stars "set yourself on fire"

If only more people would do the same!

uh... what?

would I like this?

"Elevator Love Letter" is all about people who work too hard. In general, I think their lyrics are about urban professionals who find it hard to make real connections.

haha, I love this! Oh spencer

Can't believe there's not more buzz about this new album.

You mean the album thats not out for two more months? Shocking.

Going to be a long two months. Can't wait for this.

Pitchfork has a stream of the new single.

In traditional fashion my lukewarm initial response to "Fixed" has turned into pure love. That new single is terrific too, thanks for linking.

Oh yes...

Fantastic performance of "Fixed" on Jimmy Fallon a couple of nights ago. The bit towards the end where Torq joins in on "it's not your fault" is *so* great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHR8EdOpK1w

they are on vagrant now in the US. can't wait.

whoa, we don't want your body!

Oh, that is fucking aces - I've been all over that p'fork stream like a tramp on a kipper since James posted it.

Pre-ordered the regular CD & digital download of The Five Ghosts from their website yesterday as well, I figure I'd rather give them the cash direct.

"Fixed" is OK, but "We Don't Want Your Body" is one of the worst songs I've heard in a long time.

ha, yr a dick!

i'm just now listening to set yourself on fire -- i really like it!!

i know, behind the times LOL

never too late for a classic

Eisbaer, you'll probably like Heart too. "Elevator Love Letter" and "Look Up" are two of the best songs of the last decade.

Was in the Apple Store here in MTL today and noticed that Stars are playing an instore gig there tonight.

Heart was playing in a drugstore last week and it made me stop in my tracks. That album sounds good!

I mean, I listened to it when it came out and enjoyed it but filed it away. But the production on it sounds really, really beautiful.

nb: i listened to heart -- and yes, it gets my seal of approval!

:D

"We Don't Want Your Body" is one of the best songs of the year!

YO SPENCER!!

Another song - Wasted Daylight - from the new album is at http://www.myoldkentuckyblog.com/?p=5670

nb: i listened to heart -- and yes, it gets my seal of approval!

:D

― No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (Eisbaer)

:)

Ówen, yes, the production on Heart is exceptional.

ooooook this is fucking amazing. swoon.

The Five Ghosts is now streaming at npr.org.

Also in other, less legal places.

jams mitchell, i kiss u

ya thx dude

the passenger & wasted daylight & fixed are the highlights 4 me

also, i think i want the end of fixed w/ "is it your faaaaaaahhuuult" as my ringtone cuz it sounds like "is it your phoooo-ooh-oohone" 2 me

really enjoying bonus track "The Black House, the Blue Sky (Stars vs. Montag)"

Yeah, it's a peach. Of the stuff I'd not already heard, "I Died So I Could Haunt You" is current favourite - Amy's verse into the chugging bass of the chorus is stupendous.

As a whole, I really like the album with a couple of reservations: I never thought I'd say this, but there's almost *too* many vocals from Amy, or at least not enough tracks where she shares duties with Torq - I love their voices together (almost as much as those of Alan and Mimi from Low), and The Five Ghosts is bit light on that kind of interplay. My only other problem is that the production (in parts) feels a bit too dense for Stars compositional and arranging skills to shine. It seems odd, because Tom McFall did an incredible job on Set Yourself On Fire, but this time the songs don't have that space in them - fully recognise this might be an artistic decision.

That's the nitpicking done. It's Stars and I fucking love them. Now I just wish they'd get some proper UK dates on the tour list.

anyone fuck w/ memphis? they have a new album out that im liking on first few listens...tbf id probably like/listen to anything torquil sang on

didn't know about that, will check out.

Rapidly becoming enormously fond of here comes a city. It felt a bit slight initially, and there's a handful of filler, but the good stuff is wonderful, esp. "Apocalypse Pop Song", "I Want The Lights On After Dark" and (current favourite)"I Am The Photographer". Perfect music for breezy spring days, it's getting many replays when I'm commuting / walking about / procrastinating at work etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn0cS5CKOKA

sounds worth a try!

geez, that's what i said 4 months ago.

their last one, a little place in the wilderness is def worth checking out also; same hit or miss quality but there are some killer, beautiful songs

new demos album out, mostly songs from in our bedroom after the war & a few from the 5 ghosts - streamable here:

http://www.thebedroomdemos.com/secretshow/streamthealbum/

Moments have their moments.

In the big deep winter of Montreal, 2006, STARS were drunk.

Two years had been spent carousing the globe, with 'Set Yourself On Fire' in their hands. Home again, they drove the van to a neighbourhood studio to play through some songs they were already planning to record again - in the future, all the way across the tundra, months later - in sun-addled British Columbia.

But the snow was still down in Montreal.

As can happen, these first recording sessions for what was to become 'In Our Bedroom After The War' lay claim to a particular beauty that would shift and differ thousands of miles away, months in the future, in Vancouver.

The studio was Breakglass, run by a dear friend named Jace Lasek, of the band The Besnard Lakes. At that time still a shitbox construction site on the north side of Montreal, Breakglass afforded STARS a refuge from the road, and a steady windowsill to pile up wine bottles. The songs came in bursts, were tracked quickly, given working titles like 'Flack' and 'Fuck U I Love You' and stored one by one in the hallway with the other boxes of tapes. Minds were lost, found again; arguments claimed teeth and nails - love got spit and wrangled back. The band once more became a band and pulled verses from the fumes, bridges from beneath their feet.

From the final, west coast version of the album, only one song, 'Midnight Coward' was not demoed in Breakglass. The others spilled forward. Torq sings both his and Amy's parts in 'Personal.' Evan plays guitar solo after guitar solo. Amy finds new lyrics in every next take. Chris holds the throughline, Patty plays the drums of his life.

With chutzpah, the band moved camp to Vancouver and did the whole thing over again, once more into the breach. New sounds and parts were found, the record was made and released, but something remained on those shelves in Montreal on Rue Clark.

In the spring of 2011, much had changed for the band. Parents had been lost and made, homes left behind and built anew. On a break from touring their new record, 'The Five Ghosts' the band reached back and remembered an affinity with the Breakglass sessions – 'Barricade' recorded with one microphone, an epic solo on 'My Favourite Book'. Jace found the tapes, wine lined the windowsill for a weekend, and the demos finally found their way out of the studio.

Here they are, please enjoy.

thanks, didn't know about this at all

huh, it's split into an explicit and non-explicit version on itunes? weird

New one The North is slowly burning its way into my goods books, which has been the story of Stars for me every time. Especially love this, such a fantastic performance from Torq.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxkcH4jTbtM

i have a chance to see them in a week but logistically it'd be a bit of a hassle. kind of on the fence about it.

I loved Set Yourself On Fire and played the hell out of it when I first got it, and still rate it now. I couldn't help but find In Our Bedroom After The War a bit of a disappointment, although its highlights for me are stellar: 'Take Me To The Riot' and 'Midnight Coward' especially. I remember liking The Five Ghosts more, but I haven't played it since it came out. Haven't heard the new one yet.

have you seen them before, phantompenguin? unreserved recommendation if not, they've been one of my favourite live bands for ages.

Heart and Set Yourself... are their most consistently great albums, although there's terrific songs on all their releases. I've returned to the last Memphis album a lot more than The Five Ghosts, but Stars never made it to the UK to tour that because of Amy and Evan's baby which was a shame (although not about the babs, obv) - I do find that some of their songs only really stick with me once I've seen them played live.