Song Premiere - Nemeses

kate

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/av/2011/07/song-premiere-jonathan-coulton---nemeses.html

"Brooklyn singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton is excited to announce that he’s been working on a new album. Artificial Heart
will be his eighth studio album and is set to debut this fall. The
first track off the record, “Nemeses,” features The Long Winters’ John
Roderick on vocals. Listen to the track in the player below."

Looks like a new hairstyle, too! :P

-Kate

skyen

I think I am right in saying: F*** YEAH!

Also, happy to "announce" that he's been working? Man, those guys are a bit behind the curve on that, ain't they?

chicazul

I'm pretty sure he's borrowing Roderick's glasses in that photo, too. (For anyone who doesn't know, Roderick has an extensive collection of retro spectacles.)

Bry

Nice find, @kate! Huh, different lyrics in the third line ("All of that flash and guile" -> "Everything flash and guile"). Sounds great with Roderick's vocals, too.

@chicazul, I was wondering where those came from.

chicazul

@Bry: I'm not 100%, but I'm pretty sure I've seen that exact pair on Roderick before. While Jonathan did not actually answer my question via Twitter, he also didn't say I was wrong.

skyen

You can really tell, though that there has been a bunch of not-Jonathans involved in the production of that piece, though. Especially the chorus the bridge sounds very... new. I think that is a very good thing - according to Flansburg, JoCo has really risen to a lot of challenges. This man keeps becoming awesomer.

inb4 "A Bunch of Not-Jonathans" is the name of my Jonathan Coulton cover-band.

Angelastic

I can't help laughing at that picture… he looks so serious and purple.

Serious and Purple is the name of Barney the Dinosaur's sex/drug education series and/or my cheap Chinese Blue Man Group counterfeit. Either that or Eggplant Mike. Ohh, I'm trying too hard. *sulk*

Great recording!

Bry

@Angelastic I can never remember which one is Serious and Purple [S] and which one is Serious and Purple [P].

Angelastic

@Bry I believe that's answered in the Serious and Purple FAQ: Serious is on the left, Purple is on the right.

Bry

@Angelastic Perfect, I'll orient myself accordingly.

Spektugalo

Always weird to hear a studio version after you got used to listening to a live version all the time
(especially with different vocals)

The picture looks a bit as if someone selected his hair in photoshop and resized it by around 66% and put it back on

skyen

Spektugalo >> I believe the muggles call that a "haircut"

Spektugalo

@skyen
lol!
I just thought because the density and length and everything, it looks somehow shrinked :P

Angelastic

Hehehe...

@chicazul: I asked John Roderick on facebook whether they were his glasses, and he said, 'Long, fun story, but the short answer is: no.'

M_pony

So far i've consciously been avoiding watching youtube clips of the new music, to try to keep that mystery and "freshness" of the new studio tracks as they get released.  I am pleased to report that the final effect has been achieved and the music is unspoilt: This New Track Is Awesome.

chicazul

@Angelastic: I am interested in hearing this long, fun story, especially if John Roderick is telling it. But if Jonathan wears those glasses in public I will once again accuse him of hipsterism.

Bry

@M_pony: I forgot to say before, but welcome back! How've you been?

On-topic: Various blog commenters (e.g.) like JoCo's lead vocals more than Roderick's. Not sure what I think yet; I'm so used to JoCo singing lead on this, and maybe the commenters partly prefer what they're familiar with too. But I really dig his backing vox here (and in general, I admit). I dunno, what do you guys think?

(Also interesting to hear the close backing harmony on a song about this particular topic.)

@skyen: can you elaborate on how the bridge sounds new? Not disputing, just curious

ETA: For my fellow obsessives, Wiki gives "Pretending you're a friend of me", but Roderick is clearly singing "...friend to me." Anyone care to check live performances? "Friend to me" sounds like better English -- better yet, "friend of mine", which doesn't rhyme.

EATA: why can I at-sign @M_pony but not @skyen?

M_pony

@Bry I've been busy(!) like starting a whole new career, working at it and ditching it entirely and starting training on a new one.  Someday Jon is going to write a song about someone who's better at college than he is at Real Life, and it will be about me.

In other news, now that I've finally allowed myself to watch YouTube clips of this song (and none of the others) I noticed that he's Changed The Words over time.  the first verse is totally different now.  The older lyrics had more of a several-years-ago feel to them, the newer ones seem more abstracty and cool.  Has anybody written up the old and new lyrics for this song?

and.. of course... Who's Doing Tabs These Days???   I bowed-out of that not long after Thing-a-week ended and when it became obvious that SuperDave (I spelled his name wrong I just know it) was much better at it than I was.  Of course, working on a new career and then trashing it to start training for a whole new one doesn't leave a man with much time to practice guitar. 

Oh well, I still have my Master's degree.

chicazul

Re: the Roderick vocal--I'm one of the minority who gives it an unqualified thumbs up, but that's probably because I had more time to prepare for it than most people. Roderick let me in on the "secret" back in January, and ever since I've been wondering what it would sound like. Had that not been the case, I'd probably be saying the same thing as everyone else: it's a new JoCo record, I want to hear Jonathan's voice.

The backing vocals quite intrigued me; since I was expecting Roderick's voice, at first I was confused to clearly hear Jonathan in the first few lines.

@Bry: I have always heard "friend to me" in the live lyrics. There's a half-complete transcription on my hard drive based on the first live recordings which contains that wording. I think "friend of me" on the wiki is a misidentification.

As an aside, here's the "long, fun story" about Jonathan's new sunglasses, in the words of John Roderick: "We spent a very fun day a couple of months ago in LA, marching into all these super-precious boutiques to try on frames, some of which were VERY expensive. It was a fact-finding mission. I think the ones he chose are very cool."

(I think what he means by that is I shouldn't call Jonathan a hipster. I honestly don't mean it as an insult, merely a style description--and I blame whoever split-toned that photo into Hipstamatic territory for making it such an obvious call.)

suuuupaadave

I've been working on the tabs for some of the new songs and now that I have a studio version, I'll probably get it out pretty soon.  All in all, I dig this song.  I obviously prefer JoCo's vocals, but I trust the man's judgement.  It's always a big creative risk to do something like this and I appreciate the fact that he took it and am largely pleased with the results.

villicious

I absolutely do not understand the "I want to hear Jonathan and not this other guy" responses either here or in other threads, especially considering how many of the songs in Thing a Week didn't feature Jonathan's voice at all.

Angelastic

Agreed (though I don't know whether those Thing a Week songs are as popular as the others.) I listen to Jonathan's music because I like the lyrics and the melodies as well as the voice. I mean I'm kind of glad it's John Roderick's voice and not John Flansburgh's, but I'm not terribly bothered that it isn't Jonathan Coulton's. I also like Ellen Mclain's versions of Still Alive and Want You Gone.

I suspect that people who saw Roderick on the cruise are a little more receptive to hearing him in this song, though.

MJPM

Trust me, while I am slightly critical of John's version, it is not because of the vocal quality. It just, I don't know, doesn't fit my previous experiences with the song. I don't hate it by any means and I thoroughly encourage Jonathan to continue to explore collaboration with other artists. I just don't think Nemeses fit that model. I would rather him have John perform Today With Your Wife, Dissolve, or the as-yet Untitled Song About Marriage, but not songs like Nemeses, Sucker Punch, or Good Morning Tucson.

However, this is all just my opinion, am I am sure others will differ on it. Regardless, I am satisfied with how it turned out and do not want to be the harbinger if "Nemeses Gate"!

Also, in case someone has a need to listen to the song on a portable device, there's a link to an MP3 of this version. I didn't upload it myself, so I can only remove this hyperlink if it is an issue.

chicazul

@villicious: I respond very strongly to the timbre of voices, so I understand those who are dissatisfied. I love Jonathan's voice, and I am far less interested in his songs that feature another vocalist. I think the frequency of complaints also stems from the fact that this is the first album track to be released. Most people would naturally assume a new Jonathan Coulton song would have Jonathan Coulton singing, especially if they haven't been following the live versions. I love Roderick's voice too, but had I not been expecting it (and not heard the live versions a million times) I probably would have been a little disappointed.

@MJPM: I am more attached to the way Jonathan sings each of the three songs you mention as potential collaborations than I was to Nemeses, so I will be disappointed if someone else sings them on the album. To each their own! (:

Artificial Heart (the song) actually has my favourite articulation of all, which I deeply hope is preserved in the album version. I'm perhaps strange about these things--I have a favourite moment in the vocals of the cruise performance of The Commander Thinks Aloud. Vocals are a big part of what I listen to in music, which is why instrumentals almost universally put me to sleep.

Angelastic

@MJPM commented on the blog 'John sometimes lacked emphasis on certain lyrics I had gotten used to you emphasizing in concert.' and I wasn't familiar enough with either version to be able to comment on that, so I just listened to them both together, and although I don't see what @MJPM means yet, I remembered something: I've always been reminded of John Roderick at the line 'well played'. It reminds me of a line from one of his songs, but I don't know which. (The closest I can find in my head right now is 'Saddam Shame' by Roy Zimmerman, but I'm sure there's a song where John Roderick sings something like that.) However, actually hearing John sing that line, he doesn't sing it quite the way I imagined him singing it. He spends longer on the 'played' than the 'well', or something. I'll have to figure out which song it reminds me of.

Edit: It's 'Scared Straight'. JoCo singing 'well played' reminds me of JoRo singing 'scared straight' from the song of the same name.

frithuswith

I was kind of unconvinced the first time I heard this (having just catapulted myself upstairs as hubby started playing it and I realised this was NEMESES BUT NOT THE ARTIFICIAL ARTIFICIAL HEART VERSION OMGS). But I now think it's fabulous. JR's voice (which I have loved ever since he opened his mouth on the cruise and I thought "where has this man been all my life?") has a fabulous lost angstyness which perfectly matches the quixoticism of the lyrics.

The problem is that now I love this version more than the live ones and I want to hear the rest of the finished album because I'm totally convinced it's going to be utterly awesome. September is a really long time away.....

@chicazul: I also have a favourite moment in the vocals of the cruise Commander Thinks Aloud. So you're not totally alone on that one :-)

skyen

@Bry Not being much of a musical scientist, I can't explain what I find different about the bridge beyond: it has a sound and a timbre that I don't think I've heard Jonathan use before - especially the vocal harmonies - and I'm pleased with it

Personally, I don't give half a damn who sings the song - be it Coulton or not, it's still HIS song, and I think that shines through entirely. Plus, doing something like this will help IMMENSELY in making the album sound varied and interesting.
One of my greatest gripes with mainstream music is that you can buy a new album and flick through it, and every single track will sound the same in passing. The Coulton doesn't roll that way, which is part of the reason why I love him.
(inb4 The Coulton Doesn't Roll That Way is the name of my Paul and Storm feat. Rick Springfield cover-band)

Angelastic

Tehehe… somebody called the song hipster in a blog comment:

"For me there is kind of a hipster lovey feel about the track overall…"

Somebody should make a supervillain suit that has teeth, and wear nothing underneath.

kate

Is this the new album cover?

http://www.theawl.com/2011/08/a-conversation-with-john-flansburgh-and-jonathan-coulton



-Kate

chicazul

It is, at the least, a very fun interview. Thanks for finding that, Kate!

That image doesn't look out of line for an album cover, though it's not precisely what I'd expect from Sam Potts. (This doesn't mean much--if I were capable of predicting what a graphic designer would come up with for a project like this, I'd probably be a graphic designer!)

kate

Thanks, @chicazul.  I am not sure either.  But, I just found it, here, too (the same place as @mjpm's download):

http://www.girlieaction.com/client.php?id=223

So, I guess it IS the cover art!

Angelastic

Hmm. Do you think it'd be okay to put it on the wiki, then, or should we assume it's under some kind of old-fashioned 'copyright' thing? I see there's also a high-res version of the Serious and Purple picture too. He actually looks slightly less serious close-up.

chicazul

@Angelastic: Since it's downloadable from a marketing site as press material, I would expect adding it to the wiki to be an acceptable use. Unfortunately, the web server doesn't seem to be configured to allow uploads just yet--I tried.

I never thought Serious and Purple was all that serious, but that's probably because I'm so tickled by the aesthetic and can't imagine anyone taking it more seriously than I do. I hope there will be more new press photos! I did note the new bio, which is probably the one Jonathan mentioned writing.

skyen

Dudes, if you'd like a Super Secret Download of the Nemeses-track from the Coulton himself, you'd do well to sign up to his mailing list posthaste.

kate

Already had it from that girlieaction link above....  Is this one different?

Angelastic

This one is better because it comes with a subscription to his shiny new mailing list!

kate

Good point!  But, honestly, was there ever a chance that I would NOT sign up for the new list?

Photo_Wolfe7

I'm so sad! I can't download the song because I can't buy the quicktime pro thingy..... *cries*

chicazul

@Photo_Wolfe7: The song is just an mp3; you don't need to buy anything to download it! (If you're trying to get it from the original link at Paste Magazine, just sign up for JoCo's mailing list and go to the cleverly disguised secret download spot.)

ETA: In other news, Len Peralta continues his tradition of illustrating JoCo songs with this lovely sketch of John and Jonathan.

Photo_Wolfe7

I did that.... Sadly it won't let me download it from that link.... I'll figure it out - I'm sure... Until then - I'll pout and hit the keys a little... le sigh...

Simalot

@Photo_Wolfe7: Did you try right-clicking the "Nemeses" link and selecting "Save link as" or whatever your browser has that is similar?

Photo_Wolfe7

Yup - it turns out that it's something wrong with my computer... I'm having the SO take a look at it later since he's the in home computer wiz

The Clinger

Digging the new release.  Can't wait for the rest of the album.

chicazul

@Angelastic: Apparently you're not the only one who thinks that "well played" line was stolen from a Long Winters song--JoCo himself says the same thing.

Angelastic

Hehe. Well, it's good to know I'm not imagining things. From the way the music geeks here talk about music, I just assume there are probably things about it that I don't even realise I don't hear (like my own accent in a foreign language which doesn't have the same allophones/phonemes), so the similarities I notice might not be valid.

Angelastic

It's kind of fun to imagine JoCo and JoRo (I can call him that when he's not looking, right?) are singing this song to each other, but even more fun to imagine P&S singing it to JoCo. (Although the 'you don't even know my name' would make more sense if it were JoCo singing it to JoRo for calling him Jon.)

Uisce Beatha

Okay, it took me a while to get around to listening to Nemeses, but I really like it.  I like John Roderick's vocals too.  There was one thing I kept noticing though, the chord progression sounds a little like Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division.  One of those things where once you notice it, you can't un-notice it.