New album in production

[Jackal]

The only solo album I find to be consistent is KTGC.

Most consistent sound and "vibe" - totally agree. It wasn't bad - none of Mark's album are bad - but dull, yeah.

[superval99]

KTGC is the only album that puts me in a certain place and has a particular aura about it - like in the 50s and 60s - perhaps it was necessary to have lived in that time to appreciate the feeling.   I like it very much, just as I like all of Marks's solo albums, though some more than others!      None of Mark's albums are dull to me.  

[tunnel85]

Last year I got an awesome internship on my birthday, this year a new album is announced. Can't be better to be born on the 3rd of March.

You're absolutely right !
What a wonderful day  when you can consider that a new album announcement is the second best news of the day.

[vgonis]

I don't know about you all, but i am behind my listenings for at least three years. Records and CDs pile up waiting to be heard. By all means an MK album is more than welcome and it will go straight to my turntable, but there is so much good music around, new in the world and even more new to me-coming from the past-, that I cannot i don't understand the fuss. And if this note leaves you wondering,  well I don't blame you, after all this is the AMIT forum. We are not supposed to say bad things. I only wonder if any of you find less joy in the man's albums after Shangri-La, or is it just me. I mean after the initial time they spent in my turntable, they have not created the deeper connections that his other recordings have, the ones that make me go back again and again for more. I am not telling these words to hurt any of you or undermine the man's work, I am only asking if it is only me, something going on that won't let me appreciate the music. I read somewhere in the previous posts something, that in a way could be an answer, about MK, that he  seems more focused to songwriting rather than his guitar work, but of course this argument is easy to beat since lately i listen again and extremely enjoy  Marvin Gaye's -70ies albums with minimal guitar -hero work in them (amazing bass by the way).  Sorry to spoil the good mood, but it is more of a cry for help.

[Tally]

For me, KTGC and SL were definitely Mark's worst albums as a solo artist or with DS. GL was much better, so I'm hoping for more of the good stuff  A new album is always great news, even though there are disappointments in the end occasionally.

[Rollergirl]

I don't know about you all, but i am behind my listenings for at least three years. Records and CDs pile up waiting to be heard. By all means an MK album is more than welcome and it will go straight to my turntable, but there is so much good music around, new in the world and even more new to me-coming from the past-, that I cannot i don't understand the fuss (.....).

Funny you should say that, I feel like I don't need a new album yet. Unlike you I love all of his albums (even latest ones, even KTGC) but I am discovering a lot of "new" (new to me that is) music at the moment. And more important for the subject, I am not done with Get Lucky. I love this album so much that I have hardly listened to it, as I insist (insisted until last Thursday) on only listening to it on hifi. So like you, the new one will go straight on my turntable (well, CD player) but  I don't feel too excited about it (which is a shame, really, I love that feeling)

[Jackal]

Funny you should say that, I feel like I don't need a new album yet.

Totally agree with that. I think an album every second year doesn't give you the time to let the album "grow on you". But that's my opinion

Just discovered three tracks by Ry Cooder that were made(?) for the movie My Blueberry Nights (starring Norah Jones). Amazing! And I really like the "live" sound of this. Wish Mark would do something in this vein:

Busride
http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Bus+Ride/2ByJYh?src=5

Long Ride
http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Long+Ride/2QgXMf?src=5

Ely Nevada
http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Ely+Nevada/2Bz0JQ?src=5



(Addendum:

I know you can't compare a soundtrack with a regular album, but I'm talking about the sound and vibe.)

Addendum 2:

Had to add one more uptempo song by Mr RC, from his I, Flathead album:

Riding with the Blues
http://listen.grooveshark.com/s/Ridin+With+The+Blues/2pWTHX?src=5

[Love Expresso]

In times of STP and RPD I used to listen to the albums as a whole. I took my time to sit (or lie) and listen from track one to the final last note.
It must be a sign for ... another.... quality of the followers that there are only parts on them that I listen to regularly... changing parts, but not more than four or five songs in a row... For example, SL from 1 to 5 is awesome, the rest depends on my mood. On KTGC, I often start with Let It All Go and listen through to the end. It is because of the mood I find in these parts, or maybe I just had more time to spend listening to music when I was younger. Anyway, there is always something new to discover on Mark's records, which is great. I only discovered "Monteleone" as a really good track in the last month. I used to skip it  in 2010.

On a new record, I will be happy if these parts are long enough, I do not expect a "Master/Killer/Surprise/album anymore. As I said earlier, it is the view
of a tour that excites me most about these news.

MK albums are like children, I suppose. You can't love one more than the other, every one is unique in its very own way. They are there and belong to your life for the rest of it.

(No, Nat, I do not have any!)  

LE

[superval99]

MK albums are like children, I suppose. You can't love one more than the other, every one is unique in its very own way. They are there and belong to your life for the rest of it.

(No, Nat, I do not have any!)  


LE

A very good analogy, LE!   

[Rollergirl]

Oh yes, another tour! I need that! 

[superval99]

(Addendum:

I know you can't compare a soundtrack with a regular album, but I'm talking about the sound and vibe.)

OK, I've listened to them all, but really you should compare like with like, ie an RC soundrack with an MK soundtrack, such as "Wag the Dog", "A Shot at Glory","Metroland", "Cal", etc!

The one I enjoyed the most was Ely Nevada - the others I wasn't too keen on, but maybe they are growers!   

[Jackal]

(Addendum:

I know you can't compare a soundtrack with a regular album, but I'm talking about the sound and vibe.)

OK, I've listened to them all, but really you should compare like with like, ie an RC soundrack with an MK soundtrack, such as "Wag the Dog", "A Shot at Glory","Metroland", "Cal", etc!

The one I enjoyed the most was Ely Nevada - the others I wasn't too keen on, but maybe they are growers!   

Well, hence the addendum ...

I guess you and me have to agree on disagreeing 

[Fieneke2]

Quote VGONIS2002:

[vgonis]

Thank you for the answers, it is not as if i had an existential crisis over MK's work, I was just wondering if there is something wrong with my ears. Thank you so much Tallgren, Rollergirl, Jackal, Love expresso and Fineke for the personalized answer.It is good to know that in some extend feelings are mutual. I do agree that the ultimate experience is watching the artist live, but it looks as though everything is a matter of perspective and chance. The recorded music, means acquired taste since you get to listen ONLY to the carefully recorded, chosen and served music. And to MK that is the only truth. No obscure B sides exist, no demo left overs officially released, no albums have ever been released with extra material.  This is a frame of mind and i do respect it. But the live recordings are in a way the same thing. You only get a shadow of the show, that was chosen over others for specific merits and can usually stand  repeated listening better than the rest. So yes out of interest I would buy the live album my favorite artist puts on sale, but really i believe it is a totally different thing these Smify recordings. No i haven't bought any of these recordings, as a matter of fact i find it quite odd they were officially released. Without over analyzing, it is certainly a product tailored for hardcore fans (but how MK ever allowed it?) and even though i consider myself one, I could not convince myself to buy one. Maybe it is the medium or the little time i have. I have downloaded many concerts but listening to them as i like, in my stereo headphones in order to recreate the live feeling, is hardly an option due to limited time, so they are still in a hard drive somewhere, un listened. Maybe it is my psychology, since in the 18 months that have passed, Greece is attacked both from the stock market vultures and our own politicians and the results are plain to see. Unemployment have reached 30%, taxes are in the sky and so are the every day products (food and gas and household bills), while jobs are closing down rapidly and the ones still open cut the salaries up to 50%. And we wouldn't mind if the salaries were good, but 80% of the working force gets less than 800 Euros/month and these are the salaries they butcher.   So yes maybe i am not in the mood to listen to it carefully enough.

[ds1984]

For me, KTGC and SL were definitely Mark's worst albums as a solo artist or with DS. GL was much better, so I'm hoping for more of the good stuff  A new album is always great news, even though there are disappointments in the end occasionally.

I feel the same.

I don't know about you all, but i am behind my listenings for at least three years. Records and CDs pile up waiting to be heard. By all means an MK album is more than welcome and it will go straight to my turntable, but there is so much good music around, new in the world and even more new to me-coming from the past-, that I cannot i don't understand the fuss. And if this note leaves you wondering,  well I don't blame you, after all this is the AMIT forum. We are not supposed to say bad things. I only wonder if any of you find less joy in the man's albums after Shangri-La, or is it just me. I mean after the initial time they spent in my turntable, they have not created the deeper connections that his other recordings have, the ones that make me go back again and again for more. I am not telling these words to hurt any of you or undermine the man's work, I am only asking if it is only me, something going on that won't let me appreciate the music. I read somewhere in the previous posts something, that in a way could be an answer, about MK, that he  seems more focused to songwriting rather than his guitar work, but of course this argument is easy to beat since lately i listen again and extremely enjoy  Marvin Gaye's -70ies albums with minimal guitar -hero work in them (amazing bass by the way).  Sorry to spoil the good mood, but it is more of a cry for help.

Part of being a big fan is always looking for more, no? So a new album is still a big new. When you are in the state of amazement you are in the waiting of the next one, of how he will be able to surprise you and take you further in his musical world. You can like a lot of different music but there are artists that are more important than others, that with time have sets some marks in your life.

Regarding the guitarish thing, Mark is one of the last true guitar heroes. This is part of his trademark, he is wordly renowned for being one of the very few people that can be immediatly identified as soon as as he play only one note. he has a very unique style.
But Mark is not only that. This not question to reduce Mark to his sole ability of guitar soloing because he is also a very gifted songwriter and did put it on some high level in producing records that contain thes two ingredient perfectly balanced.

But at some point Mark decided to focuse more on the songwriting part and cut short the other source of my listener pleasure, TRD being the perfect album example. In my opinion, Coyotte and HFB  live performance give big clue of how on the knopflerish standards these should have been recorded. You can't imagine the high degree of jubilation back in 2008 on that saturday evening when I attended the first time HFB was played live and that he made the thing. That won't prevent me to like non "big solo" track such as "Devil Baby" or "Why Worry". This not an exclusive pleasure in the way that does not prevent me to like other style and when listening to Marvin Gaye I don't expect such guitar licks like when listening to a Mark Knopfler album I don't expect such wonderfull voice.