Los Campesinos! -- ROMANCE IS BORING

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Downloaded the leak, loved it, deleted it, and pre-ordered the album on iTunes today. Color me excited.
 
i have tried to get onto this bandwagon, but i can't find the step stool. i only listened to "my year in lists" and "we throw parties, you throw knives," because two songs was just about all i could handle. i imagine i have something wrong here, because i find it hard to believe there would be this much raving about this band if those two songs are representative of their stuff, because i thought they were truly awful and annoying. somebody prove me wrong, tell me what else i should check out before i am forced to just agree to disagree regarding that band.
 
Indeed I was, and now I have.

I definitely don't have the now-familiar feeling that whatever new LC! I'm hearing is going to be the best of the year, but it was solid. Haven't really listened, so I guess the jury's still out as to just how much I like it (and I do like it). I had no problem with the album-length, kind of hyper, shoutier stuff. The first two LPs were pretty low-key, to my ears, and I never really understood that particular strain of anti- or not-entirely-pro-LC! chatter, owing to my personal taste and listening habits. To each, of course, his/her own. This, though, seemed a less natural/comfortable record, to me. I think that I liked pretty much every song (really loved "In Medias Res" sosososososososo much, and the one where he talks about ships passing in the night; closer and, uh, the really noisy one were baller enough to remember, too; these sadly official titles make it sort of tough for me to remember what the hell the songs are called, since I blush when reading them), but that however many minutes of this seemed to add up to a whole slightly less than the sum of its parts. I'm reminded of how people generally seemed to feel about Challengers, by The New Pornographers. That record worked crazily well for me, but that's because they downshifted into baroque-sounding "power"-pop, which is all kinds of good for me. I think that I like this a LOT more than most people liked Challengers, though. I just kind of feel where they were coming from.

Anyway, I'm only trying to break it all down...as much for myself as for all y'all. I really liked it, but with more reservations (ie, a few; either Kim has trouble singing in tune or Aleks really phoned in this one) than I'm used to having about an LC! release. That's my thesis, I guess. I just didn't have that "OMFGQQ IT'S A CLASSIC!!!" reaction after the first listen, which I found to be sort of disarming. That's an experience to which it seems I've grown quite accustomed.
 
I don't understand what the point in waiting was. I was under the impression you wanted to own it and have it in your hands, listening to it in the optimum situation.

Just because they allow it to be streamed shouldn't change your stance. And now, surprise, you're underwhelmed.

:shrug:
 
I don't think that my waiting for an authorized stream really had much to do with what the songs sound like, unless the band changed something in the interim. Definitely not underwhelmed, either. Also, I must admit that I'm a bit bothered by your telling me A) what should or shouldn't change my stance, and B) that I have changed my stance. On leaks. Which this is not.
 
I pre-ordered this last night. Still haven't heard anything from it. What song is the lead single?
 
"There Are Listed Buildings," I believe. They also released "The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future" for pre-release listening, but I am 90% sure that it wasn't an actual single. At any rate, those were the two promo songs.
 
Thanks, I'll have to check them out. Is there a music video for Buildings already?
 
Videos for both those songs, actually. I think that they've been posted, in this thread. The LC! blog has been putting up whatever there is to put up, and is the place to go for up-to-date everything: LC!
 
I don't think that my waiting for an authorized stream really had much to do with what the songs sound like, unless the band changed something in the interim. Definitely not underwhelmed, either. Also, I must admit that I'm a bit bothered by your telling me A) what should or shouldn't change my stance, and B) that I have changed my stance. On leaks. Which this is not.

I'm not taking issue with the stance on waiting, but it just seems kind of ridiculous to be holding out only to give in when a stream is approved. Your posts about the band and the position you were taking were practically religious in nature (which is why I'm often so excited and affected by what you write), and to be able to hear it on a "technicality" seems cheap to me.

If you're going to take a stand on the principle, than be pure for real and get the thing in your hands so you can really savor it. I'm not trying to make you feel bad but I'm just a little surprised and confused at your choice.
 
I'm not taking issue with the stance on waiting, but it just seems kind of ridiculous to be holding out only to give in when a stream is approved. Your posts about the band and the position you were taking were practically religious in nature (which is why I'm often so excited and affected by what you write), and to be able to hear it on a "technicality" seems cheap to me.

If you're going to take a stand on the principle, than be pure for real and get the thing in your hands so you can really savor it. I'm not trying to make you feel bad but I'm just a little surprised and confused at your choice.

Fair play. Thanks for elaborating. For me, though, it's not at all a technicality. The band has, at this point, chosen to present the songs in this manner; additionally, I am not aiding in the theft of a record. I'm not trying to make you or anybody else feel bad, either (aka, I'm not using "theft" pejoratively, per se, but honestly; and I've stolen too many records to get that preachy...probably hundreds more than you have, unfortunately), but that's my main issue. I'm not even going to re-read my leak-related post, so I'm not EVEN suggesting that you do...but I'm pretty sure that my growing objection to leak culture is the strange sense of entitlement that underscores it, its slippery-as-hell slope, and, yes, the theft that it constitutes.

I know that Gareth has not really spoken of this in financial or legal terms, but as perhaps a show of my pragmatism (which goes hand in hand with my idealism of which you wrote--thanks, by the way, for the kind words!), as well as my concern for my musician friends, I am speaking of it in those terms. My two copies are purchased, and I'm fine with listening to something which a band CHOOSES to stream for free. A few weeks ago, though, that choice hadn't been made. MySpace is legal, you know? RS (which apparently self-censors, on this site! wow...) isn't.

Not preaching. Just elaborating on my own opinions.
 
I know it's legal, but for me personally, I find listening to something on a stream is pretty shitty in terms of the experience. I don't know how they rate in terms of actual sonic quality but I can't imagine it being that high?
 
Yeah, that's 100% true. Perhaps surprisingly, though, fidelity isn't too great a concern of mine. I am no audiophile. Not even CLOSE. I've tried, but it ain't happening. I mean, if I were BUYING a MySpace stream or a shitty iTunes rip...well, I wouldn't ever do that, so there you go. But to hear something for which I'm so excited...? All good in the hood. For me, anyway. I'll have it across formats, in basically days.
 
i have tried to get onto this bandwagon, but i can't find the step stool. i only listened to "my year in lists" and "we throw parties, you throw knives," because two songs was just about all i could handle. i imagine i have something wrong here, because i find it hard to believe there would be this much raving about this band if those two songs are representative of their stuff, because i thought they were truly awful and annoying. somebody prove me wrong, tell me what else i should check out before i am forced to just agree to disagree regarding that band.

those were my feelings too. i normally share the same music tastes with the posters in this thread. surely, i must have just had a bad first impression.
 
Thanks for the info on the videos. I've been out of the loop on the thread and the band, so sorry for all the questions that likely have been answered a zillion times over already.

i have tried to get onto this bandwagon, but i can't find the step stool. i only listened to "my year in lists" and "we throw parties, you throw knives," because two songs was just about all i could handle. i imagine i have something wrong here, because i find it hard to believe there would be this much raving about this band if those two songs are representative of their stuff, because i thought they were truly awful and annoying. somebody prove me wrong, tell me what else i should check out before i am forced to just agree to disagree regarding that band.

While I like those two songs, there are a number of others that are far better. If I remember correctly, You, Me, Dancing was the first track of theirs I heard, and I initially hated it too (and now love it), so there's that. Regardless, they probably aren't for everyone tastes wise, so I wouldn't worry about it.
 
i have tried to get onto this bandwagon, but i can't find the step stool. i only listened to "my year in lists" and "we throw parties, you throw knives," because two songs was just about all i could handle. i imagine i have something wrong here, because i find it hard to believe there would be this much raving about this band if those two songs are representative of their stuff, because i thought they were truly awful and annoying. somebody prove me wrong, tell me what else i should check out before i am forced to just agree to disagree regarding that band.

You! Me! Dancing!, This Is How You Spell...yadda yadda...Faux Romantics, and Romance Is Boring are three you should hear, but I mean, the two you named are pretty beloved. It's not as if you're swearing off Pavement based on Chesley's Little Wrists and Hit The Plane Down or anything.
 
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