is this a music diary or a codex of cryptic clues to something
hm... maybe yes to both. isn't this what a diary looks like? maybe i've done it wrong my whole life. my diaries on the shelf are much worse than this, with backwards writing, strange symbols, made-up words, octopuses and absurd ligatures. yada-yada. nothing revolutionary, really.
mostly though, i think, i'm not very apt at communication... i never have been. i've never had much of a social life. so a diary is a place i go to give up trying to make sense and sort of spill it out however it works in my head. it's generally pretty non-sequitur and perhaps cryptic. i suppose it looks rather stand-off-ish? maybe it is. i'm not sure. but i think that's what you're saying.
i do appreciate you stopping by, so perhaps i should put more effort into making sense from time-to-time.
the channels may change post was mostly me going obsessive fanboy on this but having nothing to say about it at the moment. sort of a reminder to myself to try and string some thoughts together about the release(s), which are by far the most exciting thing in my music world this year. there are three broadcasts there currently, which explore the distance between dexy's midnight runners and laurie anderson. i've diced the tracks up according to the menu and sorted out a playlist... i suspect an LP with the "best of" / "poppy" tracks is coming in December. but in any event, it's something i am enjoying thoroughly and would like to expand on later... perhaps in December when there's something more comprehensive to look at.
// edit: i wanted to add a little video that helps make a case for a band too many people only know by a couple lame tracks from a sophomore effort:
So I'm collaborating with some of my favorite artists on something big.... possibly looking something like:
ACT I :
Lullaby #1
Another Cog In The Clock
Only Love Can Break The Spell
Mixing Tattles
Waltz #1 (Unmasking)
Outside Your Door
The Curtain Call
Let It Go
Act II :
Lullaby #2
Hands Up / Arms Down
Grizzled
Western Winds
Waltz #2 (Faraway)
Turn Red
Don't Act So... SSD
God Never Was _________________ follow me on the bandcamp.
Last edited by craola on 11/01/2018 04:54; edited 1 time in total
thank you, tilly. i hope to one day make a big enough splash to get my socks wet. still working on it. the key is to keep finding puddles and jumping in them. i think we'll get there eventually.
say, you live in forest park ... you're not in the wildwood area by any chance, are you? _________________ follow me on the bandcamp.
thank you, tilly. i hope to one day make a big enough splash to get my socks wet. still working on it. the key is to keep finding puddles and jumping in them. i think we'll get there eventually.
say, you live in forest park ... you're not in the wildwood area by any chance, are you?
I wish!!! I would love to live in the3 Pacific NW. No. I live right outside Chicago.
new game thread: suggest an album for the person above you to give a "second chance". in other words, pick an album they gave a low rating that you feel was unmerited, and add some input a la "i liked this album because of x, and perhaps the y threw you off the trail a bit, but z will stoke you out". _________________ follow me on the bandcamp.
Bump thread. Half way though Birdwatchers. Will post something longish. Basically, this is the most fun I’ve had with an album release since the In Rainbows fiasco back in the day. This is the slow trade. Two new tracks each week. Lots of nonsense to keep entertained, and just high quality music and fun. Fyfe is blowing my mind on a weekendly basis. _________________ follow me on the bandcamp.
let's take the Channels May Change tour: Fyfe Dangerfield's Birdwatcher podcasts, led by "The Waiter". i believe this is the Guillemots album rumored to be in the making since 2012, one that it seems took its toll on Fyfe, who seemingly suffered some sort of existential crisis while working through the record. this really IS a Guillemots release in a lot of ways, and i'm near certain Greig and Arista are playing on these tracks, with Arista's stand-up bass and voice being heard on Azure Azure and Greig's signature counterpoint rhythms puzzling the songs up all over the place in the best ways.
we're halfway through the releases, which are generally 20 minutes of drama including two or three "songs" or compositions. i will expand on a few of these, but from what i understand, the possible album releases are:
1.2 Woah! Life - we're back! Fyfe is back! and this is a lovely entrance. starkly reminiscent of the early days of Guillemots, but with a much more confident, laid-back and learned perspective, both lyrically and musically.
1.5 Birdwatcher - this writing is so pleasantly dynamic, and the classical background really shines through on this track. the track really roars like an orchestra at times.
2.5 Lochinver - this track starts off with my least favorite side of Fyfe, the Billy Joel singer-songwriter man, but there's just enough going on to keep it interesting. while it strolls about at a leisurely pace for the first half of its nearly 11 minute length, it changes pace entirely into something vaguely reminiscent of Dexy's Midnight Runners about halfway through - a welcome turn of events, perfectly timed and electrifying in its execution.
2.6 Lying There - the introduction is eerily familiar... as though we're about to dive head first into Ave Maria, but it never takes that routek, instead ambient synthesizing and singing out, scattering strange sound samples all around the room. this is a gorgeous track. recommended for the ambiently inclined.
3.2 Azure Azure - this is my favorite track at this time. for one, Arista is here, and the melody at times sounds like something straight out of Ennio Morricone's playbook (circa Vergogna Schifosi).
3.6 Pop Medicine - i cringe at references to pop music in songs, and i don't know why. it's not a particularly fair association, but in spite of that, this is a stellar track. i find the lyrics a bit.... hard to swallow, yes, but the music is gorgeous. this sounds like a "Walk The River era Guillemots" track in both positive and negative ways. perhaps it'll grow on me some still. there is room.
4.2 Moonbeam & The Ha Hoos Present ... "Llorando" - this is a sexy number musically, with the lead guitar pulling out a funky enveloped groove. Fyfe's vocals play counterpoint to the rhythm section masterfully. there's this awkward lyric about not "focus[ing] on their hocus pocus" - one of the cheesiest lyrics Fyfe's written, but it's done so playfully that it's not only forgiveable but kind of cool. by the time his voice cracks on, "i love you", you've forgotten the cheesy lyric entirely, and you've got the feels rolling down your cheeks, which by the way feel rather sore from smiling. that's when the rhythm section really kicks up a notch or two or three sounding like something Salif Keita would very much approve of. mm, and perhaps Salif Keita participated. i swear this - you need to listen to "Laban" by Salif Keita, and you'll totally get what i'm talking about.
4.5 Humans, Humans, Humans ... (Eyeing the Canapes) - this is one of the tracks that could flow seeminglessly in and out of the Guillemots debut album, Through The Windowpane. some of the tracks from this Birdwatchers series could've been lifted right off of Through The Windowpane reall (see Woah! Life and Birdwatcher), and this is one of the best examples of that. the track kicks off with some pitch-shifted scatting, synths and field recordings. everything about this track is a reminder of what made that album so incredible. the drums are cleverly arranged. Fyfe's vocals cut straight to the heart, lyrically baffling as they may be at times. he slips comfortably into falsetto howling. the bass line grooves right alongside the drums. oh, and that must be Arista and Greig again. the guitar and synths are quirky and sort of mesmerizing in their own rights.
5.3 Gingerbread Child - this track is one of the more bare bones compositions from this series as of yet, highlighting fyfe's clever songwriting skills. there's an intimacy to the performance that will break your heart (like the cracked and crackling voice). it's almost too sincere to be true. but more than anything else, i'm impressed by the carefree nature of the guitar on this song. and it ends with a clever, peter gabriel-esque line: "just as i'm about to make my move, you tell me that you've found a different groove."
5.4 In The Computer Light - again that dynamicism that you only hear from the classically trained. my own redundancies aside, this is the most dynamic piece of music from Fyfe since Sao Paulo, which you'll remember(?) is the greatest song ever written. it is also the first instance i can recall of hearing a westerner incorporate elements of traditional chinese opera into a pop song, and he absolutely pulls it off. add in the flamenco guitar and the post-modern orchestral movements, and you've got a real gem that soars up and down all the aisles. i hope there's more like this. don't get me wrong, nearly everything he's released to date has been gold, but this is golder. we're talking 24 karat.
5.5 Swayed (feat. Carey St. Amande) - ok. so this... is such a left-field track - especially after what we just listened to. you can reliably expect fyfe to change things up and catch you by surprise time and time again, but this track is the most prominent example of this i've come across. the track sounds like a collaboration between pure bathing culture and clams casino, maybe. it's chillwave, r&b, dream pop all swirled about together. but it's undeniably got Fyfe's signature electronic treatments coupled to a swaggering guitar progression that makes this undeniably a Fyfe creation. would i have recognized it in a different context though? probably not. that's kind of fascinating in itself.
6.5 Give Yourself To It - this is a simple tune with all of the elements of a classic Fyfe Dangerfield track. ambience, synths, vocular pleasantries, mingling guitar, dynamicism and strong songwriting. while it may be one of the growers, it's also one of the strongest compositions from the Birdwatchers era.
6.6 Swoon - this is quite a number! elements of Prince and "sexy era" U2 abound. it's a bit tongue-in-cheek at times too, with Fyfe shouting, "whatcha gonna do, sue me? wrong guy!" to contemplating how he got to be so cool and scatting the enveloped guitar solo rather than playing it. it's a fun take.
to me, this puts to rest any doubts about who this man is and marks him as one of the greatest creatives of our time. fans have always known he had this in him, evidenced especially in his early efforts, but this series really brings it home.
i look forward to the next 6 weeks of releases and whatever inevitably follows. i'll update you then, but in the meantime, keep on bird watching.
EDIT: if you made it this far and would like to listen to all these shenanigans, let me know, and i can link you up. you can download the podcasts from the website, but if you want the edited, tracked out versions of the releases with titles and all that jazz, i've can get those to you. _________________ follow me on the bandcamp.
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