There was really no other choice for the picture here. Actually, that reminds me, the album scheduled for three weeks from now, CMAT's EURO-COUNTRY, has a pretty funny lyric about the Titanic. I should remember to include this connection in the Sunday write-up.
But we're not worried about that now. We're talking about Titanic Rising! The classic 2019 album by Weyes Blood! Let's see what we all thought. How'd the reviews go? How was your week otherwise? Let's get some chat brewing in the comments. And I'll drop the exit survey for our valiant RC Captain Sean G. if he's interested in filling it out in the comments.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
1. Were you happy with the reviews that were published? How do you feel about your week as Record Club captain?
2. How was the variety of opinions? A wide range, kinda samey, or somewhere in the middle?
3. Were there any differing opinions that made you view the album in a different light?
4. Was there anything about this album or this artist that you wished that people would've written about more?
5. How do you feel about your album choice now that the week is over? A success? Any regrets?
6. Any other takeaways from the reviews? Or from this experience in general?
7. What is an improvement that Record Club can make that would enhance everyone's experience, either as a captain or as a listener/writer?
12 comments:
Thanks for another fun week of Record Club, friends. Although I personally ended up being not a huge fan of it, I really appreciate a second go of this album, just to make sure it wasn't for me. It was critically acclaimed back in the day, right? (If six years ago is "back in the day," it sure as shit feels like it.) It's important to know those albums well, even if you don't like them. I actually really appreciated the Harry Nilsson comparison from Sean on Sunday and today. That was something I thought about all week, and really opened my eyes to what exactly Weyes Blood was shooting for here. Anyways, a good week.
Appreciate all the comparisons this week, even beyond Nilsson!
Lana Del Rey — would explain why I also find this music boring
Father John Misty — probably more indicative of Father John, how he is similarly doing the singer-songwriter thing that Sean is talking about, but puts an ironic spin on it, whereas Weyes Blood is sincere
Joni Mitchell — comfort is key, music that makes you feel comfy and cozy and good about yourself, definitely a trait that both artists share (even if, yeah, maybe a little boring—hey, there are no boring artists, only boring listeners, so that's on me!!!!)
Killers — Gives more color to Imploding the Mirage, I think, knowing Weyes Blood was a key ingredient there, how maybe the Killers were also searching for the bombast of Nilsson and Weyes Blood, but of course did so through the lens of rock 'n' roll.
I don't know if I've ever seen any pictures of Weyes Blood, let alone five posted all at the same time. Examining them now (and wondering if she'll end up on a list somewhere), I'm getting D'Arcy Carden vibes.
I have been thinking lately about restructuring Record Club a little bit, just to draw in some more people, mostly by making it more accessible.
My assumption is that the act of "writing a review" feels intimidating or overwhelming to most people. You see professional reviews out there and you say "this author is an expert," because you assume that if you are going to be writing about something, you need to know it very well. So when most people approach Record Club, there's this sense of, well, I'm not an expert, I don't have time to listen to this album 25 times in order to become an expert, I struggle with writing anyway, so yeah, I'm skipping Record Club this week.
I think it might help to change people's expectations of this experience, and that happens by making the actual expectations very clear. The expectations would be to listen to the album twice minimum, that's it. The first listen is sometime between Sunday and Thursday, and after that first listen, you immediately write down your thoughts and send them over. This becomes your "review." Then, the second listen is on Friday, and you listen while you are reading the other reviews. After that second listen, you type your thoughts in the discussion board, and then make a personal decision: am I going to listen to this album again, or not? I think after two listens and also reading other perspectives to see if they manage to shift your own opinion at all, you should have all you need to determine whether this is an album that stays with you or not.
This still wouldn't be a good fit for EVERYONE, but it would be a good fit for people who 1) desire to listen to more new (to them) music, and 2) are motivated to try an album they might very well hate at LEAST twice, and 3) are willing to participate in a club for only two days out of the week, for two hours total.
But I think there's gotta be like ten people on this blog contributor's list that fit this criteria. I'm sending out a survey on Sunday, and some of the questions are designed to figure out who these people are, and contact them about it.
This could even apply to you, the regular contributor, if you feel like Record Club is too much sometimes. It doesn't have to be! Let this be a guideline as to how to fit it into your life!
I'm basically attempting to turn this back into a Music Club, whereas previously it was a Writing Club. It can still be a Writing Club for anyone who needs it to be a Writing Club (I'll include myself in that), but maybe even for those people, it's an opportunity to put less pressure to write big long manifestos every week (I'll include myself in that).
I believe this to be a misdiagnosis of the issue.
You might have data that says otherwise, but the barrier of entry isn't "I am intimidated by writing," it's "I don't want to listen to this music."
To gin up participation in record club would require A) focusing entirely on big new releases from popular artists and/or B) legacy reviews of past-generational classics. The idea that there are 10 people out there who would have listened to Weyes Blood if they didn't feel intimidated that they wouldn't give enough to the music is optimistic beyond my personal threshold.
I did not write a review and with all due respect to Sean and his connection to this record, my take is this: zzzzzzzzzzzz.
We are focusing too much on the word "intimidated," which is my fault. Pam literally used that word this morning when talking about her writing or lack thereof, and that's probably why I described it that way, even though that's only small sample size and anecdotal.
The time thing is more what I'm talking about. "I don't have time to do Record Club" is a problem, especially if people believe it to be true but it's not actually true. So I'm trying to make it widely known that, yes, you do have time, you have two hours to listen to music this week and 20 minutes to jot down some thoughts. And that it'll work if you do it every week, regardless of the music being presented. I'm talking long-term investment with small short-term obligations.
You're a good person to ask about it this week, since you clearly are familiar with the album but didn't write a review.
1) Did you listen to the album this week? Or if you didn't because you already knew about it from 2019, could you have listened to it if you were motivated to do so?
2) Why didn't you write a review?
I don't care that you didn't write a review. This isn't an obligation, and you've written more on this blog than most other people on earth. What I'm saying is that what you're doing today seems like it fits with what I'm saying above. You listened to it just enough to form an opinion, and you visited on Friday to read the other reviews and hop in on the discussion. The only threshold that needs to be passed is taking the opinion that you had during this week, and writing down 100 words describing that opinion, in as unorganized a manner as you so choose, and emailing it.
We're wrapping around strawmen now, and since its just you and me gabbin' down here in the comments we should probably just take it to the email. HOWEVER:
1) A hypothetical person who says "I don't have time to do Record Club" is not saying they have a temporal problem. It's not a matter of hours in the week. It's a matter of not wanting to spend the time doing that. It's not quantity of hours, its allocation. The answer "You can likely find two hours in a week to do this" answers the letter of the question, but not the spirit.
2) I didn't listen to the album this week because I knew about it from 2019, and I certainly could have listened to it. I did not listen to it because the contours of my week were such that I wanted to prioritize other kinds of music (stuff that I knew I would have a better chance of linking / stuff that I already liked).
3) I didn't write a review because I didn't listen to the album and could pull only from the ambient memory of the album being boring and even I in my limitless power do not always wish to summon 100 words when all I've truly got is two.
I once saw a copy of The Myth of Sisyphus on Sean's shelf and picked it up and read like two pages before I got sleepy. I think the guy's supposed to be happy
Nate's probably on to something, though I guess I wouldn't mind a new type of thing
You might pick up some folks, and you probably have a bunch who don't care. Who knows how many of them even read this comment chain
To Nate's points, I agree that most people don't want to spend two hours listening to, e.g., Super Ghostbusters by some fucking guy. But I do think that there is a middle ground that we are missing here. That there are people out there like "I want to listen to new (to me) music" AND are also like "it doesn't seem like Record Club is a good fit for me because it takes too much time and I'm not very good at the writing aspect of it." What I am saying is we find those people and make it easier for them to participate here.
I'd hate for this to become "52 big tent indie rock and pop releases" because I find that idea boring, and I disagree that that's gonna pull anyone in. I think maybe two people total per year stumble in here to write for an artist they are familiar with. There's been too many times when I'm like "oh fuck yeah, Britney Spears is gonna pull so many people in" and we get one extra review.
And to Sunny's last point, the answer is close to zero. But I do think that chilling here on Friday would be helpful for people who invested some time in listening to the music. Commenting here would be part of the process. Ten minutes to read the reviews and see what else people have to say about it, instead of 20 minutes to write a review and send it into the ether and never think about the album again.
In any case, you guys will see the surveys on Sunday, and you'll probably be able to clock exactly what questions I'm talking about there. There will be some grassroots campaigning, some in-real-life mentioning of the blog, and some high hopes as we enter 2026.
On a completely different subject but still related to music: me and Sophie went to the Launderette today, the record store in Port Richmond. Pretty dope! For my BIL on his birthday, we picked out vinyl from the bargain bin, including albums from RC alumni thr Rolling Stones, the Plastic Ono Band, motherfucking Mongo Santamaria, and also RC album Trick of the Tail by Genesis.
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