The sea and cake
 

I've seen them compared to one of my favorite bands, The Notwist, and there's a show on dime. Are The sea and cake good ?

yah, they're generally very good. The Biz is my favorite. i like the earlier ones best, but has anyone heard the new one?

they're very good.

i really love the notwist too. i've had 'neon golden' on a lot this week.

definitely a band with so many great ideas. but they usually bore me. agree with the above statement: you totally have to be in the mood for it, it's not music you can always put on in my opinion...

it IS music you can wake people up to and they will NOT complain. I have used it to wake up unwanted houseguests and do it gently. they actually appreciate it!

Thanks for the answers!

I'm downloading most of their albums (I can't buy records because I'm short of money at the moment :().

Eh, I don't know. I haven't heard a WHOLE lot from them or Tortoise, but what I have heard sounds almost borderline...easy listening? Smooth jazz? Something about both bands just turned me off. But maybe I'll give them a second chance.

The Sea & Cake are kind of the indie rock equivalent of Steely Dan. Ultra mellow rock with witty sarcastic lyrics belying the lull it seems to be about on the surface. Maybe it's just my generation, but The Sea & Cake pull this off much more successfully than Steely Dan ever did, but the older classic/soft rock band filled the same niche for the boomers.

Tortoise, despite shared members in the lineage are an entirely different creature. While The Sea & Cake are all about vocal songs at relatively normal lengths, Tortoise is definitely much more removed from the typical rock format. They are easy to listen to, but hardly muzak with the complexity of what they are up to, and while they have plenty of jazz influences, I don't think the David Sanborn variety of "smooth jazz" are on the list.

Check out the first All Tomorrow's Parties cd which has both groups on it, including a track by Tortoise that would scare the living hell out of any smooth jazz fans who might somehow hear it (which seems completely unlikely to begin with.)

regarding tortoise: great band. also boring if you ain't in the mood, but they've constructed some masterpieces. just good music.

I'm listening to the first record now, I think I like it. Sometimes the vocals are reminiscent of Lou Reed (especially on the first track).

I see a resemblance with the Notwist but The sea and cake are much lighter in mood, as some of you said. That indeed seems to be music that grow on you after several listens.

Yes, but what isn't "boring if you ain't in the mood"? Honestly, If I'm not in the mood for Cock ESP, even that would be boring for that particular moment.

Where are hipster_bebop_junkie, musicfallinglikesnow and anna4 ?

EDIT: oops sorry wrong thread :D

I happened to listen to Oui this afternoon while painting my apt. and while I find it a really good album, I somehow don't feel the urge to find more stuff from them. But by all means, they deserve to be checked out, it's some interesting music that, like mentionned previously, is best enjoyed under certain circumstances.

I agree, in a sense. One album is enough, you only need so many cd's of certain groups, and sometimes that certain number is one. Otherwise you are just dropping another $15 on a cd that sounds just like the other one you have. But they are good, I do have Oui. I bought a cd that I didn't like, asked they guy there if I could just trade it for another one sense it totally blew, he was in a good mood, so I traded for this, seeing it as sort of a free cd. Even though if you think about it, it totally wasn't.

i am gong to see them play the 22nd!!!

their new album is fucking amazing.

get that and OUI and you can bliss out forever

Instigator Video Jukebox - The Sea & Cake

MOR shite. damn you guys depress me. Steely Dan at least wrote some clever songs.

the sea and cake are a really good band.
but i can understand how some people get bored of them.
I love them.
I haven't heard the last one though and
"Everybody".... i didn't like it...

REALLY good band. I thoroughly enjoy the Biz. If you like them, you should check out both Archer Prewitt and Sam Prekop's solo stuff. It's a good listen.

Their new album, 'Car Alar'... let's just say, it's not their greatest effort. Love John McEntire, though. Bastro, FTW!