never too late for a classic
― Nhex, Sunday, 30 May 2010 23:00 (thirteen years ago) link
Eisbaer, you'll probably like Heart too. "Elevator Love Letter" and "Look Up" are two of the best songs of the last decade.
― Lostandfound, Sunday, 30 May 2010 23:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Was in the Apple Store here in MTL today and noticed that Stars are playing an instore gig there tonight.
― sofatruck, Monday, 31 May 2010 00:08 (thirteen years ago) link
Heart was playing in a drugstore last week and it made me stop in my tracks. That album sounds good!
― ◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝ (Ówen P.), Monday, 31 May 2010 07:48 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― ◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝◦ ⃝ (Ówen P.), Monday, 31 May 2010 07:51 (thirteen years ago) link
nb: i listened to heart -- and yes, it gets my seal of approval!
:D
― No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (Eisbaer), Tuesday, 1 June 2010 03:03 (thirteen years ago) link
"We Don't Want Your Body" is one of the best songs of the year!
― Spencer Chow, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:59 (thirteen years ago) link
YO SPENCER!!
― cutty, Friday, 4 June 2010 19:08 (thirteen years ago) link
Another song - Wasted Daylight - from the new album is at http://www.myoldkentuckyblog.com/?p=5670
― James Mitchell, Tuesday, 8 June 2010 17:29 (thirteen years ago) link
― No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (Eisbaer)
:)
― Lostandfound, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 22:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Ówen, yes, the production on Heart is exceptional.
― Lostandfound, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 22:06 (thirteen years ago) link
ooooook this is fucking amazing. swoon.
― cutty, Sunday, 13 June 2010 20:05 (thirteen years ago) link
The Five Ghosts is now streaming at npr.org.
― James Mitchell, Monday, 14 June 2010 08:57 (thirteen years ago) link
Also in other, less legal places.
― James Mitchell, Monday, 14 June 2010 08:58 (thirteen years ago) link
jams mitchell, i kiss u
― johnny crunch, Monday, 14 June 2010 10:59 (thirteen years ago) link
ya thx dude
― Nhex, Monday, 14 June 2010 12:59 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― johnny crunch, Friday, 9 July 2010 12:08 (thirteen years ago) link
really enjoying bonus track "The Black House, the Blue Sky (Stars vs. Montag)"
― cutty, Friday, 9 July 2010 12:46 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― Bill A, Friday, 9 July 2010 13:53 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― johnny crunch, Friday, 11 March 2011 18:41 (thirteen years ago) link
didn't know about that, will check out.
― Nhex, Friday, 11 March 2011 23:27 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― Bill A, Monday, 9 May 2011 12:31 (thirteen years ago) link
sounds worth a try!
― Nhex, Monday, 9 May 2011 17:26 (thirteen years ago) link
geez, that's what i said 4 months ago.
― Nhex, Monday, 9 May 2011 17:27 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 10 May 2011 00:26 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 11 June 2011 13:16 (twelve years ago) link
thanks, didn't know about this at all
― Nhex, Saturday, 11 June 2011 13:34 (twelve years ago) link
huh, it's split into an explicit and non-explicit version on itunes? weird
― Nhex, Saturday, 11 June 2011 14:00 (twelve years ago) link
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
― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 20:13 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― phantompenguin, Tuesday, 18 September 2012 20:23 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 20:27 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Tuesday, 18 September 2012 21:32 (eleven years ago) link
into 'theory of relativity', need 2 spend more time w/ the rest
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 19 September 2012 23:32 (eleven years ago) link
Finally getting to the new record. Theory of Relativity, Hold On When You Get Love... and Through The Mines are lovely. Do You Want To Die Together is gross.
― Room 227 (cryptosicko), Monday, 26 November 2012 04:18 (eleven years ago) link
I hate to say it, but that song actually kind of ruined the entire album for me
― Nhex, Monday, 26 November 2012 07:27 (eleven years ago) link
I think I might have given up on this band. Set Yourself On Fire showed a HELL of a lot of promise, and lord knows they've got more than enough talent in that band to deliver the goods - but for some reason or other, they just haven't since.
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Monday, 26 November 2012 14:20 (eleven years ago) link
Personally my favorite was In the Bedroom After the War so I've still got hope that they'll get it together again and make a solid cohesive album. Five Ghosts grew on me, I'm guessing The North will do as long as I remember to skip some of the bad songs (even Bedroom had "Barricade" which I couldn't stand).
― Nhex, Monday, 26 November 2012 17:56 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, "Do You Want to Die Together" is, by some chalk, the worst song on the new one. Like the rest of it pretty well, and excellent in parts ("Theory of Relativity" is fuckin' amazing). Def. better than The Five Ghosts. Going to see them when they're in Manchester next week, pretty hyped tbh as it's been a good while since they were here.
― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Monday, 26 November 2012 19:08 (eleven years ago) link
Just revisiting upthread, Nhex did you ever get round to the last Memphis album? I still listen to that all the time, it's a real pearl.
― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Monday, 26 November 2012 19:10 (eleven years ago) link
Add "The Loose Ends Will Make Knots" and "The 400" to the list of songs I like; I was only halfway through the album when I posted above. Mercifully, nothing else on the record is as bad as "Die," but that still means that literally half the record goes by without leaving any impression on me. Still, after the disappointment of The Five Ghosts (speaking of icky Stars songs, remember "We Don't Want Your Body?"), this is mildly encouraging.
― Room 227 (cryptosicko), Monday, 26 November 2012 22:05 (eleven years ago) link
Bill: I did eventually get to it... It was all right, but didn't really hook me, it felt maybe a little too laid back? I should give it another listen sometime.
― Nhex, Monday, 26 November 2012 23:34 (eleven years ago) link
It is pretty relaxed in the main, I love Torq's lyrics on it though and some v. strong vocal work. It had an osmotic effect on me, various songs kept popping up on shuffle on my player and it wormed into my affections with repeated listens. Worth a revisit for sure :)
― that mustardless plate (Bill A), Tuesday, 27 November 2012 07:42 (eleven years ago) link
was just a few days ago wondering what these guys were up to
http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2014/08/11/339428704/song-premiere-stars-from-the-night
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 14 August 2014 00:05 (nine years ago) link
this life is very heartbreaking and sad… so let’s get completely fucking arseholed and listen to some Dionne Warwick.”this life is very heartbreaking and sad… so let’s get completely fucking arseholed and listen to some Dionne Warwick.”this life is very heartbreaking and sad… so let’s get completely fucking arseholed and listen to some Dionne Warwick.”
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 14 August 2014 00:09 (nine years ago) link
I think I'm done getting excited about new Stars records, but I'd be happy if they could surprise me with something great again.
― You know something? He *did* say "well, yeah" a lot. (cryptosicko), Thursday, 14 August 2014 01:01 (nine years ago) link
it took me the better part of ~18 months but i think the north is a p good album tbh
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 14 August 2014 01:14 (nine years ago) link
About half of the album is very good, while the other half is pleasant enough, and only one song (the last one--Stars go techno-rave!) is a gross genre experiment on the level of "We Don't Want Your Body" from The Five Ghosts. All in all, their best since In Our Bedroom After the War.
― MaudAddam (cryptosicko), Thursday, 9 October 2014 00:02 (nine years ago) link
noo don't get my hopes up
― Nhex, Thursday, 9 October 2014 00:20 (nine years ago) link
i'd only heard like one or two songs from this band but devoured their whole discography last week after winning tickets to their show (which was fantastic)
kind of surprised they're not more ILX canon tbh, "no one is lost" is as good as any of my favorite albums from the last few years
― gr8080, Monday, 19 October 2015 20:50 (eight years ago) link
like how is it possible that johnny fever has never posted itt
― gr8080, Monday, 19 October 2015 20:51 (eight years ago) link