Newsweek interview from the other day.
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 25 July 2009 23:43 (fourteen years ago) link
You know, I heard "Pretty Wings" is being used as a wedding song....I'm not sure why a song about breaking up with someone would be used in someone's nuptials. But I'm happy to be of assistance. (Laughs)
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 25 July 2009 23:44 (fourteen years ago) link
Also:
The entire album went into mastering and it kinda was smoothed out. So we took away the brightness. We tried to make it feel like a lot of rock music right now. Like the Fleet Foxes and Bat for Lashes. Even Grizzly Bear has a vibe that I like a lot, too. This "in the room" feel where, it's like, "We don't really have that much money. The mics aren't really that expensive."
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 25 July 2009 23:45 (fourteen years ago) link
...you made that up. god please
― SB Idiot (k3vin k.), Saturday, 25 July 2009 23:46 (fourteen years ago) link
just checked, nope
― SB Idiot (k3vin k.), Saturday, 25 July 2009 23:47 (fourteen years ago) link
i dont really think thats a weird thing to say. hes just talking abt the quality/aesthetic of the engineering / mastering. i kind of found it a lil underwhelming at first personally, but it grew on me.
― butthurt (deej), Sunday, 26 July 2009 00:10 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah i was being dramatic and i'm not trying to feign any distaste for indie music in general - i just don't like those bands - but i just thought it was a weird reference. the sort of minimal, "live" production put me off at first too and made it hard for me to care about one album cut over another, but i at least like every track on the album and "pretty wings" is still probably my favorite song of the year. i kinda hope he goes all out on the next one, though, production-wise
― SB Idiot (k3vin k.), Sunday, 26 July 2009 00:18 (fourteen years ago) link
I finally picked up this album yesterday, I love it. The production won me over from the start, but then I like the production on the records he's referencing so maybe I should just STFU.
― 3 mods 1 banhammer (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Sunday, 26 July 2009 01:50 (fourteen years ago) link
why have i not done this yet?!?!?!
― internet message board terminal-boredom. (PappaWheelie V), Sunday, 26 July 2009 02:55 (fourteen years ago) link
i like the way he comes across in that interview personally:
After eight years away from the game, did you expect to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart?It's a good feeling to know you're not irrelevant! Yeah, look, I'm always pleasantly surprised. I don't walk around drinking my Kool-Aid, thinking I'm the ish of all times. You just cross your fingers and hope. I'm just grateful people went out and bought the album. They could have gone online, found a torrent, and stolen it!
I read that you were unsure of your relevance after the rise of Auto-Tune. What do you think now?I'm always careful with the way I answer on this. I don't want to be the guy who's like the older guy. (In a wheezy voice) When we were doing it we were doing it like this. (Laughs) Because when I was starting out, there were people saying the same old ish about me. Every generation has the right to graffiti-stamp the era the way they so desire. What some see as a gimmick is what they see as their calling card.
i guess it's important for us to still shit our pants every time a black person namedrops an indie rock band, though.
― soulja boy antebellum (some dude), Sunday, 26 July 2009 04:06 (fourteen years ago) link
i liked that interview a lot too!
and we don't have to prolong this but like i said, i was just disappointed(?) that maxwell liked fleet foxes, not trying to enforce some kinda silly racial taste rules
― SB Idiot (k3vin k.), Sunday, 26 July 2009 04:31 (fourteen years ago) link
he didnt even say he liked them, he said he wanted a live production sound like they had
― butthurt (deej), Sunday, 26 July 2009 05:20 (fourteen years ago) link
alrighty
― biter and groan vivant (k3vin k.), Sunday, 26 July 2009 05:34 (fourteen years ago) link
good interview.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Sunday, 26 July 2009 08:55 (fourteen years ago) link
"Kate Bush finally got hold of him for what he did to "This Woman's Work" and rightly slit his throat."
Sorry, but that's a beautiful version of a great song. He more than did it justice. New album's on the way apparently.
it's nice but it's a pointless version because it sounds almost note-for-note identical to the original. I wish he'd done something else with the arrangement.
― akm, Sunday, 26 July 2009 17:03 (fourteen years ago) link
he sounds like a really great guy in that interview
― max, Sunday, 26 July 2009 17:08 (fourteen years ago) link
would love to smoke a bowl w/ him and listen to fleet foxes
xxp: I think the note-for-noteness is v. much the point. It's the fact that it's a dude singing it and giving it a great performance in her register that makes it. Btw he tore the fucking house down with it when I saw him.
― swagulate...ringtone era (The Reverend), Sunday, 26 July 2009 17:32 (fourteen years ago) link
― max, Sunday, July 26, 2009 12:08 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
totally otm
― butthurt (deej), Monday, 27 July 2009 00:06 (fourteen years ago) link
Bad Habits is really really dope.
― im a fucking unicorn you douchebags (forksclovetofu), Monday, 27 July 2009 05:09 (fourteen years ago) link
^^^
― swagulate...ringtone era (The Reverend), Monday, 27 July 2009 06:25 (fourteen years ago) link
My favorite is "Help Somebody," whose intro sounds like Portishead.
― Heric E. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 27 July 2009 11:52 (fourteen years ago) link
the ending of bad habits is >>>
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Monday, 27 July 2009 11:58 (fourteen years ago) link
is it just me or have his lyrics gotten a bit cornier?
i love whatever instrument it is thats used at the start of pretty wings.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Monday, 27 July 2009 11:59 (fourteen years ago) link
Buying this on way home from work, Quite Stoked. His Twitter is a wonder of capitalisation:
MASHANTUCKET.. sacred INDIAN grounds in CT.. thank u for coming to the SHOW u were AMAZING to US at FOXWOODS. i pray we did u half as RIGHT11:51 AM Jul 26th from web
― William Bloody Swygart, Monday, 27 July 2009 12:21 (fourteen years ago) link
this song playing possum is amazing.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Monday, 27 July 2009 12:56 (fourteen years ago) link
^^^ Am very tempted to compare it to food. Am not sure what food. But it would taste tremendous.
― William Bloody Swygart, Tuesday, 28 July 2009 20:20 (fourteen years ago) link
possum, perhaps?
― im a fucking unicorn you douchebags (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 28 July 2009 20:20 (fourteen years ago) link
pretty wingsissofuckinggood.
blared it so many times in the shop today, like just kept replaying it, i'm pretty sure customers were confused
shame about the rest of the album, amirite?
― Dr. Morbius or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ban (Tape Store), Tuesday, 28 July 2009 22:38 (fourteen years ago) link
Well, no.
― 3 mods 1 banhammer (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 28 July 2009 22:46 (fourteen years ago) link
maybe when i'm in the mood for BORING...
― Dr. Morbius or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Ban (Tape Store), Tuesday, 28 July 2009 22:49 (fourteen years ago) link
Listened to this album about 10 times the last few days. "help somebody" is my fav right now but the first 4 tracks might be his strongest consecutive tracks out of all his albums. Them plus the UR sounding last track are worth the price of admission, the other 4 songs are good too, though!
― pipecock, Wednesday, 29 July 2009 00:18 (fourteen years ago) link
interesting reading him talk about radiohead; the single totally starts out like one of the clanky quiet bits on kid a (or mmm amnesiac), like treefingers?, maybe?
― the heart is a lonely hamster (schlump), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 00:24 (fourteen years ago) link
just had my first listen and am into this
― matinee, Wednesday, 29 July 2009 00:36 (fourteen years ago) link
see, i don't like help somebody! I think the whole album might be a slow burner with different tracks clicking for different folks.
― im a fucking unicorn you douchebags (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 03:27 (fourteen years ago) link
it's a Good Song but idk why there's such a fuss about it one way or another, especially considering the track it immediately follows
― Mr. Sb, n r u? (k3vin k.), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 03:29 (fourteen years ago) link
'help somebody' is dope, u dudes just havent come around to it yet
the only one i skip is 'stop the world'
― butthurt (deej), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 06:41 (fourteen years ago) link
maybe i havent come around to it yet either, but it feels undercomposed
― butthurt (deej), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 06:42 (fourteen years ago) link
I think it's my favorite album track as of now.
― boys with sitars (The Reverend), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 07:07 (fourteen years ago) link
the dj quik album had this same effect to iirc
― im a fucking unicorn you douchebags (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 07:08 (fourteen years ago) link
i dunno i dont think its the same thing though. with maxwell its just that there are so many details & compositional crevices for u to discoverwhich is why 'stop the world' kinda doesnt work for me -- i dont feel like there's anything composed about it, its just so loose & unmoored
quik on the other hand was more pushing further & further your tolerance for weird
― butthurt (deej), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 07:10 (fourteen years ago) link
I kinda meant more that different people drastically gravitate to and away from different songs; no general consensus as to THE BEST or THE WORST
― im a fucking unicorn you douchebags (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 07:16 (fourteen years ago) link
yah agreed w that
usually a sign of a good album
― butthurt (deej), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 07:31 (fourteen years ago) link
this albums grown on me but it doesnt seem quite as well written/developed as his stuff usually is.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 08:19 (fourteen years ago) link
ha, i just had the listen of 'Help Somebody' that opened it up to me. Itunes informs me it was #6 that did the trick.
― im a fucking unicorn you douchebags (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 29 July 2009 18:53 (fourteen years ago) link
i'm not as high on "pretty wings" as the rest of yall but it sounds SO GOOD on the radio. it's so different than anything being played, even with stuff like keyshia cole. i'm as big a backer of autotune & shit like "every girl" but i think we're gonna be alright if something like "pretty wings" can break to the top still.
― pretty whang (J0rdan S.), Monday, 17 August 2009 03:51 (fourteen years ago) link
"pretty wings" is really good but when he goes into his slurry soul-man vamps it sounds like "pret-ty WANGS" and i laugh every time...
― flying squid attack (tipsy mothra), Monday, 17 August 2009 05:07 (fourteen years ago) link
me too! (as evidenced by my display name)
― pretty whang (J0rdan S.), Monday, 17 August 2009 05:08 (fourteen years ago) link
haha i didn't even notice that.
― flying squid attack (tipsy mothra), Monday, 17 August 2009 05:15 (fourteen years ago) link