Fleet Foxes
Audio CD
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£4.99
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Reviewer
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great album, soft, mellow, choral, the beach boys get mentioned alot, but theres alot of crosby, stills n' nash as well. Americana! Got to love it!
If like me you love this album but also love things a bit more 'edgy', extended psyk-out instrumentals, anger mixed into the beauty, etc, then check out the work of Akron/family.
Meek Warrior
Love Is Simple
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Much has already been said about our hairy heroes, Fleet Foxes and I concur with many reviewers here that a stand out feature of their music is the lush harmonies and sixties influenced sound. Luckily they manage to make this sound fresh and put their own twist on it to make it relevant to a modern audience. The opener `Sun It Rises' is a good indicator of what is in store, with swirling harmonies and a great riff during the chorus and towards the end. They are a typical Sub Pop band and if you like other bands on that label then it is a sure bet you will like Fleet Foxes as well and they are a good example of modern folk. For some reason I enjoy this album more when played on headphones and the harmonies have more effect this way and I recommend you do this on first listen at least. This hasn't shaken my world as some reviewers have suggested it can do, but it is a solid, well written and produced album and always makes for around 40 minutes relaxed music listening. Worth checking out.
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Although I'd already heard of them, my first encounter with Fleet Foxes was seeing their absolutely incredible performance at Glastonbury 2009 on TV. A few days later, I bought the album. Is it as good as my memory of the Glasto gig - not quite, but it is still highly recommended.
Even though they are a new young band, the chief influences behind the FF sound are certainly not so young. With their sparse arrangements and strangely tuned guitars, the most obvious reference point is Crosby Stills & Nash without the latter's more rocking numbers thrown in to provide some balance. Add to that the Fleet Foxes' trump calling card, their wonderful vocal harmonies, and you can also throw The Beach Boys into the mix as well as The Band, both musically and through the Foxes olde-world lyrics.
Going one stage further, the sublime harmonies of the band are at time choral and almost gospel though in a spiritual rather than overtly religious sense. This is especially evident in the album's opener Sun It Rises and wordless yet definitely not instrumental Heard Them Stirring. Further highlights from the LP include the highly revered White Winter Hymnal and Ragged Wood as well as English House and Mykonos from the six track bonus disc which brings together everything the band have released so far.
Excellent though the music is, the lack of variety does deflate things slightly over the whole album. Nevertheless, with harmonies and playing this exquisite, Fleet Foxes is an LP to treasure. I remember reading a review of Grace by Jeff Buckley in one of the glossy monthly music mags which stated that this is the sort of album which isn't made any more. The same can also be said for the equally excellent Fleet Foxes.
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I bought this cd based on the reviews on Amazon - and it is utter garbage !! In over 40 years of record buying I have never heard such drivel. If you like music - AVOID !!!
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I came across an article in a music magazine which said that this album was the best release of 2008. I thought: "Big deal, in 2006 Morrissey topped your list!". (I have nothing against Morrissey, by the way, some of his albums are quite good and so is "Ringleader of the Tormentors", but come on...). But then I was curious and gave this album a try. First listening: "Good, but not that great". Second listening: "Great". From third listening onwards: "This album is above averything else". I am aware that it may sound a little "derivative", as most of its detractors here at Amazon have noticed, sporting their new-found cool word. But, so what? Isn't it a "prerogative", something almost unescapable now in contemporary popular music, to be "derivative"? Come on, everything is derivative, my dear. You can't avoid it. And this is superb derivation. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Beach Boys, The Byrds. All so true. Fleet Foxes are an accurate and distilled blend of those bands but who really cares? Its harmonies are sophisticated, the sound is perfectly recorded (we should thank the production here), the melodies are crafted with a maturity which is simply stunning considering their just-out-of-their-teen age. What else can I say? Oh, yes: of course if you don't like music of the line of Byrds-Beach Boys-CSN&Y you won't like them either, but I bet you'll love "Blue Ridge Mountains". It's pure ether. And we all love ether.
P.S. I got the Special Edition: awful package! You cannot even pull out the CD without breaking the crappy cardboard box. I hate slipcases!
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