Los Campesinos! -- WE ARE BEAUTIFUL, WE ARE DOOMED

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My copy of this just shipped, on Friday, and I'm well more than eagerly awaiting its arrival. Anybody else?

This is such a great record!
 
3 or 4 new albums on Tuesday I'll be getting, this is definitely one of them! Looking forward to finally hearing it.
 
Arrived in the mail, today! The packaging is nice, the content is superb, and I was also able to enjoy the added bonus of watching the band briefly stomp around by my old apartment, in Japan, for a few minutes. Great, great fun (and a nice, unexpected trip down memory lane)!

Make sure to get yours while supplies last, kids. They're only pressing a few thousand of these, and then that's that!
 
So what's all on the DVD, Shouter? I haven't had a change to put it in....I haven't even listened to the album other than the title track (which I liked).
 
It's just self-shot tour footage, from early August. If not for nostalgia, I probably wouldn't be too blown away. Pretty amazing, though, to see how spectacularly well-received they were, by the Japanese! Mo'fuckers were loving it.
 
Finally listened to it. While it doesn't seem to have any "huge" tracks like Hold On did on first listen, it does seem to to overall be more consistent than Hold On.

I liked all of it, but my favorites the first time through were: title track, Ways to Make It Through the Wall, You'll Need Those Fingers For Crossing, Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1, and All Your Kafabe Friends.
 
Maybe I'll listen to the album again right now. Right this very second. Would you like that Shouter? Would that please you? What say you?
 
Even though Shoutmaster did not give me his okay in type to go ahead and listen to the album, I did it anyway. I have to say, I am almost starting to think I like it more than Hold On Now Youngster. I really want to see these guys (ok, the gals more than the guys) live, hopefully they'll add some shows for the Western half of the US next year.
 
1) Finally bought my ticket for the February show at Logan Square. Should be a wonderful time made all the more enjoyable by the fun sure to be had during the opening set of Titus Andronicus (who released a pretty damn good debut record, The Airing of Grievances, earlier this year).

2) My Arts & Crafts vinyl edition of the record finally arrived, a few days ago...and it kinda sucks. I'm quite furious with A&C (normally one of my absolute favorite labels in all the world) for how badly they've bungled the North American release(s) of We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed.

First of all, the CD didn't come with what was supposed to be the only version released--the rectangular box with all the band-approved odds-and-ends; instead, we got a standard cardboard gatefold CD with liner notes and the brief tour DVD. Absolutely ridiculous.

Then, this vinyl arrives. First of all, the band only wanted the record to be released on CD, but I'm not really at liberty to complain about this, as I went and bought the vinyl edition. In spite of this, I'm still upset. Why, you ask? Well, whereas the Hold On Now, Youngster... release was a gorgeous gatefold sleeve with a very LC!-esque faux handmade lyric/credits sheet, this one is...well, a plain sleeve with a plain record with, no fucking joke, a slightly longer version of the exact same liner notes that came with the CD release. No fucking shit--they're the exact same thing. About an inch taller, but that's it.

Basically, they just tossed the CD liners into the sleeve and left it at that. I payed full fucking price for this, and I'm upset. God damn it. To add insult to injury, if I actually want to have the "real" version of the record, I now have to buy an import (if there're even any left) from the UK for a little bit more than the price I already payed for the broke-ass LP! Argh!!!!!

3) Still the best band in the world, at the moment. I would really, really, really like to see them work with producer Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev, many others), for their next record. I spent a good chunk of time on the train, this weekend, listening to what he did with Sleater-Kinney (also produced by We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed helmsman, John Goodmanson), for their final blowout and definitive statement, The Woods. The band generally sounds nothing at all like it had sounded for nearly ten years, yet sounds exactly like they're supposed to. It is one of the five or ten best records of the decade, and perhaps the best (arguably) "punk" album to have been released in the last 15 years. It is gargantuan, and its willingness not to go to 11, but rather to 50, would, I think, suit this band remarkably.

As with U2 (I've longed for years and years, now, to hear them work with Fridmann), I'd love to see what Fridmann would push this band to achieve. Of course, it's always a risky thing working with the guy (see every non-Yerself Is Steam Mercury Rev album or the second Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album, Some Loud Thunder, for evidence of this), but I'd be willing to go along for the ride. I feel like they could really kick up some shit, if they were willing to get in there, fuck shit up, and kick out some fucking jams. Imagine something like "Car Wash Hair" done by this band, you know? Jesus, that'd be incredible.
 
If you shout... said:
1) Finally bought my ticket for the February show at Logan Square. Should be a wonderful time made all the more enjoyable by the fun sure to be had during the opening set of Titus Andronicus (who released a pretty damn good debut record, The Airing of Grievances, earlier this year)..
Click to expand...

I'll be there, too.
 
If you shout... said:
3) Still the best band in the world, at the moment. I would really, really, really like to see them work with producer Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev, many others), for their next record. I spent a good chunk of time on the train, this weekend, listening to what he did with Sleater-Kinney (also produced by We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed helmsman, John Goodmanson), for their final blowout and definitive statement, The Woods. The band generally sounds nothing at all like it had sounded for nearly ten years, yet sounds exactly like they're supposed to. It is one of the five or ten best records of the decade, and perhaps the best (arguably) "punk" album to have been released in the last 15 years. It is gargantuan, and its willingness not to go to 11, but rather to 50, would, I think, suit this band remarkably.
Click to expand...

:applaud:

I don't get S-K fans who don't like The Woods, and it delivers on the promise the band always had, even if the previous albums were great in their own right.
 
Holy fuck, they're playing a show in February fifteen minutes from where I live.
 
I REALLY hope they add more dates this year, they don't presently have any dates scheduled for anywhere remotely near here (unless I consider Texas close).
 
There are no tickets anywhere for this show. Oh well. I probably would not have been able to go anyway.
 
No spoken words said:
If I see IYS at the show, what do you want me to do?
Click to expand...

High five, hug, hold hands, kiss, and fist fight. In that order.

I don't remember at all why that whole "punch in the face" inside joke thing started, or what we were even talking about. I don't think Shouter ever even knew what we were talking about, now I don't either! GOW2 has rotted my brainz.
 
u2popmofo said:
High five, hug, hold hands, kiss, and fist fight. In that order.

I don't remember at all why that whole "punch in the face" inside joke thing started, or what we were even talking about. I don't think Shouter ever even knew what we were talking about, now I don't either! GOW2 has rotted my brainz.
Click to expand...

I do not remember how it started or why, just recall that you told him you'd punch his face if you saw him in Japan. I refuse to let go of the joke. And IYS never had any idea what I was talking about when I brought it up.

How will I find him at the show? I'll look for the guy who looks like someone who might have lived overseas.
 
Just look for a guy who needs a face punching, and give it to him. Hard.
 
This is a typical very highly/over-considered post of mine. Be prepared.

So, I wonder quite often, these days, whether or not it's actually a good idea to meet up with message board people, at shows. The reasons for this are many, but none of them are necessarily or inherently able to cancel out the potential greatness of meeting in person somebody with whom you can truly connect. Allow me, if you will, to elaborate.

You see, I am a massive, massive, massive fan of The Hold Steady. Sure, my enthusiasm has somewhat lessened, as their output has relatively slowed and their records have moved them to a new place quite far away from the one they occupied when they came into my life and actually helped me through a lot of stuff. C'est la vie, you know?

There is a highly organized and very tightly knit community of The Hold Steady, fans, though, which calls itself "The Unified Scene" (taken from a lyric in a song on the band's first record). I was a part of the Yahoo newsgroup, or whatever you call it, that preceded the message board(s) which have now facilitated a great sense of organized and even, at times, purpose. Being there from the beginning, it seemed only natural to me that I should step up and try to help out with things, once the band finally opened up a message board to coincide with the release of Boys and Girls in America.

You see, though...here's the thing.

I lived in Japan for two years, while the whole thing was gaining momentum, and everybody seemed really cool. Then, I got back to the States. Then, I actually met them. Then, I was like, "OMFG, who the fuck are these douchebags, and what've they done with the genuine, non-psychotic/-embarrassing fans I left behind, those many moons ago?" It was startling.

Of course, this doesn't mean to say or suggest or even really consider that NSW might be some kind of tool. He might be, of course; so might I! I'm not really the most objective person to consult, here. Quite to the contrary, in fact, I'm not really too concerned about meeting him because he seems prone to douchebaggery; quite again to the contrary, I'm concerned because pretty much no matter what, he probably can't live up to the person I think he might be, in person. The same could and should be said of me, unless he thinks that I'm an asshead. "I'm not If you shout...," is pretty much what I'm trying to say. I'm just some dude.

The entire The Hold Steady situation has me thinking that it could possibly be better just to leave the internet on the internet, and just kind of deal with it. I go to The Hold Steady shows in and around Chicago, since meeting these people, and no longer have as much fun, because I'm spending most of the evening avoiding complete shitheads and dodging questions about why my wardrobe isn't Unified Scene-centric. It's horrifying. I rarely even go to the front row, anymore, just so that I don't have to talk to these people. It crushes me.

Still. The thing is, it's totally possible that I might meet somebody in real life who I know from a message board and really, really, really connect with this person! I mean, it stands to reason, right? We have similar interests and already have some kind of shared history to fall back on, so why shouldn't it work? I've made tons of friends over music, so why not another? It could lead to a really interesting and noteworthily "modern" kind of relationship, too--something which genuinely couldn't have existed in quite this way until 15-20 years ago (at most). Fascinating stuff, I think, from a sociological and/or virtual/imagined community perspective.

I just don't know if I want to roll the dice...which could, I'll say again, roll either way--I mean, I might just love NSW (just as all those idiots seem for some reason to love me), and he might look at me and see all my bad, abrasive qualities (I'm hyper-critical [see this post], I hate everybody, I tend to ramble, I'm liberal to a fault, I often mistakenly say the most inappropriate thing at the most inappropriate time [and not in a quirky, self-aware way...rather, the sort of thing that the old lady is upset about, at the end of the night, when she's the first person to tell me that I brutally offended somebody], I'm "honest" to the point of being more "rude" than "honest," and so forth...we're none of us perfect, and I'm hardly an exception). And will we feel comfortable enough around one another to really "get into" the show? I am willing to assume that we're both white, which means that we're already inhibited enough, on our own! God knows what sort of pain we'll suffer, if we don't really connect, and then wind up refusing to do some "bedroom dancing," just because we don't wanna look like assholes!

Would we be willing to break an awkward silence? Will we be willing, if things don't go off, to head in separate directions, or will out implicit social contract of "Meeting Up and Having Fun at the Los Campesinos! Show, Damn It!!!" outweigh all, and see us forcing ourselves to stick together, through thick and thin? Of course, that might not at all be a problem. It just makes me wonder.

Also, I just want again to be clear, NSW, that I'm not trying to say that you're a jerk or a loser or something. That's not at all the case! Like I said, I think that you seem like a pretty ballin' mo'fucker. I'm pretty sure that I do want to meet up, as a matter of fact. I mean...after writing this, we've gotta see what we can see, no? I dunno. I think that we gots to put our heads together and do some thinking.

This is not really the kind of post which belongs in a Los Campesinos! thread, I guess, but its tenuous contextual relevance helped me decide to put it here. Most of this is just me thinking about how message boards have potentially changed audiences and the experiences of said audiences at shows. I'm really curious to hear what you have to say, NSW, but no less curious to hear what somebody like lazarus or U2pm might have to say. I mean, I'm not the only person who thinks about this stuff, am I? ...Or am I just thinking this stuff because I pretty much hate everybody, to begin with?

Do discuss. Oh, and the band is still awesome, too! Wonderful stuff!
 
If you shout... said:
Of course, this doesn't mean to say or suggest or even really consider that NSW might be some kind of tool.
Click to expand...

Really? I'd be willing to bet on this one.

If you shout... said:
he might look at me and see all my bad, abrasive qualities (I'm hyper-critical [see this post], I hate everybody, I tend to ramble, I'm liberal to a fault, I often mistakenly say the most inappropriate thing at the most inappropriate time [and not in a quirky, self-aware way...rather, the sort of thing that the old lady is upset about, at the end of the night, when she's the first person to tell me that I brutally offended somebody],
Click to expand...

Wow, I think you just described me perfectly.

If you shout... said:
This is not really the kind of post which belongs in a Los Campesinos! thread, I guess, but its tenuous contextual relevance helped me decide to put it here. Most of this is just me thinking about how message boards have potentially changed audiences and the experiences of said audiences at shows. I'm really curious to hear what you have to say, NSW, but no less curious to hear what somebody like lazarus or U2pm might have to say. I mean, I'm not the only person who thinks about this stuff, am I? ...Or am I just thinking this stuff because I pretty much hate everybody, to begin with?

Do discuss. Oh, and the band is still awesome, too! Wonderful stuff!
Click to expand...

Glad that you're interested in my opinion. I've always drawn a line before, and when I was on the Wire email group I saw all the people with yellow tags at the shows but refrained from interacting with them. For one, I had built up a reputation as being a bit of an argumentative asshole (sound familiar?), and didn't care to be ganged up on by a bunch of U2 mouseketeers.

Also, there was this guy Modsavage on Wire who annoyed the ever-living fuck out of me--he would post on a daily basis messages that simply said "I LOVE U2 :)". You can only imagine how this went over with many people, and he claimed to have once confronted me at a Million Dollar Hotel screening where I stood there unresponsive, which never happened as I never even saw it in the theatre! He also claimed my name was David, which isn't true either.

Anyway, I certainly feel your reservations, and a likely remedy to this thing is to meet Interference people in groups of three or more? That way there's less tension and pressure to get off on the right foot. I understand that might not always be an option, but in a big city you have a better chance. Plus I'm not sure you'd want to meet NSW one-on-one, as you may never be heard from again and even your real friends wouldn't know what happened to you.
 
If you shout... said:
This is a typical very highly/over-considered post of mine. Be prepared.

So, I wonder quite often, these days, whether or not it's actually a good idea to meet up with message board people, at shows. The reasons for this are many, but none of them are necessarily or inherently able to cancel out the potential greatness of meeting in person somebody with whom you can truly connect. Allow me, if you will, to elaborate.

You see, I am a massive, massive, massive fan of The Hold Steady. Sure, my enthusiasm has somewhat lessened, as their output has relatively slowed and their records have moved them to a new place quite far away from the one they occupied when they came into my life and actually helped me through a lot of stuff. C'est la vie, you know?

There is a highly organized and very tightly knit community of The Hold Steady, fans, though, which calls itself "The Unified Scene" (taken from a lyric in a song on the band's first record). I was a part of the Yahoo newsgroup, or whatever you call it, that preceded the message board(s) which have now facilitated a great sense of organized and even, at times, purpose. Being there from the beginning, it seemed only natural to me that I should step up and try to help out with things, once the band finally opened up a message board to coincide with the release of Boys and Girls in America.

You see, though...here's the thing.

I lived in Japan for two years, while the whole thing was gaining momentum, and everybody seemed really cool. Then, I got back to the States. Then, I actually met them. Then, I was like, "OMFG, who the fuck are these douchebags, and what've they done with the genuine, non-psychotic/-embarrassing fans I left behind, those many moons ago?" It was startling.

Of course, this doesn't mean to say or suggest or even really consider that NSW might be some kind of tool. He might be, of course; so might I! I'm not really the most objective person to consult, here. Quite to the contrary, in fact, I'm not really too concerned about meeting him because he seems prone to douchebaggery; quite again to the contrary, I'm concerned because pretty much no matter what, he probably can't live up to the person I think he might be, in person. The same could and should be said of me, unless he thinks that I'm an asshead. "I'm not If you shout...," is pretty much what I'm trying to say. I'm just some dude.

The entire The Hold Steady situation has me thinking that it could possibly be better just to leave the internet on the internet, and just kind of deal with it. I go to The Hold Steady shows in and around Chicago, since meeting these people, and no longer have as much fun, because I'm spending most of the evening avoiding complete shitheads and dodging questions about why my wardrobe isn't Unified Scene-centric. It's horrifying. I rarely even go to the front row, anymore, just so that I don't have to talk to these people. It crushes me.

Still. The thing is, it's totally possible that I might meet somebody in real life who I know from a message board and really, really, really connect with this person! I mean, it stands to reason, right? We have similar interests and already have some kind of shared history to fall back on, so why shouldn't it work? I've made tons of friends over music, so why not another? It could lead to a really interesting and noteworthily "modern" kind of relationship, too--something which genuinely couldn't have existed in quite this way until 15-20 years ago (at most). Fascinating stuff, I think, from a sociological and/or virtual/imagined community perspective.

I just don't know if I want to roll the dice...which could, I'll say again, roll either way--I mean, I might just love NSW (just as all those idiots seem for some reason to love me), and he might look at me and see all my bad, abrasive qualities (I'm hyper-critical [see this post], I hate everybody, I tend to ramble, I'm liberal to a fault, I often mistakenly say the most inappropriate thing at the most inappropriate time [and not in a quirky, self-aware way...rather, the sort of thing that the old lady is upset about, at the end of the night, when she's the first person to tell me that I brutally offended somebody], I'm "honest" to the point of being more "rude" than "honest," and so forth...we're none of us perfect, and I'm hardly an exception). And will we feel comfortable enough around one another to really "get into" the show? I am willing to assume that we're both white, which means that we're already inhibited enough, on our own! God knows what sort of pain we'll suffer, if we don't really connect, and then wind up refusing to do some "bedroom dancing," just because we don't wanna look like assholes!

Would we be willing to break an awkward silence? Will we be willing, if things don't go off, to head in separate directions, or will out implicit social contract of "Meeting Up and Having Fun at the Los Campesinos! Show, Damn It!!!" outweigh all, and see us forcing ourselves to stick together, through thick and thin? Of course, that might not at all be a problem. It just makes me wonder.

Also, I just want again to be clear, NSW, that I'm not trying to say that you're a jerk or a loser or something. That's not at all the case! Like I said, I think that you seem like a pretty ballin' mo'fucker. I'm pretty sure that I do want to meet up, as a matter of fact. I mean...after writing this, we've gotta see what we can see, no? I dunno. I think that we gots to put our heads together and do some thinking.

This is not really the kind of post which belongs in a Los Campesinos! thread, I guess, but its tenuous contextual relevance helped me decide to put it here. Most of this is just me thinking about how message boards have potentially changed audiences and the experiences of said audiences at shows. I'm really curious to hear what you have to say, NSW, but no less curious to hear what somebody like lazarus or U2pm might have to say. I mean, I'm not the only person who thinks about this stuff, am I? ...Or am I just thinking this stuff because I pretty much hate everybody, to begin with?

Do discuss. Oh, and the band is still awesome, too! Wonderful stuff!
Click to expand...

Well, let me start by saying that I am going with a friend to the concert (as I assume you are), and was not really looking to meet up at the show, though I'd not have been against it or anything.

That aside, though, cos it's not really material:

I avoided meeting interference people like the plague during the Vertigo tour. I was new to the site, and, frankly, completely new to being part of an internet community. To this day, this is the only site I visit that's not strictly informational. And, so, since it was all new to me, I simply did not feel too confident about meeting people from the site. It struck me as inorganic, and, really, there's so much of me that cannot get conveyed via 2-dimensional bursts of conversation, both good and bad, that I worried that they would be looking to meet NSW, whatever that meant to them, as opposed to Mike.

Then I went to the Hawaii show, and took a deep breath and met some fellow posters. The funny thing is, outside of one of the posters, I didn't really know the other people too well from the site. But, it was a positive experience, and I subsequently met some other posters in NYC, some of whom I was a tad "closer" with, and that was initially a tad awkward but then the ice melted and we had a really great time.

So, where does that leave me now? Well, this time around, when U2 tour and I inevitably see them several times here in Chicago, and several times in other cities, I'd absolutely love to meet some of the posters I've truly come to like and respect over the past four years. But, there are people I'd have no interest in meeting whatsoever, so I'm not looking to hang out with interlanders just for the sake of doing so. Might I be disappointed if I were to meet Scumbo, or Laz? Sure, but, to be blunt, my expectations are not sky high anyway. If we hit it off, great, if we didn't, whatever, no real harm done...it's easy to avoid people at U2 gigs, and it's not like I'm going to start following Los Campesions around the world. :)

I'm sure there are a million reasons to dislike me, and any combination of them could come to the fore if you or anyone else were to meet me. I am judgmental as fuck, too blunt, sarcastic, etc. But, like you, IYS, I have my good qualities as well and if I'm honest with myself, I'm a pretty decent guy and not the worst company/friend in the world.

I actually appreciate this sort of post, regardless of whether it belongs here in this thread, because I myself am overly analytical. But I'd rather dwell on things for too long than be ambivalent about everything.

I agree with Laz that meeting in a large group alleviates a little bit of the pressure. And, thanks, Laz, for the kind works, big shock.
 
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