Destroyer - Kaputt (AKA NSW: NEVAR Forget)

[iron yuppie]

Hey I was a fan of Poison Season from day one. Ranked it higher on my year-end list than anyone else here.

 

[cobl04]

I know, I just wanted to have a dig

I still think it's a 3.5 star record, but the best tracks stand up really well.

Archer on the Beach
Girl in a Sling
Bangkok
The River
Dream Lover

 

[gump]

Wow, I had no idea this was in the works.

Destroyer Announces New Album ken, Shares New Song: Listen | Pitchfork

 

[iron yuppie]

Awesome. Poison Season is a severely underappreciated album.

 

[bono_212]

Hopefully this album is full of more inspiration for me to finally suck it up and buy a new saxophone

 

[cobl04]

oh my fucking god oh my fucking god oh my fucking god oh my fucking god oh my fucking god oh my fucking god



^happy tears

 

[cobl04]

I've already listened to the song like five times this morning, it's fucking beautiful and I love it. Just copped the limited edition pre-order plus t-shirt, which cost me $89 Australian dollars lol.

I fucking love this dude. What a fucking esoteric way to come up with a new album.

Sometime last year, I discovered that the original name for “The Wild Ones” (one of the great English-language ballads of the last 100 years or so) was “Ken.” I had an epiphany, I was physically struck by this information. In an attempt to hold on to this feeling, I decided to lift the original title of that song and use it for my own purposes. It’s unclear to me what that purpose is, or what the connection is. I was not thinking about Suede when making this record. I was thinking about the last few years of the Thatcher era. Those were the years when music first really came at me like a sickness, I had it bad. Maybe “The Wild Ones” speaks to that feeling, probably why Suede made no sense in America. I think “ken” also means “to know.”

love the cover and cool song titles too. I'll never get to see them live, which kills me, but really excited for this record. Poison Season indeed was underrated.

01 Sky’s Grey
02 In the Morning
03 Tinseltown Swimming in Blood
04 Cover From the Sun
05 Saw You at the Hospital
06 A Light Travels Down the Catwalk
07 Rome
08 Sometimes In the World
09 Ivory Coast
10 Stay Lost
11 La Regle du Jeu

 

[nielsgov]

Fuck yes.

 

[nielsgov]

Not a fan of the song on first listen though.

 

[u2popmofo]

I had no idea there was a new song, I must listen.

 

[cobl04]

Not a fan of the song on first listen though.

fuck you

 

[u2popmofo]

fuck you

 

[nielsgov]

fuck you

 

[iron yuppie]

New album is out, and awesome. It's more eclectic than the last two, ranging everywhere from Springsteen-style horns to New Order-style synths. The common thread would be an 80s inspiration, I suppose. Sky's Grey, Tinseltown Swimming in Blood, and A Light Travels down the Catwalk are highlights for me.

 

[cobl04]

I'm a bit iffy on it at the moment. Need some more time with it but didn't strike me as as memorable as Poison Season's highlights.

"Sky's Grey" is all-time Destroyer though. A perfect encapsulation of everything I love about them in four minutes. Absolutely stunning.

Must also shout out Merge Records. I paid $50 odd for the deluxe vinyl, which came with not just the record and a download code but a CD copy, an 18-track 'sampler' CD of other new music from the label, a badge, a t-shirt, a poster and a 12 inch featuring two of the albums tracks acoustic. Thoroughly impressed.

 

[LemonMelon]

I was disappointed with the direction he took for this one. There's enough New Order worship in the world already. Decent album though.

 

[lazarus]

There's enough New Order worship in the world already.

Not until they're in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, there isn't.

 

[nielsgov]

Tinseltown Swimming in Blood is really really good. The album is decent overal but not great. It justs sounds like a lesser version of Kaputt to my ears.

 

[u2popmofo]

I'm probably going to kill all of you.

 

[cobl04]

I'm just not really feeling this one, I'm afraid

I've never listened to New Order, but I do know the 'sound' that you're all referring to, and it's just not that satisfying for me. It feels much less sophisticated and lived-in than his previous explorations into homage (Springsteen, Bowie, Floyd, the entire immersive sophistipop world of Kaputt). Sky's Grey is stunning, Tinseltown is terrific, and I dig Rome quite a bit, but the rest is just a wash for me. It's pretty telling that I'd take the two acoustic takes of Light Travels Down the Catwalk and Stay Lost over most of the album.

Poison Season wasn't perfect but it had many more highlights than this one. Of all the Destroyer albums I've heard I'd probably rank this last. It's not bad... it's just a bit faceless for me, lacks the personality of a great Destroyer album. Still need to sit down with the lyrics though.

 

[cobl04]

Really disappointed in this album. Very light to my ears. I adore Sky's Grey, quite fond of Tinseltown, Saw You at the Hospital, Rome, but that's it. A significant step down from Poison Season.

 

[LemonMelon]

His weakest album of the century so far IMO. It's not terrible though.

 

[cobl04]

I mean, that's pretty much his entire discography haha. I've not heard This Night or Your Blues, and Streethawk is so fucking esoteric and dense that it's kind of hard to know how I actually feel about it, but otherwise I'd agree.

And it's definitely not bad or terrible, completely fine album to have on in the background, it's just quite pedestrian and his music has always been better than that.

 

[nielsgov]

Yeah, I'll have to look at his setlists before deciding about going to his gig. If he plays too much of the new album, it's probably not worth it.

 

[LemonMelon]

I mean, that's pretty much his entire discography haha. I've not heard This Night or Your Blues, and Streethawk is so fucking esoteric and dense that it's kind of hard to know how I actually feel about it, but otherwise I'd agree.

And it's definitely not bad or terrible, completely fine album to have on in the background, it's just quite pedestrian and his music has always been better than that.

Shit, I figured you were really into Streethawk. That's one of his most beloved albums. It and This Night are definitely among my favorites. Your Blues is blah with a kind of awkward synthpop influence, but it has those great lyrics. Always the lyrics with Bejar.

Come to think of it, I haven't heard Thief, which came out in 2000, so I guess I have to qualify my claim. I'll listen to that one and report back.

 

[cobl04]

Thief is great. Mercy, Heart of the Sun on the Back of a Vulture, Perpetual Roads, Destroyer’s Temple, Queen of Language, are classic tracks.

Streethawk I’ve not spent enough time with, but I will say that The Bad Arts is on my Rushmore.

 

[nielsgov]

I'd rank Streethawk only behind Kaputt and Rubies. It is a pretty difficult record to get into indeed. I still can't tell you how half the tracks go, but I love it whenever I put it on. And The Bad Arts is of course top tier Bejar.

 

[cobl04]

Trouble in Dreams is the album of his that gets slept on way too much. Third best behind the top two. Kaputt and Rubies.

 

[nielsgov]

Blue Flower/Blue Flame is one of my favorite Destroyer songs actually.

 

[cobl04]

My Favourite Year is the shit.