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Post by Nola on May 29, 2017 20:20:53 GMT
Sounds good!
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Post by antoniomb on May 30, 2017 12:01:41 GMT
Since it was my recommendation and I've listened to that album so many times, I'm going to listen to A Moon Shaped Pool in the meantime
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Post by Nola on Jun 8, 2017 11:32:35 GMT
I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to listen to this yet; I've been really busy for some reason. I will try to get to it today or tomorrow.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2017 8:44:22 GMT
So guys, have you managed to listen to Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight? Maybe we can start letting each other know what we thought? I'm going to listen to it again a few times over the weekend and post my thoughts on, say, Monday. Sound good to everyone? :-)
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Post by Nola on Jun 16, 2017 22:58:57 GMT
I'm beginning my listening now, and will listen to it a few times over the next couple of days, and was can start discussion Monday. Sound good?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2017 14:14:20 GMT
So my thoughts on Frightened Rabbit - The midnight Organ Fight. So this was a weird one. Its not really a style of music I listen to. It's labelled as "indie rock" but that's such a vague term I think. Indie folk, maybe? Compared to other bands I know a little of, it reminded me of something between Mumford and Sons (mostly the pounding drums throughout), and another band called Idlewild. I think I prefer the more melodic sound of Idlewild. The best song was probably the first on the album, The Modern Leper, very anthemic. From there, though, I often lost interest as the album went along, it all felt rather samey and it could not reach the relative high of that opening. I think more than anything it is down to my own preference in genre rather than the album being 'bad' as it were. After hearing the album a few times, there were whole chunks I still couldn't remember the melody of, I couldn't hum along to it. On the positive side, man what an energetic album! That drummer must break a whole lot of drum sticks, smacking them like that! I also enjoyed My Backwards Walk, a calmer song that broke the album up a bit. Same story with Floating In The Forth. Good Arms vs bad Arms was also interesting. Overall, I'm sorry to say this isn't really my cup of tea. I was a bit worried to say that, but it's better to just be open about it and talk honestly about the music we like/dislike (I'll have no problem if no one likes any music I put forward). I think it requires a certain level of patience to 'get' this album, and I didn't have that patience because it isn't a genre I enjoy in the first place. Maybe with a few more listens, I'd like it a bit more.
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Post by Nola on Jun 20, 2017 23:06:08 GMT
I had some of the same thoughts, Andrew. I didn't dislike the album - if I were listening to the radio and one of these songs came on, I wouldn't feel the urge to change the station. That said, it didn't impress me, either. I too thought of Idlewild, another Scottish indie group, with shades of Elliott Smith's melancholy. There wasn't a whole lot of variance between the songs, and it all sounded like I'd heard it before.
I think what was there was put together well, however, and it can be difficult to sound original in this particular vein of music. I think the album has merit, particularly if you're not well-versed in the genre. For me, this is definitely in my groove of depressed self-evaluation, but I think that works against this album a bit, lessening its initial impact.
Again, not a bad album, it just didn't strike me as particularly distinct.
Antonio: I know you wanted to listen to Moon-Shaped Pool, but I would like to hear your full opinion of this album anyway. One of the tricky things about evaluating an album is that you can't really account for the personal connection, and I'd like to know what Midnight Organ Fight says to you.
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Post by antoniomb on Jun 23, 2017 19:59:47 GMT
I am surprised to see that the album didn't get a warm reception given how critically acclaimed it was. In any case, I personally love the album for several reasons, with its lyrics being probably the number one cause (again, very surprised to see no one mentioning them too).
Of course, as every single art form, really, music can be very subjective and can evoke certain positive or negative feelings, but that doesn't happen to everyone. For me, this album gives me the chills for the majority of the songs. The first time I listened to this album I was also dealing with some tough emotional situations, and that's possibly why it struck me so hard that I almost have a "connection" with it. While the arrangements and the production value of the album are not spectacular, they work very well with the material without risk of "overproducing" or experimenting for no reason. There are some great interplay sections between acoustic and electric guitars in many instances that seem to go well (for example in Good Arms vs Bad Arms). I think that the album reaches its peak with Keep Yourself Warm, my favorite track here, starting with the slow, haunting sections of vocals and organ and slowly building in intensity to reach a very energetic peak.
What I don't like (at all) about the album is the mastering. Man, it's so bad. In some parts it literally peaks to 0 dbFS (which, for those who don't understand what I'm talking about, technically means distortion). Seriously, what were they thinking? For an indie album, no less. There is so little dynamic range you would think they were thinking they were mastering a heavy metal album and then realized when they submitted the work that it was something totally different...
Finally, I'd like to return to the lyrics for a second: the reason they are worthy of attention is mostly because they feel *real*. The songwriting here doesn't try to hide the author's real feelings but goes straight to the point, but still in a non-obvious or common way. You can hear the anger, the sadness and the regret constantly without ever feeling artificial.
Personal 3 picks: The Modern Leper, Fast Blood, Keep Yourself Warm Worst song of the album: I wouldn't really know...I really like all the album! If I really had to choose one, probably Bright Pink Bookmark
That's what I think, anyway. Hopefully my next suggestion will appeal to more people. But now, onto A Moon Shaped Pool we go!
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Post by spacedaisy on Sept 11, 2017 4:03:41 GMT
Hey guys! Sorry I didn't jump right in, when Cj approached me, I was neck deep in trying to fix the Syndicate website. It's fixed now, and though I sometimes find myself mired in updates and fixing bugs and what not, it doesn't take as much of my time. So I can do this now. I may bug Alex to come join us too, because he's a music nerd who loves this sort of thing. Anyway, I'm going to listen to the first album tomorrow. I'll think on what I'd like to nominate and get back to you all.
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Post by spacedaisy on Sept 11, 2017 21:44:47 GMT
Midnight Organ Fight So I had the opposite reaction to this album as you two did. I really enjoyed this album and it will likely stay in my playlist, so thanks for introducing me to it. I can see why you might feel like it's samey. I could see that for the majority of the album, and then the last few songs changed it up. I think the real mistake was in the track listing. I think it would make it feel more varied. I enjoyed the juxtapostion of the driving, almost upbeat feel of it with the lyrics. It forces you to either not pay attention to what they are saying at all, or really make some effort to focus on it. It's interesting. I also was pleasantly surprised by the instrumentation. It was much better than I expected for some reason, I felt like it was unique and there were some unexpected bits that really did it for me. I really enjoyed it. Definitely going to listen again. For the record, I don't often kind of dissect albums this way, lol. I usually try not to. So forgive me if my opinions don't sound polished.
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Post by Nola on Sept 11, 2017 23:40:25 GMT
No worries; half-baked is our MO around these parts I didn't dislike Midnight Organ Fight, and I might not have made that clear. It was good, and the themes it dealt with were complex and well-expressed. I think the reason for its lack of impact with me is that I've been dealing with mental illness essentially all my life. The kind of existential angst and melancholy in the album is practically second nature for me, and the result was that it didn't feel like it expressed anything new to me, specifically (this is not meant to be a humble-brag!). It probably wasn't fair for me to knock the album for that, and I can certainly see how it would be more meaningful to someone who has lived with different circumstances.
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Post by spacedaisy on Sept 12, 2017 0:35:31 GMT
Oh, I didn't think you were saying that. Sorry. I think I just enjoyed it more than you guys. I also didn't think you knocked it. lol, we have to agree not to apologize for our opinions here. Opinions are allowed and encouraged, that's the point of all this, right?
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Post by Nola on Sept 12, 2017 0:45:33 GMT
Indeed I do think I was a bit more dismissive than I should have been in my initial reaction, so don't feel like you forced me to clarify - that was something I wanted to do after thinking about it a bit more.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2017 6:50:14 GMT
Glad to see this thread getting some activity again!
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Post by Nola on Sept 12, 2017 10:53:36 GMT
Shall we get back on track and make a point to listen to Moon Shaped Pool over the weekend?
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