I had my first of four exams today. It went well, thanks. Since the next one isn't for another few days, this is a nice opportunity to write a little somethin' somethin' about the new dEUS album, 'Vantage Point', which came out this week in countries that are worth living in.
Most striking thing: there are no epics on this album. It's more concise, which has its benefits, but there aren't any songs like 'Bad Timing' or 'Roses' or 'Lets See Who Goes Down First', which start quietly and grow and grow and grow and become monsters. I'd go so far as to say, 'Vantage Point' is the first dEUS album that doesn't have any "Shoot me dead right now because that song is fucking incredible" songs. That's a shame. There are even a couple of songs which are going to have to grow on me. 'Is A Robot' is one. 'Eternal Woman' is pretty enough, but songs with spelling in the middle are always dangerous. And though I'm a sucker for kids' choirs, the closing track 'Popular Culture' doesn't do it for me. Yet.
But this is my favourite band. So of course there's plenty I love here. 'The Architect' and 'Slow' are already old friends. I wasn't too sure about the backing vocals on 'Slow' to begin with, but the album version is a little longer and more thought out, and her from the Knife complements Tom's voice well. 'Oh Your God' is relentless but more tuneful than on early listens. I really like the scuzzy guitar and deadpan vocals on 'Favourite Game'. 'Smokers Reflect' and 'The Vanishing of Maria Schneider' are pleasant enough. 'When She Comes Down' has a nice groove, and a soaring chorus.
It's not as great as I'd have hoped, but I'm certainly not disappointed. Hopefully they'll come back to the States, and more particularly, somewhere within seven hours of where I live. I'm not holding my breath. I still love dEUS.
[Official site / Myspace / Pocket Revolution]
He is committing egocide
Like a cop who needs a clue
I'll write a track-by-track for Vantage Point sometime soon. It's exam season here, that's why I've been pretty quiet lately. The different levels of ERISA pre-emption are far more interesting that writing about my favourite band's new album. Humbug.
If you have a minute, print this out, put it up somewhere in your hometown and take a picture and send it to this guy. Karl's got a head like a fucking orange.
Oh, back to dEUS - here's a video of Tom playing 'The Vanishing of Maria Schneider' in front of a mirror. Vantage Point - out next week in Europe!
Vind meer video's zoals deze op Cafe de Liefde
No one you know is in the know
'Oh Your God'.
This is the one. 'The Architect' took a few unravellings before it started to seep in. 'Slow' is even better, with the lady from the Knife coming in and being sexy, over nice drums and sexy bass. Also, there's a sexy video that you can download for zero money.
But 'Oh Your God' is first 'Vantage Point' song to get me straight away. With drums that don't quite fit, this is the first song they've done in years that sounds like it'd fit on 'In A Bar, Under the Sea'. That is to say, it's a little nuts. "Did 34 pushups, shoulda done 68" is the lyric that stuck with me. The album is just a month away.
New dEUS. What a time to be alive.
[download dEUS - Oh Your God (web rip)]
[Official site / Myspace / Pocket Revolution]
I'll have a solution
Hold onto your hat - it's new dEUS time! No time for my opinions right now.
The song is about Buckminster Fuller, this handsome man.
Thoughts?
(Hit the little 'play' button)
dEUS – The Architect
4play: The future's bright
Best bands that will release albums in early 2008
1. British Sea Power
BSP's third album is called 'Do You Like Rock Music?' and it's a huge leap forward from their also-great older material. As you may expect from the title, it's heavier than they've ever been, the guitars chime like the Bunnymen, there's a nod to the Hitler Youth ('No Lucifer') and plenty more that I haven't yet had time to fully absorb. Having been straight-up blown away when I saw them way back in 2001 at the Dublin Castle (!) in Camden, co-headlining with National Prayer Breakfast (!!). Check out first single, 'Waving Flags' in the embed:
2. A Silver Mt. Zion
They toured for most of the year, and then didn't put out an album! But since I've slowly become fully immersed in the world of all these Constellation bands, and since 'God Bless Our Dead Marines' is one of my new favourite songs, I'm now very eager to check out '13 Blues for Thirteen Moons', which is due in March. Here's a live recording of the first song.
[download A Silver Mt. Zion - One Million Died to Make this Sound (live)]
3. dEUS
It's no secret that I'm kind of in love with the grandaddies of Belgian music (that description makes them sound crap, though). The good news is that unlike the seven years it took them to make 2005's 'Pocket Revolution', this time it was only three years. The new one is coming soon, says Tom Barman on their website and I'm sure I'll love it. Not a lot of details yet, everything that's known is here. And to tide you over, here's a nice live video.
4. The Notwist
Please? It's about time. We still remember.
I killed the teacher's pet
The other day I sort of touched on my favourite band, dEUS, so here's a more fully developed post about them. They're from Belgium, an oft-overlooked hotbed of great bands (damn you, attention hogging Sweden), and they're really big in Europe, especially in the homeland. In the U.S. it's never really happened for them, and with V2 undergoing some sort of crisis, things don't look so good for the future.
So, it's a good thing that they can still play massive outdoor shows in Antwerp, like they did in January. I'm putting up a couple of covers they did that night, with special guests. Firstly, Sonic Youth's 'Youth Against Fascists', aided by Tim Vanhamel from Millionaire (live video of their song 'Body Experience Revue' here); and a cover of 'There Will Be No Next Time' by Belgian legends The Kids, joined by Ludo Mariman from Belgian legends The Kids. You can watch a video of this cover by clicking here, or if you'd like the whole Antwerp show to download, go here. You should get the whole set, of course, but maybe I'm just saying that because they're my favourite band and I want everyone in the world to love them.
[download dEUS - Youth Against Fascists (live)]
[download dEUS - There Will Be No Next Time (live)]
And here's a weird, very literal video for their song '7 Days, 7 Weeks'.
I really should do something about it
I don't really know anything about Das Pop other than they're from Belgium, have released two records, and have a website that isn't updated very often. The myspace, though, says they have a new record coming out soon, produced by David and Stephen Dewaele, or Soulwax to you and I.
A thing about Soulwax is, they're usually better with other people's songs than their own. Their remixes and 2ManyDJs stuff > almost anything on their last record 'Any Minute Now'. And the lead track from Das Pop, which they're giving away for free here is pretty good. Effortlessly upbeat, it'll put a swagger into your weekend, and who doesn't need that?
[download Das Pop - Tired]
And, entirely because they're also from Belgium, here's a video from my favourite band in the world.
