rock albums assembled in such a way that they seem to get deeper as they go
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Friday, 28 July 2017 17:47 (six years ago) link
yeah I can def hear that.
the Oceana EP mentioned in that writeup is actually a pretty apt comparison!
https://open.spotify.com/track/4452im0oupzzOYPHCqcLyx
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Friday, 28 July 2017 17:51 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQh3k-n_tcQ
this song is so fucking good
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Friday, 28 July 2017 17:51 (six years ago) link
the piercing harmonies in "the moth" are like
http://68.media.tumblr.com/d9d94c54bf63885abc4eb0eaeaa2348b/tumblr_otmh5bYkWq1s86mfwo2_250.gif
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Friday, 28 July 2017 21:31 (six years ago) link
I'll try these tubes. I still find it weird that the cd I got from them in 2006 (LP2) looks like something they burned themselves
― the ghost of lorax past (FlopsyDuck), Friday, 28 July 2017 22:31 (six years ago) link
the cd I got from them in 2006 (LP2)
you mean i'm like a virgin losing a child? i've never owned that one but i guess it wouldn't surprise me if its presentation were super austere
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Saturday, 29 July 2017 15:58 (six years ago) link
i have listened to only this album for the past 24 hours. i have decided the best moment is in "the grocery" is when he sings "this is the onlyyyy. WAYYYYY to go"
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Saturday, 29 July 2017 16:00 (six years ago) link
I'm still deciding how I feel about the dialed-back intensity but the cohesiveness and command of mood is really impressive
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Saturday, 29 July 2017 16:32 (six years ago) link
this is great. a band i've been ignoring for years, basically.
i don't really know their earlier stuff. is this one of the better rock bands that the "cool" music press has been ignoring for a decade in favor of declaring rock dead?
― alpine static, Sunday, 30 July 2017 23:57 (six years ago) link
With songs that are crisp, emotive and hymn-like, Black Mile can prompt admiring comparisons to Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket; it's also probably the closest thing to the little-known yet incredible Clean Head by Oceana, an EP that never got the proper followup it deserved.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Friday, July 28, 2017 10:00 AM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I heard a lot of BoH when I listened to this. might just be his vox.
― Spottie, Monday, 31 July 2017 19:58 (six years ago) link
yep!! also if you dig this record you'd probably also like mean everything to nothing
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Monday, 31 July 2017 20:00 (six years ago) link
good to know.
def BOH happening, not just in the vox, xpost. i don't mind, i like BOH
― alpine static, Monday, 31 July 2017 20:06 (six years ago) link
yeah i dont mind altho I havent listened to BoH since their 2nd album i dont think.
― Spottie, Monday, 31 July 2017 20:17 (six years ago) link
Lead, SD is really really good and imo very essential to the album
I'm still deciding how I feel about the dialed-back intensity but the cohesiveness and command of mood is really impressive― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Saturday, July 29, 2017 9:32 AM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Saturday, July 29, 2017 9:32 AM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i think the heavier moments on here feel earned, cos of this ^
― Spottie, Monday, 31 July 2017 20:22 (six years ago) link
I'm down w the wall of reverb that closes out the album.
― Spottie, Monday, 31 July 2017 20:25 (six years ago) link
felt weird fastening the word "rock" to the thread title as it applied way more to their previous record, cope, which is pretty paint-peeling and has like 100000 guitars overdubbed on it which consume all of the remaining instruments; this is chamber music in comparison, but the overwhelming sense of dread running through all of their music is sustained on this record and is even kinda dramatically enhanced by the immaculate production
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Monday, 31 July 2017 20:29 (six years ago) link
I need to go listen to Cope then
― Spottie, Monday, 31 July 2017 20:36 (six years ago) link
i like how impressionist the lyrics are that's what reminds me the most of devil + god that kind of abstract emo'tion. it's just painfully beautiful at some pts.
― Mordy, Monday, 31 July 2017 20:48 (six years ago) link
brad how have you never forced me to listen to Cope!? this is crazy good. fitting my mood much more rn.
― Spottie, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 22:18 (six years ago) link
thought this was goodhttp://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/manchester-orchestra-a-black-mile-to-the-surface/
― Spottie, Monday, 7 August 2017 22:27 (six years ago) link
Hull’s been given some serious source material, namely the birth of his daughter and co-writing the mostly a cappella soundtrack for the farcical body comedy Swiss Army Man. One might think exposure to that much real and cinematic flatulence might lighten Hull’s mood a little.
― Mordy, Monday, 7 August 2017 22:35 (six years ago) link
kinda glossed over that part.
― Spottie, Monday, 7 August 2017 23:03 (six years ago) link
no one *ever* talks to me about new music irl (outside of ilxors i'm in touch w/) but sure enough i was at a party on saturday and two friends asked me about seeing manchester orchestra next month. i said to myself, "hey, there was a recent ilx thread about them!" and that i would probably be down.
i like this album, it was made by ppl who understand and love rock albums.
― call all destroyer, Wednesday, 23 August 2017 01:42 (six years ago) link
It's funny how much sonic DNA this and the new Brand New wound up sharing
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 23 August 2017 01:50 (six years ago) link
otm
― Mordy, Wednesday, 23 August 2017 02:36 (six years ago) link
they both sound perfect to me atm
i had not heard about this band until tonight and this album is hella excellent
― seven mambas (m bison), Wednesday, 23 August 2017 03:30 (six years ago) link
i have been listening to this nonstop for days.
― seven mambas (m bison), Sunday, 27 August 2017 04:24 (six years ago) link
Way back when, in my limited exposure, I thought this band sounded a bit like a b-list Arcade Fire. I hadn't heard anything from them until this album, which I sought out due to ILX enthusiasm, and ... well, still sort of sounds like AF to me, specifically "The Suburbs," which I like, but I couldn't make it through this album. Maybe it's his voice? I'll give it another shot soon at some point. Want to try to Brand New, too, though I've never heard a note of that band and think I always thought of them as, like, Yellowcard or something.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 27 August 2017 13:29 (six years ago) link
Should concede that I know next to nothing about "emo" as a genre, short Rites of Spring and Jimmy Eat World, so maybe it's just not for me.
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 27 August 2017 13:30 (six years ago) link
their label's marketing has been effective on social media in that I see reference to this thing non stop all the time, everywhere, despite no one I personally know ever recommending it
― akm, Sunday, 27 August 2017 13:31 (six years ago) link
i don't really hear anything tying this band to arcade fire but i get hull's voice potentially being a dealbreaker
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 27 August 2017 14:18 (six years ago) link
i regret the thread title but how could i have known that brand new would release a record this year
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 27 August 2017 14:19 (six years ago) link
I was not into that brand new lp, but I've never been a fan
― seven mambas (m bison), Sunday, 27 August 2017 17:53 (six years ago) link
xxp - Fleet Foxes is what the singer's voice reminds me of.
― ArchCarrier, Sunday, 27 August 2017 19:24 (six years ago) link
i really liked the video for The Gold
― Karl Malone, Sunday, 27 August 2017 19:33 (six years ago) link
A weird album for me. I love the first three tracks and the last four, but the four in the middle don't do anything. It's like a big black hole in the middle of the album. I'll keep trying, maybe they'll grow on me.
― ArchCarrier, Monday, 28 August 2017 11:29 (six years ago) link
the silence and the grocery are just massive
― just another (diamonddave85), Thursday, 14 September 2017 13:20 (six years ago) link
i have decided the best moment is in "the grocery" is when he sings "this is the onlyyyy. WAYYYYY to go"
this, with 'there is nothing you keep, there is only a reflection' in the silence being a close 2nd
― just another (diamonddave85), Thursday, 14 September 2017 13:22 (six years ago) link
"lead, sd" is prob my favorite song of the year
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 September 2017 20:26 (six years ago) link
yeah
― Spottie, Tuesday, 19 September 2017 20:27 (six years ago) link
some of the guitar tones and the more circuitous playing on this record remind me of later red house painters/early sun kil moon
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Tuesday, 19 September 2017 20:49 (six years ago) link
I can hear that
― Spottie, Wednesday, 20 September 2017 04:56 (six years ago) link
fun show tonight, their songs are super singalongable
tigers jaw was dope too
― just another (diamonddave85), Monday, 25 September 2017 04:15 (six years ago) link
the tinny, trebly guitars/synths(?) that perk up in "Lead, SD" really remind me of the Wrens
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 25 September 2017 12:30 (six years ago) link
I just keep going back to the opening track.
― Spottie, Tuesday, 12 December 2017 21:22 (six years ago) link
this record is a fuckin classic, top to bottom
and it keeps getting better
― alpine static, Friday, 29 June 2018 20:38 (five years ago) link
Anyone heard the demos EP yet?
― groovypanda, Friday, 29 June 2018 20:47 (five years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6rUs44L7H_Amz_OcM1ilkksN3YIS-eMO
― alpine static, Monday, 2 July 2018 05:39 (five years ago) link
I doubt we'll get a better *sounding* rock record this year, I will say that. this thing sparkles!
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Friday, 30 April 2021 04:13 (three years ago) link
fun to see you on my other music message board, simon. the quality of discourse there really makes ilx look like the fucking algonquin table in comparison
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 30 April 2021 14:12 (three years ago) link
hahaha yeah it is WILD there huh? I'm just getting the lay of the land
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Friday, 30 April 2021 14:18 (three years ago) link
it’s really nice that we don’t talk about vinyl variants constantly here
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 30 April 2021 14:19 (three years ago) link
I got drunk and listened to this last night and MAN, this album flowed beautifully. Felt very complete as an album, but Manchester Orchestra usually doesn't miss as far as album building. Every single song fits perfectly.
― hourspass, Friday, 30 April 2021 17:47 (three years ago) link
where's the other board? i wanna check it out
― alpine static, Friday, 30 April 2021 17:52 (three years ago) link
no it’s better that you don’t know
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 30 April 2021 17:54 (three years ago) link
well, it may not be quite as good as black mile to me but i'm fully obsessed with this record
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 3 May 2021 20:07 (three years ago) link
"keel timing" is such a banger and i don't think i fully recognized that before i heard the whole thing
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 3 May 2021 20:17 (three years ago) link
I feel you, Brad. I don't know if I happened to be in the right headspace for this album (Million Masks, I mean) to really resonate in me, but MAN, I've found myself drifting back to it over and over this weekend and listening to it IN ITS ENTIRETY.
― hourspass, Monday, 3 May 2021 20:19 (three years ago) link
"let it storm" -> "dinosaur" -> "obstacle" -> "way back," aka the sequence where every song seems to be even better than the last
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 3 May 2021 20:37 (three years ago) link
omg this album. the back to back of "keel timing" and "bed head"!
― Tim F, Wednesday, 5 May 2021 08:20 (three years ago) link
"obstacle" is just lovely.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 5 May 2021 08:29 (three years ago) link
the guitar solo in "the internet"!
― Tim F, Wednesday, 5 May 2021 08:43 (three years ago) link
one of my favorite moments on the record def
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 5 May 2021 15:57 (three years ago) link
once again playing this record and thinking "wow i sure love this record"
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 5 May 2021 16:03 (three years ago) link
first few listens to this album i would get "keel timing" stuck in my head and then it would morph into "bed head," which, the two songs are similar by design, and there are several twinned songs on this record ("dinosaur" and "obstacle" are two others imo) and even between this record and black mile ("the mistake" seems to get revived in a different register at the end of "angel of death"; "the internet" is clearly a variation on "the silence," also i think the song titles are meant to be opposites which makes me lol). i was unsure how i felt about this at first, like, shouldn't these songs have more of their own identity, but i've found that it's really drawn me in deeper to the world of the record
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 May 2021 16:43 (three years ago) link
oh the verses of "annie" also seems to rhyme with "the mistake"
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 May 2021 16:44 (three years ago) link
i guess you'd think all these inter-song echoes would make the world of each record feel narrower but it actually makes it bigger, like the low-key mysticism people find in coincidence
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 May 2021 16:49 (three years ago) link
I can't help but long for a little more specificity in Andy's lyrics...like I would never have had any idea about the "concept" aspects were it not for extramusical interview chatter and internet speculation. mostly I hear a lot of first-person angst from a bunch of undifferentiated "characters"
ironically I think I notice this more now because he's grown so much as a vocalist
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Thursday, 6 May 2021 16:52 (three years ago) link
the concept of the album is not as huge and ranging as a black mile, it is just about contending with death afaict... it makes it less impressive(?) lyrically but some of it still really strikes me ("daddy's at the hospital / the gator finally got him")
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 May 2021 17:00 (three years ago) link
i guess i'm going through the whole discography again
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 May 2021 19:47 (three years ago) link
That's not a bad idea. Listening to Mean Everything To Nothing is good for me anytime and all the time.
― hourspass, Thursday, 6 May 2021 21:38 (three years ago) link
i’m like a virgin is a really good record but the production... isn’t amazing. very 2006 dry and brittle indie rock tones. annoyed that the acoustic tracks are mastered at a different volume than the rest of the record. i know people who still think is their best, which i think i understand... there’s this eerie open-ended feeling that persists through the second half. but it’s also just a little rickety compared to the fully-formed albums that come after it. maybe i’d feel different if i’d heard it at the time, i only got into it in the last few years
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 May 2021 22:03 (three years ago) link
i've been listening to mean everything to nothing since 2009 (i checked it out because i saw manchester orchestra open for brand new in san jose and ... didn't quite know if i liked them or not) so it's hard for me to think any new things about it. it's a really great record, production is incredible, guitar tones are perfect warm buzzes especially on "in my teeth" and they start doing that built to spill-esque overdriven dual guitar effect i love dearly on both this album and simple math. really weirdly constructed, it shifts gears about five times in the opening run and then settles into a kind of suite of gentle epics in the second half from "i can feel a hot one" to "the river." i read an interview with hull where he said he recorded the vocals when he was sick so they would sound as shredded as possible so now i can't stop thinking about that when i'm listening, thanks andy
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 7 May 2021 00:45 (two years ago) link
Surprised there's been no Pitchfork review of this yet
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 12 May 2021 10:01 (two years ago) link
still listening to this like once a day
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 May 2021 13:27 (two years ago) link
"bed head" song of the year
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 May 2021 14:03 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj2hSxy8kbU
― groovypanda, Saturday, 22 May 2021 20:56 (two years ago) link
Really liking this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrAURfbK8Ls
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 07:58 (two years ago) link
new MO number for a DC soundtrack thingie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OMpofOS85o
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Wednesday, 9 June 2021 13:48 (two years ago) link
this might be a controversial opinion but I think Million Masks is even greater record than A Black Mile to the Surface? It doesn't have highlights like "Lead, SD", but as a whole I think it flows better.
― braised cod, Tuesday, 22 June 2021 18:11 (two years ago) link
ha, I almost revived this thread to say that on recent revisit I felt an emptiness/hollowness that's difficult to put my finger on, I think it's mainly that I'm struggling to connect with the lyrics. I think by the end I'm also a little worn out by the roaring climaxes
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 18:16 (two years ago) link
i think i might agree it’s even better than the last one
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 22 June 2021 18:25 (two years ago) link
it's unreal how good this album is
― uberweiss, Sunday, 8 August 2021 11:23 (two years ago) link
if you like this record i also recommend the new foxing
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Sunday, 8 August 2021 12:12 (two years ago) link
loving that too
one year i'd like not to have the exact same year end list as you but btwn this, foxing, wolf alice, the maine & pale waves, i don't think this will be that year
― uberweiss, Sunday, 8 August 2021 13:15 (two years ago) link
"way back" is the best song ever
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Monday, 7 February 2022 16:05 (two years ago) link
what the hell @ 'dinosaur' bridge
― imago, Monday, 7 February 2022 16:56 (two years ago) link
this is some trail of dead tier stuff
― imago, Monday, 7 February 2022 17:02 (two years ago) link
Anyone else been listening to their new EP that came out earlier this month?
Pretty good although the whole thing is very much them in subdued mode
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovD37YQWnkE
― groovypanda, Friday, 31 March 2023 11:54 (one year ago) link
I posted about it in this thread:it's harder now to POLL you - manchester orchestra: the million masks of god
― ArchCarrier, Monday, 3 April 2023 19:27 (one year ago) link
The rerecorded/reimagined 10th anniversary edition of Bad Book's II out today and sounding fabulous
― groovypanda, Friday, 20 October 2023 19:02 (six months ago) link