The Album Review Club - Week #191 (page 1286) - Harlequin Dream - Boy & Bear

threespires said:
Yeah. Belfry said it made him uncomfortable but grew on him. I actually found it fairly easy to listen to at first trot whether it proves to be substantive in any way remains to seen.
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I think i felt it was over the top and unnecessary. Some of the runs he makes also sound showy and don't make sense to me. I've grown to like it but it took a while
 
mrbelfry said:
I think i felt it was over the top and unnecessary. Some of the runs he makes also sound showy and don't make sense to me. I've grown to like it but it took a while
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I think I know what was confusing me, it's not just vibrato and regular vocal runs, he's mixing in trilling too so very occasionally it almost sounds like a form of quiet ulalation if thats not an oxymoron.

You're not wrong, it's very showy; but I assume that almost melodramatic sound is deliberate and contrasts quite well with the backing too.

Haven't really listened to the lyrics yet and not sure to what extent it'll continue to hold my attention but sonically I think it's quite interesting and an unusual pick is a good pick for me.
 
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Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow...etc etc

Musically sparse. Which is fine for a song or two on an album but this is song after song after song. Voice is ok. But come on..do something different. Or are there other albums with greater ooomph?

Maybe it's just my age, I mean, I like albums that Erland Cooper puts out as they are atmospheric, but also slow. They drag you in. This just sits there, next to my ears, going on and on about something I have little or no interest in.

he also seems to think he's Stevie Wonder.

Very bizarre. Wonder if it will grow on me.
 
BimboBob said:
Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow, Slow...etc etc

Musically sparse. Which is fine for a song or two on an album but this is song after song after song. Voice is ok. But come on..do something different. Or are there other albums with greater ooomph?

Maybe it's just my age, I mean, I like albums that Erland Cooper puts out as they are atmospheric, but also slow. They drag you in. This just sits there, next to my ears, going on and on about something I have little or no interest in.

he also seems to think he's Stevie Wonder.

Very bizarre. Wonder if it will grow on me.
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Do you mean you aren't engaged enough to care what he's singing about or that you know what he's singing about and don't care for it? Or you just don't care for how he's expressing what he's singing about?
 
I’ll go early this week! It’s really not my cup of tea. Bimbo (great to see you back btw) mentioned Stevie Wonder which I’m definitely picking up. Slightly more obscure I’m getting… Eartha Kitt. That vibrato is so @*^^#$g annoying!!
The Mourning Song sums this up for me - one paced dirge that goes nowhere even when he wakes up.
Wiki has him as “American experimental artist’. Experiment away young man, I hope you find what you’re looking for in the test tubes that are your vocal cords.
Not for me it’s a solid 1/10. I did at times reflect on Fantastic Negrito but I’ve booked a session with my therapist to rid my mind of those dark thoughts.
I’m off to listen to some Megadeth - now, that boy really can sing!!

Ps - my Eartha Kitt reference works on a musical and rhyming slang level!!
 
mrbelfry said:
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Yet these album covers are not "interesting" in the same way. This is the difference I tried to talk about in my review along with how that difference made me feel in certain moments.
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Well no. That was pretty much his point.

Can't challenge the established norm, and then be surprised it might not considered 'normal'.

And that may well be the reaction, and discussion the artist might be trying to provoke.
 
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RobMCFC said:
I'll take people's word for it that both bands had poetic lyrics, but when you are going to go all shouty with your vocals you are failing to communicate.
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I am glad I didn't respond to this with some flippant half-joke remark.

Because fuck me do I actually now get what you mean. With this album.

Belf has already given us the preamble so my expectation is there for the lyrics to look out for. And his voice is nice too.

But bloody hell is it a distraction musically, that I find myself somewhere between just not being able to care in the slightest about the lyrics, and being stopped from doing so by all the broken up synthed beats and unnecessary button pushing (I nearly said knob pushing there, phew, caught that in time). So instead I find myself reading the lyrics and avoiding their intended delivery vehicle.

So I actually now kinda understand this feeling.
 
mrbelfry said:
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Yet these album covers are not "interesting" in the same way. This is the difference I tried to talk about in my review along with how that difference made me feel in certain moments.
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There is obviously a topic in this, that is well worth discussing.

I will inevitably compare it to Hamish Hawk's work, and some of his themes and how he deals with them and I perceive them.

So a bit of a heads up to give you the time to hear bits ahead for context (not that you need it with your incredible speed listening abilities), have a listen to his latest album A Firmer Hand. Given you have a void as it is your week and all.

He has always had hints here and there, but he pulls the duvet fully off on that one.

I wonder just how many relevant albums there are as any real basis for comparison, in terms of theme. Might actually be one to stick on the radar for the playlist thread, to explore collectively. Assuming there is enough for people to contribute with.


And while I am mentioning it, in my imagination, if this thread was to collectively write a song, A Questionable Hit would be it, almost has bits of everyone in it.
 
Coatigan said:
Well no. That was pretty much his point.

Can't challenge the established norm, and then be surprised it might not considered 'normal'.

And that may well be the reaction, and discussion he might be trying to provoke.
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based on what i thought bluehammer was saying I was agreeing with him. obviously if i misunderstood then i'm an idiot. So there was no intended provocation in my post - i apologise if that's how it came across.

Part of my questioning as i listen is why is this provocative? Are gay people as provoked by songs explicitly about hetro sex? Ah i'm probably overthinking it - my wife also tells me i try and engage people in boring conversations no one else cares about.
 
mrbelfry said:
Do you mean you aren't engaged enough to care what he's singing about or that you know what he's singing about and don't care for it? Or you just don't care for how he's expressing what he's singing about?
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I don't really care what he's singing about so I'm never going to be engaged. But saying that, bands have always sung about their sexuality in one way or another since the dawn of music, so why should this be any different? Am I an unwieldy dinosaur, poo pooing the heartfelt desires, thoughts and experiences of a young man going through life feeling different? On the edge? On the outside looking in? I shouldn't be poo pooing him for that. I like different. I like the obscure. The weird. So what am I poo pooing him for?

It's his voice. Or what they have done to it. It's annoying. Very annoying. Which I wouldn't mind for a song or two but not a whole album.

But I still have two listens yet. It might hook me in.

Baaaaaa...
 
Coatigan said:
There is obviously a topic in this, that is well worth discussing.

I will inevitably compare it to Hamish Hawk's work, and some of his themes and how he deals with them and I perceive them.

So a bit of a heads up to give you the time to hear bits ahead for context (not that you need it with your incredible speed listening abilities), have a listen to his latest album A Firmer Hand. Given you have a void as it is your week and all.

He has always had hints here and there, but he pulls the duvet fully off on that one.

I wonder just how many relevant albums there are as any real basis for comparison, in terms of theme. Might actually be one to stick on the radar for the playlist thread, to explore collectively. Assuming there is enough for people to contribute with.


And while I am mentioning it, in my imagination, if this thread was to collectively write a song, A Questionable Hit would be it, almost has bits of everyone in it.
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I will take a listen thanks
 
mrbelfry said:
based on what i thought bluehammer was saying I was agreeing with him. obviously if i misunderstood then i'm an idiot. So there was no intended provocation in my post - i apologise if that's how it came across.

Part of my questioning as i listen is why is this provocative? Are gay people as provoked by songs explicitly about hetro sex? Ah i'm probably overthinking it - my wife also tells me i try and engage people in boring conversations no one else cares about.
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No I agree with you. And hammer. And the point this album is (I think) making.
 
mrbelfry said:
based on what i thought bluehammer was saying I was agreeing with him. obviously if i misunderstood then i'm an idiot. So there was no intended provocation in my post - i apologise if that's how it came across.

Part of my questioning as i listen is why is this provocative? Are gay people as provoked by songs explicitly about hetro sex? Ah i'm probably overthinking it - my wife also tells me i try and engage people in boring conversations no one else cares about.
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Just reread my own post, and made a slight edit. By 'he' I meant the artist himself, just for clarity. Rather than you or hammer if that's how you read it.
 
Coatigan said:
No I agree with you. And hammer. And the point this album is (I think) making.
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I'm not 100% sure if it has a point beyond being an album about love and breaking up. Perhaps bless your heart is about hoping people find comfort in his words which may betray an intent with the rest of the album but that wouldnt be challenging norms or whatever.

But that's kind of the point for me - that i find it provocative when it's not intended to be.
 
mrbelfry said:
I'm not 100% sure if it has a point beyond being an album about love and breaking up. Perhaps bless your heart is about hoping people find comfort in his words which may betray an intent with the rest of the album but that wouldnt be challenging norms or whatever.

But that's kind of the point for me - that i find it provocative.
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I am not there yet tbh. As in, I haven't listened or taken in enough yet to have meaningful thoughts.

I am more going off what I have read in your commentary and spotify/wiki summaries, so maybe I should stop jumping the gun and just listen to it more.

But certainly Hawk's album, is one I love. Does it 'bother' me that it has man-man references or descriptions, not in the slightest. Can I find myself singing along to it and the pronouns not typical to me, yes no problem. Would I go to a gig with a bunch of straight lads and enjoy songs about it? Yes, have done, was great. Ultimately it is about love, it feels universal, and I perceive it so. Does it feel a gimmick, to be relevant or provocative? Not to me, if the music was weaker maybe, but the music holds its own. It feels way more honest and deep than Katy Perry kissing a girl and liking it.

That's ultimately what I would hope to say at the end of this one. BUT, the music has to hold its own. Currently, one listen in, I doesn't. Which then, unravels the questions above, potentially in a different direction. Not the theme, the music.

But let's see what two more listens bring. Ultimately there is a style issue here, that isn't my thing, and that I might just not be able to help.
 
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