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Post by delboydrums on May 3, 2019 13:32:44 GMT -5
I'm still giving this repeated listens, and hearing / noticing things I like, such as the harmonica in Blankets (pure Bruce). Also, Her With the Blues has really grown on me. A sad but beautiful song. I love the harmonica at the end of Blankets so much that I bought a harmonica Ah Jonny, that's made me smile! Blow that harp!
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Post by lukeindetroit on May 6, 2019 15:32:36 GMT -5
When I think of “Christian rock”, I think of music that’s written specifically to celebrate faith and/or convert listeners. There’s definitely nothing in Craig’s lyrical history that is trying to convert anyone. And while there’s a lot that celebrates faith, there’s also lyrics that question it and the institutions around it. I like his lyrics because they have such a complex relationship to faith. Christian rock tends to be way more simple in its message. Sunny Day Real Estate and Mineral and Spiritualized have much more direct lyrics about god but I wouldn’t consider them Christian rock either. This makes sense. Seems like maybe there's "Christian Rock" and then there's "Rock that is Christian". I just ask because I myself am Catholic and the theology expressed in Craig's lyrics has been a pretty important component in developing my faith life and my relationship to the church in general for a long time. It seems like fans tend to underplay at times how overtly Christian the lyrics are, and what a large percentage of them touch o Christianity. But I agree that they're not overtly evangelizing and that's a pretty clear line. I guess maybe for Craig (like me) Catholicism is a lens (one lens) through which he views and interprets the world, rather than a product to be sold. Which is of course....a lot better than the other way around haha.
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Post by doctoracula on May 6, 2019 21:02:22 GMT -5
When I think of “Christian rock”, I think of music that’s written specifically to celebrate faith and/or convert listeners. There’s definitely nothing in Craig’s lyrical history that is trying to convert anyone. And while there’s a lot that celebrates faith, there’s also lyrics that question it and the institutions around it. I like his lyrics because they have such a complex relationship to faith. Christian rock tends to be way more simple in its message. Sunny Day Real Estate and Mineral and Spiritualized have much more direct lyrics about god but I wouldn’t consider them Christian rock either. This makes sense. Seems like maybe there's "Christian Rock" and then there's "Rock that is Christian". I just ask because I myself am Catholic and the theology expressed in Craig's lyrics has been a pretty important component in developing my faith life and my relationship to the church in general for a long time. It seems like fans tend to underplay at times how overtly Christian the lyrics are, and what a large percentage of them touch o Christianity. But I agree that they're not overtly evangelizing and that's a pretty clear line. I guess maybe for Craig (like me) Catholicism is a lens (one lens) through which he views and interprets the world, rather than a product to be sold. Which is of course....a lot better than the other way around haha. Haha agreed!
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Post by lukeindetroit on May 7, 2019 10:14:57 GMT -5
I do think there is a whole separate sub-genre of christian music (including some gospel and soul music, and maybe even *some* christian rock), that is not targeted at converting people but rather is written by christians, from a christian perspective, for other christians to celebrate/explore their faith. Whether Craig's music fits in this category is maybe a more interesting question.
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TKalltheTime
Sniffling Indie Kid
Blotto / Blacked Out / Cracked Out / Caved In
Posts: 194
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Post by TKalltheTime on May 7, 2019 11:40:51 GMT -5
My clear copy of the record plays & sounds fantastic. FWIW, with those having issues with theirs.
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Post by doctoracula on May 7, 2019 20:21:47 GMT -5
My clear copy of the record plays & sounds fantastic. FWIW, with those having issues with theirs. same here. looks & sounds very nice. i also like that the record has a printed inner sleeve and a lyric sheet. usually it's one or the other. my preorder download email showed up today from partisan
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Post by muzzleofbees on May 10, 2019 14:46:55 GMT -5
A couple of weeks in, and I really like this. I still feel the album lack something, though. Either a change of pace or a change of sound and style. It's very... full. Lots of sound, most of it quite soft and mellow, warm and expansive. Impressive in many ways, and something of an achievement for Craig, goiing back to Clear Heart Full Eyes. But as I said after the first couple of listens, it doesn't quite get my heart beating. I enjoy it more on an intellectual level than an emotional level. I'm quite allright with that, actually. And the standout tracks is pretty great in its own right.
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TKalltheTime
Sniffling Indie Kid
Blotto / Blacked Out / Cracked Out / Caved In
Posts: 194
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Post by TKalltheTime on May 13, 2019 9:44:18 GMT -5
A couple of weeks in, and I really like this. I still feel the album lack something, though. Either a change of pace or a change of sound and style. It's very... full. Lots of sound, most of it quite soft and mellow, warm and expansive. Impressive in many ways, and something of an achievement for Craig, goiing back to Clear Heart Full Eyes. But as I said after the first couple of listens, it doesn't quite get my heart beating. I enjoy it more on an intellectual level than an emotional level. I'm quite allright with that, actually. And the standout tracks is pretty great in its own right. I dunno, I think the tone is very much intentional & fits perfectly with the trilogy. They are at the realization that this is their lives & it sets in all across the record.
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Post by muzzleofbees on May 14, 2019 4:09:49 GMT -5
A couple of weeks in, and I really like this. I still feel the album lack something, though. Either a change of pace or a change of sound and style. It's very... full. Lots of sound, most of it quite soft and mellow, warm and expansive. Impressive in many ways, and something of an achievement for Craig, goiing back to Clear Heart Full Eyes. But as I said after the first couple of listens, it doesn't quite get my heart beating. I enjoy it more on an intellectual level than an emotional level. I'm quite allright with that, actually. And the standout tracks is pretty great in its own right. I dunno, I think the tone is very much intentional & fits perfectly with the trilogy. They are at the realization that this is their lives & it sets in all across the record. No doubt about it being intentional! And, yes, it's a fitting last piece of the trilogy. I just think I like the two previous albums more.
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Post by kayfaberaven on May 16, 2019 20:55:29 GMT -5
So, this is kind of weird, but the past few nights they've been using Craig's songs as bumper music during Hockey Night in Canada. First, it was Blankets, and tonight it's been Something to Hope For.
I know Dave Hodge (Canadian HNIC legend, although not there any more) is a big fan. Not sure if that's the connection.
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Post by violentredvisions on May 26, 2019 5:15:32 GMT -5
For all the lyric nerds here, is magic marker the first time Craig has brought Hold Steady universe characters into solo stuff universe? Or has that happened before?
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Post by skepticatfirst on May 26, 2019 20:12:37 GMT -5
For all the lyric nerds here, is magic marker the first time Craig has brought Hold Steady universe characters into solo stuff universe? Or has that happened before? Craig actually talked about this in last week's AMtoDM interview ( link: see starting at around 6:30), and says straight out that he doesn't bring characters from one universe to another. But if you're talking about lines like "trying to seem a little hard" (compare Knuckles) / "made like sixteen grand" (compare Barfruit Blues) / "magic marker ... write your name" (compare How a Resurrection Really Feels), then yeah, obviously there are some familiar themes there. My take on it is that Craig is building characters for each universe out of people he's actually known, recombining things about them --- physical traits, behaviors, hangouts, fuckups --- into separate fictional narratives each time. But because these people are real to him and the things he cares about don't change just because he's writing for a new lineup, the separate universes can still offer views into some aspects of the same stories, if that makes sense. (Check out Craig's 2005 interview with Brian Howe, quoted below, for more detail about character building and universe boundaries.) Having said that, to get back to your question: There are some THS echoes in Magic Marker, but what get me are the callbacks to lines from The Mezzanine Gypoff, all the way back in 1996 ( link). This not only features the original "magic marker" itself: i took a little tip from the way insider wrote it on her hip with a magic marker but also the fish hook guy at the after hours house: took him down around the waterpark he had a red swimsuit and two eyes two miles apart looked just like a hammerhead shark with a hook in its mouth, he was dead in the yard And as for whether this has happened before in the solo stuff, yes. My personal favorite is the big one from Jester and June: Well we probably should have tried the guy with the Dracula cape Because other than the cape he was cool He had that wild kind of sadness Like he knew something important where the cape (compare Records & Tapes, Stevie Nix, and all the other songs with Gideon-as-magician references), wild expression (Hot Soft Light, maybe Snake in the Shower), and the knowing something important (The Most Important Thing) are straight-up Gideon. Of course, it's not actually Gideon. But there's something there that can stand looking into. Here's the quote from the Howe interview ( link):
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bigontheinside
Midnight Hauler
If you don't know the words, don't sing along
Posts: 1,478
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Post by bigontheinside on May 28, 2019 8:04:32 GMT -5
This from 'Indications' totally seems like it's about Sapphire though!
Remember when we used to joke you had psychic awareness? Did you ever predict we'd split into two different dreams?
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Post by skepticatfirst on May 28, 2019 10:08:30 GMT -5
This from 'Indications' totally seems like it's about Sapphire though! Remember when we used to joke you had psychic awareness? Did you ever predict we'd split into two different dreams? 100%, but if you say that this actually *is* Sapphire, then I think you'd have to go back to the girl from Nassau Coliseum: used to have visions, used to believe em and say that Sapphire herself is a carryover from the Lifter Puller universe, which seems like a step too far. (Not that Craig couldn't be bullshitting us about separate character universes, but it seems like he can be serious both about that and about using --- and reusing --- pieces of real-world people for fiction, which would also explain it.) Here's another one from both Lifter Puller and the solo stuff that doesn't appear to show up in THS at all --- the narrator character hires a detective to find a missing girl: from Blankets: The detective was expensive But he thought it was something he could solve Found her serving breakfast In a café in the Skyway in St. Paul from 11th Avenue Freezeout: I haven't seen you since But I know that you've been Getting loose with the gin and juice The proof is in the photo shoot ... I hired a detective He's got a tiny camera
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2019 5:52:13 GMT -5
I can’t realise talk about this album on an objective level because so many of the songs are specifically about things that are happening in my life right now. Grant in Galena is my stagnation and stasis, which he talks about in interviews-being a loser. Then I decided to move to a new city (inspired by his song Apollo Bay on his first album) with no plan and i’m worried i’ll be crashing on couches. I’m usually broke, so I borrow $200 - the exact amount of my rent. Good things happen sometimes-Something to Hope For. But i’m still really lonely in the city. Etc....
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Post by muzzleofbees on Jul 10, 2019 14:15:27 GMT -5
I can’t realise talk about this album on an objective level because so many of the songs are specifically about things that are happening in my life right now. Grant in Galena is my stagnation and stasis, which he talks about in interviews-being a loser. Then I decided to move to a new city (inspired by his song Apollo Bay on his first album) with no plan and i’m worried i’ll be crashing on couches. I’m usually broke, so I borrow $200 - the exact amount of my rent. Good things happen sometimes-Something to Hope For. But i’m still really lonely in the city. Etc.... I think this is part of the reason why it doesn't click with me. It's mostly about the music, which still feels nice, but also gives me little urge to revisit it on daily basis. But there's something about the lyrics as well. The fatigued sadness and the weariness. I can identify with it on some level, but I think the semi-nostalgic celebration of finding peace with what you have, which at least to me was the overall feeling of lots of stuff from We All Want The Same Things, suited me better. Really hope things work out for you, tlon!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2019 20:33:01 GMT -5
One bizarre thing I found on Craig’s FB is that half of the band on the album is MGMT... would not have picked it at all
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I'M THAT GUY!
Sniffling Indie Kid
Heartbreak hurts, but you can dance it off.
Posts: 150
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Post by I'M THAT GUY! on Jul 30, 2019 1:27:22 GMT -5
One bizarre thing I found on Craig’s FB is that half of the band on the album is MGMT... would not have picked it at all Is this true?
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Post by muzzleofbees on Jul 30, 2019 4:29:23 GMT -5
One bizarre thing I found on Craig’s FB is that half of the band on the album is MGMT... would not have picked it at all Is this true? Yes. Both Will Berman and James Richardson have played with/in MGMT.
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Post by kayfaberaven on Jun 19, 2020 11:41:56 GMT -5
Came across a couple of lesser known (at least to me) CF songs today. One of them, "Galveston" had such a haunting, lovely sound. Wonder why it didn't end up on INANW as I thought it was one of his best solo tunes and fit some of the themes of the album. Also there's a line about the God some people promote as being like the devil he loathes, which gives us more of a sense of how Craig's understanding of Christianity is very different than the mainstream version. Another of the songs I came across was "Isn't It?" from the Slim Dunlap benefit 7" series. Had to check that this song wasn't written by Craig as the vocal delivery is totally his style. Reminds me of the way he sang in Lifter Puller and early THS songs like "The Swish" and "Positive Jam." The guitar part and the bass sound are very reminiscent of Lifter Puller to me. I checked out the Slim Dunlap original and the vocal delivery isn't anything like this, Craig really took this song and made it his own. Highly recommending both these if you haven't checked 'em out already. My favorite Craig Finn deep cut is "Dennis & Billy" from the 2016 Newmeyer's Roof EP. It's a really simple song about two high school friends who go in different directions - one into the military and one into drugs.
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tbob
True Scene Leader
Posts: 548
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Post by tbob on Jun 19, 2020 17:43:38 GMT -5
Came across a couple of lesser known (at least to me) CF songs today. One of them, "Galveston" had such a haunting, lovely sound. Wonder why it didn't end up on INANW as I thought it was one of his best solo tunes and fit some of the themes of the album. Also there's a line about the God some people promote as being like the devil he loathes, which gives us more of a sense of how Craig's understanding of Christianity is very different than the mainstream version. Another of the songs I came across was "Isn't It?" from the Slim Dunlap benefit 7" series. Had to check that this song wasn't written by Craig as the vocal delivery is totally his style. Reminds me of the way he sang in Lifter Puller and early THS songs like "The Swish" and "Positive Jam." The guitar part and the bass sound are very reminiscent of Lifter Puller to me. I checked out the Slim Dunlap original and the vocal delivery isn't anything like this, Craig really took this song and made it his own. Highly recommending both these if you haven't checked 'em out already. My favorite Craig Finn deep cut is "Dennis & Billy" from the 2016 Newmeyer's Roof EP. It's a really simple song about two high school friends who go in different directions - one into the military and one into drugs. That’s a great tune. Very Springsteen-esque.
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