Pitchfork Reviews Funf

[radams]

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/43349-funf

another jaded clinic review from pitchfork. i wish they'd get over internal wrangler already. clinic's body of work over the last 6 years deserves to be judged on its own merrit.

...and i like nicht

[ginster]

yes another one definitely set out to see the negatives and stick the boot in.pitchfork seems devoid of humour or enjoyment.

[MelanieAnneMarie]

ginster wrote:

pitchfork seems devoid of humour or enjoyment.

this is why i don't pay attention to pitchfork reviews.  i just take their free downloads and go to their music festival (which is surprisingly fun and non-pretentious).

[radams]

MelanieAnneMarie wrote:

ginster wrote:

pitchfork seems devoid of humour or enjoyment.

this is why i don't pay attention to pitchfork reviews.  i just take their free downloads and go to their music festival (which is surprisingly fun and non-pretentious).

i still like pitchfork. their obsession with internal wrangler is one of the few things that really bothers me. they're actually a decent judge on talent. plus they've always been in love with frog eyes, which earns big kudos.

[celebe]

i can see where pitchfork is coming from and i even think theyre pretty fair as far as giving clinic their just dues...

pretty much every friend that ive failed to get into clinic have complained their stuff sounds very "same-y" usually with the exception of Internal Wrangler material... and i'm a little hard-pressed to disagree, myself.

i LOVE each clinic song for its own unique individual merits ... but lets face it, to a casual observer a song like Visitations can easily sound like a remake of Home or Family a rehash of Welcome or The Magician and so on.. so when pitchfork bemoans clinic "failing to fully recapture the diversity of their debut" i can understand.

of course being that clinic are usually on any given day my (and likely your) favorite band, we're a lot more cognizant/appreciative of the changing elements of the band from album-to-album... and arent we so much the happier for it? :)

getting back to the review tho.. i dont see how anyone can hear a song like J.O./Love and not be floored.. it didnt even garner a mention!

[ginster]

it's a fair point  i think 'home' and 'visitations' are in the same style(minor key/mood based) but as songs definitely different.radiohead have been consistently praised yet seem to use essentially the same style time after time.why are clinic expected to reinvent the wheel each time.

[celebe]

i dont think clinic's detractors expect them to reinvent the wheel, just to slightly change up the formula theyve staked out since WWT. i think a song like animal/human is a good example of a change of direction a lot of detractors would prefer to see explored... even in more negative reviews for visitations this song is usually singled out as a welcome departure.

[radams]

ginster wrote:

radiohead have been consistently praised yet seem to use essentially the same style time after time.

or how about almost every punk, country music or hip hop group that ever was?

pitchfork (amongst others) still expects clinic to be that wacky little underdog they fell in love with 7 years ago. i'd be curious to see what they thought if the albums were released in a different order.

[ginster]

yes i think 'magic boots' and 'pet eunuch' would probably both be stand outs in a punk bands set rather than being seen as samey.

[bigideas]

radiohead have had the same style every time?.......ermm.........name any two Radiohead songs that sound alike/have similiar riffs..........now i'll agree that a small percentage of Hail to the Thief did retread a little bit but nothing where it sounds exactly the same.........this happens with Clinic all the time.........Internal Wrangler is referred to because it was their first album and the first thing that was heard on a wide scale - ironically Radiohead probably had a huge part in that album's sucess as Thom Yorke put it in his top 5, was a fan and asked them to open for them (it's also how i heard of them as far as i can remember) - so it was the first time anyone heard the Clinic style.  

[celebe]

ha! happy someone leapt to radiohead's defense

but as for IW being constantly referenced because it was their first thing heard on a wide scale... on that same token, is anyone clamoring for radiohead to recapture the magic of pablo honey?

[bigideas]

IW was the first well known record because it was GREAT!
Pablo Honey is not too well known other than Creep.
The Bends is considered Radiohead's first great album and I've heard a lot of people over the years wishing they would recreate it.

[deaaaath]

hey pitcfork loves the thermals and they reaaally don't change up the formula

[Swamps]

i just got my funf lp in the post and gave it a couple spins.  once sober, once not so.  i think it plays out kind of weird.  i like how diverse the first four songs are while still keeping a logical (yet startling) flow.  dissolution seems to break this flow, and would probably be weird anywhere on the album.  it's nice hearing magic boots jump out of the gate on side two.  and the scythe is a nice follow up.  actually all of the songs are great but the album as a whole feels unresolved somewhere in between the songs.  i think the sphinx would've sounded nice in there somewhere, along with mechanical madrigal (in place of circle i perhaps).  (don't get me wrong, i love the way circle i sounds, but i think the song just isn't the best thing they've composed, sorry mr benedict)  

i don't want to sound like a nitpicking nancy, but there you have it.  

[celebe]

bigideas- yeah but you said IW is only referred to because it was the first thing heard on a wide scale (a la Pablo), not because its great!

[bigideas]

was Pablo widescale though?
Creep was, but i don't think Radiohead really got respect until The Bends.
i could be wrong. i didn't know about Radiohead until i happened to see the Karma Police video.
you know, i think Pablo did go platinum in the US though.

basically here is my thinking - people heard IW, liked it and therefore liked Clinic. they had a very unique sound. since then they haven't strayed too far from IW. you could take some of the tracks from any of their albums and they would fit in with the others (for the most part). there's no way you could do that with a majority of Radiohead's catalog. hardly anything on Pablo would fit on any of their other albums.

i'm getting somewhere to explaining it, but not quite there yet i don't think. =)

[Nadine]

Do you agree with this?

http://www.soundgenerator.com/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=17613

Clinic - Funf
"Though Funf doesn’t present some alternate vision of Clinic’s output or better any previous work, there are some real gems here" - Christine Glue
By: News Desk
Some years ago, when I first saw Clinic live, they had already existed for half a decade. Dressed in doctors’ scrubs, they used a melodica in virtually every song and played a set so hypnotic that the crowd was left wondering if it wasn’t perhaps Derren Brown behind that surgeon’s mask. Needless to say, Clinic have never been chart-botherers. From raw punk riffs to psychedelic scuzz, they channel anyone from the Velvets to Phil Spector through surf guitars, 60s organ or that really creepy melodica.

After the release of fourth album Visitations late in 2006, Clinic have followed it up with the obligatory B-sides collection. A dire listening prospect as far as most bands are concerned, the B-sides album is usually a necessary marketing evil preceding the old ‘musical differences’ chestnut and a parting of ways. In this case though, such a compilation is truly worthy of the plastic it’s printed on. Though Funf doesn’t present some alternate vision of Clinic’s output or better any previous work, there are some real gems here. The eerily festive 'Christmas' and all-out garage punk of instrumental 'The Scythe' showcase the extremes of Clinic’s range, and the soul rhythms of 'Lee Shan' contrast perfectly with Ade Blackburn’s tense vocals sung through a clenched jaw.

Fate is a cruel bitch, as the saying goes, and the saddest thing about this record is that no one is really going to buy it and, after ten years, few really know who Clinic are. They’ll have to wait for the inevitable retrospective when they split before taking their rightful place alongside Sonic Youth and Suicide as purveyors of brooding, intense punk rock. Or, you could do them a favour and get this record.

- Christine Glue
               

[radams]

Nadine wrote:

Do you agree with this?

http://www.soundgenerator.com/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=17613

Clinic - Funf
"Though Funf doesn’t present some alternate vision of Clinic’s output or better any previous work, there are some real gems here" - Christine Glue
By: News Desk
Some years ago, when I first saw Clinic live, they had already existed for half a decade. Dressed in doctors’ scrubs, they used a melodica in virtually every song and played a set so hypnotic that the crowd was left wondering if it wasn’t perhaps Derren Brown behind that surgeon’s mask. Needless to say, Clinic have never been chart-botherers. From raw punk riffs to psychedelic scuzz, they channel anyone from the Velvets to Phil Spector through surf guitars, 60s organ or that really creepy melodica.

After the release of fourth album Visitations late in 2006, Clinic have followed it up with the obligatory B-sides collection. A dire listening prospect as far as most bands are concerned, the B-sides album is usually a necessary marketing evil preceding the old ‘musical differences’ chestnut and a parting of ways. In this case though, such a compilation is truly worthy of the plastic it’s printed on. Though Funf doesn’t present some alternate vision of Clinic’s output or better any previous work, there are some real gems here. The eerily festive 'Christmas' and all-out garage punk of instrumental 'The Scythe' showcase the extremes of Clinic’s range, and the soul rhythms of 'Lee Shan' contrast perfectly with Ade Blackburn’s tense vocals sung through a clenched jaw.

Fate is a cruel bitch, as the saying goes, and the saddest thing about this record is that no one is really going to buy it and, after ten years, few really know who Clinic are. They’ll have to wait for the inevitable retrospective when they split before taking their rightful place alongside Sonic Youth and Suicide as purveyors of brooding, intense punk rock. Or, you could do them a favour and get this record.

- Christine Glue
               

i don't get it...where's the part where the writer says everything since internal wrangler has been derivative, repetitive shit? Christine Glue must have not gotten the memo about writing clinic reviews.

i like the article though. sort of looks at the band and the album without all the freakin' context.

[Swamps]

weird

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aversion.com/bands/innaway/images/rev2101.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.aversion.com/bands/reviews.cfm%3Ff_id%3D2101&h=200&w=200&sz=20&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=x6ZlxrYMHUoKJM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dinnaway%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG

[ginster]

definitely a bit familiar