Am I the only one listening to this...it's amazing.

Great record, but I am assuming that really the amount of people that still care about The Books in 2010 is pretty small.

But then again, I may be the only person who thinks they get better with every album. This album is their best. But yep, it still very much sounds like The Book. And the opening track could easily sit on any of their albums.

A Cold Freezin' Night is awesome.

Yeah...no... these guys are boring/lame as shit. I fell asleep at their last show (was there for Tim Hecker).

I think most people who even know of them probably think of them as a forgotten early-'00s "p4k-approved" act. That's a shame. I enjoy their albums and videos.

Those Talkboy samples on "A Cold Freezin' Night" really creep me out. Also, just thinking of Talkboys reminded me of that old commercial: (slowed-down voice) "Hi kids, we're home early".

I enjoyed their first two albums, but started to lose interest when Lost & Safe came out. Now I go back to their old stuff and it's somehow lost its weird charm and doesn't "work" on me anymore. I can't decide if I've changed (perhaps), if music culture's changed (definitely), or if music culture's somehow changed me (a more frightening but also possible scenario) in the last 6-7 years.

They're still doing their own thing and that, um... should be respectable, but not even a collab with Prefuse 73 could sex them up enough for the post-blog age. It's funny, maybe also a little scary, how quickly they've been bum-rushed out of their own little niche by heavier, trendier sounds. Of course, it doesn't help when their peers have gradually mastered using the blogosphere to build an air of mystery or unassailable coolness around themselves, while The Books have been represented for the last 5 years by this picture.

What niche have they been "bum-rushed" out of? Who are these peers that have mastered the art of blogosphere manipulation?

Anyway, I really like their new record. With the exception of a couple, the songs aren't my favorites they've done, but I think the collection and integration of samples this time around is probably their best yet. It's so attentively crafted and full of so many funny, sad, sweet human moments it doesn't have to be sexy.

I'd much rather listen to those goofy nerds than this implicitly sexier dude, anyway:



As far as the old records are concerned, throw those puppies down on the turntable, hit that bowl, sit between the speakers and I think it'll all come back to you.

Sorry for the double post, but this might be of interest to some folks:
http://thebooksmusic.tumblr.com/

For the next week or two, Nick Zammuto will be blogging about making The Way Out, track by track. It's been a pretty satisfying read so far (he's on "A Cold Freezin' Night" right now)and definitely worth a few minutes if you like the record. T

Pretty cool album... nothing great or groundbreaking, but still worth several listens for me.

I completely relate to your first sentence. I didn't listen to them for a while but when I went back to those records about a year ago and I found myself thinking "oh yeah! this song! this is some good stuff". Lost & Safe especially was a revelation because I was kinda "over" The Books when that one came out.

As far as music culture changing you, there are definitely bands or movies that I liked years ago that I go back to now and think "Really? I liked this? This sucks". Maybe it's getting sucked into hype sometimes, but I think mostly that has to do with getting older/jaded/wiser and just not being in a state of mind anymore where certain things appeal to me. The weird, kinda-creepy nostalgia that The Books evoke for me, though, actually hits me more now than it did originally. Not to be all 'sign o' the times' about things, but when I dug out Thought For Food last year, the sample of that lady saying "I was devastated. I was without a job, I was without a salary, I was trying to get unemployment. And I also have a heart condition, and I told them I have a heart condition" it just seemed really heartbreaking.

Great video for "We Bought the Flood" here.

this is their best album.

this is one of my favorite albums released this year.

people who have "written this off" should give it a try.



i never liked the books that much before. the prefuse collab was pretty great.
they had a few pretty interesting tracks.
they were horrible live - boring as fuck, as newgrass put it.


this album puts most of that behind. it is a masterpiece. it is rhythmic, rocking, trippy, emotional, experimental. it's like you've opened this box of imaginations and all this colorful rainbow sound is coming out of it.

it has shades of "my life in the bush of ghosts" inside of it. no doubt.

EXACTLY

I saw The Books play at Prospect Park friday night, and I'm still in awe. I don't think I've ever been to a show that has impacted me this much, it was just one whole level above any other show I've been to. If they ever come to play anywhere you, they are a MUST see. The visuals were hypnotizing, synced perfectly to the performers, and were hilarious, and The Books themselves were top notch and I was impressed just how virtuosic they were with their instruments. An A+ show, made The Way Out make a whole lot more sense, they are really the perfect band to see in a live setting. Sorry for this, I sound like a 14 year old girl, but hopefully it gets at least one person who was hesitant to see them live make the decision to go. Thanks for reading this far

the recent album is pretty far ahead of their old stuff i personally think.