On The Shelf 095: Future Bible Heroes
Aug. 1st, 2013 06:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23FBH is one of Stephin Merritt's many projects.
Poor Stephin- he gets panned for trying to change his sound (as on magnetic Fields' Distortion), but he's hearing some jeers for this album which sounds exactly like it was recorded when FBH made their debut in 1997.
To be fair, the lo-fi 90s thing may be Merritt's trademark, but it sounds especially outdated here. To be fair,FBH is a collaboration between Merritt and Chris Ewan of 90s band Figures on the Beach (am I the only one who remembers them? Back when they seemed to be Sire Records' next big thing in the days of the Ocean Blue and Danielle Dax. I wasn't that crazy about them and apparently neither was America).
Partygoing won't change anyone's opinion of Merritt and if anything it may even try the patience of long-time fans. In its favor, it is a bit of a grower. Some one (Pitchfork, I think) said Merritt's projects increasingly sound like he's giving a clinic on lyrics, not putting together musicl albums.
Which I suppose is kind of where I land. Where does a Merritt album like this stand up against everything else? The prolific Merritt has released at least 20 albums worth of material in the last 20 years, and surely this project is at least 3rd or 4th on Merrit's list of priorities. The answer is 'it worth it?'. The answer? Probably not? Maybe?
Still, there are a few tunes that a Merritt diehard will want to get (and in the digital era, one can cherry-pick) like "Keep Your Children in a Coma" and "Drink Nothing but Champagne" (with surprise 'guests').
Poor Stephin- he gets panned for trying to change his sound (as on magnetic Fields' Distortion), but he's hearing some jeers for this album which sounds exactly like it was recorded when FBH made their debut in 1997.
To be fair, the lo-fi 90s thing may be Merritt's trademark, but it sounds especially outdated here. To be fair,FBH is a collaboration between Merritt and Chris Ewan of 90s band Figures on the Beach (am I the only one who remembers them? Back when they seemed to be Sire Records' next big thing in the days of the Ocean Blue and Danielle Dax. I wasn't that crazy about them and apparently neither was America).
Partygoing won't change anyone's opinion of Merritt and if anything it may even try the patience of long-time fans. In its favor, it is a bit of a grower. Some one (Pitchfork, I think) said Merritt's projects increasingly sound like he's giving a clinic on lyrics, not putting together musicl albums.
Which I suppose is kind of where I land. Where does a Merritt album like this stand up against everything else? The prolific Merritt has released at least 20 albums worth of material in the last 20 years, and surely this project is at least 3rd or 4th on Merrit's list of priorities. The answer is 'it worth it?'. The answer? Probably not? Maybe?
Still, there are a few tunes that a Merritt diehard will want to get (and in the digital era, one can cherry-pick) like "Keep Your Children in a Coma" and "Drink Nothing but Champagne" (with surprise 'guests').
