The Syndicate

Ooo analysis. I was already planning to read along on Genius during my next listen, and now I'll get to read your summaries as well.

Norsemen do not eat the big pink mint!


I am enjoying this immensely. And wow it sure was interesting to hear the evolution through that progression of albums. I thought The Drift was pretty....different and this is just even more so and I love it.

MovingPictures07 wrote:

nutella wrote:

insertnamehere wrote:
2006's The Drift features, among other things, the distressed braying of a donkey, a demonic Donald Duck impression, and a live recording of a dead pig being repeatedly punched.

Well okay then. Given this, the historical context with which I am completely unfamiliar, and your lyric samples, I can honestly say I have no idea what to expect from this but I'm looking forward to it. I think I'll listen to the stuff you linked first, and maybe his previous albums as well. Or maybe I should dive right into the deep end. We'll see

Seriously, start with Scott 1, go through Scott 4, then try this or Tilt/The Drift/this. Going from Scott 1-4 to his experimental stuff blows my mind every time, but not quite like the first time. I'll never forget hearing Tilt after Scott 4 and just thinking... damn, what a musical shift.

OK, I'm doing this!

insertnamehere wrote:
2006's The Drift features, among other things, the distressed braying of a donkey, a demonic Donald Duck impression, and a live recording of a dead pig being repeatedly punched.

Well okay then. Given this, the historical context with which I am completely unfamiliar, and your lyric samples, I can honestly say I have no idea what to expect from this but I'm looking forward to it. I think I'll listen to the stuff you linked first, and maybe his previous albums as well. Or maybe I should dive right into the deep end. We'll see

Mine would be
Beneath the Brine - 5/5
98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare - 3/5
World Music - 3.5/5

Well that would just make too much sense now wouldn't it.

Interesting that I assumed an of Montreal comparison wouldn't be too far off though. Idk about that.

I think by OM they mean of Montreal, lol


and fwiw I hadn't heard of Crowded House until this thread

Just finished. Damn that was awesome. Gonna listen to the rest of their discog on spotify. I'm into this shit.

Not even halfway through and I've already recommended it to two friends. I am loving this. Thanks Boomslang

Eh it probably wasn't. I'm not the best instrumentation detective. But the sound is amazing. Loving this so far

One minute in and I'm already in love. Is that a hurdy-gurdy I hear? <3 Not sure but it sounds similar to a really cool piece I've heard with someone just absolutely shredding on a hurdy-gurdy with a loop pedal. Great sound.

I'm listening to Uchu Nippon Setagaya atm and I think I'm enjoying it rather more thoroughly than most of the live album. I definitely really enjoyed the first three tracks. I guess I liked the live version of In the Flight more though And I do love Long Season, so the live album has that going for it.

I will watch your video when I get around to it Rico. I think I will try to fit in a second listen first (and at some point those other albums MP suggested -- which I think I've heard at least parts of?)

Finished first half. Not very much stands out to me but I mostly like the overall sound. Sometimes I find the vocals a little annoying/grating tbh, but in some places they fit very well. I'm really liking a lot of the bass parts in particular, as well as the drums. I also LOVE the violin in "In the Flight" (predictably; violin is the easiest way to my heart ).
I've heard (a version of) Long Season before and liked it, so looking forward to that in the second half.

Re: live recordings: I also tend to prefer studio recordings, but there are some exceptions; some live versions are far superior to album versions. One example that comes to mind is Paul Simon's Concert in the Park, especially "The Cool, Cool River" -- I love the live version of that song and the original album one just really pales in comparison. Also, same goes for all of Stop Making Sense -- obviously the visual component of the film and David Byrne's crazy antics go along with that, but even with audio only the SMS versions are definitely preferable to the album versions.

Just starting now. Pretty excited for this one -- I've listened to a fair bit of Fishmans since MP posted about them a couple weeks ago, and have really liked what I've heard.

Ooo fascinating review Rico!! The comparisons to other artists were especially insightful and interesting. Nice analysis.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

Llama, I also love The Water's Fine, and yeah I do get what you mean about the tone of those tracks toward the end but I still enjoy it also lol that first interpretation of make me a boat never occurred to me

Golden wrote:I listened to a few more tracks while getting ready for work. The fourth? Track, with its New Orleans and charleston influences is completely gorgeous, it may enter my play list.

Yeah I love Howl

juliets wrote:For nutella (and anyone else who wants to see them playing) here is their npr tiny desk concert:



(I am just a lurker in this thread.)

I just watched this the other day, it's great! They also have an Audiotree one which I haven't watched yet.

Yeah the whole point of this is to share our tastes and we won't all agree. I can see why this album won't be everyone's thing, I totally know what you mean by it being kind of over the top. I just happen to like that Fwiw I'd say that The Village is notably less over the top/"epic" than this album while still containing a really interesting blend of influences.

Sweet! I'm excited that you all get to hear what has been my favorite band for the past year If this strikes your fancy I also heartily recommend their other album The Village as well as their two EPs. I love every bit of music they've ever made all of it is amazing and I never get tired of it I'm obsessed and should shut up now and let you form your own opinions

PSA for anyone using youtube, the video linked is missing the last track which you can find here. Also, the times listed for the tracks in the description are messed up, but there's a comment with the correct ones.

Can't say I'm a fan of "SARS" either lol. What about "Album Sharing Shenanigans" or ASS for short?

also slight nitpick bc I just noticed this, the youtube version of Beneath the Brine is missing the last track for some reason? you have the running time correct but there are 12 tracks and I guess when it comes up I'll point it out if anyone uses youtube.

I guess I still don't get why we're doing them in sets of 5? Why not just have them all in a queue? Or is it so we can get some fresh nominations so we don't just do all the unpopular ones in a row

I'm fine with just going through all the nominations as a queue, or voting for order or whatever.
Also, I do recommend Spotify, but ads are very annoying for listening through albums, so if you're ok with paying a subscription it's worth it for that reason. I've also heard (though haven't personally confirmed) that if you use the web player with adblock enabled it skips the ads, so that might be a good option.

I nominate: The Family Crest - Beneath the Brine (available on spotify/yt)

I'd be down