Mark

Not sure if it should be "de la" or "du" :thinking: And shamefully, one of those songs actually shares a title with one I wrote :\

I haven't heard the album but Human After All wasn't the unmasking that everyone expected into warm, heart-felt French disco, it was a literal apology that the band weren't superhuman. And to me, Get Lucky was the human side of Daft Punk that I'd waited for, for eight years. Nile and Pharrell added a bit of soul into it; even if all Pharrell can do is empty apodyopsis, it's got a bit more relatability to it than Technologic or Television Rules the Nation. The track harked back to Digital Love for me; it was as much "glamorous rock star" as it was "play this to get girls". I won't go on about the album - as I said, I've still not listened - but the expectation has been, as you say, considerably high. All I can say is that regardless of the hype/anti-hype, I played air-guitar to this band when I was 9. They've always been the coolest band on the planet for me, I don't care about anyone else who's decided that in the past three weeks. </rant>

Obviously, there comes a time when we get an early review; the press are played the album for the first time and they make their judgement on it, track by track, and announce to the world what it sounds like. So I thought I'd make a prediction of what that album will sound like a little earlier than the "first listen". (The following is intended as a joke, just in case anyone doesn't realise. I am a fan of the band, honestly.)

Maybe they'll read this and think "No not enough drums".

Well I can quite honestly say that I agree with you on all of that, and the bit about questioning things reminded me of this: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OnWnwwxNPA]George Carlin - pride - YouTube[/ame] My friend tweeted it to me a while back when I was berating patriotism.

I don't really remember a lot of it but the music was fucking abysmal.

Don't forget Chris Martin singing some songs.

What was your education like, Braddock?

:facepalm:

Surely it shouldn't matter who sings, as long as the song is good? And that the guest singer brings the best out of the song? This is the problem that dogs the X Factor/The Voice. I thought the Wolstenholme songs on The 2nd Law was were easily the worst on the album, but that was because he's not a great songwriter, both in terms of music and lyrics. I love Will, but I fear that he also won't be a great songwriter; how many bands have two members both really good at music and lyrics? It's quite rare. At least with Rihanna, she had nothing to add apart from her voice. Some people seem to think they should've got Adele or Emilie Sande and that makes me want to hit my head against a wall. Just because they're more credible as artists, doesn't mean they've got something to add to the song, and just because they're songwriters, doesn't mean they've got a right to stick their noses in and contribute onto another band's project. I don't like Rihanna's music and neither do most Coldplay fans, but that's not what she added. It made sense for the world's biggest popstar to appear as a character in a grandiose, "pop" concept album, and she was there simply as a channel for one of Chris's songs. If there's a song that the band have written that would sound good with another voice on it, they should get someone in. If that's Rihanna, so be it, but Elbow had a reprise on their last album with an unknown old man, because that's what the song needed. Quite frankly, it wouldn't bother me if Chris wanted to record with One Direction, Justin Bieber or Kim Jung Un. I know he's not going to "sell out" - he's always been open that he wants his band to be accessible and popular - and I know that above everything, he only has the best interests of his music at heart.

Definitely, which is why I wasn't too keen on the "complex song structure" idea. How did it not have much emotion? I didn't notice that.

Hopefully not. Hopefully it's just a song that dares to indulge in itself a little, press the recline button and lie back.

This is the best summary possible. I think the stuff about memorising facts is especially true. My sister's three years younger than me and when she asks me about a school topic, 95% of the time, I can't remember. She could ask me about a book I studied in English at GCSE and I just wouldn't remember the themes, and I've just finished English at uni. I agree with you about private schools too; I think there's a massive difference between elite and elitist, and if every school was given access to the facilities, teachers and even pupils that private schools have, learning would improve. So whilst I think our schools are actually in good condition when you compare them to other sectors of our society (but give Gove time), there is a lot of work to be done to improve them.

I hope they do a song longer than five minutes.

I would make politics lessons compulsory at secondary schools in the UK. I believe everyone should learn which politicians stand for what and why it's so important to vote. I don't know why certain lessons are valued over the importance of understanding the society in which you live.

I did that with CDs my first year of uni, I've always wanted to do it with LPs. I couldn't afford it though, so I did it with pages from Q Magazine.

Shrine is too strong a word, hence why it is in quotation marks in the original post. I don't worship pop idols or follow lost prophets, it's just a thread for what you collect in your room, really.

Does anyone have a "shrine" in their room to their passions, whether it's music, gigs, a certain musician or a fandom? These are the ones in my house; the first is my sister's one to Coldplay, the second one has my gig tickets (thought I need to the rest). I read somewhere that Paul Weller used to have one to the Beatles. Feel free to share pictures or whatever.

I'd love that. We're New Here is excellent.

I'm a huge Portishead and Beth Gibbons fan.

Soon, this thread will open up into a whole forum. But here's to us, who've been there longer than anyone else regularly speculating on LP6; Tash, Celine, Kingzilla, Aschall, Jonny and the Cake, James and everyone else.

Way to big up the Night + Day show I'm seeing, man :P -- I just want to stick up for them here, and for Coexist. They're no more boring than any band like Portishead or Mumford and Sons; their sound has been stretched across two albums because people loved the first one so much, and actually, the production's shifted from a more indie style to something dancier, in a subtle way that only The xx could get away with. I just feel like I should restore the balance slightly. Coexist is a good album and The xx are one of the best pop groups in the world. And actually I like the Gatsby track; very brooding, moody and it's nice to hear something from them that has five minutes to develop and sprawl out a little.

I've always thought ghosts were rubbish anyway. I went on a ghost-walk of our city for uni (don't ask), and this guide said that there was a ghost in the cellar of Waterstones. The staff suspected there was a ghost so they left a hundred flowers down there and a tape recorder, and when they woke in the morning, they found these flowers had been bunched and the tape had recorded heavy machinery. Surely these ghosts would've been better off in a florists than a book store? I never even considered that. It's wholly possible I sleepwalk actually, as I sleep-text. That's often awkward in the morning.