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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2012 15:48:17 GMT -8
I feel like The Shins (and specifically Wincing the Night Away, more specifically even "Sleeping Lessons" & "Girl Sailor") were the soundtrack to my life from 16 - 18 so they meant something special. I never held them in high regard as anything but story tellers that helped me through pimples, heartbreaks, drinking in the forest, etc. It was never like when I would listen to The White Stripes during the same time and say, "Fucking Jack White. He's a genius." James Mercer just is...well he's a lot of things but he's no Jack White.
Anyway, I had to see them at Coachella to finally say I saw them and the journey from adolescence into full blown adulthood was complete. They were Snoozechella but it was sentimental and wonderful. I still love some of those albums and Port of Morrow is good but it doesn't speak to me like WTNA or CTN did. I mean...it's a B+. I think taken out of the context of life's implications - The Shins are always just a 3.3 GPA.
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Post by Drew on May 13, 2012 19:07:19 GMT -8
Sorry ya'll, but Chutes Too Narrow is a timeless and pretty much flawless pop record, and it was also the jumping off point for a whole wave of similar-minded artists for the last almost ten years. Wincing the Night Away and Port of Morrow are mere shades of its glory, and though I have a profound personal relationship with it, Oh, Inverted World is a bold and nearly-realized promise of Chutes Too Narrow's near-perfection.
Don't mistake James Mercer's current business-like deliberation in making records with the energy and earnestness of genesis in those songs back then. It's incomparable.
I know that we're talking about opinions here, but I can't overstate how emphatically positive I am of this particular opinion.
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Post by Horned Gramma on May 13, 2012 19:13:02 GMT -8
I absolutely agree with drew on this. Anymore, they're just some band. But they really meant something from 2001-2004. It's easy to forget that, but they were not only hugely popular but HUGELY influential.
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Post by Pea on May 13, 2012 19:13:56 GMT -8
Man...I think Chutes is their worst album :/
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Post by Horned Gramma on May 13, 2012 19:14:53 GMT -8
I also really, really love Wincing the Night Away. It doesn't have the same sentimental value as Chutes (a lot), but it's definitely better than Oh, Inverted World.
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Post by Drew on May 13, 2012 19:17:53 GMT -8
Oh, Inverted World is really nostalgic for me. It was my first real favorite album. I listen to it now and it reminds me of when I started getting so excited about music (early high school), and how it changed who I hung out with and what I did. So in that sense it's my favorite. But Chutes Too Narrow was like your favorite band putting out an album that you didn't think could be as good as it is. That was massive. I've never been that satisfied with a new album, I don't think.
Anyway, back to reality, I'll be skipping the Shins for St. Vincent.
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Post by Drew on May 13, 2012 19:18:26 GMT -8
/thread
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Post by Horned Gramma on May 13, 2012 19:21:03 GMT -8
Anyway, back to reality, I'll be skipping the Shins for St. Vincent. Haha fuckin' drew. You're the fuckin' king.
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Post by brightenthecorners on May 14, 2012 7:25:58 GMT -8
I think the reasons the Shins were popular in 2001-2004 were because there was such a vacuous space in music back then. They were good in those years but not great. There just wasn't much better than them at the time and so they became very popular by default.
I like the Shins and am really sentimental toward those first two albums too, but just because you personally feel tied to a record doesn't make it amazing.
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Post by Horned Gramma on May 14, 2012 7:28:34 GMT -8
Nothing going on from 2001-2004? Are you high?
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Post by Dr. Crane on May 14, 2012 7:31:08 GMT -8
I am high, and listening to fantastic music from 2001.
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Post by Horned Gramma on May 14, 2012 7:31:54 GMT -8
Indie music expanded into the mainstream, electronica effectively imfected popular music, hip hop diversified into a trillion different things... That period was major.
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Post by brightenthecorners on May 14, 2012 7:32:16 GMT -8
Obviously not NOTHING but there was a lot more crap out there. Moreso than now. I think this is a pretty well known fact.
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Post by Dr. Crane on May 14, 2012 7:35:42 GMT -8
Mothafuckin' trollin'.
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Post by Pea on May 14, 2012 7:38:53 GMT -8
Skrillex was in his emocore band back then, and they were worse than Skrillex, so by default she is correct.
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Post by brightenthecorners on May 14, 2012 7:43:15 GMT -8
Indie music expanded into the mainstream, electronica effectively imfected popular music, hip hop diversified into a trillion different things... That period was major. I enjoy how I am somehow taking the Anti-Shins argument but I really do like them and will be seeing them at Sasquatch. Anyway, indie music expanded into the mainstream with pop-punk, new emo/screamo, etc back then. The Shins were counter to that and a breath of fresh air but they didn't have very much to beat. Electronic music has been trying to sneak its way into mainstream for awhile, and I would say that it actually becoming a staple is more recent. I don't know much in the way of hip hop, but I guess it did diversify back then, I'll give you that.
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Post by Drew on May 14, 2012 7:43:29 GMT -8
I think the reasons the Shins were popular in 2001-2004 were because there was such a vacuous space in music back then. They were good in those years but not great. There just wasn't much better than them at the time and so they became very popular by default. Uh Seriously?
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Post by Lump on May 14, 2012 10:08:17 GMT -8
Shit's gettin' real in here.
Does anyone know how much older stuff The Shins have been playing? I still extremely doubt that I'd miss St. Vincent for The Shins, but if there's a lot of old stuff goin' on... maybe.
But probably not.
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Post by matt on May 14, 2012 10:34:39 GMT -8
Does anyone know how much older stuff The Shins have been playing? Mr. Mercer hasn't been shaking up the setlist very much this year. They play ~20 songs per show and have only played 23 different songs, including two covers: "Breathe" by Pink Floyd and "Helpless" by CSNY. Oh, Inverted World-era (4): "Caring Is Creepy," "One By One All Day," "New Slang," & "Sphagnum Esplanade" Chutes Too Narrow (6): "Kissing the Lipless," "Mine's Not a High Horse," "So Says I," "Young Pilgrims," & "Saint Simon" Wincing the Night Away (4): "Sleeping Lessons," "Australia," "Pam Berry," & "Phantom Limb" Port of Morrow (8): "The Rifle's Spiral," "Simple Song," "It's Only Life," "Bait and Switch," "September," "No Way Down," "40 Mark Strasse," & "Port of Morrow"
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Post by Lump on May 14, 2012 10:38:57 GMT -8
Whoa, thanks for such comprehensive info. And even putting spoilers. How polite!
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