White Swirl

It really is a good album
I liked it from the first listen and I keep liking it even more every time I am listening to it.

It indeed makes more sense as a full album and it really lacks all the elements that I did not like in the 2 previous solo efforts: the country fiddle and the annoying rap experiments.

What's Done Is Done is obviously a country song stripped out of the country element that I do not like: the fiddle. The country vibe is there, the country style female vocals too but adding a drum machine and removing the fiddle is making the song so good and confirms that Jack's experimental mood is prominent in this album.

Corporation, Hypermisophoniac and obviously Ice Station Zebra are really presented in a way that do not feel like awkward rap efforts. That is a huge progress from Freedom At 21 because they are not only listenable but I actually like them. I think he found a way to add rap vocals and finally sound good to me.

Abulia And Akrasia could continue with an instrumental climax. Ezmeralda too. It could have been an interlude or the intro of a White Stripes song just like the spoken intro of Little Acorns. I could easily expect some heavy guitars and a full song right after the "totally absurd" lyric.
So I can still see that White Stipes Jack is here. He just made a progress. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

The new album might be lacking strong single moments like Sixteen Saltines or Would You Fight For My Love but it is the most solid and connected album of all 3 solo efforts.

Can't get in to it, to far from what I actually like.
Will probably skip the show as well and spend the money on a few smaller gigs.

Bikedo wrote:Can't get in to it, to far from what I actually like.
Will probably skip the show as well and spend the money on a few smaller gigs.

Ditto.

Abulia and Arkasia sounds like Jack doing an impression of Broken Matt Hardy, if anyone gets that reference.

These rap experiments aren't annoying?

love_islander wrote:Any new impressions of the album after a few more listens? I'm getting a lot of them stuck in my head leading me to re-listen to the album only to re-start the cycle.

No new impressions. I'll stick with my initial impression that it's simply the worst thing Jack has ever done. Well this and Sea of Cowards.

Jamie wrote:Abulia and Arkasia sounds like Jack doing an impression of Broken Matt Hardy, if anyone gets that reference.

'

I that is CW Stoneking and not Jack on that track

Quite glad I waited for the vault package to arrive to hear anything from this album cycle. Upon my first listen, the record struck me as the most bizarre thing in his catalogue. While it sounded fresh, new and exciting, it didn't immediately win me over like his past work. Much like the Stripes' Get Behind Me Satan, Jack is shattering his comfort zone and exploring new sonic ground.

Initially it seemed like the majority of the LP consisted of sketches and unfinished jams; the culmination of a strange trend I first noticed on Icky Thump but can arguably be dated back to the first Stripes records. Songs like "Little Room" sounded like complete ideas while "Catch Hell Blues" immediately struck me as oddly lacking, the guitar hook standing in for a proper chorus. "High Ball Stepper" is another prime example of this. I've always thought of the first Stripes' record as a collection of blueprints of the songs that are then fully realized in their live iterations ("When I Hear My Name," etc.). I think the same can be said of past hook-based songs like Catch and High Ball and especially the songs on the new LP.

I'm abstaining from listening to any of the new shows until I see him and the new band in May but the new album has really been holding my attention. While never reaching the heights of Lazaretto, BHR has become more of an exciting and intersting listen. The "Why Walk a Dog?" demo was a breakthrough moment where I realized White's intentions of expanding, evolving and updating his sound. What if Robert Johnson played a Moog or an iPad instead of a guitar? The question is absurd and the answer is meaningless. What does matter is that White is asking these sort of questions, especially this far into his career. Like with "Get Behind Me Satan," Jack is striving to break his own rules and grow as an artist, more interested in what he can throw at the wall than seeing what sticks.

elduderino wrote:These rap experiments aren't annoying?

remember people around here only like missionary sex... it's gods way... boxes are square, not circle...

000hawke wrote:

elduderino wrote:These rap experiments aren't annoying?

remember people around here only like missionary sex... it's gods way... boxes are square, not circle...

He is referring to my comment that some of the songs on BHR "do not feel like awkward rap efforts".
I wasnt loving Freedom At 21 and I always thought he was trying too much to make a modern rap song.
I think this effort on some of BHR songs doesnt feel awkward at all.
I was gonna say that I am more mature now and I have changed but nope.
I still cannot like that kind of music in general. Gorillaz is the only band that still can successfully make songs with that kind of elements that I like.
And I am glad it worked on BHR songs too.

So other than the parts that literally hurt my ears, and require me to cover or turn the shit down, it's very meh. I tried. I really did. I feel bad that this is a total throwaway for me... I love rap, sooooo that's not my issue. I loved SoC so that's not my issue... I have pretty good taste by my standards.... Is it me? Or is it him?

000hawke wrote:

elduderino wrote:These rap experiments aren't annoying?

remember people around here only like missionary sex... it's gods way... boxes are square, not circle...

When did the WS gods let this clown back in?


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anybody know where they are selling this on tape?

achouza wrote:anybody know where they are selling this on tape?

TMR store fronts.

rsimms3 wrote:

achouza wrote:anybody know where they are selling this on tape?

TMR store fronts.

Damn its surprising that they are going for 30+ bucks on ebay

Are they numbered / limited?