The Shins...new album and general discussion

[BigMacPhisto]

It's hard to say if this will be worth it or not.....the last album had a few killer tracks like "Australia" and then turned out to be a dud. If the rest of the tracks are half as good as "Simple Song", we're in for a treat.

 

[cobl04]

Simple Song is pretty coots

 

[phanan]

I hope we don't have to wait until March to hear another track off of this.

 

[nirniva]

I hope we don't have to wait until March to hear another track off of this.

For what it's worth, they have previewed a few other tracks live:

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJu34y5ZpjY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xYD1JmB2Po

 

[u2popmofo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5MNsfV3ebs

Pretty cool, sounds nice acoustic.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

It would sound better on a leaked copy of the full album.

 

[u2popmofo]

Taylor Swift looks like a horse.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Haha, I think you've used that one before. In the video game thread once, when I came in and said something negative about video games.

Or maybe you compared her to a different animal. Either way, still funny.

I hope this album leaks soon.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Simple Song is still my favorite song of 2012, though. Only a month in, but yeah.

And in all honesty, I probably won't even download the album if it leaks. I haven't been doing that at all really, over the last six months or so.

Don't get me wrong, I still don't go out and purchase a lot of new albums, but I've mostly been waiting for them to show up on Spotify. So, I'm still a cheapskate, but I'm employing a slightly more legitimate system to achieve my cheapskatedom.

 

[u2popmofo]

I was trying to combat your leak comment with something ridiculous.

I love Simple Song a great deal as well, it's certainly my most listened to 2012 track so far (which probably isn't saying much, as I really haven't listened to many 2012 songs so far). I'm really happy with it though, it's given me even higher hopes for the album than I already had to begin with.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I get the feeling that "Simple Song" was something that Mercer wrote in a very short amount of time.

The title, of course, and the opening line, "Well this is just a simple song..." makes me picture him with an acoustic guitar, singing the first thing that came to his mind, and then sticking with it. One of those great tunes where the songwriter will say "It only took me 15 minutes to write this one!"

Talented bastard.

 

[u2popmofo]

Talented bastard.

He really is. Even the pre-official Shins stuff (Flake Music) is pretty damn good.

 

[IWasBored]

oooh, i likey.

 

[u2popmofo]

Here's the b-side to Simple Song:

The Shins: “September” (b-side of “Simple Song” 7”) on Vimeo

Also:

03-22-23 London, England - HMV Forum
03-25 Amsterdam, Holland - Melkweg
03-26 Paris, France - Bataclan
03-28 Berlin, Germany - Kesselhaus
03-30 Stockholm, Sweden - Berns Salonger
04-13 Las Vegas, NV - Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas - The Pool
04-14 Indio, CA - Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
04-17 Honolulu, HI - Neil S. Blaisdell Center
04-18 Maui, HI - Castle Theatre
04-21 Indio, CA - Coachella
04-22 Santa Cruz, CA - Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
04-23 Davis, CA - Robert Mondavi Center
04-25 Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
05-25 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheatre
05-26 George, WA - Sasquatch!
05-28 Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden Ampitheatre
05-29 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Ampitheatre
05-31 Council Bluffs, IA - Harrah's Council Bluffs
06-04 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
06-05 Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion
06-06 Detroit, MI - Fillmore Detroit
06-08 Cleveland, OH - Masonic Auditorium
06-09 Louisville, KY - Iroquois Ampitheatre

 

[phanan]

Just saw that on Pitchfork. Makes me yearn for the album that much more.

 

[mikal]

I wish bands I like would come to Wisconsin.

 

[bono_212]

Based on that, they're definitely going to be at Lollapalooza or Pitchfork.

 

[u2popmofo]

By the way, this is a different b-side than what the iTunes album version of Port of Morrow is coming with. Good to know there will be at least a few non-album tracks out there, particularly considering how good this one is.

 

[Danny Boy]

I take it this track will only be on the Record Store Day 7"?

 

[u2popmofo]

Correct. Hopefully it ends up on iTunes or the like at some point as well.

 

[Danny Boy]

If one were to capture that video and extract the audio data from it, it would probably be something like 128 kbps VBR AAC, which might sound pretty good, all things considered.

Hypothetically, of course.

 

[nirniva]

"September" sounds like a mix of Chutes Too Narrow's songwriting and Wincing's production. Good stuff.
(On a side note, the Port of Morrow tracklist on Wikipedia has "September" listed as an album track: Port of Morrow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

 

[u2popmofo]

Good point, I didn't catch that! It's listed on iTunes as being on the album well. In the past, they've released alternate versions of album track a few times as b-sides as well. Wonder if it's the album cut or an alternate versions, we'll find out in a while I guess.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Man, September is really good. This album has "excellent" written all over it.

 

[IWasBored]

Just saw that on Pitchfork. Makes me yearn for the album that much more.

i see a distinct lack of east coast on it right now, though.

 

[nirniva]

Another new track! This time, it's "The Rifle's Spiral." http://hypem.com/track/1j161/The+Shins+-+The+Rifle

 

[u2popmofo]

Dang, so tempting. I may have to hold off on this one until it releases. We'll see.

 

[nirniva]

Last link was broken. This one is still working at the time of posting, though: The Shins - The Rifle’s Spiral Very excited for...

 

[u2popmofo]

What do you think of the song, nirny?

 

[mikal]

Yeah I'm normally not one to hold out but I don't want to hear half the album before it's released.