Customer Reviews

Your Blues

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK, I'm a superfan. That said, when I first heard songs on this album, I was disappointed, I was thinking this was going to be "This Night" part II, fantastic at points, but as a whole left wanting. After I finally got the entire album and gave it a few spins, I have to say that I was wrong with my initial judgment. This album is just too much to get in a single listen, in that way it is more like "Streethawk: A Seduction". I started out with a couple of songs that were accessible. "Its Gonna Take an Airplane", with a sing song melody, synth flute, and hushed vocals found it's way inside my head almost instantly. The song "Your Blues" contains a signature coda, with the repeated plea "Lord know's I've been trying" over a background of synth, muted Coronet, and delayed piano, again it's infectious. After I had tackled the accessible ones, other more obtuse songs started to rise up and force me to take notice. "Notorious Lightning" is a standout, posing scenes of young players and their frivolities, with the music building to an anthemic shout of "and someone has to fall, before someone goes free!", possibly freed from the bonds of their immaturity. In many ways it reminds me of Streethawk's absolutely brilliant "The Bad Arts", except Bejar now realizes there is no need for an actual explosion. The instrumentation of the album is limited to synths and a nylon stringed guitar, which at times give the album a feeling that it came from 1984 not 2004, "Certain Things You Ought to Know" could have replaced The Dream Academy's version of "Please Please Please" on the Ferris Bueller's soundtrack. Once again Bejar lyrically drops props to the giants upon whose shoulders he stands, in this one we get from my untrained ears... Fleetwood Mac, The Smiths, and possibly Elvis Presley by way of the Pet Shop Boys, and Willie Nelson.

Dan Bejar never ceases to [expletive] me. The man is mad, and I love it. He is to music what Charlie Kaufman is to film, yet I love his original stamps of work and find them oddly close to my heart. The lyrics bite you on the lips after enticing you to kiss them. Bejar's voice, clear as a one-sided mirror. Destroyer at its catchiest and most eccentric best, the album is refreshingly clean in sound, yet more romantic and hollow-haunting than "This Night" and "Streethawk: A Seduction."

The more there's not to get, the more you're magnetically drawn into Bejar's black holes. Just let it flow or let it go. This music is like nothing else, beyond organic. Without being pretentious, Destroyer sends out signals, bleeps from aliens, that life out there is more nirvanic than what exists here.

So far, I've only listened to it 3 times, but I love it. This one's a keeper.

....and the masterpiece of Destroyer arrives. This album puts the bits and pieces that were spit out in Streethawks and This Night and arranges them into the language of beauty. The music is more involved and more intense. For fans of the raw music consisting of only acoustic and the magical vocals of Bejar ....be prepared, you're in for a sick ride. This music is developed to the fullest to arrive at the brink of perfection. It's filled with beautiful melancholy as well the adventures your life has never felt before. This is a must have. Enjoy!

I've become a huge Destroyer fan within the past 3 months. Bought Your Blues first and I put it in the stereo and thought nothing of it. I could'nt look past Bejars strange voice. Once 'Don't Become the Thing You Hated' came on I was hooked. Good message. Then onto 'Mad Foxes'. Whoa! His lyrics are genius, but I've come to realize most of them make absolutely no sense. Nice formula. Since I understand Destroyer a little more and I've heard much more, Dan Bejar has become one of my musical heroes. He's good with tNP as well. 'Ballad Of a Comeback Kid' gives me chills. His music in general gives good vibes to all who I've let listen. Your Blues is most definately one of a kind.

Really good album. He incorporates orchestra synth sounds alot which makes this album very dynamic, so get out your nice headphones or play this sucker through your audio/home theater setup so you can hear it all. You won't hear any up-beat rocking stuff here, but this album certainly won't put you to sleep (like parts of "This Night" did for me, natch).

If you're a Destroyer fan, you know that you never know what to expect...always a surprise, and this album is no different.

**Warning to any New Pornographers fans....get this album if you want to hear something interesting/different/awesome, but don't get it if you want to hear songs like Bejar contributes to tNP. Same genius. Different direction.

I can't remember where it was that I heard about this record, but since then, I have come to own every other Destroyer album, even the ones no longer available. While there are great songs on every album, Bejar really hits stride on Your Blues. I grew up in the 80's with bands like OMD, Pet Shop Boys, Echo & the Bunneyman, Dream Academy etc..., so this praise may rest in my ongoing quest to return to the summer days of my youth, where keyboards orchestrated every note and syllable that flowed from my radio or walkman. For Bejar, comparisons to Bowie are always going to be made, but I really don't find this as such a bad thing. Indie bombastic, tiny operas trapped inside pop songs, warm fuzzys...I really don't know how to describe the way this album makes me feel other than it does remind me of the warm Summer days of 1988 when I was experiencing my first girlfriend. It reminds me of the smell of Summer grass in the thick afternoon heat, as I rode my bicycle over to her house. It reminds me of the anticipation of the kiss I would receive before I left (I wasn't quite old enough to really want to experience anything else). The music on this album is the soundtrack to the time between your first kiss and the loss of innocence that it would soon bring. This is that time between, when you did not yet realize that your innocence was ending. "There are Certain Things You Ought to Know"; one of them is that this is beautiful music.

Take pulsing synths, fairytale-like strings, strumming guitars, percussion coming and going with the passing tide, and of course, Daniel Bejar's clever, scattered lyrics and frenzied delivery- Daniel Johnston-esque at times- and you have a first class show.

I use this term "show/performance" in the literal sense. This album really feels like you're at the theater watching a wonderful production of a play in the setting of your choice- mine involves red and orange hues, balloons, trees, knives and blood at times (but maybe I'm just insane, or trying to say the moods vary from happy to sad and in between).

Anyway, both the music and vocal delivery are reminiscent of a theatrical presentation or recital, with Bejar as the narrator of this wild, magical, heartfelt, yet bizarre affair. Not only is the music extremely entertaining (enchanting even), but Bejar's lyrics paint vivid imagery- even if the words seem cryptic at times. His delivery is a unique style- a kind of sing-talk thing and he does an excellent job of reflecting attitude and mood vocally. There are also many catchy lines here that will have you humming all over town.

This is a "track after track" release- no need for the skip button here. So if you're up for a compelling tale and an invigorating presentation- have a seat.

I was hanging out in the local coffee shop the other day when this album was playing. I found myself fascinated by the unique style of the music and the absolutely crazy lyrics. I ordered this album a few days later and I'm totally obsessed with it! I've since ordered Destroyer's Rubies and This Night and they're pretty good too - but they don't seem to flow as smoothly as this album does. It's the best introduction to Destroyer in my opinion.

Only song that I don't really care for on this album is the Fox and the Hound. Other than that - wow. Personal favorites are Actors revenge, The Music Lovers and Certain Things you ought to know.

For me, this is THE defining Indie group.

This record is a little different than other destroyer releases. It's based mostly upon synthesized music, so there is tons of cheesy midi to be had. Not that that is bad. The tunes are catchy and the hooks prolific. That combined with the fabulous but impenetrable lyrics gets five stars from me. If you haven't heard destroyer yet, I highly recommend taking a chance on this artist. It's quite possible he will become one of your favorites, like he did with me.

Destroyer's Rubies got a lot of attention in 2006, and deservedly so, but I found it somewhat inconsistent: the last few songs on that album were just missing the magic of the first part. But that same kind of magic fills every track on this earlier record.

Your Blues is filled with wonderful bits of melody, great singing, and fantastic lyrics (hey, it's Destroyer - what did you expect?), but the aspect of this music that continually impresses me is the instrumentation. The use of midi-sounding horns and keyboards creates a sad and moving kind of 80s nostalgia. Highlights include The Music Lovers and the title track. Highly recommended