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black midi - Cavalcade (May 2021)

Started by The Mollusk, March 25, 2021, 05:47:08 PM

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AllisonSays

I can't be doing with this band at all. Not sure why. Probably my least constructive post ever on the forum to be honest, sorry.

Durance Vile

I've really liked what I've heard, but the more I see of them the more I distrust them. He's got the look of Sting about him.

Deliciousbass

Quote from: chveik on May 07, 2021, 08:41:09 PM
Magma's the exception for me, the compositions are so good that they make you overlook the cheesy aspects

for sure. i think it helps that they sing in gibberish

jobotic

here's the prog song you can't not like. Egg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7_xdm_CJ_k

Can't make my mind up about Black Midi. Appreciate what they're doing and how into it they are. Brother saw them live a couple of years ago, loved 'em. Think I prefer the black midi done by Korean kids on youtube.

checkoutgirl

Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on May 06, 2021, 01:52:40 PM
if the music bangs

If it "bangs" for you then good luck to you but those couple of songs sounded like blustery hoopla to me. The singer sounded half asleep if not comatose and I couldn't discern a single word of it. The music had a lot of competence to it but was headache inducing, like those mathcore bands or something. It makes me think rock achieved it's outer limits decades ago and now bands are trying to scoop out the last few morsels of originality using avant gard inclinations and jazz techniques when it doesn't really suit the instruments that well.

I'm really getting more conventional in my music taste as time goes by but I can't imagine liking this sound even when I was 16 and at my most open to new stuff. I prefer stuff with a nice flow and rhythm to it with some nice melody and a bit of a tune to the singing, if there is any singing.

Maybe multiple listens will reveal its secrets but that sort of patience is in short supply these days.

Egyptian Feast


jobotic

No worries. I heard here first - think from Brundle Fly.

The Mollusk

Quote from: sevendaughters on May 07, 2021, 01:39:07 PM
prog is a diverse and diffuse beast and while, like you, much of it leaves me cold, the best uses its exploration and expansion of form and musicianship to create a great mood. i hate all the nudge-nudge-wink-wink suite shite and the rock that utterly fails to rock, but the best stuff by Van Der Graaf and Yes and Magma just absolutely slays AND avoids noodly bullshit; it's great playing as an ensemble, which is entirely what I'm in the market for.

I can't imagine you'd hate this Nags: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRZ-1LVa4Fo



That tune's mint, nice one! Will deffo be checking out more of them as I've been meaning to for years. It certainly sums up the good side of prog, which is as you've described. I far prefer it like this when it's got one foot in the realm of psychedelia or at least the grandiosity is knowingly absurd to a degree. I get a similar kick (albeit a far more grim and nightmarish one) from Amon Düül II's "Yeti", which never loses sight of its intention to FUCKING ROCK alongside its manifesto of post-war horror and trauma.

Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on May 07, 2021, 11:05:54 AM
Have you watched this yet? I watched it twice last night and can honestly say it was among the most incredible and mesmerising live performances I've ever seen. Talk about a band excelling themselves. Colour me gobsmacked.

And Geordie appears to be unwittingly trolling sevendaughters by actually adopting the sartorial style of a villainous hedge fund manager from the 80s.

Watched it last night. Really blown away by it, to the point of needing to sit in silence for a few minutes after to recover. I was worried this band would run out of steam after their debut but it seems on the contrary they had managed to build up about five times more steam.

I will say this, though: I'm worried that the album will much follow suit in its near-ceaseless assault of apocalyptic jazz-fusion and wind up being brilliant to a fault, where I don't often feel compelled to listen to it on account of how bloody exhausting it is. The title being "Cavalcade" only bolsters this concern as well! But regardless, the talent is undeniable, and the performance I'd argue is damn near unparalleled in contemporary popular music.

sevendaughters

pivoted to liking both the new ones here, life just be like that

thugler

Quote from: checkoutgirl on May 08, 2021, 12:07:01 AM
If it "bangs" for you then good luck to you but those couple of songs sounded like blustery hoopla to me. The singer sounded half asleep if not comatose and I couldn't discern a single word of it. The music had a lot of competence to it but was headache inducing, like those mathcore bands or something. It makes me think rock achieved it's outer limits decades ago and now bands are trying to scoop out the last few morsels of originality using avant gard inclinations and jazz techniques when it doesn't really suit the instruments that well.

I'm really getting more conventional in my music taste as time goes by but I can't imagine liking this sound even when I was 16 and at my most open to new stuff. I prefer stuff with a nice flow and rhythm to it with some nice melody and a bit of a tune to the singing, if there is any singing.

Maybe multiple listens will reveal its secrets but that sort of patience is in short supply these days.

Alright granddad

thugler

Quote from: The Mollusk on May 07, 2021, 01:32:49 PM"De-Loused in the Comatorium" as a recent rediscovery which I'd say is a masterpiece of the genre.


Yeah really rate that one, don't think they ever matched it. Has just the right blend of tunes, crazy noodling and dubby/psychedelic breakdowns. The balance shifted toward the noodling later on.

Neville Chamberlain

Yeah, never really got on with The Mars Volta - apart from De-Loused in the Comatorium, which is ace from beginning to end. It may - or may not! - interest y'all to know that I live right around the corner from one of the team responsible for the album artwork.

The Mollusk

Quote from: thugler on May 11, 2021, 05:34:15 PM
Yeah really rate that one, don't think they ever matched it. Has just the right blend of tunes, crazy noodling and dubby/psychedelic breakdowns. The balance shifted toward the noodling later on.

Absolutely. Been revisiting it a fair bit over the last few months after many years away from it and I don't think there's really a duff moment on it. Even the ambient stretch in the middle of "Cicatriz Esp" doesn't feel extraneous or pretentious, it's all so beautifully crafted. The drumming throughout from Jon Theodore is absolutely stupendous as well.

Dirty Boy

Predictably enough this is sounding fucking great so far.

If we're playing 'what Prog might The Mollusk like?' you should deffo check out Magma and VDGG matey.

non capisco

They covered Hall and Oates live on 6Music today, what's not to love about these talented gametes?

Clownbaby

#45
Oh Black Midi, they're one of those bands I love but can ABSOLUTELY understand why someone else might hate them. They're like Anchovies : the band

Schlagenheim has been permanently on rotation for me since it came out and remains an absolute j o y. I am obsessed with this band and their peeeeuurrrpose.

I'm loving Cavalcade. It's jarring and jagged and strangely sexy and also deeply, hilariously grotesque, but not quite as consistently as Schlagenheim which I think is a stone cold 10 out of 10. I know people are divided about Geordie Greep's vocals and way in general of saying most words, but they're the weird tasting icing on the cake for me and I am living for it. When it's Cameron Picton singing instead I don't mind, but I kind of miss that strangeness. To me he sounds more listless and unassertive, rather than the eerie it seems like he's going for. That being said, I like the croony direction Greep's having a go with as well. I wasn't expecting the occasional vibe of Wild Beasts or maybe a tiny bit of Bryan Ferry in there. Absolute display of an album. Love it. But not quite as much as Schlagenheim, which had a more metallic sheen/robotic groove to it and more crisply mixed vocals. In a lot of the tracks on Cavalcade I'm finding the vocals are swallowed up and muddied at times by everything else that's going on

thugler

Quote from: Clownbaby on June 08, 2021, 12:00:28 AM
Geordie Greep's vocals

I think part of the strangeness is I can't quite place the accent, is it northern irish or something? It's one of the things that makes them unique and definitely something I love about them

non capisco

He sounds like Eartha Kitt playing a witch on a lot of the first album. Not saying that's a bad thing.

Clownbaby

#48
Quote from: non capisco on June 08, 2021, 10:28:06 AM
He sounds like Eartha Kitt playing a witch on a lot of the first album. Not saying that's a bad thing.

I never quite managed to put my finger on it but yes, that is exactly what he sounds like. The ''He is PATHETIC, and he is NOTHING MOOOAAARE" bit in Ducter always gives me the vibe of a cursed Shirley Bassey. That line instantly sold the band to me, as Ducter was the first Black Midi song I ever heard

My slight issue with a lot of bands in a maybe faintly similar demographic of interest (i.e ''if you like this you might like this'') is that vocals and delivery, to my ears, never seem to live up to the songs. The most recent Daughters album sort of failed to grab me because the vocals felt quite weak to me in contrast with the spiky, monstrous music that I was otherwise loving. I'm all about Greep's voice and bizarre cadence because it intimidates and entertains in a way that I don't quite hear in other recent bands/new albums that I like. Also I think he has a lot more dynamic range than people give him credit for. If it was just singing or talking in a silly voice, I'd think it was crap. I didn't think I needed a singer in my life that somehow channels both Pere Ubu and Eartha Kitt playing a witch, but there ya go

Dirty Boy

I think on balance i also prefer the first album, but that's only at the moment after a few spins. This music is the very definition of 'takes time to sink in'. I also like the fact that they've varied the attack a bit more this time with the horns and strings and croonings and whatnot.

Clownbaby, you know what i think you'd like with your love of weird voices over bent music have you fallen in The Pond yet?

Clownbaby

Quote from: Dirty Boy on June 08, 2021, 02:47:13 PM
I think on balance i also prefer the first album, but that's only at the moment after a few spins. This music is the very definition of 'takes time to sink in'. I also like the fact that they've varied the attack a bit more this time with the horns and strings and croonings and whatnot.

Clownbaby, you know what i think you'd like with your love of weird voices over bent music have you fallen in The Pond yet?

I don't know them, I'll give em a look

Artie Fufkin

I've come on here to say that I love The Black Midis and listening to the current album LOADS.

Neville Chamberlain

After all my raving upthread, I haven't listened to the album ONCE.

This situation shall finally be rectified AT THE WEEKEND.

Catalogue of ills

I'm enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would from the descriptions. Interesting [strokes chin]