The fuck’s Burial on about with this new stuff then

[The Mollusk]

New track called "Space Cadet", 9 and half minutes of his trademark crackly sad vocals, his newly adopted speedy 4x4 beat style and a load of awful new age bollocks synth arpeggio stuff floating about, feels really aimless and flat, no bass to it at all. Quite baffled as to how the dude who wrote "Rough Sleeper" could listen back to this new one and be like "yeah that's worth releasing, deffo doesn't need any padding or trimming down at all". It's shite, basically, alright? That's what I'm trying to say.

I thought "Chemz" was decent but need to revisit that one. Anyway I know he splits hairs a lot on here about who thinks what stuff is good or bad so figured I'd dig that old chestnut up again. For example "Truant/Rough Sleeper" is some of the most otherworldly transcendent tear-jerking sad empty euphoric music I've ever heard but I've spoke to others who think it's piss.

Go

[shagatha crustie]

Yeah, this is... not good. The composition is just one thing after another, no cohesion to it at all. He used to stitch together samples and seemingly disparate elements in such an evocative way. Maybe the whole 'you're in a borough of South London at night walking past a club in the pissing rain' thing was his one trick. Also, I'm surprised by how shit it actually *sounds*.

Anyone who puts down Truant/Rough Sleeper is no friend o' mine.

[purlieu]

Yet to hear any Burial I dislike, although it really took for the Tunes compilation for some of the tracks to truly work for me. I don't think releasing two lo-fi ambient tracks on a 10" makes any sense at all, so that compilation made sense of a lot of his singles. Although why Rodent wasn't on it is beyond me, the daft bugger.

Yeah, the removal of almost the entire low end seems a bit of a weird decision, it seems intentional as it's basically been there since Claustro. I quite like it, although I'm generally a fan of weird lo-fi production in general. It gives the impression of listening through a cheap boombox or maybe a phone speaker, which definitely fits his aesthetic. I get why some people will hate it though. I gave the new tracks a quick skim on Bandcamp and thought they sounded cool so grabbed the 12", will wait until I've got it before going back for a deeper listen.

What's much more baffling to me is Chemz, which was available last November, but with the b-side unavailable until the vinyl came out, which was due in February and has now gone back to May. People buying the digital got the A-side and are having to wait six months for the B-side? It's one of the most genuinely baffling release campaigns I've ever witnessed.

[sevendaughters]

yet to hear anything since Untrue that was above 'fine', though 'Dark Gethsemane' off this new EP is alright I guess. I prefer Blackdown's side to the split.

face it, his time has passed and people on Bandcamp are doing what he's doing but better

[purlieu]

Initial response: really enjoyed Dark Gethsemane, not top-tier Burial but very good. The bulk of Space Cadet is a bit odd, definitely flat and lacking any dynamic interest. I like the sci-fi outro section a lot though.

[Twit 2]

The fact that genius happens at all and you got to experience it is a miracle. Wondering why Burial isn't a genius all the time isn't realistic. I try to be happy that a) someone created this euphoria b) I experienced it c) I know other people felt the same as me. Burial's had a good run, better than most. Fair play.

[gabrielconroy]

He's not done yet, bloody hell! Don't forget Dylan's Christmas album.

I think part of the recent disappointments might be down (speculating here) to his earlier stuff being done by ear without much in the way of musical training. He more or less invented a new style and mastered it totally, but his recent efforts to bring in stuff from other genres (e.g. the trance synths and four to the floor beats) comes off a bit forced and like pastiche, rather than the gorgeously sincere emotional masterpieces in the run up to and including Truant/Rough Sleeper.

[BlodwynPig]

a load of awful new age bollocks synth arpeggio stuff floating about,

I'm on this!

[Sebastian Cobb]

Yeah, the removal of almost the entire low end seems a bit of a weird decision, it seems intentional as it's basically been there since Claustro.

I think it relies on boominess to get the job done. Play it through some sealed boxes that can go low and it just doesn't seem to do anything.

[peanutbutter]

he could probably do with shaking up his approach to releasing stuff and just vomit out some big long mixes for a while, the sporadic EPs and singles thing isn't being very fruitful. I do wonder if he's just slipped into a kind of safe rut he can't bring himself to veer from.