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Excerpt from Adressa (Trondheim) on Friday, let me know if you want the whole interview:
We are a monster, we are Slade
They have taken the mood with them to the concerts, where they follow a strict regime. Singles only.
– We can’t call it “greatest hits”, we’ve never had hits. “Nerve Tattoo” is perhaps the closest. But the audience gets short songs, a different style. It’s damn fun. We are a monster, I feel like I’m in Slade, laughs Bent Sæther. – Or maybe it was something like Small Faces held in the 60s, or The Who…
That’s what works with rock, short concise songs, with themes that are repeated. The Beatles discovered this in 1963, and there is a reason why the formula has survived, says Bent Sæther.My 5 cents: I really like this! For what it is. Elysium Soon is the centerpiece, tho also the kind of song I feel Bent can write in his sleep by now. A riff, a melody that follows the riff, and the nice buildup. Not Trust Us-era riffing and original melodies, but still groovy and nice! I really like Return to Sanity and Revenants as well. Condor is a sweet ditty. Crownee Says is fine, tho appreciate it’s big bro “Sterling Says” from the Manmower EP, for now, it might grow on me. Psycholab is a classic! All My Life is cool enough. For me the muddy garage production on this record is not a favorite. And, well, agree that it a bit too many odds and sods, but hey, that was the premise. And agree that most of these would have fit on 90s EPs, but since they’ve pretty much stopped doing EPs, a collection of B-sides is not something I would say neigh to!
Curious about this “new chapter” you are talking about!? The new drummer? Fewer 30+ min prog psychouts? And, interesting that Bent says is fun to play their shorter poppier songs again, that it feels like being in Slade? Lol. Tho I read it as a comment on the tour playing their singles, not a new approach. Though one could hope.
All in all, a really nice little record. Love the artwork as well. And * great * that the guys seem to be having fun doing it all themselves, making Instagram content and loopy stuff. Love it.
Saw it in the record shop in Trondheim yesterday, looked very beautiful. Tho I couldn’t buy it. But, hoping for some feedback and reactions very soon!
The foundational tape! It’s all there. Small diamonds in the rough, all four tracks are so so sweet. Love Queen Chinee. Blueberry is already a fully formed gem tho, in 89? 90? But I really appreciate the three other tracks and man how I dreamed about hearing this tape in the 90s and 00s, before it started leaking. So happy it’s now out for everyone to enjoy. Sgt. Psycho is delivering gold every week, thanks guys!
W O W ! I absolutely ADORE this song. And the production and hook. Nice to hear them strum away into krautrock-heaven-MP-bliss again! Feels so long ago. And as always I love Bents no nonsense drumming. Economic and highly effective. Goosebumps! Überwagner/Blank Canvas vibes, but better. Great acoustic version too, can’t believe the on-key singing;) Hi hopes for the next offering! And the LOOONG version. Stoked!
@motorkopf @aki : Wow very interesting, and thanks for posting the link to Begynnelser. Man, that’s a great listen, abs the prog part of ML/A, but longer and more expanding.
I always loved the lo-fi whimsy and acoustic brilliance of Begynnelser, though what in my eyes never made it a *classic* (which is what I always expect from these guys, jeeez the expectations!) is perhaps that they omitted what we’re getting in this offering: Something epic to go with the “mundane”. But now I can make my own mix and create a solid and classic MP album (and a couple of EPs to go with it). Spoiled!
Btw. Anybody have any references to the title “Ancient Astonauts”? A great title of a record if there ever was one.
Ps. Getting slight The Wheel vibes from Chariot these days, maybe it’s just me, not a musician. But I’ve listened to this record a lot lately, and it grows and grows. The Ladder has also finally landed for me. An epic record.
Wow, Rhyme Signatures articulates my thoughts exactly, though more profound. Great find, great review.
@the conscience: Heart and mind together is my holistic approach. They feed into each other, talking about art and music and listening or reading or comparing notes with other peoples insights and experiences is for me an absolute necessity to appreciate great art. Not only feeling, though that’s of course the initial thing you do. Like Punj over here walking in the forest, or JERO sitting on the couch w a beer listening, and weeping. Or whatever you do. A winner recipe. But I agree, always emotions first. Though “dancing w your brain” like Johnny says, is an equally important and necessary consequence and exercise I believe. Heaven and hell can after all be the same place, lol.
Though always comparing them to their back-catalog can be a tedious exercise (guilty as charged!) but sometimes frustration sets in. I guess that’s the price they pay, with a 30+ year career. But it’s also because I (we?) expect so much from these guys. Which must be a good thing. But they’re stubborn, which is sometimes frustrating, but also the best thing to be, as an artist.
Anyway. Always fun to read this forum, because we’re all diehards, but with different approaches, references and inclinations. I love reading all the comments, it can sometimes make me reevaluate stuff I’ve missed, or all the references you guys have can send me into an Apple Music or vinyl shop wormhole and come out with great new discoveries. The Begynnelser references mentioned in this thread made me go back and study it closer (btw – thought I was the only guy in the world holding that record dear, good to read I’m not alone!) Talk is good, having expectations is good, discussions are healthy. Keeps the juice fresh!
But all this is a distraction from the most important point: That this record is a mind-blower! Chariot is a heartbreaker! Snah! Pure MP bliss.
Wow, a really really beautiful record! I seem to mostly appreciate the “in-betweeners” this last decade, the more free-flowing stuff. Could live without The Ladder (this strain of late era MP rockers with the vocal-melodies sounding like … nothing, gives me … abs nothing) but from The Flower and on this is pure MP beauty, I agree that the Flower (great! Should be longer!) is like a intro to what is to come, and man, I will have to get the vinyl, beautiful artwork from what I’ve seen online.
Anyway, how I wish they had replaced the Ladder w something more visceral and this record would be a complete *gem*, maybe my favorite since God knows when. (Maybe since Begynnelser, but this is a far more refined and concise exercise with Thomas lifting everything to incredible heights.) Since the Unicorn. But this album is actually something pretty new for me in MP-context, maybe hearing them as a three-piece again, which always works best for me, with their “new” sound. I’m so happy.
And so happy to read the recent interviews w Bent regarding what the essence of MP is (and always nice to read his run-through of all the old gold). For me it’s just this: these last three tracks, the essence of MP encapsulated. Malencholy, lightness and heaviness. ML/A is hauntingly beautiful without overdoing it, but Chariot is the absolute centerpiece and highlight of this record, imo. I will listen to this one for years to come, a central piece of the MP canon. Thanks guys! I’m so happy to feel you again. And for them keeping it mostly instrumental with some beautiful backup singing or how you would say it (in Chariot) = perfection. Maybe they don’t need to sing so much more! Lol. Thanks!
I was a bit quick in my reaction yesterday, guess I was pretty disappointed. But I do think it’s been a bit too many MP records of late (I could never imagine myself saying this). But the records are feeling a bit claustrophobic, like they need some fresh air. Though this album really does bring some light and air, not so monolithic. But still. I was thinking that bringing Deathprod back could maybe be a good thing, Bent is great, but an outside eye is always good. Not so closed up. Locked up. To let the songs breathe. Ozone. Don’t know.
And I abs loved that interview w Bent on that jazznytt thing ThorEgil posted in another thread btw. So interesting. More of this, please. It’s important to get this guy talking. About the music
Stings my ears. Man I need a break from MP, see you guys in five years, after ten new RG albums I’m sure, or in ten years and 20 albums if this ridiculous pace continues. Or until they get an outside producer again. Deathprod? I’m logging off. Bye bye. Have fun!
For anyone (like me) who has not received the record and wants a preview you can stream At Empires End over on Rune Grammofon. Sounds great!
But good to rope you in.