How and Why "Ants from Up There" Is a Masterpiece: Black Country, New Road album review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- Perfection without perfectionism. Life and Space. Happy and Sad. Bittersweet. Details and Textures. @BCNRband
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This album with Isaac not being a part of the group anymore immediately gave me the same feeling as By the Time I Get To Phoenix did. Thankfully we didn’t have to lose Isaac the same way we did Groggs, but that bitter sweet feeling adds a whole other layer to the album.
Yes, rip Groggs, get well soon Isaac.
I totlaly undertsand what feeling you are talking about, it is Definently a feeling of lost happiness knowing you won’t get anything else from Isaac or Groggs. I will say though someone leaving a band is very different than loss of life, and comparing them could be harmful, even if you are valid in your feelings. I’m just glad Isaac left so he could be healthy.
Sorry for all the typos. And RIP Groggs, what a legend
@@marshw000 Yeah I didn’t mean to compare the tragedy of Groggs to something far less important in the grand scheme of things. They just both conveyed similar feelings, emotionally for me.
@@idlinggg I understand the feelings being similar for sure, and I imagined that isn’t what you meant either. But you are right there is a weight over both albums that is more of longing and remorse because we won’t hear their music anymore.
The Place Where He Inserted The Blade is about being over-dependent on the person you’re in a relationship with. “Show me the place where he Inserted the blade “ is Isaac asking his significant other to show him how to cook as he cannot understand the cooking tutorial he is watching without her. Then the line “show me the fifth, or the cadence you want me to play” is Isaac depending on her to help him write music. When he does not have this person in his life, he does not do so well “I get lost, I freak out”. He is so dependent on her that he literally wants to tether himself to her “show me where to tie the other end of this chain”. That’s what I, and a bunch of other people, got out of it anyway. Hope this helps :)
Damn that’s not what I took from it but it’s really interesting. What I got from it was “What more do you want me to do? Tell me!” Like when he says show me what cadence you want me to play, it’s like Jesus, I’ve done everything I can do just tell me what more you want! I don’t know though, your take sounds beautiful too. What do you think?
Love this perspective.
I read the fifth/cadence line almost as a fourth wall break, begging the audience for what they want. Throughout the entire song, we think this song is about Isaac and the relationship. And all of a sudden the spotlight is put on us, the audience. In a way, we also depend on Isaac in a way, to make us lunch while he starves. In this sense, the starving represents him not feeling fulfilled, emotionally. Making art in a capitalist society is no longer about fulfilling the artist, rather, it is about fulfilling the audience, the consumer.
I also take the “show me the cadence” line as him drawing a parallel between codependence in a relationship and codependence in an artist-consumer dynamic. I feel like that was meant for us in a way.
I think with isaac's lyrics there's always the option to take things both literally and metaphorically, but I think both ways kind of join together in the idea of him wanting to be more than simply a provider (in this case literally, of dinner), he wants her to show him how to love her, because he's failing and he feels he can't do it alone.
brooo thanks ❤️
honestly the way you raved about the raw recording process on this makes me think you`d love The Glow Pt.2 by The Microphones even more
Absolutely! Definitely should add Mount Eerie by The Microphones to that list too
Can I plus one this?? Prof needs to hear The Glow Pt. 2
dude absolutely has to review tgp2
I so concur
Seriously
Professor Skye is officially the best music reviewer on TH-cam
this video put him there for me, incredible review
yurrrrrrr
Yeahhhh , no I literally enjoyed this as if I was walking out of class & stopped to talk bout my favorite albums as of late...
Professorthony Skyetano here, the youtube's best music reviewer, and it's time for a review of ...
He thinks that unjabbed people are murderers. I have offered him the chance to accuse me of this in court and provide the evidence.
literally my most anticipated video lol
Damn Bread Song reminds me of those relationships where you think you're soul mates, two years later of good dating you move in together, then a year later you're hating that person because they eat bread in the bed and crumb everywhere. Just those small annoyances that makes you hate someone despite you loving them a short time ago.
I thought both the title and theme with the bread was weird at first but I really appreciated it alot more when I figured out that the breadcrumbs in the bed are the small, day-to-day things in relationships we do, that creates friction; the lead character doesn't even realise he's laying on them because he's in love but hes already been pushed out of the bed, probably because she stopped loving him
I like this interpretation, also I think the theme of bread definitely relates to the ideas in Concorde: "don't tell me you're hungry cause darling I'm starving myself," and "I heard you're on Atkins as well." The image of there being no place for bread or man in the bed where they should be consuming/consumating their relationship - they both feel starved of intimacy but while Isaac is the one trying to reignite the flame by bringing bread into the bed, she is actively chosing to deprive herself of his touch/bread (Atkins diet).
Another thought that just came to me while typing - linking to Christianity with the concept of man and bread being synonymous?? Isaac like Christ offering up his body to his lover? Suffering at the cross? Jesus' prediction of Judas' betrayal at the last supper, perhaps his lover is unfaithful?
It's just insane how complex this album is!
I never had a small annoyance with anyone I loved. It was only ever the big things I think people need to grow beyond that small annoyance stuff.
But , the concept of the song is brilliant
I was lucky enough to see them live in London last April. Probably one of the best live concerts I’ve ever been to, but I knew from seeing Isaac perform that the band wasn’t going to last long, and I felt incredible lucky to be there in that moment. Isaac was on far right side of the stage, almost hidden by the curtains and seeing him sing I had the impression of a candle burning on both ends. Beautiful, but fading fast. I’m glad he quit when he did. Honestly, Ants from up there is an instant classic, and I really believe that BCNR are my generation’s Radiohead
Your Homeric reading of Snowglobes, and the religious references scattered across a number of tracks, has got me looking for other gods throughout this 'epic' album.
Concordia was a goddess (Roman) who 'embodies agreement in marriage and society'. The Greek equivalent was Harmonia, the goddess of harmony, and the word concord literally means harmony or union. The name was given to the aeroplane to symbolise the union between England and France during it's joint creation. Isn't this sense of harmony and union what Isaac is striving for throughout the whole album? But instead he gets Concordia's opposite, Discordia, the Roman goddess of strife and discord. This battle between harmony and discord runs throughout every song, lyrically and/or musically.
If we are following the gods thread, then the Basketball Shoes title is surely a reference to Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike is often represented as a winged goddess, linking us back to the Concorde, flying in his room and tearing his life to shreds. With its position as the album's finale, its medley of themes and musical motifs from across the album, and Isaac's departure, is this song now re-contextualised as his swansong, finally accepting defeat and acknowledging that his ex is the 'victor'? (Or is it us, the fans, who are the victors, being left with this album, at the expense of Isaac's crushing defeat)
And so to the album title. Are the gods all looking down and laughing? We must look like Ants From Up There.
underrated comment
oh wow
This is great analysis. Thank you for this.
this was beautiful. absolutely stunning read and brings a whole new meaning to the album. thank you.
What a fantastic review!
The album is definitely... Special. It's one of those unrepeatable pieces of art. It could be imitated, sure, but I don't think it's possible that there'll ever be another Ants From Up There. Album of the decade? Time will tell, but it's already one of the best albums of the century-of any century, perhaps.
I had really high expectations for it; listening to the album, I was more and more amazed with every passing second of the album's beautiful music. Needless to say, my high expectations were greatly surpassed, something that rarely happens. Being satisfied as a music consumer notwithstanding, I'm very satisfied as a music fan, a music lover, whatever one would call it. The album drips raw emotion. "Perfection without perfectionism," as you perfectly said.
AFUT aside, I do have one of those strong memories that are linked to a song. It was back in November of 2019. Took a plane and flown around 1200 miles to visit my girlfriend at the time. It was her birthday. Her cousins met me at the airport, since it was a surprise for her, some kind of birthday present. They drove me to the apartment where I'd be staying at, and I had to sit in the trunk of the car because there wasn't any space left on the back seat. It must've been like 2 or 3am. Among some conversation with her cousins, the song Harvest Moon by Neil Young (yes, I love Neil too!) started playing. I immediately focused on it and didn't really pay any attention to anything else, except for the beautiful early morning, driving in a highway, mountains all around me. I went to visit her, but I didn't love her anymore. I'd already decided that I would leave her. It's a very strong moment still, years later. I think that, listening to the lyrics, I was forcing myself into feeling the same way about that girl, but you can't really fool yourself: I wasn't "still in love" with her. So the song (which is beyond beautiful) and the lyrics, with me sitting there in that trunk at 2-3am, far away from home, looking at the mountains and the highway... I don't know. It was really magical, bittersweetly so. That moment never left me, and I'm actually grateful for it, in some way.
Anyway, if anyone's actually read all of this, thank you! Hope you are all doing fine. Remember to take care of yourselves, and always keep music close to your hearts.
Read the whole thing and appreciated it. Trunks of cars are good places to form those memories. I'll always think of being in the trunk of a Fiat Panda every time I hear Rock Lobster.
@@lewisholland172 Read my original comment again if you need to: I said it was one of the best albums of the century, not the best; I don't think there's a single best anything, ever, just a group of things (in this case, music albums) that stand above the rest. It's all subjective, obviously. There's no "best album ever" objectively, or anything like that.
As for me having to listen to more music... Yes, definitely! I've listened to a lot of music, but there's always more to discover, and I find that to be one of the best things in life.
Anyway, have a good day and take care :-)
Wake up babe, new black country new road professor skye review
This review vomits phrases of joy.
Prof's best yet.
1:10:10 Listening to side one of Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden brings me right back to listening to it for the first time (pun intended) my high school bedroom back in 1988. And every listen since then only makes that work of art better for me. Maybe this BC,NR album will do that for some of you one day. Hope so, because there are few finer experiences in life.
Zappa was right.... music IS the best.
Talk Talk's Spirit of Eden, one of the best albums ever.
I don't doubt it honestly, I'll never forget how I felt the first time I listened to AFUT, and I don't think it'll ever grow old for me
1:07:30 I'm so thankful that this moment was caught on camera: when the idea clicks and a connection is made, revealing the thought process; is something priceless, and honestly moving, to witness such a well-spoken and passionate individual pour out his guts about a piece of art they're so deeply in love with, _unedited_ for 1+ hours... this "review," which feels like an academic paper, and at the same time is as raw and genuine as the music in A.F.U.T. is... man, this made my month and possibly my year better in so many ways. End of rambling: subscribed, eager to dig in!
1:13:10 Nitpicking: I too, for the longest time, believed the reverb in When the levee breaks' drums to be "natural", but it turns out the mansion stairs had little to do with that signature echoey vibe: it was a delay pedal! th-cam.com/video/XZYDDX1DHDU/w-d-xo.html
I also have a similar experience with Basketball shoes. I’m on my bed doing homework while listening to the album, and I just remember the song playing, and around the 7 ish minute mark where the indie/slacker part occurs got me hooked onto the song, and nothing else. I vividly remember, only thinking of the song, and just tears dripping down my cheek. It was the first time I’ve ever felt this way about a song, and it’s really neat to hear someone else have a similar experience. I will never forget it!
videos like these are definitely one of the reason why this has become one of my favorite channels on youtube.
The level of effort that has been put into these videos as well the heart that shines through with every single video just makes it such great content that i‘m happy to see over and over again!!!
Outstanding review of an outstanding album. Really good job.
I ran away to Paris in 1999 when I was 18 because I was struggling with an identity and I hated everyone and everything and wanted space.
I met a 40 year old woman from Nantes and she had this big spacious apartment where she used to drink wine and paint naked. She would have three albums on repeat, frigid stars by codeine, rain dogs by Tom Waits and on the beach by Neil Young. I haven't thought about that time in my life for quite some time so it was cool that you mentioned on the beach.
What a cool mix of records!
1 hour review of BCNR. I'm in!
Do you think that chaos space marine having a metal hand relates to the clamp that has clamps for hands? The amount of references back and forth on this lp is crazy, every listen I pick up something new and that’s a sign this lp is stellar
In the note isaac left in the bands announcement, he ends it with a Futurama quote which likely means the Clamp reference is about the character Clamp, buttt could be multilayered tbh. Cool though!
@@lynchyboi28 I've seen a lot of people say this and I just don't buy it. I don't see why he'd mix in a joke character from a cartoon with very emotional and personal lyrics, especially when he's not saying anything related aside from the word "clamp". It seems like a stretch.
think chaos space marine is a war hammer reference
Love your humanist approach to art critique, good stuff. Thanks Prof
Professor, you have once again out done yourself. This is a gorgeous accompaniment to the perfect lp and somehow makes me appreciate the record more. Bittersweet is the word. Crying in absolute warmth. Thanks so much for doing what you do, putting the art first
My music moment etched in time. Every evening I go for a long walk around where I live, which is suburbs but also by the sea. I've covered a lot of the same streets but one evening I went one street further and discovered this amazing huge tree. I always listen to music when I'm walking and I remembered Black Country, New Road. I'd listened to them a couple of years ago but I kind of forgot about them because they only had the two songs at the time. But when I went back to them I was amazed because they had all these new songs I hadn't heard. And the first time I heard Concorde was walking under that tree. Now every time I hear Concorde I am in the memory of being under that tree.
I think my favourite moment on the album has to be during 'The Place' when Isaac shrieks "sleeping," the only way I can describe it is raw emotion, passion and dread. The first time I heard this I had literal goosebumps, it really resonated with me deeply
Completely agree with your interpretations and the you brought up connections that I had never thought about and it added to the listening experience a lot. Thank you man!
A whole album I associate with a certain point in my life is Plastic Beach by Gorillaz. In 2020 my family and I went on a camping trip. I had been meaning to listen to the album and wanted to take the opportunity to listen to it while I wouldn't really be doing anything. Throughout my trip, I listened to the album and all different parts of it the different instrumental breaks and sounds all correlate with certain memories on that trip, but the main one is with Empire Ants. It was our last night and we hiked about an hour to get to a more hidden lake. As we got there the sun was setting and I remember just sitting down as this song starts and looking over this wonderful scene before me. The colors in the sky were a mixture of blues, purples, oranges, and reds all cascading over the rippling water. The mountains and trees around us were bathed in a bluish-purple as the lake was like a giant mirror of this beautiful sky overhead. Every time I hear this song and its wonderful acoustic intro I can just feel that wonderful scene that was painted before me that I spent with my family. It holds a special place in my heart now and will probably stay there for the rest of my life.
I knowww gorillaz has an special place in my heart because I used to hear their album demon days since I was 7 and now it gives a weird feeling of nostalgia
Wow an hour??? This is the breakdown this album deserves
That comment about music being attached to a specific moment in time at a specific place is spot on. I have the exact feelings about In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, specifically King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1. I remember walking to the dining area of my college campus and hearing those acoustic guitar chords and “When you were young you were the king of carrot flowers.” To this day I still remember the exact tree I passed by and the wind blowing against my face. Also a second video discussing this album would be amazing, it’s the kind of music that even in an hour or two or three can’t be explained in all it’s beauty and detail
Yes! My thoughts exactly!
after a few listens, ants from up is already my album of the decade and nearly impossible to top. it's been such a long time since an album moved me this much. for the first time was already my aoty last year and it's incredible to think that they managed to released their magnum opus only one year later. this album will stand the test of time.
and i just love to see how prof skyes obsession with this band mirrors mine. i just love to hear his thoughtful insides into this masterpiece.
Incredible analysis you’ve taken so many words out of my mouth i wish I had said before
Sergio did post that video of kicking the footy around with the dog. Bob's a proper baller.
I really loved hearing all the behind the scenes stuff from the producer, I think this album came at a very good time in my life but I am looking forward to making memories and hearing it while having that association. Basketball shoes reminds me of when I was a kid and used to go to California in the summer to visit my family, I don't know why but the intro sounds so comforting and warm. Also, to answer your question, the song "Change" by Alex G always reminds me of the rural drive where I first heard it. Another very nostalgic happy-sad song.
Also I really like your interpretations of Isaac's lyrics. I've never come across a piece of art so blatent about the premise of making art like this album - there's just so much honesty and sincerity. When I make art (I do painting and photography) one of my reasons is to have people love the piece and by extension, me. I guess it will never be a real love though because as an artist you'll never really be seen as a whole.
Those moments you were talking about towards the end of the video, I have so many of those. So fun hearing you describe all that cause I relate so hard lol
Thanks so much for these interpretations. I’ve been discussing this album nonstop with people online and one thing I find unfortunate is some people’s propensity to ground themselves and stay in one interpretation of a track as soon as they feel they have it “figured out”. I’ve found this especially true for Basketball Shoes. That track’s been performed live by the band for years now, with almost all of the lyrics changing. But the “in my bedsheets now wet, of Charli(e) I pray to forget” line persists. I think, because of that, most people continue to intepret it as a wet dream about Charli XCX, just being obscured more and more with further revisions to make it less explicitly obvious. I can’t say for sure, but I agree that sticking to the wet dream interpretation is probably wrong and, I think, really underselling the song. Musically, it ties together the entire record. So many little motifs and even different genres interwoven into a final act, the finale of a beautifully cinematic album. It would only make sense for some of the lyrical themes to show up as well. They certainly do in the first verse, which could almost completely be mapped onto the lyrical themes of him feeling the need to escape the band, his conflict with love and vulnerability. For him to end his final track on record with the band (at least for the foreseeable future) with his painfully passionate delivery of “oh your generous loan to me, your crippling interest…” It’s too perfect not to be, at least partially, about his relationship with fame. His final farewell. The lyric about Charlie (which is how it’s written in the lyric book, distinguishing itself from Charli further) then seems almost like a red herring. With how Isaac writes, he clearly isn’t one to serve the meanings of his lyrics on a platter. Keeping the Charlie line makes fans interpret it solely as the same song about a wet dream that it used to be, while perhaps the true meaning is hiding in plain sight from us-us, the ones crippling him with our “generous” interest.
Thanks again for your review. I appreciate your obvious passion for music as someone who doesn’t have many people in their life that share that same fire for this type of art.
This comment helped me understand the song on a deeper level. Thank you
1:10:20
For me this Proustian involuntary memory will be with the climax to The Place That He Inserted The Blade (the best song - you're so wrong bro) when I was walking through my home city and midnight, by the central river. It was pelting rain with a ghastly wind. The central river was shimmering in the floodlights, as Iasac and the rest of the crew roared 'GOOD MORNING!'. I felt a revolution in my mind. I was totally, utterly transfixed by the image of the raging moonlight river, with the triumphant saxophone tones urging me on. I felt an overwhelming urge to become one with the river. To lose it all. I didn't, but it was a very special moment.
The first ever video of yours that I’ve watched. Amazing, just amazing.
i need to see that playing soccer with bob the dog picture
probably my favorite music association was when i was listening to the money store, by death grips, walking both my dogs. i like in the town where the great frank lloyd wright grew up and where his home studio is, so there’s a bunch of houses in my town designed by him, and i was listening to this amazing forward thinking music while looking at this astounding futuristic architecture and i was just so overwhelmed with all this amazing art that i let go of one of my dogs leashes, and had to go run half a block to grab her (her name is weezy, after weezy jefferson i believe), and stop her from running to any other dogs nd fighting them or whatever
great memory great review have a nice day
neat memory
Interesting that TPWHITB is your least favorite. It’s my favorite on the album and I’ve seen many other’s place it at number 1 or 2.
I’m not sure about this, but I looked up if Billie Eilish ever lived in Berlin, and an article came up with a video interview where Billie said she contemplated taking her own life in a Berlin hotel room. The lyrics following make some sense in that context, but it could be a coincidence.
yea it’s because it reminded him of a showtune, a genre which skye is prejudiced against
tpwhitb is definitely my favourite on the album
Finally getting around to this behemoth review. I'm blown away by your level of analysis, I've been subscribed for a while but this review has made me an avid watcher.
When I was 14, I took a trip to Europe and saw 7 countries in 20 days. A lot of those days were spent on a coach bus travelling from country to country, so naturally we had a lot of free time to read/listen to music/etc. I was obsessed with Dream Theater at the time and I was listening to their album Black Clouds and Silver Linings while we were leaving Poland. Everytime I hear The Count of Tuscany -- the last song on the album -- I'm immediately transported back to that bus and feel the same sense of excitment and anticipation as I did on that trip.
I'm 28 now and I really havent thought about that trip in a few years, thanks for reminding me how powerful a connection music can have not only with our emotions, but with those random time and place events. BC,NR rules, Im gonna be spinning this record for a long time
Awesome Skye. Love you and your videos. You had the same reaction as everyone it seems because it has been universally accepted as a masterpiece by most!
I really really appreciate this video man. I'm not surrounded by people who even know who this band are and all I want to do is talk about this album. So hearing you talk about it scratches that itch a little.
this album is unbelievably good and your channel is awesome. love the raw style. subscribed.
My Proustian connection to music is walking my dog in the winter while listening to helplessness blues and freezing.
Thank you so much for the detailed analysis of the album. You've really opened my eyes to the themes that are present in the album. I usually listen to the lyrics and this is the first album that has made me truly appreciate instrumentals.
Can't wait for part 2 of the review when we all collectively figure out what the album is truly about.
I think that this album will be looked at as a classic 20 years from now.
Listening to Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks always brings me back to my mental state from a few years ago. I used to listen to it on repeat to soothe myself, and now I immediately feel like I've been transported back to that time and how I physically felt even after only hearing a few seconds of it. There's something really magical about the melancholy of that song.
loved this video. wanted to let you know that Basketball Shoes has existed in some capacity since 2019, they've played it live many times, and the lyrics have evolved since its first introduction, not unlike the way "sunglasses" and "athen's france" differed from their single to the version on FTFT. the original lyrics were explicitly a "dream about Charli XCX". the way I've always read it, it's about immersing himself in this blissful fantasy romance, tortured by the fact that none of it is real, until he wakes up in shame with his bedsheets wet (wet dream) and has to confront that loss and the isolation he now feels. with the new lyrics removing a lot of the context around that, I think he's connecting that sense of dread and isolation in his fantasy to the way the band has affected his life over the past few years, and how his perfect "dream" is doing more harm to him than good. or something more general about life and growing up. that's kinda what I took from it
I think my favorite thing in this world is developing Proustian connections with music
#1 I always think about is listening to Kids See Ghosts for the first time while playing around with a ping pong ball before school so everytime there’s a ping pong ball I immediately think of Reborn
Isaac leaving reminds me of Aeroplane Over The Sea. The band was just done, emptied out. Honestly, if I'd written this album, I'd hide in a cave, trying to recover from the pure expression of love and grief.
thank you Professor Skye, amazing video!
AFUT is definitely one of the most beautiful and moving pieces of music I've ever heard, I'm blown away by the lyrics and how much the band changed since their debut. Personally The Place Where He Inserted The Blade is my favourite song
To my mind, this album really reminds me of Arcade Fire, Isaac once said in an interview that they wanted to be the next Arcade Fire and I think AFUT shares some similarities with The Suburbs, both albums have that warm sound and feeling of nostalgia in the lyrics
OK, my little moment of time/place/music connection also concerns Radiohead; After a party in a small village, about 2AM, cycling 20km through unknown woods. My headlight barely works, I don’t know where I’m going, have to navigate with my phone. Listening to Kid A on my headphones, The National Anthem really got to me; the slight anxiety of not being able to see where I was going, the atmosphere of the dark trees speeding past me. Once the horns kicked in I just started sprinting till my legs gave in. Such a powerful moment to me, although writing it out feels silly. Oh well, loved the review almost as much as the album ;) this is going to be talked about for years and years and years
A few unrelated thoughts:
It took me months to accept this album as the masterpiece it is, and I think a lot of it was down to needing to get used to Isaac's singing style, which I now love. I hate that I wasted this time and the opportunity to hear these songs live.
I don't think I can recall any music/place association without being in the place or hearing the music - it's that immediate and visceral.
Your analysis and the stuff I've found in the comments are giving me a whole new level of understanding and appreciation for the lyrics. Just one point: I think "All I've been forms the drone, we sing the rest" can also (I think best) be read as forming a musical drone - a constant background on top of which their art can be built.
Was waiting for this! Loved the album and its definitely the album of the decade.
I'm lunching (loving) your interpretation of The Place Where He Inserted The Blade
funny
In regards to music connecting to specific memories. There was this time I stayed at my friends place in York, after she moved away for university. Shes one of my best friends and has always been incredibly supportive of me and the stuff I have been through in my personal ife, and at this point I hadnt seen her in roughly half a year. We met up, got super drunk, watched some bad movies,then I fell asleep on her floor on a pile of plushies. The next day she took a nap around mid day, and I've always had trouble sleeping so I just laid there on the floor of her uni dorm room listening to Ben Howard's 'noonday dream'. I will always associate that album with that weekend and that friend and how much she means to me.
Also I absolutely loved your review, it really helped me connect dots on this album that had not been present in my thoughts.
Professor Skye you’re a legend 🙏
This was such a fantastic overview of what might be the album of the decade. I think I may have my own basketball shoes associated memory after weeping to it in the target parking lot. I remember it just hitting me and making perfect sense. I wasn't even sad, but my stomach hurt from crying. Another one is Toungetied by Group love. Listened on the way to the beach on the last day of school and the left turn I was waiting at will always be ingrained in my memory.
thanks for the shout out, I guess!
One of the best reviews on this website prof, thanks for being you
amazing review!! thanks for the insight from sergio too, i would only ever want it to come from you. this whole era of music has been amazing
I met Sergio last August at the Lexington in London when my band did a show there (he was doing the sound). He was a super nice guy who really knew his stuff about music!
i might be a little late but i wanted to add my attachments to Haldern, i was walking home and it was snowing, the hood on my coat was up, the snow crunching under my boots. my town is quite hilly and so i turned a corner down a set of stairs and every building and rooftop was presented to me, trails of smoke out from chimneys, a solitary lamppost, still snowing. it just reminded me of what you said about driving in that blizzard and i just had to say this. thank you for this video!!!!
Love the video. The kind of fractured, concept album style Isaac and the band are going for really reminds me of Arcade Fire. Albums like Funeral, The Suburbs or Reflektor don't necessarily have a through-line but lyrics are repeated in different songs and new meaning is gleaned as a result and it works to create a fractured, storytelling that keeps me coming back and discovering more about the meaning and finding new interpretations. Look forward to their new album as well but in the meantime, I am addicted to this one.
When I hear Politik by Coldplay it transports me to 2018, on I-70 westbound, near Goodland Kansas on a 10 hour roadtrip. My dad is on a work call, as we pass through wind farms. We are headed to Estes Park, the place I think of as home although I have never lived there. The car smells of gummy bears, as I sit in the right back seat of our Volvo, stomach aching after consuming too many. We are headed home, to family, we head there every other year. Every time I hear Politik I think of this, every time I think of Estes Park I think of Politik. I think of false fire alarms going off in the night. I think of a girl I once met there, who meant everything to me. Politik may represent a certain moment, but it also represents a collage of moments, a whole period of life that comes every other year for a week.
Also, this video was absolutely beautiful, there's so many new ideas that I agree with you on, and some I do not. I think there's beauty in never knowing what the words truly mean, the energy comes through. I'm glad there are other people out here that are this passionate about music. Tell me the next time you hear something near as good as this, If you ever even do.
Not sure if interviews will be a part of this channel but a song by song album dissection interview with Sergio and a band member or two would be truly amazing.
So many songs just bring me to moments just walking around on my college quad where I just am listening to a song and I can’t help but dance and motion along to the rhythm, or even sing without shame out loud because I’m so into the song. Most recently I listened to “I want to be well” by sufjan Stevens at full volume in my headphones, and when it crescendos at the “I’m not f-ing” around part I just felt the power of music, as cliche as that sounds, and I just felt so invested in the music and the climactic release this song imparts on me. It may not be the most exciting place, but my past 4 years at my school is where I’ve grown the most, and a lot of the music I listened to such as this I grew to love during these years… a sort of soundtrack to my life
i said once and i’ll say it again: this channel is GOLDEN and necessary for the music community
Typical Skye trying to stretch the video to 10 minutes
Freshman year of college was the most isolated and unmoored I've ever felt. I woke up dazed after dark one winter evening into a snowstorm. Walking the empty cobbled New England streets listening to The National's "Fake Empire" was revelatory, hearing about tiptoeing through a shiny city, "half awake in a fake empire" while the snow swirled and blurred the buildings. The horn fanfare at the end of that song is the most transportive sound I know of, putting me right back there, feeling that glimmer of hope on the tail end of a long lonely winter.
Concorde for a lot of British ppl represents something that we once produced that was the best of what it was in the world at the time and the ambition we as a country had back then and its demise is like a metaphor of how much Britain has also declined and something about the Britain that existed at the time when concorde was first made has also gone with it. Concorde for many brits is like a metaphor that represents maybe the last time when we (along with france) were capable of making the very best in the world. I have no idea if any of this was in his thinking but it is certainly a definite real feeling that exists here in Britain. It might also symbolise a British/French union that was meaningful in his life and how together we once produced something magnificent but how it ultimately had a shelf life. Maybe I'm reading too much into the concorde thing but it was clearly a very strong symbol to him and I'm sure he had a conscious awareness of this. It also represents a British/French collaboration that ended in a burned out disaster. I don't know. But yes here in Britain concorde meant more than just the fastest and most expensive way to cross the Atlantic.
I don’t think yr reading too much in at all. There’s a reason for choosing Concorde as the image and it’s definitely a reach back into Britain past.
You are the best reviewer on youtube and this just might have been your best video
Thanks, I felt really good about this one.
Been waiting for this video all day
Professor Skye- the emphasis on Sergio taking BCNR’s live performances to another level reminds me of the story of another post-punk classic: Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures. Martin Hannett who produced the record is known amongst fans as the secret 5th member of JD, he had a mystical approach to production and elevated those tunes to another level of ambient brilliance. Sounds like Sergio did the same thing with Ants.
Cheers
Jo Mo
Oh wow, and Im just seeing you mention Ian Curtis. Yep. Right on. But to expand on your point if we think about Closer- JD’s final album and second masterpiece- its also about needing to move on and get help. As you point out, Ants is like an alternate positive version of how that played out.
That is great information, thank you. I never got into JD, but only because I felt suffocated by their T-Shirts. I've liked everything I've heard and I'm a big New Order fan.
@@professorskye As a mega JD fan Im biased but Id say they're well worth your time. In any case, there is a very interesting parallel between Isaac and Ian. His departure from the band may be disappointing but it might have been a major tragedy/crisis averted.
Oh, one other thing Ive been thinking of while soaking this record in the past couple days. The lyricism reminds me a lot of reactions and charges lobbed against Interpol when they released 2001's game-changing "Turn On The Bright Lights." Both records have a very idiosyncratic and blunt lyric style that some found to be offputting or stupid. Of course, we know the records are both doing something immensely smart with their lyrics, but not everyone sees it the same way. The example is I saw people on a stream making fun of the lyrics on BCNR's Good Will Hunting... "Billie Eilish style" and "it would be cooool". Same thing happened all across that Interpol record. It's lyrics as diary-entry, lyrics as text message, as fleeting thoughts in a world of digital bombardment and cyber-blitz. The tyranny of Wifi makes it hard to even reflect, and maybe that's part of what Wood's style reflects too. Not to say this record isnt reflective, dear lord is it, but some of these offhanded lyrics are an interesting contrast to the highly poetic moments. It's like Bob Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways, is that seemingly throwaway line actually gold? We have to consider...
every time i hear track x i am immediately transported back to driving during the wintertime. i can never separate the two experiences
Professor Skye, it’s interesting you said that this album is like a concept album without the constraints and baggage that comes with that. I was of the opinion that this album epitomizes concept without ever being a concept album. Concept albums try to explore some concepts and want to say something while it's at it, whether it be a plot or some social commentary. I feel that Ants is less telling you something and more tries to bash a singular idea into your head, and yet, it manages to fit a novel's worth of concept in just 59 minutes of runtime. Fantastic in-depth review on this album. There are a lot of themes on this album i hadn’t even begun to consider until you brought them up
A Moon Shaped Pool is an album that I will forever associate with my girlfriend of 3 years, who I thought I would marry. I went on a 2 month trip throughout Europe with her and paced myself through the album, so it's almost like the background music that accompanied memory after memory we built throughout that trip.
After we separated, I would sometimes just sit in my room and go through the album. I absolutely get what you mean when you talk about how powerful music moments can be when etched in memory. Whenever I listen to Daydreaming, I remember the crooked apartment (the ground was not flat) that we stayed in during our time in Marseille. I would remember seeing her sleeping soundly, while I was staying up working on something. If anything can come close to enabling time travel, it would be with really really good music.
I hold off from listening to AMSP for now because it's both painful and addictive to revisit those memories. Also, the duality of blind puppy love and devastating love that forms the backdrop of True Love Waits makes AMSP even more powerful. I listened to the song when I was with her and after we separated. But I guess the best part about music is that everyone gets a shot at time travel, to revisit long lost memories once in a while. And now Ants From Up There is the anthem to my pain and recovery from the breakup :)
Professor that was amazing!
I need a part 2
When I heard "billie eilish style", it reminded me of a documentary i watched of her on apple tv, and wow, the entertainment business is a pretty intense bondage process. It gives me a lot of peace that Issac managed to get off the concorde and follow his deep desires to explore himself in life
This is a wonderful album. It's a powerful blend of headiness and emotional poignancy that is palpable. As you said there's a real sadness in the album , but it's cathartic. I am puzzled by the comparison in its production to "Pet Sounds" and "Revolver", which are known for their innovative studio recording techniques, which were cutting edge for the time. The comparison to Neil Young's production seems more fitting. I also thought the production was in the same spirit of Fiona Apple's " Fetch The Bolt Cutters". I'm enjoying this album and your review.
PS; Yah, whenever I hear " Magical Mystery Tour", I think about our 8th grade class Christmas party in 1967.
Thats a good memory/song pairing.
@@professorskye It’s the 1st record I ever got as my own. You know how those are. Very special.
A strong music related memory for me when my cousin, who was way ahead of me in maturity of appreciating music, introduced me to the newly released Radiohead album, In Rainbows.
I was surprised and confused about the “pay what you want” model, and I was not very internet or music industry savvy so had no idea how that worked.
I hadn’t heard of Radiohead before this moment, but I started listening then and for about 10 years after almost exclusively listened to Radiohead.
Luckily I eventually started broadening my horizons and enjoy a lot more variety of music. While still constantly listening to Radiohead.
After Hellfire from Black Midi, and this from Black Country, New Road, I think I’ve found the music that will permanently be on my rotation of songs that I can throw on all the time, that I’ll have every moment weaved into my bones, and spend the rest of my life contemplating and enjoying.
Thanks for all your thoughts Prof. I really enjoy your blend of academia and passion for music!
Man... I have just finished listening to the album for the first time right now(it has just arrived) and came straight to your video. Soul brother. You feel it, man. You feel it. ❤
Greetings from a Brazilian in the Netherlands.
Fascinating video. Love your insights about how it was recorded
My moment about the sounds you described at 1:10:30 - there are anti-vaxx trucker protests in Toronto right now, last night I traversed blocked roads and stocked up on groceries in case it would not be safe to do so later on (it was the right call), and those sounds pierced the dark, cold air. I especially love how it is mixed noticeably louder than anything on the song before it. And the sparseness of those jabs: haunting, assertive, beautiful, insular but apocalyptic. A powerful sound, made more powerful in counterpoint to the images of childhood and loose memories detailed throughout, like falling back onto pieces of childhood in the face of incommunicable uncertainty. Thank you for this analysis, I watched all of it and especially liked that you mentioned Phillip Glass. His soundtrack for Mishima is one of my favourites and made me appreciate those sounds on the album even more.
evocative story
I really liked your point about music linking with a specific moment in your life and you could retell that memory down to a T. For me, the first part of basketball shoes makes me feel nostalgic for a moment that has not yet happened. I imagine it as a moment that would happen on a beautiful summers day. And i know that whenever that happens. I will listen to basketball shoes and during the buildup instrumental and the first part of the song I will vividly remember that memeory.
Just commenting cause I’m gonna watch later but I’ve honestly been really excited to hear your thoughts on this record!!
I once took a trip to Washington D.C. and I listened to Weezer's blue album the whole trip, and now I can't listen to holiday or only in dreams without the capitol or the white house in my head lol
regarding the album, I'm certain is something special, something unique that will never be replicated.
What a great review! I've been catching up with the review of the singles and was ecstatic to see that you've reviewed this 2 days after the drop of the album. This album exceeded my expectations (which were pretty high considering their excellent debut) and MORE. Isaac's lyricism here feels a lot more intimate and although I love the more theatrical and loud aspects to the record, the quiet moments won my heart. Bread Song, with Isaac's cracky and tender singing paired with the sparse drums and Haldern, with those pianos at the start OH GOD they make my eyes teary each relisten.
I can really see why people are comparing them with Arcade Fire (the large number of members and orchestral style) , and going into more specifically, their album Funeral (though BC,NR is better imo) I would love to see what you think about this comparison!
An incredible album, it's definitely my album of 2022 for now and this is an excellent review/analysis paired with it. A lot of great details you picked up that I'll definitely be thinking of the next time I give this record a play. Also hope that you'll be looking into reviewing the new Hippo Campus and Mitski records that came out the same day as this too. The Big Thief double album releasing this coming Friday might peak your interest too ;)
I have a really visceral reaction when I hear any of Bon Iver's self titled album. This happened around 5 or so years ago, but I was in a rough patch of life. A lot of things were changing and I was pretty anxious and a little scared of what was happening. So I'd just go and hike for hours out behind my house and listen to this album to soothe my mind.
Similar story, I was on winter break from university and wasn't feeling so great again. This was during COVID, so classes had all been online and I was stuck at home like everyone else. I decided to go out to one of my favorite hiking spots a few hours from my house and I listened to "The Glow Part 2" on the hike.
Both of those albums take me back to those exact places and moments in time and the feelings associated with them. Music is so special.
In 2012 I was in Alaska, and went to a bike ride, on my on. I had on my headphones the "Almost Famous" soundtrack. So, I jumped on the bike, press play, and heard "America" from Simon and Garfunkel. This song will always be related to that moment to me. I'm from Brazil, and that was my first time traveling abroad. So beeing in America for the first time, exploring that place by myself while listening to "America" is something that will be stucked in my head forever.
Congratulations for the great video!
This is an amazing review and I wholeheartedly love your videos. I stumbled upon your channel for the first time like two weeks ago and haven't stopped compulsively watching as many videos as I've been able to since.
Now that I got that out of the way, you calling Isaac "Señor Sadboy" completely wrecked me, thank you sir!
I come back to this video solely for your passion
On the Chopin piece for The Place Where He Inserted The Blade, check out Nocturne in E-Flat Major. They're very reminiscent of each other.
Thank you for this video Professor Skye, I listen to/watch it a lot since this album means a ton to me. I've gained new perspectives and even deeper appreciation for this masterpiece via this video and I cannot impart enough thanks to you for such a thing. This is wonderful, and so are you.
I love your take on the album! My one different take is the Billie Eilish style. Billie Eilish’s style is to where baggy, loose fitting clothing that protects her body from exploitation. It’s actually fairly similar to the style of clothing Isaac dresses in (at least in the photos I’ve seen). So perhaps, this woman with Billie Eilish style is a representation of Isaac living the rockstar lifestyle that in the end he decides to break up with by leaving the group.
i really love the approach you have to all these albums. It seems quite simple but if you look close, it is a lot of work. I've seen the interwiew with the whole band and the demos, really amazing. As always, thumbs up, thank you for your videos, this is the kind of content TH-cam needs.
I have so many of those moments that are connected to music. I mean, probably thousands. I know this album is going to produce a few of them!
Being from the Isle of Wight and learning that the album was recorded in Chale just made it even more special to me. The finest record to ever be recorded and produced on the Island, and I love Enter Shikari's 'Common Dreads' which was recorded here, but AFUT is just a whole other level. It's a special album that is going to be cherished for decades and will be looked back in the future the same way we think of Abbey Road or Pet Sounds, it's a masterpiece. This generations Funeral.
Man, you talked about Revolver, Thom York and Neil Young, but don't know the first names of the Gallagher brothers. First video I watch from your channell, and I already like you!
First! Great video prof excited to hear your take.
I thought that "Billie Eillish stye" was meant to mean someone who was thrown into the spotlight a young age without warning, but that might just be my interpretation.
That link between a song and Time in Life always happens! for me: getting ready for school when I was like 14 listening to Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare album. Instant teleport to those mornings when I put on a song from that record
56:40 was very happy to hear you say that, glad it's not just me, i had the exact same thought!
I believe 'light blue sleeper' is a refrence to sleeper tour buses that bands use to travel between cities at night, whilst they sleep on the bus. The bunk beds they have are commonly refered to as coffins.
I was more hyped for this reaction than the actual album.
FELT
Yep
I bought the deluxe cd yesterday, after listening, I bought the deluxe version on vinyl....even though I don't have a turntable any longer. I believe I might reignite my love of the medium and get one especially after learning of the album's analogue recording methods.