Silent Shout is one of the best albums this decade but is electronic and scares obner.

I listen to, promote it, have paid close attention for over 35 years (from Stockhausen, Tangerine Dream et. al. on)... so I am not afraid on Electronica ( although as a name of a genre it's stupid) but I just never understood the love for The Knife. Watered down, rehashed, thin.

I find some of the tricks on this, specifically those on the vocals, to be quite impressive. She has an interesting voice, no question, but I like the multi-tracking. Using filters in the multi-tracking to produce alternate, but still mimicking scales, within the vocals, or very slight time offset that produces a bit of the same effect as what was achieved thorugh experiments in "phasing" some forty years ago. True, it's an old minimalist trick that has been done before, so should it qualify as rehashed, probably, but with her voice I think it works nicely and manages to sound fresh in a way.

Apparently you guys aren't listening. Obner is SCARED of electronic music

As generalizations go, I'm not sure that's really that egregious.

The benefit of Obner. I know you know your shit in this area, and reading this I will go back and listen again with an open ear.

electronica

i hope puma doesn't see this.

What do you mean?

electronic music. thanks.

i guess that exempts you.

Make no mistake I do find most of the instrumentation/beats to be very, very thin as you said, and think this works better as an acapella (feel the same way about her Fever Ray record, though the remixes I've heard have been beyond lackluster as well), but yeah for sure let me know what you think after your revisit.

And any mainstream success that comes to them will be entirely deserved. Because Silent Shout transcends 90% of post-millennial electronic music with a rare combination invention and humanism. The combination of elements they've come up with is like some kind of rare and powerful alignment of the planets.

This is heartbreak that slips in through the window, svelte and subtle. Lean, minimal, late-night torch songs that resonate like ringing glass; elusive, tricky beats that flutter and pop like raindrops hitting the ground or rattle like train tracks beneath your feet; extended synth buildups and pitch-shifted vocal octaves that feel like cold liquid running down your insides. It's a ride from a deep pink sunset to the inky darkness of midnight, punctuated with abstract flashing neon; a tokyo train ride; a night spent shivering in a shoebox hotel room stacked high against an unfamiliar skyline.

Silent Shout is an album of intense, pungent evocations; macabre dreams, naked loneliness, risk, safety and loss; desperation, disconnection and yearning. From seeming at first inaccessible, repeated listening reveals a hidden fortune of lyricism and musical texture nestled away in every song. This is electronically created music that has a beating heart at it's core.

This is one of the most rich and accomplished albums of recent times. Essential.

* The Knife 10 / 10

The following album will advance to the tourney:

Neko Case - Blacklisted
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