Fever Ray, album of the year?

[swishniak]

i think the video is better than the song.. not to compare things:)

[pat the dog]

can anyone tell me what that chiming sound is at the beginning of the song in the video before the vocal comes in? sounds very familiar circa early 90's. maybe the pitched down bell sample in the korg wavestation? although i read here that the album was produced using ableton's built in synths (though like most things i read on here, i take that with a large pinch of salt!).

[anybody human]

Really cool. Thanks for the heads up. Video's great. I wonder who engineered it, the production of the guitar in that track is great. Her lyrics are actually seem pretty good, most people's range from absolutely terrible to just passable. I'd have to read them all, but they're interesting at first glance. She seems like an artist with some potential which is always great to see.

[Hidden Driveways]

Brooding dirges, laced with a displaced anger that bring PJ Harvey’s aesthetic to mind, in a bad way.

Otherworldly pop sensibility, with a dystopian modernism that bring Kate Bush to mind, in a really good way.

I really like Karin’s voice, but I can’t help but feel like she isn’t trying hard enough. She isn’t editing enough. I think this album has a very “in-the-box” sound, and it really works against it. It’s not just that it’s cold, the problem is that it’s flat. There is only binary air between the notes. (I’m not blaming Live here. You can make really alive sounding music with Live.)

I saw a The Knife video a few years ago (the one with the vintage looping footage of early skateboarders), and at first I didn’t care for it that much, but I realized later that I really liked the song. So I tried in vain to find a vinyl copy of the album. I still haven’t found it. About six months ago I paid way too much money for a vinyl pressing of some The Knife remixes. The album arrived in the mail and it totally sucks ass. Exactly the kind of remixes that put me to sleep. They’re all self-conscious art projects, not remixes IMO. I have a few The Knife remixes in MP3 form that are really great, but the ones on this vinyl are lame.

Back to Fever... Tired oriental chimes. Played out soft synth sounds. The coupling of her detuned voice with her regular voice. 808 kicks that don’t kick at all. There is a whole lot of stuff on Fever Ray that doesn’t work at all. Still, I’ll keep an eye out for the next thing she does, because she seems really talented.

I'm calling you out here, Emissary. You called the album of the year in May. You have a crush on Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson. Admit it.

[dm_hawk]

i like this album more than anything else i've heard in the past 5 years. imho, it's near perfect.
subjectively, i find the album emotionally moving and musically sophisticated. i also think the album is technically brilliant.

i'm fascinated by the criticisms some of you offer... that the album sounds too much "in the box," the synth sounds are played out, the production is flat, Karin has "some potential," etc. considering what you say as objectively as i can, i'm simply not convinced - everything on this album seems deliberately in place and utilized to great effect. i'm sure that a few of the members on this forum speak from considerable technical expertise, and i'm always prepared to respect that, but for now i know whose music recommendations to ignore

in an interview she states she used ableton for the album

yes!

link, plzkthx?

[glenn303]

I could be a little off but her music kinda reminds me of early 80's Peter Gabriel stuff.

[anybody human]

i like this album more than anything else i've heard in the past 5 years. imho, it's near perfect.
subjectively, i find the album emotionally moving and musically sophisticated. i also think the album is technically brilliant.

i'm fascinated by the criticisms some of you offer... that the album sounds too much "in the box," the synth sounds are played out, the production is flat, Karin has "some potential," etc. considering what you say as objectively as i can, i'm simply not convinced - everything on this album seems deliberately in place and utilized to great effect. i'm sure that a few of the members on this forum speak from considerable technical expertise, and i'm always prepared to respect that, but for now i know whose music recommendations to ignore

in an interview she states she used ableton for the album

yes!

link, plzkthx?

When I said "some potential" I meant tons of potential, I realize now that sounded silly. Potential is a slippery word to use anyway plus she's obviously done amazing stuff already. I just meant that from what I've heard so far, this seems like someone who explores not just musically but also emotionally. The songs I've checked out so far each come from different perspectives lyrically. So I didn't mean it as a half compliment or a qualification but that is certainly how it sounded. My mistake.


As for an in the box sound, what does that mean exactly? Sure it sounds like there's no room reverb. Other than room reverb, everything is eventually "in the box" isn't it? Certainly hardware and their software recreations sound different. However, analog synth recorded into a DAW is now in the box, right? Analog synth recorded to tape was once called digital or electronic or robotic or artificial, but not "on the tape" or "in the tape". Also, how would one get away from it, especially in home recording? Use an outboard synth, outboard compression (a little box), an impulse response reverb, record to 2 inch tape, capture more room sound? I'm interested to know because I only do vocals and guitar out of the box and my room sucks so I try to avoid it's reflections. Anyway, I thought people used it as a (pejorative) term for mixing more than tracking, but I guess it does have a certain sound. Is that necessarily a good/bad thing? Isn't it just a production method?

[Hidden Driveways]

My "in the box" issues stem from the fact that this record is very controlled sounding, very sequenced sounding, and it seems like little was left up to chance.

To get out of the box in a home studio, or any studio, you have to have more air. If your room sounds bad, you can do things to shape it (isolation barriers, sound blankets, etc.). Yes, using an analog synth is a good thing, but you can go further. Use an analog synth plugged into a guitar amp and put a mic on it. Sometimes I'll put a mic on my studio monitor and record a soft synth that way. Use more microphones. Use more space. Use real musicians whenever possible. Need a bongo loop? Go out and buy a bongo drum and a mic... there's your bongo loops.

I like recordings that sound alive. A good recording should sound like a journey to a place, not a visit to someone's hard drive.

[assessingaccess]

The boomerang effect on the track 'When I Grow Up' is stunning!
I missed it the first couple of times around, but it comes right after the line
"...throwing out boomerang waiting for it to come back to me"

then...

...wait for it, wait for it... sweet!

I played it for some of my friends and their jaws dropped.

[jez3122]

Haunting track

i listened to this when it was 1st posted and now i've just listen again and it's kinda grown on me.....that said i still felt like reaching for a knife and self-harming.......but i think that says a lot more about me than the track........you should see my bloody arms

[anybody human]

To get out of the box in a home studio, or any studio, you have to have more air. If your room sounds bad, you can do things to shape it (isolation barriers, sound blankets, etc.). Yes, using an analog synth is a good thing, but you can go further. Use an analog synth plugged into a guitar amp and put a mic on it. Sometimes I'll put a mic on my studio monitor and record a soft synth that way. Use more microphones. Use more space. Use real musicians whenever possible. Need a bongo loop? Go out and buy a bongo drum and a mic... there's your bongo loops.

I like recordings that sound alive. A good recording should sound like a journey to a place, not a visit to someone's hard drive.

I see what you mean. Good suggestions. I did put up sound panels and got a Reflexion Filter and the room sound is getting better. Also, went back to using effects to tape on guitar, for instance my moogerfooger delay pedal instead of Echoboy slapped on later that way it sounds how my guitar sounds so to speak. Unless it's a cut up snippet, I love to treat those with plug ins. Been thinking of getting shakers etc. to add a bit of room sound and feel so it's funny you mentioned the bongos example. Also my dad has an old reel to reel I was thinking about setting up as a slap back. I will definitely try the mic up to the monitor trick with an Arturia synth I'm having trouble fitting into mixes. I take your point and will have to work on incorporating more of these types of concepts. Cheers.

Sorry that was way off topic.

[lewis g edwards]

someone said 'her' album, it is actually a man, funnily enough. weird but true.

i have the knife and also fever ray, and like the knife for there more visual aspect, although great music, just great. fever ray is a nice extension, but is its own format. both are great in the fields they delve in. would love to see them both. fever ray is playing in manchester for one night, might head over.

both of them use elektron machine drums and mono machines.
there great, i have a machine drum sps1-uw. fantastic to make really head kicking beats and even make whole tracks with a even live shows. can do synthesis and samples

they maybe pricey, but they are worth it and have a great support team and forum unit.
and can hook to live in a lovely way to control and make a live setup addition.

ooh yes...

[Emissary]

I dont think she is a man?? is she?

anyway, having bought and listened to the album quite alot, i can quite honestly say that although simple it effects me on a emotional level more than anything i have heard in a few years. I dont care to judge things technically, if songs do something to my heart then in my book they are good.

[dm_hawk]

someone said 'her' album, it is actually a man, funnily enough. weird but true.

???
from http://feverray.com/biography/
Eight months of the most productive daydreaming later, Karin had a batch of new songs and the raw materials for the production. Unsure how to get them over the finishing line, she took half to Christoffer Berg (who mixed The Knife’s work), half to Stockholm production duo Van Rivers & The Subliminal Kid for a final brush and tickle.

karin clearly did the songwriting (whatever that means), but i'm curious how much of a hand she had in the production.

one thing i miss about buying my music on physical media is all the small print on the cd/record/cassette insert that explains who played/mixed/produced what. digital downloads keep you guessing.

@Hidden Driveways - thanks for the out-of-the-box tips!

[Tone Deft]

the Celtic wailings hurt my ears and make my back muscles cringe in pain, it's just not in my blood. interesting music, sounds well done. I've tried many times but I can't even sit through the song once. Kate Bush does the same thing to me.

my $0.02 since this was proclaimed album of the year and has been sitting here for so long. don't mean to be a hater, it's better to like something than not.