Bloc Party

[trojanchick99]

Oh, and they added another European festival date, yesterday.

Open'er Festival. Gdynia, Poland. July 4 - 7, 2012.


Open'er Festival

Brushing up on your Polish now?

 

[BoMac]

Fitz, the band is going to be at some festival in Los Angeles. But I'm sure you know this already.

 

[FitzChivalry]

Fitz, the band is going to be at some festival in Los Angeles. But I'm sure you know this already.

Yeah, I heard. HARD Summer in L.A. August 3rd and 4th.

But I don't really like HARD events, I can't stand Dubstep, I'm a bit too old for the crowd that will be there, and you can only buy the 2-day festival pass, which, I'm not going to spend a lot of money on a 2-day pass to an event where I only want to see 1 act.

I'll just have to miss it and wait for a proper tour.

 

[FitzChivalry]

Hello Frenchkiss!


Hello Internet

It is with great pleasure that i would like to announce to the universe that Bloc Party have now signed to Frenchkiss Records. This signing has made Bloc Party very happy because not only do we know and love the people at this label but we know and love this label's output. Frenchkiss has released some mighty fine music over the years, music that has gone on to influence this very band.

So here's to some more mighty fine music...

Kele

 

[nielsgov]

They're coming to Pukkelpop!

I'll see them there.

 

[FitzChivalry]

That's awesome!

 

[BoMac]

.

Bloc Party have announced 'Four', their new album that is set to be released on August 20 on French Kiss Recordings / Co-operative Music. The album was recorded with Alex Newport (At the Drive-in, The Mars Volta) at Stratosphere Studios in New York City through the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4M5EqOGsMA&feature=youtu.be

 

[nielsgov]

Finally!

 

[nielsgov]

Those song clips sound promising although they can be misleading.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Excited for this, but also skeptical. Bloc Party can be hit or miss for me.

 

[LemonMelon]

I've liked each Bloc Party album less than the one that preceded it.

 

[cobl04]

What a creative title.

Can't wait.

 

[bono_212]

Bloc Party and the Killers to possibly return in the same month?

 

[nielsgov]

What a creative title.

Can't wait.

If you read Kele's blog, you'll realize there's a bit more to it than it just being their fourth album. His writing sucks though.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I haven't read Kele's blog, but I figured it could also be partially in reference to the fact that they have four members in the band. And have had the same four members for their entire existence. I don't know.

 

[nielsgov]

And the fact that they want to go back to the sound of four men playing in one room...

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

It's the sound of four men chopping down The Silent Alarm.

 

[nielsgov]

Hopefully they only chop down Intimacy.

 

[phanan]

I really dig Intimacy.

 

[LemonMelon]

Intimacy is horrible.

I'm really, really, really hoping for some icy post-punk rockthefuckout shit on this new one.

 

[phanan]

Why do you think it's horrible?

 

[LemonMelon]

It really bothers me when I listen to that one how distant the band feels. It's really quite the opposite of the title; the music is very cold, with a strong emphasis on electronic instrumentation and bright production. That's usually fine, but then the lyrics are generally about love and relationships, and there's not enough sweetness in the melodies (such as they are) to balance it out. So there's this weird disconnect happening, and I think that might be why Kele went solo for a bit. They had no idea what they wanted.

Also, I can hardly describe how much I hate Mercury. What an annoying piece of crap that is.

 

[phanan]

I find many of the songs, especially the slower ones, to be extremely relevant to the album's title. Signs in particular is incredibly poignant, and Ion Square has always been a favorite, and I think the music fits very well. And while I agree that Mercury is weak, there are strong riffs to be found in tracks such as Halo and One Month Off.

I think it's very strong overall, just below Silent Alarm.

 

[nielsgov]

The songs I love on Intimacy are Signs, Biko and Talons. Merucry, Trojan Horse and Zephyrus are horrible. The rest is pretty decent. So I actually quite like Intimacy but it's still nowhere near as good as the two albums preceding it.

 

[HeartlandGirl]

Agreeing with everything phanan just wrote about Intimacy. I wasn't sure at first how I felt about the album, but Biko saved it for me and One Month Off is a standard for me when I go running.

I've liked Silent Alarm less and less as time has passed. And I never did listen to their second album. A trusted friend hated it, so I never gave it a go.

 

[LemonMelon]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with A Weekend In The City. Lots of good singles, not a great deal of filler. I just don't care for the lighter tone of that one. It's very nice, just not really what I think Bloc Party do best. If you haven't heard Hunting For Witches or Uniform, you absolutely must.

 

[FitzChivalry]

I think I've said this before in here [once or twice ;-)] but I really like the Jacknife Lee-sounding stuff off "Intimacy" better than the Paul Epworth-sounding stuff. I say "sounding" because I've never been able to confirm which tracks were produced by who, I just remember a quote from one of them around the time of the album release stating that "Intimacy" was produced by both, and that they went to Epworth for the more "rocking" songs.

I love 'Ares', 'Mercury', 'Signs', 'Ion Square' and, bonus track, 'Your Visits Are Getting Shorter' which, to me, sound like they would be the Jacknife Lee produced tracks. The "rockers"/Epworth stuff ('Halo', 'Trojan Horse', 'One Month Off') I don't like as much. I don't think they are bad songs per se; I just think they were done better on "Silent Alarm".


Needless to say, as a HUGE Bloc fan, I am beyond excited for this new album!

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I'll check those songs out. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[bono_212]

Wow..Intimacy is horrible? (bite your tongue, Laz) That's extreme.

 

[cobl04]

Horrible is definitely extreme. Ion Square and One Month Off alone render that opinion ridiculous. It's easily my least favourite of the three, but it's not horrible.

His solo album was horrible, though.