moments

2:40, "Into The Clouds". Everything stops for a second as the final verse starts, then everything and then some kicks back in and the song literally takes off, matching the lyric.

3:13, "Wonders". The drum machine trips over itself, as if it can hardly wait to begin one final, glorious bridge.

1:25, "Magic". After some teasing, *that* chorus finally begins.

0:50, "Ruins of Rome". The pan-flute intro totally cuts out, silence, then gorgeousness.

4:25, "Ruins of Rome". Again. The word "home" is stretched over a few extra beats with a couple of ascending notes added on for good measure, sending the track into the heavens.

4:29-4:31, "Ruins of Rome". Yet again. The synths stutter underneath the chorus before unleashing a majestic rain of descending melody that has only been hinted at in the previous 4 minutes and 28 seconds. (These are 2011's greatest 3 seconds of music, by the way.)

And we keep going.

0:02, "Longest Ever Dream". The most Richard X of Richard X beats roll in.

3:15, "Nova". It's only a few "ahhs" but they ascend what could be a generic club banger into, well, something better.

All of these and more are what make the Sound of Arrows' 'Voyage' so fucking spectacular.

counterpoint (or, IFUCKINGLOVEYOU pt. 2)

My thoughts, as they happen, as I give 'Voyage' my first listen.

*ahem*

November 8, 2011.

"'Into the Clouds' is a re-recording, which we knew. Somehow it's even more magical."

"So far - 5 songs in - every song is a could-be-a-closer mini-epic. That's a compliment."

"'Ruins of Rome' is ASTOUNDING."

"Holy shit. 4 & 1/2 minutes in 'Ruins of Rome' becomes a cut-up/fuck-up monster for a hot 30 seconds that completely makes the rest of the album barely matter."

"'Longest Ever Dream' doesn't appear to be related to 'Magic' - outside of the shared line - or 'Longer Ever Dream'. It does, however, sound like he's singing: 'Yesterday, I have the longest ever dream.' I'm going to pretend that's the actual lyric.
It's the most Richard X sounding song on the album so far with it's relentlessly driving synth undercurrent. It's the sixth time I've thought: 'This is my favorite track on the album'.
It's track six."

"Vocoders and marching band snares over an ambient background - 'Hurting All The Way' is a nice mid-album palette cleanser.

"'Conquest' is - ready for this one? - C+C Music Factory pulled through a Sound of Arrows filter. On first impression, anyways. It's blatantly early-90's dance pop in any case." (In retrospect, C+C Music Factory is completely off-base but early-90's dance pop is spot on.)

"'Nova' we know, and it fades into 'There Is Still Hope', a 7+ minute slow-burner of a track. The epic of the epics, if you will."

"We end the album proper with 'Lost Cities', all breathy 'ooh's and 'ahh's and astronaut speech samples. ('...Brothers who are truly brothers', etc., as also sampled in Geneva's 'A Place In The Sun'.) Perfect."

"'Disappear' is super upbeat - for them - and great to have but it would not have fit on the album. At all. I imagine it would KILL live."

"Worth the wait? And then some. We'll be discovering things about this one for years to come."

Multiple listens later and it's chasing 'Lights and Offerings' for album of the year. If you don't completely melt at this:

I have very little time for you at the moment.

Well done, boys.

into the clouds

Your order #202-0268508-xxxxxxx (received November 03, 2011)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Qty Item Price Delivery Subtotal

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amazon.co.uk items (Sold by Amazon EU S.a.r.L.):

1 Voyage £6.66 1 £6.66

Dispatched via Royal Mail (estimated arrival date: November 28, 2011).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item Subtotal: £6.66
Delivery and handling: £1.68
Pre-order Guarantee: £0.00

Total: £8.34

Payment Total: USD 13.84**

I honestly thought the day would never come.

Also: 2 discs for under $14 shipped? Hello.

boys, you're spoiling us

Two Sound of Arrows singles in one year?

Relax! To compromise for this wealth of material released within a 12-month period, they've decided to re-release pre-Geffen single "M.A.G.I.C." - now just called "Magic" - on August 1st or August 14th, depending on where you look. It'll be a 12"-only deal again and come backed with a now-standard pair of remixes; this time from Tom Staar and Chad Valley, whoever they are. (It's gotta be better than fucking Tiësto, right? Right.)

I will admit I was too afraid to listen to the original "M.A.G.I.C." in the post-"Into The Clouds" excitement, being scared off by the too-twee-for-its-own-good "Danger!". So I can't say how it sounds in its (presumably) new version, but the video looks something like this:



Sadly, it doesn't continue the 'Never Ending Story 2011' theme that "Into The Clouds" and "Nova" had - unless you look at this as the non-book part of said Story, but even that is a bit of a stretch - and the song itself is a bit precious with its children's chorus, but I also wasn't sold on "Into The Clouds" initially. I'm still optimistic for the album.

2011, I hate you and you're bringing me down

So, here we are: a few days left of the fifth month of 2011. Generally one would do a half-year round up after the year was half-over, but there's something special planned for June and nothing on the release calendar we haven't already heard so we might as well get this over.

The new music brought to us so far this year has been - to be polite - less than spectacular. With one notable exception - I bet you can guess what it is - every album I've bought this year has at best left me with a feeling of "is that all?", at worst the realization that it's time to check out of a long-followed career.

So where to begin?

Fuck you, Polly Jean Harvey. As discussed with a friend, we already have one Joanna Newsom and she's fucking awful, we didn't need another. That's over simplifying, obviously, but what the hell? I was willing to give you one album of dressing in a Victorian-style wedding dress singing like a child while playing an instrument you hardly knew what to do with, a second album of similar nonsense is just testing patience now. (That's what those unlistenable John Parish collaboration albums are for, right?) That 'Let England Shake' is earning the best reviews of a career full of (admittedly at times) blind admiration is just more infuriating, and I can't even talk about the crushing disappointment of the live show yet. (How, I ask, does one make "The Sky Lit Up" so. fucking. dull?) We're officially broken up.

Elbow, you're also on my shit list, but we've talked about that before. Don't play it so safe next time and everything will be alright. (Unless, of course, it's not.) We're not over - not by a long shot, I hope - but we've certainly had our first big fight.

The Kills - THE KILLS! - what happened? Thanks for nothing, Jack White. 'Midnight Boom' was obviously was going to be a tough act to follow, but applying what you learned from your time in the Dead Weather was not the right way to go, Allison. A couple of great moments shine through: "Future Starts Slow" starts things off on a promising note and the one/two punch of "Heart Is A Beating Drum" and "Nail In My Coffin" pick things back up after the snorefest of "Satellite" - wrong lead single alert! - but after that it's a slow slide into mediocrity. Shame. (Apparently the live show is still shit hot so I'll have to see about that.)

The Gruff Rhys record has grown on me for what it is - a mid-tempo rehash of ideas explored throughout the SFA records - and it is still perfectly listenable in its own right. More a gentle reminder from Gruff that "yes, I can still do this" after the disaster of 'Dark Days/Light Years' than a classic in its own right, I'll take it for now. (That said, I really wish the - er - phantom of 'Phantom Power' would stop hanging over every single SFA/Gruff Rhys release.)

Hunx, Hunx...the novelty was cute at first but the schtick is starting to wear. (Remember what happened to Gravy Train!!!!? Change it up a bit before it happens again.) To be fair, I've only given 'Too Young To Be In Love' a curiosity once-over but I also haven't felt terribly compelled to return to it.

R.E.M. - really? Really. Oh well.

Dear Sound of Arrows: don't fall apart yet. You'd better have more tricks up your sleeve than a fucking Tiesto remix after making us wait this long.

Which leaves us with:

Duran Duran! Yes, we've talked about this before and, yes, 'All You Need Is Now' is technically a 2010 album, but it's still a blast. So thank you for that, but enough with the £350 special editions and making us go to a zillion different retailers to buy the album multiple times to get everything. (I give the early iTunes release a pass because they were upfront about it and, frankly, it's the best version of the album as far as a listening experience goes. However, you shouldn't need a chart to keep track of what physical format has what.) Also, "Leave A Light On" is a poor, poor choice for the third single.

Boxer Rebellion! A slight step back from the masterpiece of 'Union' but still a solid effort. You're another one that needs to watch your formatting, though - hopefully you learned something from the iTunes fuck up.

There's a 3-track Kenna EP that kind of came out of nowhere and it was a welcome surprise. I'll reserve judgment until I hear more but it's looking good.

And, the winner so far...



Duh. As far as I'm concerned, this is the only album that has landed this year without a whiff of disappointment, a fully-formed debut that delivers on the promise of early material and then some. Thank you also for the lovely 7" singles with complimentary artwork with album-quality b-sides and for generally getting it right.

That said, you also really need to quit it with the formats - it seems every month since its February release there has been another version of the album with some new bonus track and/or disc - and, more importantly, STOP SHOVING THAT FUCKING LAURA CANTRELL VERSION OF "LOOK AT ME" DOWN OUR THROATS! It was terrible the first time we bought it, you can understand why we'd be bitter the third time. In fact, once you've put a track or mix out on something, please try your best to not make us buy it four more times. (How many copies of the Belbury Poly Remix of "Lights and Offerings" does one really need?) I still love you but it's starting to get a bit annoying. Please and thank you.

Also, US tour?

Advance alert: the Battles record is a grower but ultimately pretty great.

false alarm

"You chose complete shipping for the delivery of your order by Standard Mail, this now completes your order.

Shipped Items:

1 x 2751065 The Sound Of Arrows - Nova 5.99 GBP per unit

Items Total:	5.99 GBP
Postage and packing:	4.25 GBP
Total:	8.70 GBP"

Whew.

(And, really, I just wanted an excuse to use that image again. Gorgeous.)

the sound of delays

"Dear James,

Update on your order number: xxxxxxx

Unfortunately there has been a delay in obtaining one or more of the items you have ordered and this is holding up your order.

The item(s) we have not yet been able to obtain are shown below:

The Sound Of Arrows, Nova, 5.99, 1

If you would like us to send you the items that we have in stock,
please send us an email with 'release available items' and your
order number in the subject line and we will cancel the items
that are holding up your order.

Unfortunately, we are not able to split orders and send the available
items now and the rest later. If you still wish to receive the items we
have not been able to obtain, please place a new order for these.

If you would prefer to wait and recieve all of the items you have
ordered together, you do not need to reply to this email. Please
check again in 14 days

Thank you "

Pull it together, boys. I had faith in this actually happening.

I see it (but I'm not sure I believe it)

The Sound of Arrows just posted this picture to their Twitter. While it in no way guarantees that we will actually be getting an album during the 2011 calendar year, it does show that one exists and increases the possibility of it coming some time in the near future. If it all goes tits up - which is still has the possibility of doing, lets be honest - there's something to search for.

(Of course, we also know a third JJ72 album exists and they've somehow managed to keep that one under wraps for all these years.)

Color me (incredibly) cautiously optimistic. And to think all of this excitement stems from a 2-year old 3:45 single that I didn't even like that much at first:



You've got a lot to live up to, boys.

formatting fail

Back in January, the Discodust blog posted a remix of Alphabeat's forthcoming single "Hole In My Heart" by the excellent Sound of Arrows, officially getting my excited for the single - despite it being the wrong choice. [Hello "The Beat Is" or "DJ".] I couldn't wait for the official release to hold a copy in my hands.

Well. Fast forward a bit and here we are, a week before release. A quick gander at the formats tell me that not only have they left off the Sound of Arrows remix in favor of dull club mixes by Wideboys [really?] and Chew Fu [who?], but also that they've put the radio edits of said mixes on the CD single. For no reason, really - they'd comfortably both fit and still be under running time for chart rules. On top of that, it lists at an astonishingly high £3.99.

In discussion with my friend Dean about the situation, he had this to say:

"The music industry seems to want to destroy their own CD sales to prove how much illegal downloads are hurting them."

Time and time again, it seems. Remember the Little Boots CD single fiasco? The only comfort I take is that the digital release is getting the same middle finger stuck up at them. Thanks for nothing.