I'm definitely behind classic on this one. Transaction de Novo and What Fun Life Was were both really brilliant records. Felt a bit more damaged and quaintly slipshod than the Codeines, Radar Bros and Lows of the world. And that Cher cover on the Macha Loved Bedhead record is one of my absolute favorite novelty songs.
Maybe I'm a fanboy.
― rob mackey (mackey), Saturday, 8 January 2005 22:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Saturday, 8 January 2005 22:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― chris andrews (fraew), Saturday, 8 January 2005 22:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ian John50n (orion), Saturday, 8 January 2005 22:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― rob mackey (mackey), Saturday, 8 January 2005 22:54 (nineteen years ago) link
― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Sunday, 9 January 2005 00:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 00:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 00:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― Johnny Badlees (crispssssss), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 01:09 (nineteen years ago) link
They still crank out the occasional classic, like "Disease" from the most recent New Year alb.
― Aaron A., Tuesday, 22 March 2005 04:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― myopic_void (myopic_void), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 11:48 (nineteen years ago) link
― frijoles, Tuesday, 22 March 2005 14:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 16:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Vestigal Appendages, Esq. (King Kobra), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 18:15 (nineteen years ago) link
And classic too!
― Fsck Washing Ong's Hat (Chris Barrus), Friday, 23 June 2006 22:29 (seventeen years ago) link
The New Year grew out of a critically acclaimed '90s Dallas band Bedhead, which Kadane and his brother Bubba founded. Bedhead was tagged a "slo-core" group: It's been described as sort of what New Order or Galaxie 500 would sound like if they used no reverb or effects.
The original style, Kadane said, came from playing in a Velvet Underground-inspired experimental band with future Dixie Chick Martie Erwin (later Maguire) on fiddle.
"She very rightly left us for the Dixie Chicks," he allowed. "We wanted to find a way to produce that sustained tone of the fiddle or viola. The best way we could do that was to combine guitars, to just build chords from three different guitars."
― jaymc, Friday, 17 October 2008 15:19 (fifteen years ago) link
― the pinefox, Friday, 17 October 2008 15:34 (fifteen years ago) link
I like Bedhead a lot, but something seems a little too rigid about their songwriting. Somehow it doesn't come off as natural to me, even though I like their sound.
― Dogface Chain (res), Friday, 17 October 2008 16:44 (fifteen years ago) link
the new new year album is really good!
― M@tt He1ges0n, Friday, 17 October 2008 16:49 (fifteen years ago) link
Oh my God are Bedhead good. I just put on "WhatFunLifeWas" for the first time in a really long time, and it's likely to stay on the CD player for the rest of the week. It's kind of like the "Laughing Stock" of mopey indie-rock. So beautiful.― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago)
― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago)
― Mark, Wednesday, 4 November 2009 04:29 (fourteen years ago) link
i support this bedhead
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 4 November 2009 05:16 (fourteen years ago) link
AHHH Bedhead are one my favorite bands ever. They don't get enough respect. WhatFunLifeWas is indeed beautiful and so good.
Mark, what do you think it connects with specifically this year in indie rock as you say?
― Evan, Thursday, 5 November 2009 01:50 (fourteen years ago) link
Saw these guys at Barristers in Memphis in 96 maybe. It was an Easter sunday. They did an hour long set and then started taking requests. They begrudgingly did "Disorder" ("we don't usually do covers live..."). LA band Tristeza played that show, too. Good night.
― Trip Maker, Thursday, 5 November 2009 01:59 (fourteen years ago) link
Well, it seems like there are a few small scenes of bands that focus on guitars, esp. the tone of guitars & using space, and they sing a little, and they aren't nec. great singers, and pieces really hinge on builds and the way chord changes move and sound. Seems in the air a bit to me, and Bedhead did all of those things extraordinarily well. Not talking about bands that sound like this, but that the basic tool set seems familiar. Real Estate, to use one example (again-- obv. a super different tone.)
― Mark, Thursday, 5 November 2009 02:09 (fourteen years ago) link
That's "SD band Tristeza" Trip..
― "I get through more mojitos.." (bear, bear, bear), Thursday, 5 November 2009 02:17 (fourteen years ago) link
oh, my mistake.
― Trip Maker, Thursday, 5 November 2009 06:18 (fourteen years ago) link
knew they were cali dudes.
I was just talking to the main-man of Real Estate and I mentioned the similarities I noticed between Real Estate and Bedhead, but he had not heard of them. His favorite band though is Yo La Tengo, and that made sense.
― Evan, Thursday, 5 November 2009 12:19 (fourteen years ago) link
how can you call your band real estate? i seriously refuse to listen to the music of a band with such a stupid name. additionally they make it difficult for everybody to find them on the internet. i was too curious, i just listened to some mp3s. i was punished immediately. their music is a phantastic sleeping pill substitute.
― alex in mainhattan, Thursday, 5 November 2009 17:43 (fourteen years ago) link
i think real estate is a great name
― cutty, Thursday, 5 November 2009 17:46 (fourteen years ago) link
about as great a name as hedge fund, carry trade or subprime.
― alex in mainhattan, Thursday, 5 November 2009 18:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Man, I miss this band so much. Hell, it's been long enough that I miss the New Year, too.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 24 February 2013 22:05 (eleven years ago) link
Oh hey
http://www.numerogroup.com/products/bedhead-1992-1998
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 10 August 2014 06:30 (nine years ago) link
Worth every penny, but ... wondering if they've remastered/whatevered the collection. Not sure Bedhead would benefit from a trip through the Louderizer as much as it would practically benefit, from a simple volume standpoint.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 10 August 2014 13:17 (nine years ago) link
Take my money, Número Group! So stoked. Have most on vinyl or cd, but if the Codeine re-masters were a barometer, this is a safe buy. Break out the Darvon.and mimosas ...
― BlackIronPrison, Sunday, 10 August 2014 13:39 (nine years ago) link
Really happy about this, hope it gets a sightly larger bit of the masses to acknowledge their albums.
― Evan, Monday, 11 August 2014 03:12 (nine years ago) link
What an astounding band.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 21:16 (nine years ago) link
Box set out in a couple of weeks. Also new New Year LP.
― carot tard (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 12 November 2014 23:31 (nine years ago) link
Oh already noted soz!
― carot tard (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 12 November 2014 23:32 (nine years ago) link
Picking mine up at the post office tomorrow. Psyched!
― Mule, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 23:33 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, just heard about new New Year earlier today, actually.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 23:40 (nine years ago) link
HUh, what was this!?
OVERSEAS is: Matt and Bubba Kadane from The New Year with David Bazan and Will Johnson.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 23:41 (nine years ago) link
Whoa what is the release date for the New Year album? Is there a link with some info? (Band is un-googalable sadly)
― Evan R, Thursday, 13 November 2014 02:01 (nine years ago) link
how have i never posted in this thread, huge fan. breaking out my CD's i see that i own Beheaded, Transaction de Nove, 4songCDEP, The Dark Ages and Macha Loved Bedhead. also own that amazing The New Year Newness Ends CD.
― 2010, 2012 and 2014 World Series Champions San Francisco Giants (Bee OK), Thursday, 13 November 2014 04:04 (nine years ago) link
Actually, the New Year was super easy for me to google. First result.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 13 November 2014 04:12 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QO7mcpnbqY
― city worker, Thursday, 13 November 2014 15:28 (nine years ago) link
That's awesome. What a perfectly suited shittily shot home video.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 13 November 2014 16:13 (nine years ago) link
Chalk Bedhead up as another band it never occurred to me to search for clips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mtnT2-Ble4
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 13 November 2014 16:14 (nine years ago) link
I wish I had a clip of them playing "Extramundane." I'd never seen a band playing with such economy before, with one guy just on maracas as needed, and the third guitarist just smoking a cigarette until his part late in the song popped up.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 13 November 2014 16:17 (nine years ago) link
Box set arrived today, it's a lovely artefact and the book appears substantial. I'd only heard a couple of The New Year albums up til now, enjoying the box so far.
― michaellambert, Sunday, 23 November 2014 16:50 (nine years ago) link
I was such a Bedhead fan that I took the New Year for granted and downgraded them as "not Bedhead." But really, it's Bedhead, and I feel like a chump for not seeing them quite as often as I could.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 23 November 2014 17:03 (nine years ago) link
grantland's chris ryan on bedhead and 90s nostalgia, p. good stuff in this piece:http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/what-fun-life-was-bedhead-90s-indie-rock-and-word-of-mouth-fandom/
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Friday, 5 December 2014 19:29 (nine years ago) link
Great read, thanks for sharing sloth!
― a pleasant little psychedelic detour in the elevator (Amory Blaine), Friday, 5 December 2014 19:36 (nine years ago) link
full confession: i have not listened much to this band but know how beloved they are in a small/devoted community & saw this pop up - now's as good a time as any to do a deep spotify dive i s'poze
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Friday, 5 December 2014 19:42 (nine years ago) link
And you know me!
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 19:43 (nine years ago) link
i was gonna shout you out ev but saw that there's another evan ITT so didn't wanna confuse anybody
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Friday, 5 December 2014 19:50 (nine years ago) link
Yeah great read. Too many of these sentiments in the article are exactly my experience. Hearing WhatFunLifeWas for the first time. I remember going to my friends and telling them how it was a perfect 10/10, and I meant it too. I haven't listened to them as much in the past years but they're definitely one of those bands that influence my taste and guitar playing heavily.
I can also relate to the record store clerk perspective. In fact, I put a Bedhead song on and a customer came straight up to the counter asking what it was, thanking me and gushing about it. So that was one of those "victories". Another notable victory was a very excited Polvo purchase under similar circumstances- this guy was so excited! Still proud of that.
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 20:00 (nine years ago) link
Haha understood!
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 20:01 (nine years ago) link
listening right now to beheaded, i like it a lot.
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Friday, 5 December 2014 20:04 (nine years ago) link
there would clearly be no explosions in the sky w/o these dudes
WhatFunLifeWas probably has more highlights overall, but yeah all three albums are beautiful.
One of my favorite attributes of a band is when they can capture a mundane vibe and repackage it as something beautiful without being melodramatic at all.
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 20:11 (nine years ago) link
However Explosions in the Sky, to my last point right there^, are nowhere near as restrained.
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 20:12 (nine years ago) link
lol not at all, sometimes to their benefit, others to the extreme detriment
― hanley ramirez ordering a pizza (slothroprhymes), Friday, 5 December 2014 20:24 (nine years ago) link
There's something about a band with three clean patiently intertwining Fenders. I remember reading that after they lost their violinist (who went on the join the Dixie Chicks), they wanted to try to capture the texture of strings with their guitars.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 5 December 2014 20:48 (nine years ago) link
That's apt.
― Evan, Friday, 5 December 2014 20:50 (nine years ago) link
Wow, I finally heard that Overseas record. The other guys in the group are not Bedhead, but boy do the Bedhead guys get their DNA pushed upfront in this band.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 11 December 2014 15:47 (nine years ago) link
http://lebanesestudies.news.chass.ncsu.edu/2016/07/21/a-lebanese-american-rock-musician-in-texas/
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 27 July 2016 18:03 (seven years ago) link
Yay for another New Year album. I wasn't expecting one. Bedhead remains top 5 indie bands for me.
― skateboard of education (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 27 July 2016 18:16 (seven years ago) link
That New Year record has been coming out "next year" for like 5 yrs now
― chr1sb3singer, Wednesday, 27 July 2016 18:39 (seven years ago) link
hey its out now
― Isi, Friday, 28 April 2017 12:39 (six years ago) link
Wow, can't wait to buy!!!
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 April 2017 13:58 (six years ago) link
Not bad, on first listen. Lots of keys on this one!
― attention vampire (MatthewK), Friday, 28 April 2017 14:19 (six years ago) link
Not streaming, darn.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, 28 April 2017 17:05 (six years ago) link
I used to underrate the New Year because I loved Bedhead so much. But then, especially when the New Year became inactive, it really occurred to me how few bands do/still do/ever did what Bedhead and to an extent the New Year did so well. So I am savoring this album.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 April 2017 17:13 (six years ago) link
damn "The Beast"
― Isi, Saturday, 29 April 2017 12:04 (six years ago) link
Stream on Bandcamp. This sounds very promising. Less repetitive than Bedhead if I remember them well, more varied with hooks and stuff.https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/05/03/the-new-year-snow-review/
― Alex in Spree-Athen (alex in mainhattan), Thursday, 4 May 2017 20:18 (six years ago) link
This album is spectacular. I listened to it about five times today. It gets a little weaker towards the end, esp. the second last song breaks the flow but the rest is really very relaxed and melodic slowcore. Hypnotic stuff. Much better than the slightly kitschy Slowdive which is ok but gets too much press compared to this plain masterpiece.
― Alex in Spree-Athen (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 5 May 2017 21:36 (six years ago) link
It's really great. I've found that each New Year album, from the first album on, has always been a little tougher for me to get into than Bedhead ever was, and I readily admit I was so into Bedhead that I underestimated the New Year entirely until I saw them play at the Touch & Go anniversary party way back when and they were just so good it sent me back to the first two albums, which were suddenly so awesome it was like I'd never heard them before, which was all my fault. So this one I've been paying close attention to, and the effort has really paid off.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 6 May 2017 18:38 (six years ago) link
Really liking this. RE: Touch and Go anniversary performance - YES - this is where I listened to 'em w/ new ears, too. That whole three days was probably my fave ever fest, and to have New Year give an eye/ear-opening performance was a treat.
― BlackIronPrison, Saturday, 6 May 2017 23:12 (six years ago) link
Album arrived in the mail - along with yet another t-shirt saying "THE NEW YEAR" which I will have to patiently explain to people.There is a lot to like on the album, it's one of their best, or at least does not let the side down.
― attention vampire (MatthewK), Tuesday, 9 May 2017 00:39 (six years ago) link
I think I actually prefer the New Year to Bedhead, who I liked in the era but those records mean more to me now then they did at the time. The New Year had me hooked pretty much right from the first record. Great band. Glad this record finally came into being.
― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, 9 May 2017 16:32 (six years ago) link
The new New Year record is so good. So good.
― chr1sb3singer, Wednesday, 19 July 2017 14:59 (six years ago) link
Apparently an ambient New Year album was just released?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 19 April 2019 20:32 (five years ago) link
I don't see anything on their bandcamp or site.
― Simon H., Friday, 19 April 2019 21:03 (five years ago) link
on bandcamp with the name sigh of reliefdrone vibe. reminds me, so far, of andrew chalk or mirror.
― sknybrg, Friday, 19 April 2019 21:09 (five years ago) link
https://sighofrelief.bandcamp.com/releasesdoes not sound like bedhead or new year, low volume drone ambient, not my cup of tea.
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Saturday, 20 April 2019 10:44 (five years ago) link