Spoon - Transference

[lucifer_sam]

01. Before Destruction
02. Is Love Forever?
03. The Mystery Zone
04. Who Makes Your Money?
05. Written In Reverse
06. I Saw The Light
07. Trouble Comes Running
08. Goodnight Laura
09. Out Go The Lights
10. Got Nuffin
11. Nobody Gets Me But You

[Engine]

I've got the CD coming in the mail so I'll reserve my official vote until after I've heard it a few times. But I did listen to the whole thing through NPR.

I'm inclined to give it a +-+ but we'll see. I definitely like it. This and their last album both renew my faith in indie rock.

EDIT: well having given it, I think, an adequate amount of listening time, I know what I'll vote.

A bit of background on my appreciation of Spoon: I really didn't appreciate them until GaGaGaGaGa. Of course they had been well loved by the indie rock press and presumably fans for years, I found most of their previous music pretty boring. GaGa was special to me - I liked pretty much every song, even the worse, most sugary ones. I can't really put my finger on it but I really like that album so I had high hopes for this one.

Another story: I heard an interview w/ Britt Daniel on the local NPR station in a segment in which they interview a musician about a classic album that they love. The artist discusses the album song by song with the interviewer while music clips play. Daniel's choice: Seventeen Seconds by The Cure. Of course, I found the interview riveting and he talked about how it was his favorite album all through high school and that he has always halfway intended to make a dark pop album himself - but has always failed to.

On the new album: To me it's more of a pre-GaGaGaGaGa album. Maybe this is good news for hardcore fans. The production is interesting, low-key, sometimes a little bit electronic and generally interesting (the band produced it themselves). There are some songs that I like a lot. But there are too many boring ones for me to call this an Excellent or even Very Good album.

+--

[Rainard Jalen]

Haven't been around here for a while, but since this album is SO ****ing awesome I guess I had to post.

This album is not just a pre-Gagaga record, it's pre-Gimme Fiction too - but post-Girls Can Tell. The nearest comparison is probably Kill The Moonlight - but only in terms of the heavily stripped down production aesthetics. Essentially it's really an animal of its own, though of course it is quite unmistakably Spoon.

The songs have a real demo-ey feel to them. Verse-Chorus structure has larged been eschewed in favour of playing around and building upon single motifs - something Spoon have a real knack for, but it shows here possibly more so than elsewhere in their ouvre.

I can see how Gagaga (rather than Spoon) fans are likely to find the record something of a letdown. Gagaga was so immediate and catchy, you required little convincing: it was love at first listen. In that sense, this album constitutes quite a profound deviation. These are songs that take some sinking in. The material is heavier, more difficult if you will. But they retain all the key characteristics that make Spoon what they are, and once you get into the songs, you won't want to put them away.

If you like Spoon in any sense at all then this must be given a go.

[Engine]

Originally Posted by Rainard Jalen

I can see how Gagaga (rather than Spoon) fans are likely to find the record something of a letdown. Gagaga was so immediate and catchy, you required little convincing: it was love at first listen.

I assume this is at least somewhat directed at me seeing as I'm the only one who has posted anything here. So you think I am not a real fan of Spoon because I like GaGa best? Fair enough. You seemed to lump GaGa in the same category as Gimme Fiction, though, and I think Gimme Fiction is probably the worst of the bunch. Then again, you're right, I am not a big enough fan to really judge. I've always viewed Spoon as more of a standout among many boring indie-rock bands than a good band. And you're also right that the catchiness of GaGa is easy to grab. But I think that there is a lot more to that album than just simple hooks and such. It's got some kind of feeling in it that I don't hear in any of their other albums/songs. Maybe it's a little bit of that dark pop that Daniels loves.

Anyway, I don't take issue with being called not-a-Spoon-fan but I hope you don't assume that my reason for that is that I am unwilling to invest time in listening to difficult music in order to really appreciate it. Half the shit that I like is considered unlistenable by many. Also, I have listened to all of the Spoon albums and have been hearing them in the background of my life for years - and I don't feel that any of it (and certainly not the new album) is nearly interesting enough to try and hear something great in there if I really, really listen as I have done with say, avant garde jazz and other experimental music.

[Rainard Jalen]

Originally Posted by Engine

I assume this is at least somewhat directed at me seeing as I'm the only one who has posted anything here.

It was actually for the most part pretty independent of your post.

the catchiness of GaGa is easy to grab. But I think that there is a lot more to that album than just simple hooks and such. It's got some kind of feeling in it that I don't hear in any of their other albums/songs. Maybe it's a little bit of that dark pop that Daniels loves.

The essential genius in Daniel's songwriting, I feel, is his ability to work with so little (the band's sound is so consistent and repetitive it could almost be called bland) yet somehow defy the odds, the laws of music even, by squeezing so much out of that virtual economy of nothingness. Transference, in my opinion, shows that you can even strip away the instant gratification of the hooks and the music still manages to shine.

I don't feel that any of it (and certainly not the new album) is nearly interesting enough to try and hear something great in there if I really, really listen as I have done with say, avant garde jazz and other experimental music.

Certainly not. I'm with you there. But I don't think anything along the lines of that sort of effort is necessary to like Transference. I'd say, three listens through.

But at any rate I'm not trying to make you like it, I'm really just putting forth my reasons for seeing it as I do.

[wotak]

I think it's close to their best work.

[Stone Birds]

I really like Got Nuffin, but that's all i've heard