Still listening to this in full every few days, still totally in love with it. Deserves to be mentioned right alongside the other (also great) Albums About Death that have dominated conversation this year (Bowie, Cave, to a lesser extent Touché Amore, more I'm forgetting I'm sure). On recent listens Marissa Nadler's backing vocals have really emerged as an essential bit of coloring.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 26 September 2016 23:09 (seven years ago) link
yeah it's really good. I listened to it so much while it was streaming that all the hooks are embedded in my head now, but I can't always remember which song a given snatch of melody occurs in, the whole thing is so much 'of a piece'
― Tell me who sends these infamous .gifs (bernard snowy), Monday, 26 September 2016 23:44 (seven years ago) link
also: the departure from previous albums was what initially stood out, but now I've started to recognize lines of continuity, e.g. the way "Frontman in Heaven" recalls (to my ears) Okkervil River's outstanding cover of Big Star - "O, Dana"
― Tell me who sends these infamous .gifs (bernard snowy), Monday, 26 September 2016 23:49 (seven years ago) link
that really is a great cover, I really love that first Golden Opportunities tape. I'd kill for them to release the full "Basement Tapes"-style session that produced some of those covers and "The President's Dead"
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 26 September 2016 23:55 (seven years ago) link
3 weeks out and i'm still listening to "Mary On a Wave" on repeat, this is the best song of his career
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 28 September 2016 16:05 (seven years ago) link
masterpiece alert
― niels, Monday, 3 October 2016 06:51 (seven years ago) link
I'm inclined to agree.
Really like every song but She Would Look For Me is the one that is offering up so much more than I initially thought would.
― yugi ex, Monday, 3 October 2016 17:09 (seven years ago) link
and of course, this is a perfect fall album
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Sunday, 23 October 2016 23:40 (seven years ago) link
...perfect for every fall, it turns out. I picked up the 2xLP early this year; the fourth side features a sidelong field recording (including a patch of rain), which is a nice alternative to the "fourth side etching" most bands are doing these days.
― Simon H., Wednesday, 25 October 2017 23:48 (six years ago) link
― ciderpress, Wednesday, September 28, 2016 12:05 PM (one year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
still stand by this
― ciderpress, Thursday, 26 October 2017 00:12 (six years ago) link
not sure if I'd go that far but it is a blissful thing
― Simon H., Thursday, 26 October 2017 01:00 (six years ago) link
couldn't agree more
― niels, Thursday, 26 October 2017 13:29 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiOJBGjnV04
― niels, Monday, 12 February 2018 10:40 (six years ago) link
hmmmmmmm
― Simon H., Monday, 12 February 2018 13:04 (six years ago) link
while it's sonically completely different from Away, which imo was a masterpiece, I think the songwriting seems on point
― niels, Monday, 12 February 2018 13:11 (six years ago) link
dang i figured Away was gonna be a Final Album for the OR bandname
― ciderpress, Monday, 12 February 2018 16:11 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ7bMUsOu7w
Not exactly my taste but oh well, in many ways finding a new direction is a sign of life - long live Okkervil River
― niels, Tuesday, 20 March 2018 19:43 (six years ago) link
dad rock is cool in 2018
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 20 March 2018 21:33 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG3YIoW_2zs
― niels, Tuesday, 17 April 2018 09:16 (six years ago) link
I liked Away a lot, and this is better than anything on Away
― Evan R, Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:07 (six years ago) link
ooof I completely disagree, this is diminishing returns on the "sad tales of showbiz" Sheff vein of songwriting (despite the autobiographical addition)
― Simon H., Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:10 (six years ago) link
this is better than anything on Away
https://i.imgur.com/sSgATjF.gif
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:19 (six years ago) link
it's got a good melody though
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:22 (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, 17 April 2018 15:29 (six years ago) link
his is diminishing returns on the "sad tales of showbiz" Sheff vein of songwriting
Agree that he'd run that muse into the ground. But he finds the emotional core of each of these stories, and I am very there for those turns of phrase
― Evan R, Tuesday, 17 April 2018 15:29 (six 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
― 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