Anyone enjoying the new album? OP1 is all over it, hard to pick out synth sounds but it’s very obvious on sampled vocals! I like it very much, some of his best work on here (circle, 45)
I was keen to check it out due to the OP-1 chat and yeah, I can hear what sounds like OP-1 use!
Wasn’t a huge fan of the first two albums - just not my thing - but honestly, from the get go I really feel for the new album. Mostly because the tunes are great but also a little bit because it sounds very much like the sort of stuff I always try, and fail, to do with my set up!!!
I adore For Emma, really dig the last Volcano Choir lp, but this one is technology overkill (so far). I hope Justin doesn’t go down the Radiohead avenue of destroying songs just to utilize a new piece of gear. I admire and respect artists who refuse to replicate former glories. His lyrics on this one certainly has an abstract (cut-up Burroughesque?) feel which does compliment the music. My heart lies with Efterklang, and their newest incarnation, Liima.
It’s great. OP-1 or not, he manages to make music an artform with some of these tracks. Bits and pieces of things from his life and reality, grinded through the OP. I heard the single 22 a couple of weeks ago, and I knew I was going to enjoy the album allready from the first “It might be over soon”. Not a bon iver fan until now!
I adore For Emma, really dig the last Volcano Choir lp, but this one is technology overkill (so far). I hope Justin doesn't go down the Radiohead avenue of destroying songs just to utilize a new piece of gear. I admire and respect artists who refuse to replicate former glories. His lyrics on this one certainly has an abstract (cut-up Burroughesque?) feel which does compliment the music. My heart lies with Efterklang, and their newest incarnation, Liima.
I do get the Radiohead comment but Radiohead have been at their finest (and poorest) sporadically since the ditched “normality” after OK Computer. While not their strongest album, I still argue that Amnesiac is one of their best collections of songs for example. King of Limbs though was a mess!
Anyway, I guess Im saying the vibe was nailed for me this time around but it is something to be careful/wary of for the next LP!
Amnesiac kicked Kid a’s arse! The second half of KOL was damn cool, and their latest is bloody beautiful in places (best audio clarity I’ve ever heard), but suffers from the same appallingly bonkers track sequencing as all their others.
That’s funny, I really like everything they’ve done, TKOL included. That album felt very tight and focused, with faint echoes of the burial/4tet thing that was cresting at the time. Bonkers track sequencing, as in weird song structures?
re Bon Iver, it’s interesting that this album came from a bad place, battling depression and dealing with the negative side of fame. It feels like the opposite of the last one, which was big, confident, ambitious. He sounds desperate here at times, like a cornered animal. It’s rushed and sloppy and rough around the edges. All the more human for it IMO - like on creeks, which could be seen as an imogen heap ripoff, but heap would never release something so unpolished, and for me the interesting part of that track is how the pitch tracking falters at certain moments and tugs against his voice on the high notes. He must have had tons of pressure on him to follow up the last one, and he went in an unexpected direction. I like the Radiohead comparison - it definitely could be seen as his Kid A.
Wonder if this will have any effect on the public perception/adoption of the OP1 - it’s now featured in the liner notes of the album, in several interviews, in live videos and in the Pitchfork article. Probably the majority of people will just continue to disregard it as an overpriced toy for hipsters, which is fine by me. Kind of scared about it becoming “mainstream” to be honest.
Love Bon Iver, looking forward to this. As for Radiohead, The Bends is a towering achievement that they will never better. Still, it exists and can be enjoyed, regardless of what later direction they choose to take. I also love Kid A too so all good!
Yeah I’ve really been liking the new songs I’ve been hearing, just curious @Anfim how do you know it’s an op-1 being used?
Yeah I've really been liking the new songs I've been hearing, just curious @Anfim how do you know it's an op-1 being used?
He’s mentioned it being a game changer for him in loads of interviews and you can see it in the live performances, pretty much everyone on stage is using one. He’s also said that this album began with the “it might be over soon” phrase sampled into the OP1 and played back at various pitches.
Once you know it was used a lot on the album you start to notice certain sounds!
Oh wow thats really cool