Sunburned Hand... Fire Escape
 

Anyone heard this? Very different than anything else I've heard by them. Who is this Four Tet dude that seems to be involved with production?

he is the fourtet dude that makes glitch-y hip hop. like prefuse 73.

and i havnt liked sunburned since "headdress" came out, which i thought was brilliant.

four tet is kieran hebden from the band fridge... and he's fucking amazing. you should listen to "my angel rocks back and forth". pure genius imo.

Fire Escape sounds like shotm remixed by four tet (no shit...), and it's really good. Apparently hebden just told them what to do and then arranged it together.

this one got a lot of press (haven't heard).

the best sbhotm since headdress i've heard is earth do eagles do.

if you haven't heard this then i highly recommend you do, i have alot of Sunburned stuff and this is one of my favs, i bought the cd at Thurstons gig @ Scala last december and listened to it whilst i drove home with my mates and we all thought it was excellent. i'm sure i read somewhere that they are working on a follow up to this (fire escape 2?) but can't remember where i saw it

listen to complexion, its mega.

He is in Fridge, an occasionally very good band. He also goes under the Four Tet moniker and is responsable for some occasionally good music that was lazily labelled ''folktronica'' (ew).

He put out some ace records with none other than Steve Reid, which you should check out.

Prefuse 73 sound nothing or little like Four Tet, by the way.

and i wrote damn near word for word what you just did earlier in the thread by the way.

They're related, don't be a dick about it.

He's not being a dick, he's right...

Anyway, this album didn't do anything for me, I thought it was nonsense that didn't go anywhere and didn't have any substance whatsoever. I listened to it twice. Mindless drivel. Like a really, really bad Volcano the Bear wannabe with shit production. It was just like... nothing. Skittering, glooping electronic farts and trash drum raveups to nowhere. I don't get the appeal at all. Just completely unappealing. I'm sure if I listen closely, I can hear some interesting shapes in the random noises but it just sounded like a jumbled mess of... nothing. You might be able to almost pretend to like it if you like "psychadelic folk FREAK FOLK new weird america folk", but I just didn't see a single thing good about it. I'M GLAD PEOPLE CAN FIND SOMETHING GOOD TO LIKE ABOUT IT -- I just personally thinks it goes nowhere and does nothing. Interesting from an aesthetic standpoint and probably cool if you're on drugs, but that's about it.

I am curious about their other releases, as a lot of intelligent, nice people seem to like them and I guess this release was more of the producer's vision than the band's... but yeah... this release I thought was quite shit. Sorry.

that's sunburned, mindless drivel with the occasional good moment.

get headdress, that's their best.

I'd have to say that Jaybird is my favorite.

I remember there being this song on it that was like 16 minutes of random whistling, banging on shit, and pianos. And it was the most awful thing I've ever heard -- and this is coming from someone who can even stomach most of Sun City Girls's ridiculous nonsense live improv jams. I really hate saying this kind of stuff, but I guess I should... ANYONE can make the kind of sound you'll hear on the Fire Escape. It sounds completely ameteurish and boring on any level. Things like this exisiting on some small label in the 80's from some weird dudes making bullshit sounds on a tape... that'd probably be worth hearing back in the day. But this is 2008, this kind of stuff is hardly anything to get excited about as anyone can and will make it, all you need is a fucking computer microphone you and your buddies can stand in front of and jack off in front of, it's just random nonsense with no depth or purpose!! "Oh, but the randomness IS the purpose!" I see now!!... If nothing else, this band and Wolf Eyes, amongst many other crappy bands that some people seem to pretend to like, should give hope to people making shitty noise in crappy bands around the world: If you release a shit-ton of releases over the course of 11 years, you'll probably get attention at some point. So, just keep doing what you're doing, no matter how bad it is, and people will eventually hear you and pretend to like you. (as a note about Wolf Eyes, yes, I have heard over 100 of their releases and yes I like a few but I only really love one -- and I still don't think they're worthy of the reputation they get)

I'm going to check out their other stuff, though, because I'm certain they have some worthy releases. But damn. I'm all for bands with no constraints or restrictions with their music, but having freedom in sound shouldn't sound like this. So, yeah... I'm going to be open minded though and check out other stuff.... I won't write them off yet.

I am curious about this whole freak folk thing and the bands that get lumped in it. Six Organs get lumped in it, but he actually has a lot of talent and intelligence in his songwriting, so I dunno. No Neck Blues Band are lumped in it, and I think they're just a little below decent though they have some occassional moments of startling brilliance. I already mentioned Volcano the Bear, they have some shit I don't like, but I think "500 Boy Piano" is brilliant. So, I'm a bit at a crossroads when it comes to this particular genre, I am sure there are some amazing, TALENTED bands worth checking out, I just don't know where to look since I have a slight inkling that most of them sound like this album.... Honestly, I'd probably rather listen to Cerberus Shoal.

dude, if it's "random nonsense", then, be it 1988 or 2008, it's going to be shit. if it's worth something, like when scg or smegma do it because it has a purpose and a way and it has energy behind it, then that rules no matter when it's been made. but if it's done just because it can be done then it's shit, period.

if something like that happened to be on a small run on a tape label in the 80's, the most is going to worth anything is a post in mutant sounds and that's it.

True, I think I kinda misstated what I meant. I agree -- if it's shit, it's shit, but it seems that it's easier to make this kind of shit nowadays -- notice the massive influx of bands that sound exactly the same, notice all the "noise" bands that you hear about today versus noise bands from the 80's. It's a variety of things influencing that, almost 100% the internet. My point was, hearing something similiar to this that came out 20 years ago would at least be interesting from an aesthetical viewpoint... it might have sounded original today; ahead of its time, I guess... But after years of this kind of tuneless nonsense that people a) pretend to like and/or b) feel like they HAVE TO like, there's really no way to appreciation this record on any level.

Unless, of course, you're on drugs. Then, I'm sure this album is fucking "whoooooooaaaaaaaaaaaa"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#$^ L#TLW$

^I know what you mean.

yeah like i said, headdress is their only ablum worth a shit. i remember when i first heard that i thought they were gonna be the best bands around.

but yes, everything said about the "new wierd america" is true. it shoulda been dubbed "the new stupid america" as it pretty much consisted of lame hippie wannabes with retard lyrics over folk type rthyms and melodies of which have already been done 40 years ago WAY better, and bands like sunburned, who put together like a hunred instruments and just make stupid noises.

as for wolf eyes, i love them. might just be a nostalgia thing because theyre one of the first bands that got me into modern noise, but i dig at least 70 percent of the stuff ive heard from them, and i like dilloway solo prolly even more.

Yeah, they're pretty good, and I don't want this to turn into a Wolf Eyes discussion, just making a note about bands with like a 100+ releases after 11 years together.

What can I say? We're all piled high on truth mountain. The last peak in clarity's chain.

Eh, Sunburned Hand of the Man appeals to me in a way few other bands do. I buy all their stuff I can get my hands on and I like the vast majority of it.

I'm pretty sure I'm not pretending to like anything.

Well, good. And I'm glad this album appeals to you.

Actually Fire Escape really isn't one of my favorites at all. Not bad, but not particularly good either. I still think the vast majority of their music is worth my time, though.

I'm definitely going to check out their other stuff very soon.

In the mean time, this thread needs a picture of Sherilyn Fenn:

so what?

But I wrote it better than you did. Ok?

hey adam,

it would make you seem more intelligent and less like a pretentious dick if you stopped saying that people only pretend to like this music.

i don't give a shit one way or the other if you like it or not. and i can surely say that the rest of the group doesn't care if you (or anyone else) like it or not.

it's improv, and with it comes all the pitfalls and mistakes of a music that doesn't fit comfortably into everyone's ears.

but to classify everyone who is into this as somehow duped, you only make yourself look self aggrandizing and less that intelligent.

love,
paul

I didn't say everyone who liked it pretended to like it.

My problem is mainly with critics/reviewers... if I hear a lot about an album, listen to it, and don't like it.. I'll look back at reviews that an album got, to see if there was something I have missed when listening. Yet the weird thing is, EVERY SINGLE REVIEW of this album that I've read has said it's a work of genius... which I don't believe at all, I don't even think 10 people in the world would think it's genius, so I get this vibe that people think they have to like it or are scared to not like it. It's like a lot of things on this message board -- people afraid to talk shit about Thurston or something. It's ridiculous. You can be critical of bands, even ones you like. Maybe I'm just too honest.

If you or someone else honestly likes this shit, more power to you. I've obviously missed the boat. But to my ears and my musical education, this shit just sounds like nothing -- literally, NOTHING. But, again, even if you're releasing nothing, if you release enough nothing and for a long time, people will think it's something. But, again, I'm not going to diss this whole band's output because I haven't heard it! All I know is, if it's anything like this, it's awful bullshit.

To be continued.

sunburned blow very hot and cold with me but fire escape is pretty good.

I dig Z (the first half before it devolves into electronic mush) and I LOVE the Unmuzzled Ox cassette they did with Paul Flaherty.

hey...bloodyminded! love the avatar whorefrost, have you seen them live?

i have yet to hear this one but i dont like fourtet much so i probably wont.
i have sunburned's s\t which has some really great moments. and i have heard jaybird and headress, both of which i need to listen to more. i really like the new weird america scene, except that a lot of the great bands are not even american.
NNCK has some really brilliant albums, i like em when they are folkier and less psycodelic, my two favorite albums of theirs are sticks and stones and the one with embyro.
Kemialliset Ystävät are finnish, i think, and are amazing.
mv and ee are great,
that british band is amazing, the one trhat is sunburned's sister band. cant think of their name-some kind of ensemble.
in other words the whole free\k folk thing is really great and interesting, but like with every genre there is crap and there is not crap

Sunburned in my mind can either be great, or mindless shit. I have yet to hear Fire Escape, but I my favorite albums are Jaybird, No Magic Man, A Taste of Never and Wildanimal. If you are going to listen to other Sunburned releases, I'd recommend on of these. I've yet to hear Headdress myself too though.

I have indeed, fantastic show which resulted in everyone getting thrown out the venue and the next scheduled band (Family Battle Snake) not getting to play.. Bloodyminded rule

sherilyn fenn, emmmm audrey from twin peaks, i came in my pants when she tied that cherry stem with her tongue.


david lynch loves beautiful women in his movies.

haven't heard it but i have a bad feeling about it.

ohh man!!! makes me want to see them again!

i saw them play here in an internet café turned goth disco at night to like 10 fans and several terrified patrons wanting to dance to nine inch nails and korn remixes. fucking amazing!

I saw them in a Polish pub in Edinburgh so there was some similar bemusement from the indiginous patrons. Sorry for sort of hijacking yr Sunburned thread dudes.

Back on topic: has anyone made it through the four sides of Wedlock? Is it worth it?

i'm surprised that nobody knows earth do eagles do...well, actually i'm not that surprised.

it's like someone switched their weed and gave them speed instead.