C/D, S/D : Richard Buckner

Dud live; he's a petulant "performer" with complete contempt for his audience, and not in a punk-rock way. Though there is a legendary story about him screwing a woman he had just met in the very un-private men's bathroom at Boston's TT The Bear's in between soundcheck and set time.

It's "Ariel Ramirez", which I find rather haunting.

Playing "The Hill" for the first time in a few years. Still damn near perfect.

Oh, yeah. I love The Hill. I hated that he sequenced it as one looooong track on disc. Made it impossible to find what I wanted (Julia Tuttle, I think).

Anyway, otherwise I've been unimpressed. But The Hill is fantastic.

(and the spooky book of poetry it's based on is outstanding as well)

You might wanna check out "Devotion and Doubt" Daniel. As far as those earlier ones go it's tough to beat.

I'll look into it. Meanwhile, all the Buckner reissues are now available on eMusic.

The one-off he did with Jon Langford is killer, takes the best bits of each.

That's this one, right?

That's the one. Apparently they recorded it in one increasingly drunken afternoon.

You might wanna check out "Devotion and Doubt" Daniel. As far as those earlier ones go it's tough to beat.

― bear, bear, bear, Tuesday, August 25, 2009 9:16 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

I don't know that I've actually ever heard his others but D&D is one of my favorite albums. "Pull" makes me tear up every time.

Beautiful song

There's some great stuff on D&D but his first one, Bloomed, is the only one I really spent much time with. Pulling back out now it still sounds strong.

One more vote for Devotion and Doubt... pretty sure I've listened to that more than any other record in the last 15 years (especially 4 AM and Song of 27).

Daniel, I'm almost positive I read that Buckner broke the Hill into individual tracks for the recent Merge re-release, but I can't find the quote/proof right now (after one minute of Google)... Anyhow http://www.mergerecords.com/store/store_detail.php?catalog_id=603

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJIwKndjIl8

You able to get around to that Devotion record yet D Esq?

yeah! i like pull and lil' wallet picture, especially.

(still love the hill the best, by far; there's something about the unifying theme that keeps me coming back to it (plus, i love the source material for the theme/lyrics)).

said it five years ago upthread, but I'll say it again -- Impasse is a stone cold classic. So good.

Yeah, The Hill's a bona fide minor masterpiece. Part of its superiority to his other stuff: better lyrics.

yeah. btw, i remember p4k giving the hill the lowest score of all the reissues when they came out (and a genuinely mediocre score -- 6.9). i thought they were way off-base.

the last thing I read about Richard he said he was considering giving up music! anyone know if that's the case?

saw him play an incredible set in spain last month, pretty top of his game from what i've seen of him solo

<3 "Desire" from Bloomed

excited:
Singer/songwriter Richard Buckner has announced the release of his highly-anticipated new album Our Blood. The album features some notable guests, including longtime New Riders of the Purple Sage pedal steel player Buddy Cage and Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. The release is Buckner’s first since 2006’s Meadow and was inspired by a series of peculiar events including a run in with the law over a headless corpse found near Buckner’s home, a series of stolen recordings and other strange incidents. Our Blood is scheduled for release August 2 on Merge Records.

D&D is one of my favorite albums ever but I've never listened to any other Buckner. What ppl's opinion on top 3?

IMPASSE. totally brutal record.

OK! :)

Will listen.

(aside from impasse and d&d, i'd say since is my other fave)

was just listening to this and it is great: http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/richard-buckner-concert/20031095-5855.html

missed Meadow, was it good?

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/24/138586259/first-listen-richard-buckner-our-blood

on first listen, kinda sounds like buckner by numbers. i'll have to spend more time with it

finally getting around to this, sounds amazing at the moment. maybe some of his best vocals? choice cut so far is "collusion".

aero jr. found our copy of "our blood," which I'd listened to when it came out and thought, sure fine ok, it's nice, and then forgotten about; but when aero jr. takes an interest in an album, that means we'll be hearing it a couple of times a day -- in the car, on the kitchen boombox. and I gotta say, this is a really, really good album that feels like an ok album the first five or six times through. but once it took hold of me -- can't shake the melodies, slight as they are, and the mood is just...languidly ominous? idk, really mesmerizing album once you get to know it

I've felt his last few were "sure fine ok, it's nice" and then forgotten about them. Will have to give this one a fresh listen.

I've been spending quite a bit of time with the recent vinyl reissue of Bloomed, though, and that's a front-to-back classic. Even the bonus tracks are worth hearing.

man the more time I spend with this guy's music the more I feel he's one of the most underrated dudes around

every album of his I give some extended attention to I end up thinking "he's totally got his own corner and is a legit dude"

I stopped caring a few albums ago, I admit, but the whole Bloomed through Impasse stretch of records is indeed awesome. Years ago, he was booked at a local bar which is notably not the kind that houses live music, and certainly not the kind of live music that Richard Buckner plays, and he got so pissed off at the crowd's inattention that when he broke a guitar string four or five songs in, he just ended the show. Me, being like 19 at time, was kind of afraid to approach him after that, but eventually I did and he signed my copy of Since and sat down for a beer and a chat with me and was in general totally nice and cool.

Bloomed through Impasse stretch of records is indeed awesome this yes.

Don't worry - he's not dead! I just wanted to say that Bloomed is cutting me to the quick tonight. Must be something to do with autumn and the fading days.

One of the posh comedians (Marcus Brigstocke, I think?) said he understood a certain tranche of Tories as being psychopathic because, like them, he'd been sent away at 8 to boarding school and had his heart broken too - which is why they're so dangerous.

And I know the Trump parallels are tedious but this does have the stink of ah, this will be the thing that gets him.

Hah - wrong thread par excellence!

Kept waiting for that second post to make its way towards something like Richard Buckner lyrics that retroactively seem to be about Trump or his voters.

Is he playing again? I saw his name pop up elsewhere recently and had wondered about a year ago what he had been up to. Does he still live in Chicago area? What does Richard Buckner do all day if he's not making music?

just saw richard play an un-amplified show at a bookstore in boulder last week — really great. he's one of a kind. seems to be upstate NY based these days? said he had a job as a postman.

I had a friend randomly recommend Buckner to another friend the other day, and my first thought was that Buckner had passed away. Glad to hear he is still around.

seemed to be in good shape, in a good mood. sounded exactly like richard buckner.
doing a bunch of these intimate shows: https://undertowshows.com/collections/richard-buckner