robluvsnic

between England and Nordic isles, then?

The Gigantic cover is just as good!!!

Shades does nothing for me, but after the the first two, they can be cut a length of slack.

That cover of Golden Brown is fucking brilliant!!!

Cover song of the decade. Instantly.

I heard the same noises about a return to the Gish/Siamese Dream sound, and if that eventuates, I'll be thrilled. 44 songs is, of course, a massive commitment and does not bode well for quality control, but as pmj1980 says there's got to be at least a couple of good songs amongst it all. let's just hope that they don't compress the fuck out if, like they did the last album.

and I guess it's got stronger hints of noise than I'd previously credited, but I'd still think of it as hints of noise.

but I guess the thing is that I don't see the noise as being something brought in from outside the early 90s dance sound that it otherwise recalls. Heaps of the trancey techno of that time made use of the same noise-based themes. E.g. Underworld's "Cowgirl" is just as "noisy" much of Tarot Sport (though, buggered if I can remember precise names of some of the other dance tracks I'm thinking of). In fact, the only thing that would stop just about every track from Tarot Sport sitting happily inside dubnobasswithmyheadman is the fact that Tarot Sport is quite uplifting and cheery whereas the Underworld album is a little bit gloomy.

Still, a great album and a great review.

But, Dom, the Cure reference in "Keep Slipping Away" is "The Baby Screams" from The Head on The Door! Listen to it — the melody is virtually identical! (but in that great kind of way).

I definitely love this album and can see it being a very strong candidate for AOTY (just as the debut was).

Will check it out.

rob (aka DiSassociated)

I *must* have the wrong files. Sounds like 90s trance to me. Of course, I *love* 90s trance, so I'm not complaining. I just don't get why there's all this talk of noise.

I think it's got great potential. First social-networking-cum-participatory-media site I can see myself actually using.

Just as a matter of interest, what exactly is your relationship with Mixcloud?

Don't let Wendy Roby see this!

and plan to pilfer it for my own use.

The Drums!

Heard as much as about 45 seconds of the damn thing a fortnight ago and I've not been able to dislodge it since.

Am I wrong, or is there nothing to stop people just uploading individual songs/albums?

Could this actually be a participatory media network worth utilising?

what kind of "brief history of love" would it have been if it didn't have at least one dodgy ballad on it?

I even enjoyed "Love in Vain" when I listened to it today. Next to Velvet, Crystal Visions, etc., it's really not up to standard — but that's a fucking high standard set by those tracks.

The only way Lily Allen can run this line without being a complete hypocrite is if she replaces the word "artist" in the above rant with the word "entrepreneur" and the word "career" with "business". Why does anyone owe anything at all to these "new acts trying to make it in the industry"? If you're trying to "make it in the industry" you're fucked to start with (because the industry has always done it's best to exploit the fuck out of acts new and old), and you're stupid to boot (because, as anyone, including Lily Allen herself, will insist, it's getting harder and harder to make any money in music).

Alternatively, if you're trying to make music that you like/enjoy (and hope others will like/enjoy too), then you've got it better than anyone in the past because you no longer need to fork out heaps of money to record your music and to make it available for people to discover/sek out.

In a nutshell: just because you've composed a few songs doesn't mean you're owed a fucking "career".

but missed the two you mentioned above. Did notice that the pre-album version of Dominos is definitely a different mix to the album version, but I'm not sure if the pre-album version I've got is the demo or the single.

I've got She's No Sense and their cover of Love Song, plus demos/alternative mixes of tracks that ended up on the album. What am I missing/What should I look out for?

is the single release of Dominos a different mix from the album version? I ask, because I remember being distinctly unimpressed by Dominos when I was first hearing it on the radio, but when I got hold of the album I found that it was much punchier than I had recalled. More recently (literally only about 24 hours before this review was published), I realised that — on the album, in the context of the two that come before it — it's *massive*. Either it's a different mix, or it really needs to be heard on headphones to truly appreciate the noisefest that's going on in that chorus.

I completely agree on the comments about the opening trilogy, and I just made the same remark earlier today on Wendy's singles thread from last week. And I pretty much agree with the rest of the review, with the exceptions that I think "Frisk" shouldn't be left to rot amongst the album lowlights, and that I'm not quite so inimical towards the filler: there's filler, to be sure, but it ain't dire; it just comes across that way relative to the company that it's keeping. I'm thinking more 8/10, with the potential to go higher, if only because the standouts leave me predisposed to look for the good in what on first impressions is only the mediocre.

listening to it in the context of the album, it's brilliantly placed and utterly gorgeous. The opening trilogy of songs (finishing with Dominos) is perfect.

Of course, that doesn't make it good single material...

the lack of guitars. I'm finding it hard to reconcile the claim of "more aggressive, harder, angrier" with the absence of guitars. Certainly, the former appeals to me, and my main complaint with We Can Create is that it could've been precisely more aggressive, harder, angrier. But I don't really hear that in the "I Dream of Crystal" track (which is engaging, nevertheless). Is that track not really indicative of the album? In what way is the rest of the material "more aggressive, harder, angrier"? Does it go down the path of industrial or similar?

I'm looking forward to hearing the album in any case.

as this is one of those times I'd ^This.

Seeing as I'm posting anyway... is Delorean the same Delorean that released a s/t EP back in 2004? I know there are a few Deloreans out there (and I'm not talking about time travelling cars).

it's good enough, but somewhat dissatisfying coming, as it does, after Velvet. I think you've nailed it with the "a chorus in search of a song" line. Shame really, because there's some beautiful noise in there too.

you picked The Pioneers? Why?!

It's entirely warranted.

Completely agree with every word of it. Should be made compulsory reading as part of the terms and conditions of registration for a user account at every music/culture website/discussion forum.

Top job.

but this review suggests that I will be disappointed not to have heard them sooner.

who rate this over the Knife.

But no love for Triangle Walks?

That's the real pick, in my opine.

Cannot wait!

Though I have to admit being a little disappointed to learn that they're not playing any tracks from Strays -- a cruelly underrated album in my opine.

Earth is quality stuff -- almost as good as Monkey House.

read this earlier version:

http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4185609#r4681291

especially once Anikulapo gets involved and we have a back and forth.

"Music criticism is at its most potent".

Yes, he was asked to talk about music criticism that "interests" him, but it's quite possible that he decided, "fuck that, I'm going to right about what makes criticism powerful". And the argument is that what makes it powerful has to do with its potential to connect with and/or affect its readers, and that potential emerges out of conditions that are not simply literary/creative but also industrial (as it were).

Ergo the complaint: "I’ve recently found little music criticism that drives me to want to a) read more or b) listen differently", where the "found" in that sentence connects immediately with the point from the preceding paragraph: "If no one finds you, no one reads you".

cheers.

I've seen plenty of shits and a fair quantity of semen this week, but not yet one ship and nary a seaman.

I've been scouring the web for the original mix of this album for years (well, scouring is probably an exaggeration).

On a side note, it's incredibly apt that this review should pop up in a week dedicated to the death of music journalism...

is someone write a piece in denfense of the non-subjectivity of music criticism. It's not the navel-gazing that's making me feel sick -- on the contrary! -- but the incessant, unthinking repetition of the line that music reviewing is always just "one person's opinion". Bullshit.

I've been thoroughly enjoying this week's theme, even if some of the individual pieces have done little to impress.

Wish I had more to add, but I need time to think a bit. In the meantime, cheers.

we need them to tell us what music blogs to read.

I would use that little roof symbol to indicate that I agree with everything the above person has said (esp. about POP).

'cos you can count on mine in support of yours.

but the "Post a new comment on this article" link is a bit whack on Camino and Safari (OSX.4.11 MBP):

http://i37.tinypic.com/rievsj.jpg