― JC-L (JC-L), Thursday, 9 June 2005 19:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― Vic Funk, Thursday, 9 June 2005 19:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― WillS, Thursday, 9 June 2005 21:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― BeeOK (boo radley), Friday, 10 June 2005 05:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― Mitya (mitya), Sunday, 11 December 2005 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― Simon H. (Simon H.), Sunday, 11 December 2005 16:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― BeeOK (boo radley), Monday, 12 December 2005 09:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― mark e (mark e), Monday, 12 December 2005 12:38 (eighteen years ago) link
black sheep boy is a great version though.
― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 12 December 2005 14:12 (eighteen years ago) link
― A Giant Mechanical Ant (The Giant Mechanical Ant), Wednesday, 23 August 2006 04:28 (eighteen years ago) link
New song/album announcement last night:
http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/01/11/watch-okkervil-river-debut-new-song-album-title-on-fallon/
I don't know how popular these guys are here, but I'm excited.
― monster_xero, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 18:56 (thirteen years ago) link
seems like they don't have much of a following here but i love "black sheep boy" and "the stage names", so i'm game for this
― fruit of the goon (k3vin k.), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 19:35 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm excited, been a huge fan of the last several releases.
― one pretty obvious guy in the obvious (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 19:35 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm also a big fan, I ran this poll a couple of years ago:
Our Life Is Not a POLL or Maybe: Okkervil River Studio Albums
There was some discussion on another thread about the album they did as Roky Erickson's backing band. My feeling being that whatever deficiencies that record had were down to him rather than them.
― ban this sick stunt (anagram), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 19:58 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah I really like what they've been up to for the last few albums — dude's songwriting just keeps on getting stronger
new song doesn't blow me away but it doesn't really need to, y'know? definitely gonna check out the album
― bernard snowy, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 19:59 (thirteen years ago) link
He's also one of the best frontmen I've ever seen. Man he knows how to work an audience.
― ban this sick stunt (anagram), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 20:00 (thirteen years ago) link
I'd never heard Okkervil River so I just downloaded Don't Fall in Love, and I can't seem to get past the opener, "Red". What a stunner!
― what does xd mean (rip van wanko), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 20:26 (thirteen years ago) link
Black Sheep Boy is one of my favorite records of the last decade, and though the last couple were slight steps down, they haven't put out a bad record yet. Quite excited for this one. Also glad they took a little bit of a break between records this time; Stand Ins had some A+ material, but definitely felt rushed compared to its predecessors.
― Evan R, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 20:46 (thirteen years ago) link
Wasn't it recorded at the same time as The Stage Names, though?
― ban this sick stunt (anagram), Tuesday, 11 January 2011 20:55 (thirteen years ago) link
It was, and at times it felt like leftovers. Not as bad as Sujfan Stevens' post-Illinois clearinghouse The Avalanche, but still not the band at their freshest.
― Evan R, Tuesday, 11 January 2011 21:07 (thirteen years ago) link
excited! still love this band.
― World Series champion San Francisco Giants (Bee OK), Wednesday, 12 January 2011 06:49 (thirteen years ago) link
Track-by-track preview of the new record here, supposed to be less "polished" and more "chaotic" than the last two:
http://www.spin.com/articles/exclusive-new-okkervil-river-track-track
The thing is, it's the way they walk the line between polish and chaos that makes them so ace in my view. Still, we'll see.
― ban this sick stunt (anagram), Thursday, 10 February 2011 16:50 (thirteen years ago) link
sounds okay to me, I could go for a little more chaos
― there is a lout that never goes "aight" (bernard snowy), Thursday, 10 February 2011 16:58 (thirteen years ago) link
New album The Silver Gymnasium on the way. Says Will:
On our last record, I Am Very Far, I was musically trying to both satisfy and to challenge myself; for The Silver Gymnasium, I wanted to write a record that was very much about trying to reach out to other people and show them a good time. I’d always wanted to write a record that was more based in autobiography, that spoke about my memories of how I felt and how the world around me seemed at a specific moment in the past, and it felt like a good time to finally do it. I thought John Agnello would be the perfect choice as a producer, not only because I’ve enjoyed his more recent records with people like Kurt Vile and Dinosaur Jr. but also because John is a much more old-fashioned producer who was actually involved with a lot of the music I listened to growing up, everything from Cyndi Lauper to John Mellencamp to the Outfield’s “Your Love.” John even worked on Born in the U.S.A. and was loitering around in the background during the making of Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes; so he was actually present while they were making a lot of the music that inspired the kid version of me to want to be a musician and that inspired The Silver Gymnasium in general. Our goal with The Silver Gymnasium was to work quickly and decisively, to make a “band” record and not a fussy studio creation, and to make the most fun record we could possibly make. - Will
The Silver Gymnasium tracklist: 1). It Was My Season 2). On A Balcony 3). Down Down the Deep River 4). Pink-Slips 5). Lido Pier Suicide Car 6). Where the Spirit Left Us 7). White 8). Stay Young 9). Walking Without Frankie 10). All The Time Every Day 11). Black Nemo
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Monday, 24 June 2013 13:56 (eleven years ago) link
The last one took a while to grow on me but I really love it now, hoping for good things with this new one
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Monday, 24 June 2013 14:00 (eleven years ago) link
tour also (obviously).
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 24 June 2013 14:10 (eleven years ago) link
i LOVE this band, thanks for the new album info. it has been a while so i'm quite happy for some new stuff.
― Bee OK, Tuesday, 25 June 2013 01:08 (eleven years ago) link
wtf
http://www.thesilvergymnasium.com/
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 15:49 (eleven years ago) link
kewl
― Treeship, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 15:54 (eleven years ago) link
LP is really good, by the way. Great return to form after the last one
― Evan R, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 16:27 (eleven years ago) link
So yeah, this album is still great.
― Evan R, Sunday, 15 September 2013 00:52 (eleven years ago) link
I hope (assume) this is the appropriate place to post this: http://okkervilriver.com/goldenopportunities
― regards to broad street, Wednesday, 18 December 2013 23:34 (ten years ago) link
thanks!
― Bee OK, Thursday, 19 December 2013 02:33 (ten years ago) link
Yesterday, on a bit of a whim, I finally sought out the Tolstoya short story these guys took their name from, & I must say..... it was not at all what I expected!
― Heroic melancholy continues to have a forceful grip on (bernard snowy), Friday, 3 July 2015 15:28 (nine years ago) link
in retrospect, "Okkervil River" the story has much less in common with "Okkervil River Song" than it does with the Stage Names/Stand-Ins twofer
― Heroic melancholy continues to have a forceful grip on (bernard snowy), Friday, 3 July 2015 15:32 (nine years ago) link
I've tried so hard to love this band. I feel like if they'd put out about 50% fewer songs that were 15% better, then maybe.
― rip van wanko, Friday, 21 August 2015 17:17 (nine years ago) link
Just give Black Sheep Boy one attentive spin from start to finish.
― Evan R, Friday, 21 August 2015 18:32 (nine years ago) link
some of the music these guys have put out is so, so good. i just keep forgetting to check for new stuff
― usic ally (k3vin k.), Friday, 21 August 2015 18:35 (nine years ago) link
still listen to the stage names once every couple of months
Really loved them for a while, circa Stage Names and Stand Ins. There are definitely some knockout songs - "Unless It's Kicks" forever and ever please. But after while his bellow starts to grate. I burned out on most of the stuff I like, and the last couple of albums have not registered with me at all.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 21 August 2015 19:55 (nine years ago) link
I kinda loved I Am Very Far despite the maddeningly inconsistent production but the last album was such a drag
― the naive cockney chorus (Simon H.), Friday, 21 August 2015 20:01 (nine years ago) link
i actually liked the last album a lot more than the previous few idk
― ciderpress, Friday, 21 August 2015 20:37 (nine years ago) link
though really they're a band with a lot of great songs but only one great album (black sheep boy)
― ciderpress, Friday, 21 August 2015 20:46 (nine years ago) link
Yeah last album had some catchy songs. Seemed very focused. I Am Very Far felt like a band trying to make lightning strike but didn't wanna put the work into the songs
― Evan R, Friday, 21 August 2015 20:53 (nine years ago) link
barack sheep boy
― scarlett bohansson (unregistered), Friday, 21 August 2015 21:10 (nine years ago) link
I prefer The Stage Names to Black Sheep Boy, tbh
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Saturday, 22 August 2015 03:41 (nine years ago) link
Damn, both of those Obama playlists are excellent
― Evan R, Saturday, 22 August 2015 03:50 (nine years ago) link
Stand Ins > Stage Names > Black Sheep Boy >>> First couple albums >>>>>>>>> Last two albums :'(
Never really got BSB but enjoy it a lot everytime I give it a listen, listen to Stand Ins once a month, love every track - especially "Singer Songwriter" and "Calling and Not Calling My Ex" which is also a great christmas song. "Girl in Port" makes me come back to Stage Names again and again. And "Savannah Smiles".
Bought IAVF too but was so dissappointed - dislike the production and songs seem underdeveloped/overthought. Gave Gymnasium a quick listen but it's not for me - feel like Sheff is stretching/trying too hard, where the songs on Stand Ins sound like they wrote themselves. Love his prosaic/novelistic lyrics on SN/SI.
Anyway, I'm sure Okkervil will return with GREAT material at some point.
― niels, Saturday, 22 August 2015 09:26 (nine years ago) link
i think Black Sheep Boy is their masterpiece with Down the River of Golden Dreams being a very close second. also very much in love with Stand Ins and The Stage Names. the others are not even close to those four albums.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 22 August 2015 17:34 (nine years ago) link
BSB : one of the best album covers ever.I love it.
― mark e, Saturday, 22 August 2015 17:43 (nine years ago) link
i like the crispness and glossiness of the production. i wish that carried through to... the other two songs i've heard from this
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:30 (six years ago) link
though on revisit i like what's going on in "pulled up the ribbon" too. "don't move back to la" is borrrrrrring in a way that away never was
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:32 (six years ago) link
can't imagine he'll ever top Away for me though i think i thought the same thing about Black Sheep Boy a decade earlier and then my tastes changed
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:35 (six years ago) link
I appreciate that Sheff is both restless and prolific even if the results have been wildly variable in quality for the last few records. That's a lot more than I can say for basically all the other big indie singer-songwriters who came up around the same time.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:37 (six years ago) link
also I had no idea they covered "Candle on the Water" for the nu-Pete's Dragon OST. That must have been a nice little check.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:39 (six years ago) link
So this compelled me to listen to the album, and there are times when it feels like a worthwhile sequel to Away but it loses the plot something awful in its second half. Lots of wild swings; tries to do way too much and breaks the spell, which I guess is the story of post-Stage Names Okkervil River. It's gonna be worth excavating though; there are a few knockout songs ("Love Somebody" and esp "Pulled Up The Ribbon") and even some of the long winded songs have these little moments of bliss scattered throughout them.
― Evan R, Tuesday, 17 April 2018 16:07 (six years ago) link
this is my favorite of the singles so far, love the dizzy melancholy vibe
diminishing returns on the "sad tales of showbiz"otm but imo the autobiographical addition really lifts it
Simon, where's that inspiration playlist?
― niels, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 09:37 (six years ago) link
https://open.spotify.com/user/okkervilriver/playlist/74vXlXmcChs5sJ5Z8azPNk?si=6XKjKURHQImbFIZUZ1JUjA
― Simon H., Wednesday, 18 April 2018 12:02 (six years ago) link
nice!
― niels, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 12:37 (six years ago) link
Also, someone asked me to make a representative CD80 and it's really tough! This is the best I could manage
https://open.spotify.com/user/suckerblues/playlist/4i8gfO0gt8LEFXnFlkpBpY?si=vTvBNF7mTXiC32Rfvxc_aw
― Simon H., Wednesday, 18 April 2018 12:53 (six years ago) link
Can't think of another band that can turn me both on and off as hard as OR
― thots and players (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 13:14 (six years ago) link
https://www.npr.org/2018/04/19/602258666/first-listen-okkervil-river-in-the-rainbow-rain
― Simon H., Thursday, 19 April 2018 12:42 (six years ago) link
I just realized both this record and the new Manics explicitly reference Caitlin Thomas
― Simon H., Thursday, 19 April 2018 12:46 (six years ago) link
nice coincidence, i listened to away yesterday during a very long commute. that could be a favorite album of all time for me in a few years. i can think of very few records that approach it in mood and ambition (the great american music club records come to mind and not much else). i also kinda think van morrison should cover at least half of it
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 April 2018 13:01 (six years ago) link
Halfway through the new one and it's gonna take a bunch of listens to sort out whether the sonic pivot works or not. the Blue Nile influence is definitely palpable and "Love Somebody" even evokes the 1975 a bit, but I don't think I like Sheff writing in this deliberately broader lyrical mode. "Pulled up the Ribbon" has grown on me a lot though, their best single in a long time.
― Simon H., Thursday, 19 April 2018 13:07 (six years ago) link
Album definitely feels like work in away that Away never did. Also a classic case of "songs don't justify their length" syndrome
― Evan R, Thursday, 19 April 2018 14:34 (six years ago) link
yeah it's a really weird record. I liked a few tracks on first contact but like with Silver Gymnasium Sheff seems to be chasing down a set of ideas that don't play to his strengths
― Simon H., Thursday, 19 April 2018 14:52 (six years ago) link
otm and otm
― niels, Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:16 (six years ago) link
can one of you journalists call Will and ask how he cleared the Kinks riff?
― niels, Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:17 (six years ago) link
Sheff's "inspirations" playlist for this record features "Let's Go Out Tonight" which is not a huge surprise but unfortunately there's just a little too much going on for full-on Blue Nile worship
― Simon H., Tuesday, April 17, 2018 11:29 AM (two days ago
*clicks furiously*
― k3vin k., Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:35 (six years ago) link
which Kinks riff?
k3vin the BN influence is only really felt on maybe 3-4 tracks, fair warning
― Simon H., Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:55 (six years ago) link
haha I am an okkervil fan at baseline so it's not strictly necessary, was just making an in character post
― k3vin k., Thursday, 19 April 2018 17:07 (six years ago) link
The 'Waterloo Sunset' riff is in the new song.
xp
― the word dog doesn't bark (anagram), Thursday, 19 April 2018 17:26 (six years ago) link
"Famous Tracheotomies" is great, not least because while it references "Waterloo Sunset" structurally it most resembles "Celluloid Heroes."
― Dangleballs and the Ballerina (cryptosicko), Saturday, 21 April 2018 15:23 (six years ago) link
https://www.reddit.com/r/indieheads/comments/8hov84/hi_im_will_sheff_frontperson_for_the_band/
― niels, Monday, 7 May 2018 18:01 (six years ago) link
I've been so out of the Okkervil loop for the last ten+ years that I didn't even know so many albums had come out, but I decided to give the latest one a spin and it's quite nice. Never thought I'd say that in 2018.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 2 June 2018 20:06 (six years ago) link
The new one has its moments but, as discussed upthread, Away is a bit of a secret masterpiece.
― Simon H., Saturday, 2 June 2018 20:24 (six years ago) link
I really like "love somebody"
― k3vin k., Saturday, 2 June 2018 20:54 (six years ago) link
^ Yeah, that's the one that really stuck out for me.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 2 June 2018 21:11 (six years ago) link
great song, he talks a bit about it here https://uproxx.com/music/okkervil-river-interview-in-the-rainbow-rain-love-somebody-video/
album's a grower too, Sheff's such a humanist (reminds me of DFW, less mathematically rational, more spiritual)
― niels, Sunday, 3 June 2018 10:15 (six years ago) link
yeah he seems like a good dude for sure
― k3vin k., Sunday, 3 June 2018 15:49 (six years ago) link
New monthly live series and request tour this summer, one album per month. I actually really appreciate that it's a digital-only affair (there are too many boutique vinyl releases these days), even if the whole thing is a little steep for me.
First release has a gorgeous, glacial "For Real"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuI3rA0Odls
― Simon H., Tuesday, 2 April 2019 17:20 (five years ago) link
apropos of nothing, "The President's Dead" plays *very* differently these days. Try it!
― Simon H., Tuesday, 2 April 2019 17:39 (five years ago) link
Just saw that Travis Nelsen, Okkervil's drummer from Black Sheep Boy to The Stand Ins, has passed.
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Saturday, 11 April 2020 02:16 (four years ago) link
I wish I had more to contribute on the subject, but I'll just add that his drumming on Black Sheep Boy is a perfect complement to the high dramatics of the album, and he was very fun to watch live.
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 12 April 2020 02:54 (four years ago) link
oh man that sucks. I've been playing "black sheep boy #4" a ton lately
― k3vin k., Sunday, 12 April 2020 03:03 (four years ago) link
basically every song those sessions produced is incredible, Sheff and co. were on fire and Brian Beattie's production work was remarkable. I'm shocked he didn't become a go-to studio magician after that.
― brechtian social distancing (Simon H.), Sunday, 12 April 2020 03:18 (four years ago) link
new Sheff solo on the way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph-zatqd8Go
single sounds like an album track, not bad
― corrs unplugged, Monday, 15 August 2022 13:53 (two years ago) link
sounds like an Okkervil River record to mehttps://willsheff.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-special
3 listens in, very good
― corrs unplugged, Tuesday, 18 October 2022 08:48 (one year ago) link
When this snuck out I didn't read any press around it so I didn't think about it possibly presaging the end of Okkervil River and that he would be going out as a solo artist going forward. Of course he wrote a song called "RIP Okkervil River" but then went and released another album under that name. Well this interview certainly seems to suggest that Okkervil River is indeed no more:
https://www.stereogum.com/2201956/will-sheff-after-okkervil/interviews/qa/
― lord of the rongs (anagram), Monday, 19 December 2022 13:38 (one year ago) link
that's a v good interview, thx!
Sheff is more invested in interrogating why Okkervil River was able to thrive, not in spite of its occasionally vengeful and violent music, but because of it. Specifically, whether they helped reinforce what Sheff describes as “the Harry Potter narrative,” in which we’re all misunderstood wizards stuffed in the Cupboard Under the Stairs, waiting for our magical capacities to be discovered. There certainly was a revenge-of-the-nerds element to mid-aughts indie culture, from TV to film to Black Sheep Boy itself, which generated comparisons to contemporaries like Bright Eyes, the Decemberists, the National and Arcade Fire — feverishly literary groups armed with seriously uncool instruments that cloaked their darker undertones with an invigorating, us-against-the-world mentality. Sheff worries about “the men out there who feel like the world stiffed them, that they’re owed something,” extrapolating this mindset to a kind of “fascism of superhero movies.” “I started to see my preoccupation with jealousy and what I felt my work deserved.”
"For Real" is def a song that grabbed my attention back then, but now my favorite record is Away, and that's more or less solo Sheff, so not too concerned with the band name
New album is v good, hightlights include title track and In The Thick of It
this is sad:
he estimates that he’ll end his East and West coast tours approximately $5-7,000 in the red. He expects to lose double that going to Europe
― corrs unplugged, Monday, 19 December 2022 14:48 (one year ago) link