that the clearer the production, the less evocative of nostalgia her songs get and her sound is all about nostalgia.