diego wrote:

mattw wrote:WhatFunLifeWas suffers from fairly poor production, and the vocals are kind of buried in the mix, but I was (pleasantly) surprised with the engineering on this album. I forgot this guys name, but he did a good job.

I always thought that its production made this album even better.

Definitely. I love how the picked line barely cuts through the other guitarists' chords. And I think introspective vocals buried in a sea of guitar sound sounds good.

I think the production needs of WhatFunLifeWas and Transaction de Novo are very different. TDN's bright, clear guitars and tight drums flatter picking-oriented songs like More Than Ever and Lepidoptera, but that neatness does nothing for Psychosomatica, which falls flat compared to WFLW's rougher, distorted songs, Haywire and Living Well--and maybe Liferaft and Bedside Table. I like Extramundane a lot, but even it sounds a little too tidy.

Salut, Matt Kadane, nostalgic singer of songs about family-minded dying cockroaches and analogizer of Uranus's scrotum(!) to a totem pole in the middle of Washington state!

I would also argue that Transaction de Novo is Bedhead's peak. I like the New Year but they are not Bedhead, a good follow up... That said they arn't Codeine either but we can forgive them due to the wonderful music they write.

all of the bedhead albums are incredible works of art. whatfunlifewas is good precisely for the same reasons that all the other bedhead albums are: the use of 3/4 guitars, restraint, and timing that make these shimmering waves of sound at all the right moments embedded in compositions that are equally elegent. if you ever had the singular pleasure of hearing them live, you would know what I mean.

yes, whatfunlifewas is not as polished as Transaction de novo, but very evocative in its austere sensibility, which includes the rough 32 track recording. it was there first record for chrissake. I mean bedside table, powder and crushing? you don't like how those songs sound? wtf?

not even the 4 song ep, does their live shows justice, when they were playing at their prime--ca 1994-1996. not that they got worse, but there was this quality to them at that time which was never the same. you always felt like they didn't like each other after that, which was maybe why they broke up. dunno.

I'm gushing I know, but these guys have some trully amazing records and an ethos which puts 99% of bands with similar aspirations to shame. never did they do anything for money, aclaim, whatever. in fact, they were smarter than most in trying to keep the affair as private as possible between music listeners and themselves.

the new year is different, I will admit. I'm not that big of a fan, but I respect what they've done. I think it's very brazen for people to second-guess how musicians have recorded/arranged songs on records. it's very cheap. do you know the thought and energy and work that go into making a record? I would gues that those that do either aren't musicians or not very good ones.

I just want to chime in and say that this particular record (Beheaded) is massively underrated. The title track alone...wow. There's something so sinister about it. Very tense with only a few moments of reprieve. And as mattw pointed out, "The Rest of the Day" is one of the most beautiful songs these fellas have written.

People: dig this record out and give it another spin. It is truly wonderful.

I avoided this record for a few years thinking that it would somehow ruin my love for Bedhead/The New Year. I heard that it wasn't as good as Transaction de Novo or WhatFunLifeWas.

I don't even know how to compare their output. Each album (including The New Year records) is pretty much perfect. I don't think there's really "lesser" Bedhead/The New Year.

Because they're that fucking good.

Oh, which reminds me, apparently The New Year/Shellac in Austin this June.

mattw wrote:Don't ask me why it's taken this long to get around to buying/listening to this album Beheaded. I finally get it, and the fahgina CD is scratched and won't play on three or four tracks. Having said that, 'The Rest of the Day' is probably one of the most beautiful songs these tender ears have heard

WhatFunLifeWas suffers from fairly poor production, and the vocals are kind of buried in the mix, but I was (pleasantly) surprised with the engineering on this album. I forgot this guys name, but he did a good job.

Curious to hear any other suggestions/thoughts/complaints/praises about these guys.

wasn't it Adam Wiltzie, of Stars of the Lid fame that recorded Beheaded?

It's the only Bedhead record that i don't own...

Get dog costumes wrote:

diego wrote:

mattw wrote:WhatFunLifeWas suffers from fairly poor production, and the vocals are kind of buried in the mix, but I was (pleasantly) surprised with the engineering on this album. I forgot this guys name, but he did a good job.

I always thought that its production made this album even better.

Definitely. I love how the picked line barely cuts through the other guitarists' chords. And I think introspective vocals buried in a sea of guitar sound sounds good.

I couldnt agree more. I think the production really helps to set a mood with this album. The other albums I really cant get into as much. The song writing on the later albums is just a bit bland, and nothing special.