Bloc Party: C/D?

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Then they touched you and it wasn't so creepy.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 March 2005 13:23 (nineteen years ago) link

i just stayed at home and touched myself

― Sven Bastard (blueski), Monday, 14 March 2005 13:43 (nineteen years ago) link

When I think about you you touch yourself. Er, wait.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 14 March 2005 14:37 (nineteen years ago) link

find me microhouse that has as much nasty screaming treble

DJ Koze's remix of "Zu Dicht Dran" on Kompakt.100

― nader (nader), Monday, 14 March 2005 16:01 (nineteen years ago) link

There was a track by them on one of those Guardian free CDs. It was pretty ordinary and forgettable, I must admit.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 14 March 2005 16:02 (nineteen years ago) link

find me microhouse that has as much nasty screaming treble

"International Snootleg" by International Pony Vs. Losoul (feat. Malte)

― nader (nader), Monday, 14 March 2005 16:03 (nineteen years ago) link

they're the killers ILM says it's OK to like. or something.

they're just so painfully average. classic, dud ... either of these would be an improvement, to be honest. i'd say they were forgettable but i can't even remember.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Monday, 14 March 2005 16:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Is it or isn't it premature to rate Bloc Party as C/D?

I realize that in the world of ILM there aren't many hard or fast rules, but a band with one album and a handful of EPs?

They get the C/D treatment?

Already?

Would the same have been done following the release of Radiohead's Pablo Honey or Daft Punk's Homework or the Jaxx Remedy?

I guess it's possible they too would have got it, what with so many itchy mouse buttons hovering over the "Submit" button. But I don't suppose it'd have made the judgment any less premature.

― nader (nader), Monday, 14 March 2005 16:22 (nineteen years ago) link

I like them just to annoy zem.

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 14 March 2005 16:23 (nineteen years ago) link

Is it or isn't it premature to rate Bloc Party as C/D?

Perhaps. Especially considering I began this thread last April.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Monday, 14 March 2005 16:33 (nineteen years ago) link

Nader - if a band has released one album and a handful of EPs then it is perfectly reasonably to judge them on the basis of those records. What they might do in the future is irrelevant FOR NOW. The next BP album might be terrible self-indulgent toss but it wouldn't have any bearing on the quality of Silent Alarm.

Radiohead are always the example that gets brought up in these circumstances and the people who do so are right in a way. But there's also a slightly annoying "well, its only their first record" line that gets trotted out by indie kids defending shit records. I mean, The Music might come up with a certified pop classic in two or three years but I doubt it.

Of course giving bands time to develop is a good thing, I just dislike it being used as an excuse.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 14 March 2005 17:17 (nineteen years ago) link

they make me think of placebo for some reason.

― scg, Monday, 14 March 2005 17:23 (nineteen years ago) link

I was going to disclaim my rhetorical question above with "this isn't a copout" b/c I figured giving [Bloc Party] time to develop [would be interpreted] as an excuse for erm, they're lack of development?

Perhaps I'm just being too literal here. It would seem the title "classic" would be reserved for bands that have had an opportunity to develop.

It's less an "excuse" for Bloc Pary and more a pursuit of accuracy in labeling.

Because, after all, what's a band or artist worth if we haven't pigeonholed them within one month of its first album's release?

― nader (nader), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:02 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm cracked out on caffeine:

"they're lack" should be "their lack"

"pigeonholed them" should be "pigeonholed it"

― nader (nader), Monday, 14 March 2005 18:06 (nineteen years ago) link

I was on my way out the door to go and finally pick up the proper American retail version of Silent Alarm, but I just saw a pic of it on Best Buy's website and the cover sports a Parental Advisory sticker. Do they just assign these things arbitrarily, or only when one of the songs bashes the current Presiden?

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 15:40 (nineteen years ago) link

I quite like "Banquet", actually. Haven't heard the rest of the album as yet.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 19:03 (nineteen years ago) link

They're about to appear on KCRW. 11:20am PST. kcrw.com

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 19:17 (nineteen years ago) link

When lyrics like:

Why'd you have to get so hysterical?
Success, success, success is over
Why'd you have to get
So fucking useless

appear on your album you'll get an advisory sticker. The Bush Admin. and/or music industry have bigger fish (see Shiavo and P2P, respectively) to fry than lil' ol' Bloc Party.

― nader (nader), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 20:44 (nineteen years ago) link

Actually, the sticker was only on the picture on the Best Buy site. I didn't see one on the actual cd.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 22:04 (nineteen years ago) link

It's on the actual CD cover...ruins the cover, of course. I like this a great deal - just glad that out of the 30 or so tracks I'd d/l, the sequencing / tracklisting is good.

― paulhw (paulhw), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 22:19 (nineteen years ago) link

Bloc Party played all the best slots at SXSW. Expect total U.S. press domination very, very soon, particularly after M.I.A.'s record sputters out of the gate despite the ubiquitous hype.

― Joe Blower (Mr Deeds), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 04:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Has "The O.C." picked up on them yet? Just a matter of time...

― cdwill, Wednesday, 23 March 2005 05:07 (nineteen years ago) link

where are the songwriting credits? have those been phased out in favor of fbi anti-piracy warnings?

― irrigation can save your people (irrigation can save your peopl), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 07:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Why'd you have to get so hysterical?
Success, success, success is over
Why'd you have to get
So fucking useless

BLOC PARTY REVEALED AS SECRET EMO BAND

― The Lex (The Lex), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 07:29 (nineteen years ago) link

ha, i was listening to this yesterday, and thinking this is totally an emo record.

― the leglo (the leglo), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 17:25 (nineteen years ago) link

like, totally?

― sneekycheeks (nader), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 17:40 (nineteen years ago) link

In re: songwriting credits - I believe The Matrix writes most of their songs. But Kele writes the lyrics (whilst on the phone with Ben Gibbard).

― sneekycheeks (nader), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 17:47 (nineteen years ago) link

The "Banquet" video is almost painfully emo.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 18:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Their shoelaces even more so.

― sneekycheeks (nader), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:30 (nineteen years ago) link

Emo done RIGHT. (Or at least righter.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:32 (nineteen years ago) link

DUD

― charleston charge (chaki), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:34 (nineteen years ago) link

Agreed. BritMo >>>> AmMo. I want to like Death Cab and listen to it lots. But I don't. Whereas I've had Silent Alarm on an iPod loop since my purchase a month ago [got me the un-stickered UK version].

― sneekycheeks (nader), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Assuming I'm ready to concede that Bloc Party is emo.

Which I'm not.

― sneekycheeks (nader), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 22:44 (nineteen years ago) link

Have we talked about how much the singer sounds like Damon Albarn?

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 22:59 (nineteen years ago) link

Hahaha, man! That's a wondrous/frightening vision.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 23:00 (nineteen years ago) link

obviously you guys have yet to hear the Dears.

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 23:45 (nineteen years ago) link

*searches* hmm, i was wrong

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 23:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Back to their alleged "ghost (song)writing" - the US version doesn't say "All songs written by Bloc Party" on the inside cover of the CD booklet like the UK version?

Perhaps there is no spoon.

― sneekycheeks (nader), Thursday, 24 March 2005 00:41 (nineteen years ago) link

The north american release's songs are not written by bloc party. Vice recs claims they're by dfa1979 with lyrics by mike skinner.

― irrigation can save your people (irrigation can save your peopl), Thursday, 24 March 2005 03:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Dears sound quite different to me.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 24 March 2005 03:55 (nineteen years ago) link

i'm only talking about the damon albarn-ness. which i don't even remotely hear in bloc party.

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Thursday, 24 March 2005 04:02 (nineteen years ago) link

I just checked out Allmusic, and they claim the US version has remixes from M83, Mogwai and Four Tet, and drops "Little Thoughts," which is the first I've heard of it...is this true, or another case of Allmusic being bizarrely misinformed (like when they claimed that !!!'s Louden Up Now came with a bonus disc of clean radio mixes)?

Because if so, that's kind of awesome. I didn't like "Little Thoughts" much anyway, and if the M83 remix is half as bombastic as his stuff on Before the Dawn Heals Us it'll more than make up for the loss...

― Telephonething, Thursday, 24 March 2005 04:21 (nineteen years ago) link

That's a mistake. The JP version has those remixes.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Thursday, 24 March 2005 04:25 (nineteen years ago) link

little thoughts isn't on the album, either is tulips

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Thursday, 24 March 2005 04:31 (nineteen years ago) link

Little Thoughts is track 10 on the US version.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Thursday, 24 March 2005 04:41 (nineteen years ago) link

is the US 14 tracks? or did they turf something else off?

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Thursday, 24 March 2005 04:47 (nineteen years ago) link

Nope, 14 tracks. Vice just threw "Little Thoughts" right into the middle of the album.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Thursday, 24 March 2005 04:48 (nineteen years ago) link

Well damn. At least there's a cheap domestic single for "Tulips" to slap together the "complete" Silent Alarm, as it were.

And in this month's Urb, they mention a remix album to be released later this year, so hopefully those mixes will be attainable (aside from the usual channels).

(for what it's worth, Sa-Ra mention in the same issue that they're at work on a Radiohead remix, but I'm too lazy to find the S-Ra thread...)

― Telephonething, Thursday, 24 March 2005 04:59 (nineteen years ago) link

I put Banquet in the middle of a mix cd for a friend and she was wonder if the singer was "that guy from Blur." So Spencer definitely has some allies in that opinion.

― mike h. (mike h.), Thursday, 24 March 2005 05:23 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm fully willing to accept that I'm the victim of some horrible manipulation, but this is the first record I've listened to more than 2x in a row since Slanted and Enchanted. 5x in fact. And I didn't have the anticipation for it that I did for the Pavement after Perfect Sound Forever. I feel completely blindsided by this disc (in a good way), and I gave up trying to scrutinize it for cheesery around listen #3.

― southern lights, Monday, 28 March 2005 18:50 (nineteen years ago) link

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