Random Spirit Lover

Random Spirit Lover is the third EP by indie rock band Sunset Rubdown. The music is a lovable eclectic mess. "The Mending of the Gown" is the best song of the album, but several other songs are also noteworthy. The compositions are like The Cardiacs songs going in all directions with tempo shifts, melodic changes an a lot of ideas. The Cardiacs molded it into a stricter poppy uniform, while this is rawer and less happy.

so weird and different! I love how experimental the alternative genre can be when you don’t conform to commercial status quo :) 10/10

Very interesting album from a project helmed by one of the Wolf Parade frontmen. "Normies" beware, this one might be a difficult listening experience for you, lmao. However, folks having an open mind and a taste for artsy / artful endeavors seeping with strongly emotive shenanigans will probably be delighted to spin this record. One thing before I address the contents of *Random Spirit Lover*... Looks quite surprising that this one LP was submitted before *Apologies to the Queen Mary*, found in the discography of Spencer Krug's main act. This bizarre turn of event sure caught my attention at some point... Yet not realizing the connection right away when I started listening to the LP also helped me assess it for what it is. The lead vocals sure sounded familiar for my ears. But it was also pretty neat diving in without a set of ready-made expectations in my mind. Apart from obvious commonalities between Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade, *Random Spirit Lover* somehow triangulates the types of artistry associated to the likes of Xiu Xiu, Deerhunter and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Reviewers in here comparing the album to Arcade Fire have a very lazy ear for me -- no matter what your mileage is on Arcade Fire, Krug's songwriting and lo-fi aesthetics are far weirder than that! And don't get me started about those other reviewers who repeatedly blabbered comparisons with Cardiacs. Gives me the impression that the Cardiacs cult need take their obsession down a notch or two. Seriously guys, those are two very different animals, as off-kilter and "extravagant" as both are! The album starts really strong, with very distinctive tracks -- each one of them striking and memorable. "The Mending Of The Gown", "Magic Vs. Midas" or "The Courtesan Has Sung" are highlights unafraid to display a lot of sinuous flourishes, and yet they are also blessed with pretty straightforward moments as well. Unhinged and "outré" vocal performances must be to your liking to enjoy those songs -- this is where my own comparison with Xiu Xiu stems from -- but if that sort of thing doesn't put you off, the world of Sunset Rubdown will be a wonderful place for you. Later on, tracks like "Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns" and "Stallion" are less immediately striking, but they also harbor some near-cinematic melodic treasures, or conversely, some moments filled with sudden angst and distress. Mood and experimentation are given precedence over the expected songwriting chops, but that makes the music no less interesting. The result is just even more adventurous overall. Krug and his bandmates lose the thread on a single track, the lengthy "For The Pier (And Dead Shimmering"), which felt gratuitously meandering for me -- given the near-sixty-minute duration of this record, they could have easily left that one on the cutting room floor! But Sunset Rubdown then very quickly pick up the proverbial thread again for the awesome "The Taming Of The Hands That Came Back To Life", another very memorable highlight. "Trumpet, Trumpet, Toot! Toot!" also goes to a lot of great places, and this time I could easily follow the many twists and turns, with nothing coming off as "gratuitously" meandering there. After that song, closer "Child-Heart Losers" only feels like a short coda. But maybe it's better for a record like this to have you pining for more at the end, rather than wearing out its welcome with any supplementary, extraneous material. A cursory browsing into the rest of the Sunset Rubdown's discography actually makes me suspect that *Random Spirit Lover* is itself an outlier in what is already a very idiosyncratic project. Instead of the drums-driven efficiency of a "streamlined" indie-rock act, there is a "loose" feel in the album, owing to the instincts of an artist wising to explore "free forms" in a manner that somehow remains digestible. In that sense, I can see perfectly well why this record feels so special for the user who submitted it. So thanks for sharing your enthusiasm with us all, whoever you are. I will probably need a few more listens to get acquainted with the nooks and crannies of this LP, but it's already one I want to return to in the near-future. ---- 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums, rounded up to 4 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 for the musicianship and production values + 3.5 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 122 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 139 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 305 ---- Salut Émile, Tu pourras lire ma dernière réponse sous le *Little Criminals* de Randy Newman. A+.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: The mending of the gown, The taming of the hands that came back to life

This all sounds very artsy and experimental. Though not in a way that it is too overwhelming.

What an interesting album! I was surprised at the sound and found a lot to like here. Thanks for the suggestion!

Oh wow, took a few songs to click, but this was fantastic! Very Cardiacs-y in its endlessly escalating demented circus energy. Underrated gem, thanks for sharing. Strong 4/5.

Pretty bog standard indie. Has a level of quirkiness I’m comfortable with. Enjoyed and will promptly forget forever for the rest of my life

The 14th best indie album of 2007!

Some good songs like: Magic vs. Midas, For the Pier, Setting vs. Rising and Child-Heart Losers. 3.5 / 5

A fun listen for when you want a break from Arcade Fire

Weird in mostly a good way.

Not sure

Feels like a lesser version of Arcade Fire. The guy opened up for them so that makes sense but still it felt a little too much and it didn't work for me. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3.5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Indie rock. Ni fu ni fa.

This like definitely could have been worse! It was so different that I didn't hate it... The lyrics were definitely interesting in a good way. I mean like it isn't my favorite but surprisingly interesting.

Reminiscent of Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, but more theatrical, denser, fussier and maybe just not quite as good, though perhaps more authentic seeming than, say, late Arcade Fire. It seems important to note that Wolf Parade are much better balanced – not so overdetermined or proggy. However, one'll take this over, say, Neutral Milk Hotel and Decemberists (in adjacent sub-genres, though connected via some show-offiness, overstuffedness, excessive conceptualization, self-satisfaction). This isn't one's favorite flavor (or era) or indie rock, but there's a decent amount to recommend it and one's intrigued enough to give a spin to some of the other records – so thanks, recommender.

Some quirky indie rock. A lot of people comparing this to Cardiacs… I don’t hear it. Very different writing style and harmonic structures. Still some pretty interesting music

I couldn't get past the aggressive level of quirk and the prevalent pitch and tone that can only be called histrionic, particularly in the lead vocals. It toned down a bit at least in parts, but fairly late in. A lot of GBV and Neutral Milk Hotel echoes to my ears. I didn't hate it but it wore me out.

Didn’t know the Wolf Parade lead singer had a side project, the instrumentals feel somewhat similar (in the best way possible) but the vocals feel off the rails compared to the tamer main project. Took a while to get into the lyricism and delivery, but ultimately got there (especially with the tongue-in-cheek run on of ‘Taming’). Close to a four, feels a bit too scatterbrained to get there but this felt like a notable listen among the many indie contributions on the user list.

A bit all over the place and messy, but with some moments of brilliance. It’s not an album I can see myself coming back to, but I’m glad I listened to it. There’s definitely enough going on here to see why it deserves its place on the list.

Chaos, not usually in a good way

I don't understand why the ratings are so high on this

Acknowledging there's a distinct talent here, but on a personal level they're far far too Arcade Fire (but with whimsy!) for my liking. Both in structure and that muddy congested production that has to be by design. The vocals are beyond my ability to digest the rest of the music in a rational and sane manner. I can honestly see how/why people would like this, just doesn't hit any of my *yes* checkboxes and hits too many of the *pass* ones. 5/10 2 stars IMO: Belonged in the book? No.

Didn't care for this at all. 2 stars.

Alright, I guess

Apparently I did listen toy this yesterday, but I can’t remember a single thing

There were a couple of tracks that Dre me in, and a couple of tracks that pushed me away, so all in all a score draw.