"Mew Shocks and Awes!!! And Confuses!!!"
Album: "No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away//No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away"
Genre: Space Rock, Atmospheric, Ambient
Based in: Copenhagen, Denmark
Label: Sony BMG (International) / Evil Office (Denmark)
Year: 2009
Rate: 6.5/10
MySpace
Mew's new album "No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away//No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away" starts with a track called "New Terrain". It's always a bold statement to name your track 1, side 1 with a title that is suggestive of evolution, progress or change. This really goads my "Oh-rly?!"-sarcastic-bit of my brain, or any critic of music for that matter. The question everybody asks is inevitably: "Is "No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away//No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away" really "New Terrain" for Mew?"
"New Terrain", that track is disqualified. So lets skip to the second track (and first single), "Introducing Palace Players"... What can be said about a track which starts with 55-second "groove" with an intentionally difficult rhythm? With said "groove" descending into a more agreeable (still difficult) beat? Well for one, it's cool. For two? It's gimmicky.
Then I listen for a couple of more tracks and I hit "Repeater Beater", another track championed to represent the album. It's more straight forward than "Introducing...", but still gimmicky. An entertaining gimmick, previously exploited by Minus the Bear, but a gimmick nonetheless. Then...
"Cartoons and Macramé Wounds"? Gimmicky!
"Hawaii Dream" and "Hawaii"? Gimmicky!
Even the album title is a gimmick!
It's like they went into a room, and Jonas Bjerre said "Dudes let's make the next album crazy as shit!" and the rest of the band said "That's what I was thinking!"
So: 1. Long Poetic Album Title (Check!), 2. Weird Song Titles (Check), 3. A "Reprise" At The End (Check), etc.
Then I found out the track "New Terrain" becomes "Nervous", when reversed...
I just rolled my eyes.
[...]
That said the less-gimmicky songs from this album I really love. "Beach", "Silas the Magic Car" and "Tricks"? Exquisite. Their previous albums? Very nice! And I think I know why. Each album only has 1 (ONE) gimmick and makes it work.
"Frengers" is a collection of "hit" singles from their early career done in same production standards.
"And the Glass Handed Kites" is one long song divided up into unnoticeable track transition.
I love all of those albums, but ""No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away//No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away" is just too much smoke and mirrors for this listener...
So back to the original question. "Is this New Terrain for Mew"?
Well yeah.
If "New Terrain" is defined as more gimmicks.
(Ababil Ashari)
*Review by: Ababil Ashari
Tracklist
01. New Terrain
02. Introducing Palace Players
03. Beach
04. Repeaterbeater
05. Intermezzo 1
06. Silas the Magic Car
07. Cartoons and Macrame Wounds
08. A Dream
09. Hawaii
10. Vaccine
11. Tricks of the Trade
12. Intermezzo 2
13. Sometimes Life Isn't Easy
Click readmore for full stories!
This is quite possibly the worst review i've ever read, and proves that their should be a limit on the amount of times you can use the word "gimmicky" in one day.
I find this review to be very... Eh, gimmicky.
what a foolish review.. you call them gimmicks I call them ideas
Well, this review maybe too witty for it's own good. But certainly isn't "the worst review I've ever read". Go to pitchfork for those...
Wow, damn. Not a popular opinion it seems...
Too bad I wasn't around to review "And the Glass Handed Kites" or "Frengers" [...] Would have given it a 9 and a 9.5!
Ababil
I guess the problem here Ababil is that you so quickly wrote everything off as "gimmicky", it's like you listened to this 4 times and was like "woah, weird shit ahead, they sure tried to be weird here, hahaha, oh gosh"... personally (and most of press agrees with me) i see this as their probably most accomplished album yet. It's absolutely stunning. If Frengers is 9 and ATGHK is 9.5 this is 10. Get your shit together and stop fucking around, especially if you get paid to do this. It's not like the titles on the last album were any less weird and it certainly contained a shit-ton of gimmicks.
This is NOT a music review!! just shit..
@ Kapers and Anonymous (August 20, 2009. 6:34 PM)
You got that huh? The abuse was a comment.
@ Anonymous (August 20, 2009. 7:18 PM)
To each, their own...
@ Anonymous (August 21, 2009. 2:32 AM)
Thank you for giving a well-thought out comment. But it's not well thought enough.
How can you even say "No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away//No More Stories/The World is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away" (a poem) is not "any less weird" than "And the Glass Handed Kites" (a phrase) or "Frengers" (a portmanteau of "Friends" and "Strangers").
Plus, in my humble opinion, the gimmicks on the previous two albums before were executed in service of the song. Not in service of itself.
But that's just an opinion statement. An opinion statement that goes against the music press at-large.
God forbid if I have anymore of those on this page...
@ Cornelia
Spoken like a true fangirl, Mew forum lurker and/or poster.
Of course it's a music review. It's a piece of text that reviews musical content of a collection of visual art and recorded sound (in an non-popular/crowd-pleasing-way I'm constantly reminded).
Of course it's not shit. If someone can shit this, the whole online press journalism would be revolutionized overnight, don't you agree?
i wonder how human put physical shit on an online text?Cornelia how you can explain that? a review is where everybody can tell whatever they think about the subject.Good or bad review is always be a review.Freedom of speech gentlemen.Freedom of speech
really?
i thought this album would be amazing. anyway, i'm not listen to the full album yet. just some tracks, and those are good tracks, as far as i recall.
and i would agree with you to give 9 and 9.5 for frengers and glass handed kites.
i'm still gonna go get a copy of this album anyway.
@ Belle of the Ball
Good for you man. If yr a slightly bigger fan than me, you'll find it at least palatable i think.
Only a fool can't understand how deep this album, especially New Terrain
you just a piece of shit ababil.. you better listen to the album before you speaks like a jerk!
you just a piece of shit ababil.. you better listen to the album before you speaks like a jerk!
Mew, don't get disturbed by this stupid review, what you created is yours and it's rocks :)
@ Frengers & Grrr
Wow, you're identical twins? And you're both deluded?! How cuuuute.
@ Okira
"Mew, don't get disturbed by this stupid review..."
If you think a review on a fringe Indonesian site can influence the biggest, most rocking, most awesome Danish rock band ever then [...] Wow, thank you very much. ^.^;
----------------------------------------------
Well fanboys/girls. It's been fun. But I think I'm done here in this particular post.
It's been fun catering to people who care so much about the music of Mew they find allocating their time commenting on this board productive. Nice to get the attention this post has gotten but it's gotta end sometime.
But don't you worry kids, Mew will still keep rocking, despite any criticism anyone, especially this lowly writer, throws at them.
The best artists, like Mew, don't go out of their way to defend their work. Mew, specifically, don't even explain their work to mean anything in a literal way. The video for "Introducing Palace Players" can attest to that.
If you think that is what you want in music, well that opinion is yours.
If I think Mew's new album is just a bunch of gimmicks and they should just concentrate on making engaging forward moving songwriting ala "And the Glass Handed Kites" and "Frengers", well that opinion is mine.
If you feel so strongly about what you feel. Create your own blog. Sing Mew's praises. Let your voice be heard on a more legitimate and respectable venue. Not only in a comment section of an Indonesian blog.
Now if you want to call me "a piece of sh it" or "a flaming cu nt rag" or "a pig loving motherfuc ker" or some other creative form of insult. Be my guest. I've had my say.
Have a nice day, everyone!
Cheers to online music journalism and free speech!
Ababil Ashari
Hehe nice handling bad comment there ababil. What i meant from my previous comment before that i don't want everyone think that all Indonesian accepts this album like this review. I suggest you should hear more and give more nice review(good review doesn't need sarcastic word, even it was free speech but let keep it peace), personally i said it's a great album, thanx :)
@ Okira
Nah, man. Don't worry, we've got our fair share of rabid Mew fans here. They just came here like a couple of weeks ago. Live, they are electifying!
Anyway, about the review. I seem to be the minority on this one, even in Indonesia. ^^;
Keep on keeping on man!
MEW.............Wonderful tunes...
maybe mew just wanna meets the industrial demand?any great band would do that for awhile
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kOuBonIyH0
understand the words he speak