[Gedominew]

Figured I would get the ball rolling in here - no need to split threads by disc just yet, I don't think.

[ASSESTYTEAH]

What a crap album.

I am still marvelling at it. Had a little break from it but will get right back into it before I go see her in September

[ASSESTYTEAH]

Oh and nice new avatar Kari!

[FelikTen]

Recently got the record on vinyl; it's fucking gorgeous. The record has yet to really sink in for me, but I am loving it so far.

[adsexpist]

Still the best record of the year so far. I love it from start to finish.

[Gedominew]

Still the best record of the year so far. I love it from start to finish.

Me too. I listened to it on the plane on the way home from tip to tail and just loved every single second. Even the songs I'm not wild about were an absolute joy (though that could have been due to the tranquilizers!). I haven't heard anything this year that's come close.

[poonnassunlix]

I think I said this at some point in the previous HOOM discussion, but part of what makes me love this album so much is that it's not Ys 2.0. It seems like she very consciously chose to work with styles, musically and lyrically, that both did something different from Ys but still stayed true to her aesthetic. I've always thought that trying to make a new album without repeating yourself would be hard, but she pulled it off like gangbusters. Yet another leaf in her book of amazing. .

[u8MmZFmF]

"Go Long" could very well be my Song of the Year. It's nesting in my soul.

[denSmumbSes]

Recently got the record on vinyl; it's fucking gorgeous. The record has yet to really sink in for me, but I am loving it so far.

Isn't it just beautiful on Vinyl? I got it that way too. It's such a treat to open an look through.

[littlePen]

Absolutely gorgeous album. Infinitely better than Ys, in my opinion. Breathtaking production, beautifully sequenced, and just all around wonderful.

[GEAntonio]

I am still having a bit of a hard time with disc 3, but I love this album overall. I cannot believe how "You and Me, Bess" has grabbed me. It's sort of the same thing that happened with "Monkey & Bear" before -- I couldn't stand it at first, then it became my favorite.

I wish I liked "Esme" and "Ribbon Bows" more. They're the two I struggle with. I love "Autumn" but it's a bit slow and I have to be in the right mood for it.

"Go Long" is, for me, probably the best thing she's ever done. What an amazing song.

[adsexpist]

I have a playlist on my iPod with all the 2010 releases I've downloaded/purchased. It's amazing to hear the songs out of context, they stand alone.

[FelikTen]

Isn't it just beautiful on Vinyl? I got it that way too. It's such a treat to open an look through.

Yes! It wasn't too much more expensive than the CD either, which was an extra bonus. She really put time into the artwork and presentation

[uncoosesoge]

It's a Great & Beautiful Album but I'm not entirely comfortable with it ("yet"). The best songs encapsulate a pitiful sort of devestation so intensely and perfectly that I find myself wary of listening, in the same way I dont find myself spinning Me And A Gun or Tracy Chapman's Behind the Wall all that often - Go Long and Jackrabbits particulary embody this to me. Amazing pieces of music but I have to factor in considerable recovery time after playing them.

Whereas, to illustrate the contrast, Emily and Only Skin can have me in tears but leave me feeling refreshed and soothed by the end. Go Long can have me in tears and then leaves me feeling totally fckin miserable at the end. Which is a different experience.

[Gedominew]

Whereas, to illustrate the contrast, Emily and Only Skin can have me in tears but leave me feeling refreshed and soothed by the end. Go Long can have me in tears and then leaves me feeling totally fckin miserable at the end. Which is a different experience.

Really? I have never felt "soothed" at the end of Only Skin. I am usually sobbing. LOL!

I do think there's bitterness in this record that didn't exist on Ys, though. All the songs on Ys, despite their sadness/intensity, have this sort of amazing innocence and sense of wonder to them. I think both records are extraordinary musical/lyrical/artistic statements.

[uncoosesoge]

Really? I have never felt "soothed" at the end of Only Skin. I am usually sobbing. LOL!

I do think there's bitterness in this record that didn't exist on Ys, though. All the songs on Ys, despite their sadness/intensity, have this sort of amazing innocence and sense of wonder to them. I think both records are extraordinary musical/lyrical/artistic statements.

I probably picked the wrong word there with 'soothed' because it comes with a coziness that isn't what I was aiming at - I was thinking more of... healing cream being put on a nettle sting.

Actually you perfectly describe the differentiation I was groping at in your second paragraph. It's still that innocence and wonder in Ys that I find myself reaching to hear more of, at the moment.

[ASSESTYTEAH]

One of the best album announcements of all time? I think so. No fancy press release. No massive fanfare. A comic strip. A month before the album was due out. No warning, nothing.

And it worked.

[Misiotoagodia]

Still the best record of the year so far. I love it from start to finish.

While I don't love it totally from start to finish it easily IS the best record of the year so far. Too impressive not to be.

I wish I liked "Esme" and "Ribbon Bows" more.

With Ribbon Bows it's all about the bridge, that's all silent and shimmery before it explodes. Yum!!

[Smittoh]

I got this album when it came out. I haven't listened to it in quite awhile and don't feel the need to.

Songs I love: Kingfisher, Go Long

Songs I like: Easy, '81, No Provence

The rest I don't remember or just find really boring. So I love/like 5 out of 18 songs? That's not good.

Overall, I really love some of her songs (Kingfisher, Go Long, and Emily) but most of them are just boring and long. I guess some people love music without much melody that goes on forever, but I'm not one of them. I don't have a problem with her voice (it's really good on HOOM actually) and her music isn't technically bad or anything, I just don't think she's as good as the Pitchfork crowd makes her out to be.

[Gedominew]

Music without much melody? OKAY. I can deal with criticisms of her music (not everyone has the attention span/connects to her storytelling, I get it), but that is just wayyyy off. Her music is nothing BUT melody. Melodies on top of melodies on top of melodies.

Also - it's not just the Pitchfork crowd. She's widely considered by critics to be one of the best musicians working today, and she sells out places like the Sydney Opera House and Royal Albert Hall. I know it's a nitpicky thing to say, but this isn't some obscure musician that no one has ever heard of. Granted, she got a lot of attention through Pitchfork, but what well respected indie musician hasn't?