GROUPER "Way Their Crept" --- CONTACT

Love Grouper. New album is ace. Can't wait to get the vinyl.

New album is brilliant. Up there with Inca Ore's release, my best release of the year so far (I think).

YES! I'm really digging the new one. I loved it so much that I bought a couple of her previous releases. Can't wait to get them in the mail.

high praise from this review:

foxy digitalis : reviews: Grouper "Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill"
http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=3440

"This is an amazing album that will most likely remain a highlight release for the year. " 10/10

'grouper' CDR EP - (heavier noiser mixes of her first recordings, most of these were remixed for the first album)
'way their crept' LP - still my favorite, her harmonies & the absurd levels of tape delay bury the songs but the songs are still there
'he knows he knows he knows' EP - like the 1st LP, just as great
'wide' LP - follows on from the first LP, heavier & spacier and more intense, maybe a less instantly memorable group of songs but I need to go back and check
'flashlights: eckords' - collaboration with violinist jorge boehringer, very very very spaced
xiu xiu vs. grouper - 'creepshow' - haven't heard
'cover the windows and walls' EP - only have mp3s of this so haven't spent as much time with it -- never even saw this in stores, but it's songs
'dragging a dead deer up a hill' LP - this is going to do very well for her, she's pulled back on the delays but everything still sounds covered in silt and her songwriting has taken a jump forward

she's one to watch

Ok, I finally listened to the rest of the songs for the first time, and yes, they're all great. Not enough have just straight up said "What a graceful voice", and they should. This is peaceful death music, I love it.

I predict I will post about this again on August 3rd of this year, because that's the day I finally get back home. And when I arrive, there's going to be a small pile of her records because I'm going to have to drunkenly order a good half of those LPs and EPs Milton just mentioned. Not the Xiu Xiu one, though.

I'm going to save the S-word too - Slowdive. This wouldn't be out of place on Pygmalion.

I will also say it.

If this was a dude, you wouldn't care

Well, at least I still get to care about something, which is a nice consolation prize.

Yeah, still fucking awesome.
This is off the newest one:

Heavy Water/I'd Rather be Sleeping

and I have two other (better) songs from Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill here:
http://headofstate.muxtape.com/

And this is a little older.
HERE

got new lp in the other day

I missed buying that Dragging A Dead Deer album, can't find it anywhere. Any leads?

http://www.boomkat.com/search.cfm?q=grouper

There's a dude here in Portland who's just as good as Grouper. His project is called Dragging An Ox Through Water.

Finally got the new one today...So amazing. Like, one of the best things I've heard all year. Its been a long time since I've been able to just sit down and let an album wash over me, but this has done it. "Stuck" in particular just makes me swoon. The melodies on this are amazing! I just ordered the re-release of the split with Inca Ore from Aquarius. Can't wait.

Is very good, that new one.

what is it called?

"Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill"

Best album title ever too!!!

I just ordered the re-release of the split with Inca Ore from Aquarius. Can't wait.

Have you got it yet? Is it good? Did you order it from her website? How much was it?

Yeah, I'm still really, really into the new one. It only sounds better as it gets colder and more leaves fall off the trees.

nice

vaguely recall a mention on ILX and an Inca Ore connection (blown away Ms. Saelens live recently, her LP one of few sweet spots of '08 for me)...

must investigate further!

also, this Grouper LP punching well above it's weight in obscurity here http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/2008

The inca ore and grouper split is from 2007. It's ok, sort of a bridge between her first records and the minimalistic approach of guitar/voice style that she used on 'dragging a dead dear'.

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/inca_ore___grouper/split/

Has anybody deciphered the lyrics to 'heavy water/I'd rather be sleeping'? - so far I can only make up: 'love is enormous / it's lifting me up / i'd rather be sleeping / i'd rather fall in your tidal waves / right where the deepest currents pull'

this album ! :-O

really really good.

If this was a dude, you wouldn't care

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Monday, June 23, 2008 2:43 AM

If she was a dude she would still be 1000x more interesting than Fleet Fuxxes

^^real talk. 'Dead Deer' is on my top ten list of the year, but I don't know what she looks like (if looks are what's implied). And well, imagining the vocals as coming from a he, well that's just silly.

btw, I wasn't quoting that as in "I agree with this", I was quoting that as in http://i44.tinypic.com/2mhvo8j.jpg

I want to say something about how this album unfolds it's pleasures like a flower, at about the same speed, without it sounding dirty.

Possibly the most gorgously intimate and non "produced" sounding thing I've heard all year too. She might as well be in the room.

This goes down well with a copy of Chris Ware's graphic novel The Smartest Kid on Earth and my Mom's fried boneless fish.

If this was a dude, you wouldn't care

Plenty of us care about Sonic Boom!

I picked this up on a whim today from amazon's mp3 store, where it's on sale for $1.99. It's remarkably gorgeous!

by "this" I mean the Dragging a Dead Deer album

Deeply amused by "fart alert"

That's a damn good price (I paid $14.99 retail) and almost makes me want to switch over to buying in digital format... but not really. xpost

That's exactly my sentiment, ilxor. But if a crazy low price like that leads to more people getting into her music, it's all for the better. She deserves it.

Baffling, pointless review on Tinymixtapes of the live show:

The show is sold out, but most fans are waiting to pile in after the opening act, Grouper — a one-woman showcase of bullshit. Imagine Enya making airport symphonies for hipsters. I try to salvage something from the fuzzy reverb and her long, lonely wails, but I can’t stop picturing her masturbating in front of a full-length mirror. Self-indulgence, indeed.

...but you write for tinymixtapes.com

ugh.

...but you write for tinymixtapes.com

Really? That's news to me!

if you're going to choose such an ambiguous username...

Hahaha, no no, that was meant as a response to the reviewer, for some reason. I saw my comment this morning and wondered what the hell I was talking about, because I don't really have any beef with tinymixtapes.com.

That AOL sonned thread has me thinking about who I do and do not have beefs with today.

it's kinda weird with reviews like that where you can't tell if the reviewer is trying to be funny... or if they're just trying to come up with the most awe-inspiring humorless zings to satisfy their explosive rage at the act in question.

I don't really mind Enya as a reference (Enya is pretty awesome imo tho) and I have been digging pretty heavily on Dead Deer for the last couple weeks.

Enya making airport symphonies for hipsters is the kind of stuff my friends say about the downtempo balearic cheeze i listen to. it kind of goes hand in hand with "elevator music for grad students", a term which used to bug me but i think i'm ok with it know

Hahaha, no no, that was meant as a response to the reviewer, for some reason.

Ah, makes sense now. I laughed out loud. Nice one.

WAY THEIR CREPT and DRAGGING A DEAD DEER are two of my favorite records right now. Is there any other stuff out there like this? Melodic, atmospheric, experimental, droning, and emotional?

this album is kinda staggered by the one two punch of heavy water and stuck

Does sound like Ruins with guitar. Will be a devastating winter listen, I'm sure.

“Ode to the Blue” has utterly captivated me these past few days … such quiet intensity. I hope the rest of the album mostly sounds like this

you're in luck

First listen to the new album. I wonder what people will make of this in 50 or 100 years? Will they think we finally found the correct equipment for recording hauntings? This is beautiful and captivating but, to mix metaphors, it is like watching someone slowly fade out of existence.

My god at Kelso (Blue Sky).

i've spent enough time with this now to be confident it's up with her best

The last track on this LP is like finally looking at the sky on a beautiful day after spending all day in a shadowy house - it’s like running full tilt into an emotional wall

Best Grouper/Harris in nine years (with apologies to “The Original Faces”

When that first proper verse in “Kelso” comes …

I’m gonna play this on loop at my house in halloween to spook children.

wow. love the vocals on Kelso. lovely

this is great

loving this

Kelso is so good. Aside from the otherworldly Paradise Valley tunes, as pretty as anything I've heard from her.

it's her best since AIA, not counting Paradise Valley - wish there was a whole album's worth of that

Only four tracks in, but oh my god that opener

and oh my god kelso!!!!

once again, thank you based liz

I like how “the way her hair falls” is not just a (natural) loop but a loop that breaks

yeah Paradise Valley is really special. would love more in that style, oh man

headache is a worldie

'promise' from the new one is very special. imagine being that quiet with someone.

🚨🚨🚨🚨

whoa... new RAUM (Liz Harris + Jefre Cantu-Ledesma) 2xLP ???https://t.co/cJCoQsdrRN

i loved their first album together. this one is already sounding gorgeous & deeply zoned, pure drift mode

— Good Willsmith (@GoodWillsmith) February 4, 2022

it RULES so far

this is the good stuff

Oh nice!

Apparently there is more than one Raum - Spotify shows a pic and bio for some electronic musician. Looks like their discographies are mixed up too. (Not the usual imposter shit that happens - I think this is legitimately two artists using the same name.)

i'm still in the middle of my first listen. very, very pleasing mix of guitar, piano, field recordings, and synths (very The Alps, which makes sense)

the last track is 20 minutes long, i'm so pumped

here is the earlier album: https://grouper.bandcamp.com/album/event-of-your-leaving

going to listen to that one later, but today's release is plenty for repeat listening for now

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is severely underrated. Very prolific too.

It's a miracle I nabbed that Paradise Valley 7" back when that came out because recently the special editions of her releases are scooped up as soon as they drop! I was lucky though, because when that 7" was gone it was gone. At least I could still get "normal" versions of these more recent offerings.

yo this is terrific

i like jefre cantu-ledesma a lot but sometimes it feels like he sands the rough edges down a little too far, liz adds a little texture back

^^^ same

they are a very good duo, sounds and methods that work well and reveal new things in each other's music

To be fair to Jefre his albums generally all sound a bit different, some rougher than others.

this is pleasant

i figure i should dig more into cantu-ledesma at some point, i liked on the echoing green a few years back, especially "a song of summer" which was an incredible shoegaze epic. no idea where to go from there though

saw her play last night -- my first time ever seeing her -- at a sold out theater in portland last night, maybe 150 people total, most everyone seated. while it mostly blended together song to song, i definitely picked out "alien observer", "headache", "living room", and i believe parts of "i'm clean now" and "vanishing point"? she played electric guitar and a mixing board from what I could tell. the visuals were often gorgeous and hypnotic, some unforgettable.

by happenstance i ended up sitting next to some of her friends and she stopped to chat with them just before going onstage, and she introduced herself to me and told me I looked sharp. so i'm good for awhile!

she introduced herself to me and told me I looked sharp. so i'm good for awhile!

whoa, that's awesome! definitely one for the back of the book quote!

i saw grouper once, a few years back in chicago, the athletic association. that was such a lovely night, maybe a slightly larger crowd (200? guessing) but also very intimate, and everyone was so quiet. lovely memories.

yeah it was pin-drop quiet, someone dropped their phone on the floor near the end of the performance and it was like a bomb went off

but even then, i'm sure one of her mics picked up the sound faintly and it softly entered the woozy reverb sound to pleasing effect

I saw her the other night in BK and it was the best I'd ever seen her. I've been trying to find the reworked version she did of "False Horizon" the other night because it blew me away. The only thing i could find is this upload from that same show shot on mini dv but it does the job. truly beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu2NGV1UKxE

starts at 21:08 in case my link loses the timecode

I also saw her there but on Thursday, great show.

someone asked me if helen would tour. i laughed and then became very sad

― flappy bird, Tuesday, September 22, 2015 3:27 PM (seven years ago)

They're touring now! A few dates down the west coast: http://www.groundcontroltouring.com/artists/helen

I live nowhere near but someone taped the first night in Portland last week and put it on D!me, sounds great. A few new songs, so hopefully a new record in the works.

i was at the portland show, it was great, though felt like they oversold tickets at the very small venue. viewing space was shoulder to shoulder packed and there were dozens and dozens of people in the overflow area. nobody in the band spoke a single word or even glanced at the crowd, which is always part of the LH experience. mostly just felt honored to be able to see Helen, felt like spotting a ghost in the daylight.

My last.fm tells me I didn't listen to a single Grouper song last year. Just put Alien Observer on and can sense why: the experience of lockdown is right there in the fabric of the music, like comet tail scintilla, blown back into itself.

After Borges: the pandemic invents its musical precursors.