Seagull is on the Rise
Reissues are usually stupid. Bands tack on two or three extra songs (that in all likelihood were left off the album for good reason) and then expect their fans to shell out money for an album that they already own.
Fortunately for us, Frog Eyes and Absolutely Kosher have an entirely different approach to reissues and, instead of one or two extra songs, they're appending entire unreleased albums onto the reissues of The Golden River and The Bloody Hand. And, more importantly, instead of tacking on mediocre songs, they've included a batch that easily stand up to those on the reissued albums. As Pitchfork recently reported, The Golden River will include the unreleased Blue Pine album Seagull is on the Rise while The Bloody Hand will include an album's worth of songs from the Emboldened Navigator 7" sessions with Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown on keys.
For whatever reason - although probably because he is a well connected and universally loved man - Jay has had the latter unreleased album for a few years, meaning that I've had plenty of time to enjoy it and maintain my 'scene cred' by telling other people that I have a copy. And now that it's seeing official release, I don't feel so bad about posting a few songs.
Frog Eyes - Spencer's Song for Carey to Officially Sing
Frog Eyes - A Latex Ice Age (alternate version)
Krug's keyboards really add something different to these recordings. There's a more conventional, less-carnivalesque feel to them meaning that the keyboards seem to act more as a counterpoint to Mercer's frenzied vocal delivery than they usually do on the official recordings. It makes me all the more excited for the rumoured Mercer/Krug/Bejar project, Thunder Cloud. (Note: I'm not sure about the title of the first song, but my copy seems to be in the order that the Pitchfork article gives for the songs.)
I also highly recommend checking out the recent Carey Mercer Phoning-It-In session on WMBR. He talks about the Thunder Cloud project and sings sweetly into the phone from his kitchen.
Fortunately for us, Frog Eyes and Absolutely Kosher have an entirely different approach to reissues and, instead of one or two extra songs, they're appending entire unreleased albums onto the reissues of The Golden River and The Bloody Hand. And, more importantly, instead of tacking on mediocre songs, they've included a batch that easily stand up to those on the reissued albums. As Pitchfork recently reported, The Golden River will include the unreleased Blue Pine album Seagull is on the Rise while The Bloody Hand will include an album's worth of songs from the Emboldened Navigator 7" sessions with Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown on keys.
For whatever reason - although probably because he is a well connected and universally loved man - Jay has had the latter unreleased album for a few years, meaning that I've had plenty of time to enjoy it and maintain my 'scene cred' by telling other people that I have a copy. And now that it's seeing official release, I don't feel so bad about posting a few songs.
Frog Eyes - Spencer's Song for Carey to Officially Sing
Frog Eyes - A Latex Ice Age (alternate version)
Krug's keyboards really add something different to these recordings. There's a more conventional, less-carnivalesque feel to them meaning that the keyboards seem to act more as a counterpoint to Mercer's frenzied vocal delivery than they usually do on the official recordings. It makes me all the more excited for the rumoured Mercer/Krug/Bejar project, Thunder Cloud. (Note: I'm not sure about the title of the first song, but my copy seems to be in the order that the Pitchfork article gives for the songs.)
I also highly recommend checking out the recent Carey Mercer Phoning-It-In session on WMBR. He talks about the Thunder Cloud project and sings sweetly into the phone from his kitchen.
posted by ian at 7:15 PM
2 Comments:
I kind of hate you guys because you always make me want to buy things that I don't have the money for.
Frog Eyes is one of those bands that I want to like more than I actually do. I'm going to see them with Pink Mountaintops in April and I hope that their live show can do for me what their CDs don't.
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