Bit disappointed I couldnāt vote for āThe Shy Retirerā as best single because I definitely bought that single and I love it.
This is a belter:
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Oh, Shy Retirer was an EP. Donāt remember that!
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So for HGATR after HGATR I have been posting variants of āloved their earlier stuff, made some really important records to me but I fell out of love with them along the way and their most recent stuff hasnāt much impactā for lots of long running bands.
Arab Strap are the opposite.
Really really love As Days Get Dark. Itās in the running for one of my albums of the year and yet I couldnāt get into their initial run when I listened to them years ago. I did enjoy the live album but I remember The Red Thread bored teenage me to tears.
Not sure if theyāve changed or I have. Suspect itās mostly the latter. Think now Iām 43 Iām in the right grumpy old man headspace to finally get them.
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I bought the greatest hits on the back of really liking First Big Weekend, but it never quite clicked with me. Feels like a band I would like if I could give them the time.
Stood next to Aidan Moffat at a urinal once. He was as drunk as a lord.
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FIVE!
I love them! Lyrically and musically just astounding. The way each song is thought out and delivered is just lovely. They can make you laugh and cry all in the space of one song.
I think I first heard them through the Guinness advert but it was Mary-Ann Hobbs who really introduced them to me on a wider scale.
I donāt know how they do it but they donāt half make amazing music in Scotland.
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really not familiar with them at all, despite knowing their name.
is this his band? not sure why ive heard of him either 
?
WTF didnāt know Simon Pegg was in a band. 1/5
Prefer Aidanās solo stuff. Think his work with Bill Wells is phenomonal. And his movie āWhere Weāre Meant to Beā and its accompanying soundtrack is top tier.
4 for the later Arab Strap stuff. Not keen on the early ones.
One of those bands that occasionally pop up on music league or random playlists that makes me think āoh yeah, been meaning to check them outā, only for me to listen to them and then completely forget what they sound like. Which probably isnāt a good sign.
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5 this thread is either going to:
- Make me get a ticket for tomorrow night in town
- Remind me Iām missing one of the LPs that I now need to buy but I canāt find
probably a mixture of the 2.
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Malcolm Middleton has this strange ability to compile simple, almost trite and irritating fragments of melody and through the course of a song slowly transform the pieces from something that almost verge on being annoying, into something which you start to realise is quietly blowing your mind whilst pulling a whole lot of heart strings. A humble and self-deprecating song-writing genius in my opinion.
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Hearing First Big Weekend for the first time was electric, felt really fresh and unlike anything else Iād heard, made me a bit giddy, absolutely nails that feeling of a Summer wasting. Friday night we went through to the archesā¦ Beat kicks in. Yes. yesyesyes. The sort of song you push on your friends saying you have to hear this, and they love it and ask if youāve got anything else like it and you donāt because there isnāt.
My problem is I struggle to listen to most of their albums, I have to be in a very specific mood and if Iām not it can be challenging. I prefer them in small chunks, they really hit the spot for me like that. I think the Rocket Take Your Turn/Blackness single is the best thing they released. I love the dynamics on their longer songs as they stretch out, Blackness, Girls of Summer, New Birds. I think theyāve all been posted already so Iām going to post one of their more concise, poppy moments.
Iām more of an Aidan Moffat than Arab Strap fan. I follow him wherever he roves, bawdy retellings of traditional tunes, odd records made up of sampled Exotica, Quietus agony Uncle columns or singing bottle openers. Where Youāre Meant To Be is well worth a watch. I donāt think it gets heralded much but Aidan has a great eye for design too, I could be wrong but I think heās done all their covers. HGATR Aidan Moffat over the breadth of everything is an easy 5. Everythingās Getting Older with Bill Wells is one of my favourite albums released this century, The Copper Top isā¦my eyes have just filled up typing the title ā¦is an absolute wonder of a tune. Gives me a really heavy feeling of sadness in my chest when I hear that opening piano but ends up leaving me somehow lighter. Cathartic.
I thought the RM Hubbert collaborative stuff was wonderful too and Cut To Black was a perfect way to close that chapter.
Iāve not spent much time with the comeback album but I very much like it based on the couple of listens so far. Turning Of Our Bones was such a great return. Amazing highs and Iāve got so much goodwill towards them, so much love, really, that it will be a 5.
Never seen 'em live, seen Wells and Moffat twice though. Once in a Working Mens club in Sheffield and once at Latitude. Got mobbed by teenagers rushing the barrier towards the end of the set, thought wow ,good on them for cutting through to the youth til I realised I was minutes away from watching an Ed Sheeran secret set.
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i like them, feels like dis has talked about them non stop lately though
Thought their previous albums were quite patchy but had some real highs, whereas their new album is just brilliant all the way through - itās much more droll, sonically, the songs are more interesting, the productionās better, etc. Really feels like theyāve fulfilled their potential. Forgot Iād actually seen them when they first reformed a few years ago at Field Day too. They were great - full sound, lots of energy. Played all the songs I really like. āTwas a good time.
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I only really know First Big Weekend, I wasnāt really paying enough attention when I heard the latest, but Aidanās such a top boy I might give them a good score anyway.
Fully backing @dktrfaustus btw Where Youāre Meant To Be is an amazing film
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Bought Philophobia when it came out on the basis of reviews and never connected with it at all so have only listened to the odd subsequent track and never liked them. Nothing terrible about them but I donāt tend to like his vocals on Mogwai tracks either.
Never done much for me
Everything Iāve heard seems like bad poetry with gratuitous naughty words and meat and potatoes backing tracks
Think I laughed at one about a big dick once
2/5
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Anything less than a 4 is a crime against Scotland
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