Thief Of Love

Wish I could have thought up a decent thread title from one of their new songs, but, oh well. New album My Maudlin Career comes out April 20/21 (depending on country), and new single "French Navy" is out tomorrow, so what better time than now to attempt to start up a thread for this '60s-inspired Glasgow pop band?





The Band

Tracyanne Campbell (Vocals, Guitars)
Gavin Dunbar (Bass)
Lee Thomson (Drums)
Kenny McKeeve (Guitars, Vocals)
Nigel Baillie (Trumpet, Percussion)
Carey Lander (Piano, Organ, Vocals)


Albums

Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi (2001)
Underachievers Please Try Harder (2003)
Let's Get Out of This Country (2006)
My Maudlin Career (2009)


Singles and EPs

"Park and Ride" (1998)
"Your Sound" (1998)
"Eighties Fan" (2001)
"Teenager" (2003)
"Keep It Clean" (2004)
I Love My Jean (2005)
"Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" (2006)
"Let's Get Out of This Country" (2006)
"If Looks Could Kill" (2007)
"Tears for Affairs" (2007)
"French Navy" (2009)


Links

Camera Obscura - official site
Camera Obscura on myspace
Camera Obscura on last.fm

'Tos

*rushes in* I'm here, I'm here! *takes long deep breaths*

I'm extremely excited for their new album, uh, obviously. I don't know what else to say at the moment.

Oh! Did you ever how that free concert doo-hickey went around your area? Not to, uh, rub it in your face that you didn't get to go, of course, heh, but did any of the papers cover it and have a tiny mention of CO, or did you hear anything about it?

Thief Of Love

Aw, 'Tos, I was hoping you'd noticed my desperate plea! *hugs 'Tos for that, then offers a paper bag to stave off his hyperventilation*

I never did hear anything about the free concert, but...turns out they'll be in Austin the week after my birthday in June, and the tickets are insanely, insanely affordable (like, I think I could pay for one with the cash currently in my wallet), so I do believe I might be seeing them after all! I should probably buy a ticket soon, but then, would Camera Obscura tickets really sell out, like, a week after going on sale?

Hmm, I'm not entirely sure how to get a conversational ball rolling in a new music thread beyond this, hee, uh, but...well, what are your favorite songs so far? We've talked about that from album to album, but, overall? (This list is, of course, subject to change after next week, heh.)

'Tos

I haven't actually had any time to list favourite songs, but I wanted to bump this up so you don't have to double post when you get to your thoughts on the album released today! Exciting! I have to live vicariously through you for now, so I hope you're grooving out enough for the two of us, hee. Looking forward to your thoughts!

I don't know, with how often they go to Texas (well, for all I know..it's twice), maybe they've got a huge fanbase. But yes, go go go! That would be sooo amazing.

Thief Of Love

For your vicarious listening pleasure, 'Tos, a track-by-track rundown of the album!

1. French Navy - One of two that we already know, of course; it makes a fantastic intro song. It helps to start things off with something super-energetic, which this most certainly is. (And also? Cannot get it OUT OF MY HEAD.)

2. The Sweetest Thing - Pleasant, upbeat, sounds...a lot like a lot of the others on this and the previous album, heh. Not a big standout track, but perfectly decent.

3. You Told a Lie - A new addition to their folk-y oeuvre; I’m typically a fan of this particular facet of their sound (twangy guitar and especially-melancholy vocals from Tracyanne), but, melodically, this reminds me too much of “The Last Song,” which is a problem inasmuch as it can merely be a pale imitation of that one for me.

4. Away With Murder - Notable for Tracyanne’s utterly unexpected pronunciation of “murder” (“mwoider”). Not hugely crazy about this one, to be honest, but it could plausibly grow on me yet.

5. Swans - The song itself is perfectly fine, if a little simple, but it was kind of a weird one for me, in that the opening notes suddenly brought back the memory of some song from my childhood Sunday School days, and that’s not the usual association I make with Camera Obscura. (Belle & Sebastian, yes, given Stuart's proclivity for getting all spiritual on us, hee.)

6. James - Dug this one, though maybe I’m just biased because I’ve always loved the name James, for some reason. But it holds up quite well musically; there’s almost this...well, it’s weird, but there’s this very, very slight ‘70s R&B feel to the melody and tempo. It’s so not overt, and probably no one else would hear that in it, but that’s what I get from it. It reminds me a bit of B&S’s “If She Wants Me” in that.

7. Careless Love - To my ears, it sounds like nothing else of theirs, and I’d love to hear them take a few more chances the way they do here. Very dramatic, sweet but kind of dark, with great sweeping strings joining the usual instrumental line-up. Also? I need to hear this in a cool, mid-‘60s period piece, now, forget the anachronism. Oh, Mad Men music supervisor person [whose name I feel like I should know]?

8. My Maudlin Career - As I discussed the placement of "French Navy," I'll talk about the placement of this one, too. It's, uh, placed well. Good segue from the slower, dreamier "Careless Love" to the quicker "Forests and Sands."

9. Forests and Sands - Another folk-y track, which manages not to sound too much like another one, heh. Nice swaying, mid-tempo beat, which is pretty much what made this one for me.

10. Other Towns and Cities - Not really a favorite; slightly spacey-sounding Tracyanne vocals with comparatively spare melody and instrumental backing (electric guitar and occasional violin). What can I say, I like ‘em grand and melodramatic or insanely bouncy...

11. Honey In the Sun - ...like here! Probably the most upbeat track not called “French Navy,” and that’s pretty much always going to win with me, at least as far as CO are concerned. Add a horn section, too, and I’m there.

12. The World Is Full of Strangers - A marriage of the bouncy ‘60s pop with the folk sound. Somehow. I don’t really know how to explain it better than that. I think I’m tired.

Can't wait 'til you get a chance to hear it all, which I presume will be some time after, ah, the 24th?

'Tos

Thanks for the review, Thief. It definitely reads as very different from their other albums, with some more experimentation. I'm a fan of them even with their same-ness quality, so even a little more variety is exciting.

Hee, indeed. Hopefully soon after said date, though!

Thief Of Love

Well, I'll be glad to get your take on it, once you have all that free time.

Have to say that "The Sweetest Thing" and "You Told a Lie" are suddenly really growing on me, in that "bits and pieces keep running through my head over and over and over again" kind of way. Seriously, Camera Obscura = earwormiest indie band ever.

Oh, and I bought my ticket! Now it's just waiting two months for the concert, heh.

'Tos

I've been listening to my Itunes on shuffle, and I had a bunch of oldies in a row (Beach Boys and Marvin Gaye to be specific) and then Camera Obscura's "A Sister's Social Agony" comes on...and I could barely distinguish it from an oldie and a, uh, newie, hee. It's got the "ooh"s, which I love so much, and the oldies guitar going, and..anyway, all this said to say I have one song on my favourite songs list! I'll have more obviously, but this has always been one of my faves of theirs.

So request it when you go to see them. Which, I am totally jealous about, by the way! Heh. How cool is that? A CO concert! Have you been to many concerts in general?

Thief Of Love

The last concert I attended was when I was ten, so that'd be a negative on the concert question. I went several years between then and, well, last year, hee, without really having any particular favorite bands or singers, just favorite songs (most of which were older, anyway, so it's not like those artists were doing much concert-giving), so this will be exciting! And it's at a nightclub rather than an auditorium, so I will surely find myself standing for several hours and being shorter than everyone in front of me, .

I think Underachievers Please Try Harder is their '50s and '60s girl-groupiest album. Besides "A Sister's Social Agony," you have "Teenager" and "Lunar Sea," and if those don't sound like they belong on an oldies station, I don't know what does.

And in spite of my having asked you to come up with your favorites, I'm still working on my own list, too, heh. I've got three definites, all from EPs, but now I need to review the albums and settle on my faves from those.

'Tos

Hee, I've got you beat. I was, like, seven at my last one. Anyone embarrassing for you? Backstreet Boys or Spice Girls or anything like that? I can't even remember which band I went to see, but it was with my parents and my brother, and I'm pretty sure it was a cover band, because their main song was "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", which I really wanted to hear, but instead I fell asleep before they sang it!

Hee! You'll just have to get there early and figure out where they'll be playing so that the tall people can stand behind you!

I have not forgotten about this thread, by the way. I'm just still in my non-music mood for the most part. Which is a really odd mood to be in for me.

Thief Of Love

Ooh, you're fun tonight! Posts here and there.

We're so cool, hee. My concert was Amy Grant, which...I don't really know how that ranks in the world of embarrassing childhood favorites, heh.

Which is funny, because I've been in a voraciously musical mood the past few days, adding a whole slew of new things to my iPod each day. None of it has anything to do with Camera Obscura, though, so it's rather off-topic for this particular thread, heh.

Thief Of Love

NEWS!

CO will be the musical guests on the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on either June 15 or 18, depending on which website you look at. Ooh, he'd better sit them down to talk about Glasgow. It'd be a shame not to take advantage of having all those lovely Scottish accents together in one place.

'Tos

Ooh, nice! Maybe they'll get to go on both times, hee. That's very cool. Maybe he's a fan. Or he just wanted some fellow Scots to be on TV. Either way, I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Hey, when's the concert? Getting more and more excited?

Thief Of Love

The concert is tonight, but I've actually ended up opting against going. I saw the venue in person; it seems a bit...dodgy, and given that the concert doesn't start until 9, I just wasn't thrilled with the idea of hanging around at 11 or so either outside or in a club with drunk people, waiting for my ride.

At 12:30 today, though, I discovered that they were performing a set at Waterloo Records, this legendary music shop in Austin -- at 1! I left about three minutes after reading that, but, alas, didn't get there until 2, by which time the performance was well over.



...But the trip wasn't a total loss. I did get to meet them outside the store and make a total giddy fool of myself.

'Tos

No way??? Woah! Details, I need details, hee. Was it all just a major coincidence? Or fate, even? Did you ask what's up with them and Texas? Hee. And what were their accents like? That is SO cool. I don't think I have to tell you how much I'm exploding with jealousy, heh. I bet you're still hopping around all giddy, and no wonder!

And I can't blame you about not going to the concert. I did just imagine you saying "dodgy" in an English accent though, because it's incredibily hard to say that word without sound at least like you're from somewhere in Britain.

By the way, I have been waiting to get the new CO album because I was waiting to get a TV on the Radio album at the same time, but now I'm thinking I'm going to screw it and just get the CO album and wait to get the other one later.