Dance of the Clairvoyants

[JimX6]

I'm digging the shit out of this track! Absolutely not what I had envisioned and I'm real happy about it!

Some throwback Binaural style vocals.. and no more of those horrible breathy overly pronounced H's he's done in everything since 2010.

[blueviper]

I like it. It’s different for PJ and I think it’s a good song to get us ready for the new album.

[Jorge]

I prefer CDM to this

I don't believe you

eds less embarrassing in CDM

I'm not a big fan of "Dance of the Clairvoyants" but the way Ed sounds is one of the things I like about it

Come to think of it, I don't hate how he sounds in "Can't Deny Me" either. In both cases, it's the songwriting that falls short for me. But CDM is really really bad

I can't get through this without laughing at Ed. I didn't have that experience with CDM, when I would just feel sad for him instead.

Laughing is better than feeling sad

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Homeboyd]

I'm glad that I'm at an age where IDGAF about what anyone else thinks of the stuff I like. It makes reading the stuff I disagree with on here fun.

[McParadigm]

need some production specific criticism from trag and mcp and spenno here.

I have literally no criticisms -- I think it sounds amazing. It's the best sounding PJ track since Riot Act, and it really bring a level of atmospherics into play not heard since Binaural (NAIS and Of The Girl), but it's still its own thing.

I'm surprised to hear that's a live snare track; I had guessed based on the earlier snippets that it was a live kick and toms, but that the snare was sampled. But it's an incredibly easy sound to get with a live snare: dampen the thing so that there's no decay, then add some distortion/extremely heavy compression on your snare track.

Other things I love? How those tom hits fill out the space in the front of the mix, with the synth and layered vocals filling up the wider sides of the stereo field. Ed's voice is mixed at a comfortable level, not overtaking the track at all. Mike's guitar is sitting right in the pocket, and the shimmery acoustic guitar really makes the chorus feel lush.

But most importantly, and this is HUGE if it's continued throughout the album: Ed doesn't seem to be using a condenser mic anymore. I've always believed he was using a dynamic mic from Ten-Binaural, and then he switched over to a condenser mic on Riot Act...

They're very different vocal mics, with a condenser mic picking up WAY much more of the breath and air around a singer's voice. It's been such a confounding creative choice given how his voice was aging. By going back to a dynamic mic, we're not stuck hearing all every little breath he takes, and we can just focus on his lovely baritone. It's much more flattering on his current voice, and I hope it's applied through the entire album.

It's almost like Ed hasn't sounded awful on the last couple albums. Here he sounds incredible -- older, less limber in his larynx, and yeah, it's an obvious Byrne approach. But to my ears it fucking rules, and it's so great to hear a deep, layered, colorful mix built around a flattering capture of his voice, rather than the LB approach of "Everything's loud and up front, but nothing's louder or more up front than Ed!"

Yes to all

[evenslow]

need some production specific criticism from trag and mcp and spenno here.

I have literally no criticisms -- I think it sounds amazing. It's the best sounding PJ track since Riot Act, and it really bring a level of atmospherics into play not heard since Binaural (NAIS and Of The Girl), but it's still its own thing.

I'm surprised to hear that's a live snare track; I had guessed based on the earlier snippets that it was a live kick and toms, but that the snare was sampled. But it's an incredibly easy sound to get with a live snare: dampen the thing so that there's no decay, then add some distortion/extremely heavy compression on your snare track.

Other things I love? How those tom hits fill out the space in the front of the mix, with the synth and layered vocals filling up the wider sides of the stereo field. Ed's voice is mixed at a comfortable level, not overtaking the track at all. Mike's guitar is sitting right in the pocket, and the shimmery acoustic guitar really makes the chorus feel lush.

But most importantly, and this is HUGE if it's continued throughout the album: Ed doesn't seem to be using a condenser mic anymore. I've always believed he was using a dynamic mic from Ten-Binaural, and then he switched over to a condenser mic on Riot Act...

They're very different vocal mics, with a condenser mic picking up WAY much more of the breath and air around a singer's voice. It's been such a confounding creative choice given how his voice was aging. By going back to a dynamic mic, we're not stuck hearing all every little breath he takes, and we can just focus on his lovely baritone. It's much more flattering on his current voice, and I hope it's applied through the entire album.

It's almost like Ed hasn't sounded awful on the last couple albums. Here he sounds incredible -- older, less limber in his larynx, and yeah, it's an obvious Byrne approach. But to my ears it fucking rules, and it's so great to hear a deep, layered, colorful mix built around a flattering capture of his voice, rather than the LB approach of "Everything's loud and up front, but nothing's louder or more up front than Ed!"

this is why we pay you the big bucks.

[Buby]

Loving this shit... I wonder if the 7" edit is going to be any different.

[i got bugs]

Much better than the last couple singles.. I still gotta warm up to it but it's neat in the fact it's like nothing they've ever done before

[verb_to_trust]

Why were they threatening to sue

The ticketing system didn't favor them

Beirman ate their burgers

[Jaeti]

I love that we like this. I don't know how to stop listening and reading and go to bed like I ought to.

[Royalearth]

Loving the "Stand back when the spirit comes" part. This is a good song. They took a real chance on this and I think it worked.I'm excited for the album, and looking forward to hearing this one live.

I love that part too!

[evenslow]

Much better than the last couple singles.. I still gotta warm up to it but it's neat in the fact it's like nothing they've ever done before

it's clearly getting your pecs moving.

[tree_]

I prefer CDM to this

I don't believe you

eds less embarrassing in CDM

I'm not a big fan of "Dance of the Clairvoyants" but the way Ed sounds is one of the things I like about it

Come to think of it, I don't hate how he sounds in "Can't Deny Me" either. In both cases, it's the songwriting that falls short for me. But CDM is really really bad

I can't get through this without laughing at Ed. I didn't have that experience with CDM, when I would just feel sad for him instead.

Laughing is better than feeling sad

it's meant to be somber, earnest though. CDM succeeded more.

[evenslow]

I love that we like this. I don't know how to stop listening and reading and go to bed like I ought to.

seriously tomorrow morning's gonna suck. but not as much as it would suck if this song sucked.

[knee tunes]

dicks are growing

[Jorge]

it's meant to be somber, earnest though.

I'm not convinced it is, not entirely. There's for sure a bit of cheekiness to this song

[The Argonaut]

Yeah, this track is nothing if not playful

[Thejambi]

it's meant to be somber, earnest though. CDM succeeded more.

I'm not convinced it is, not entirely. There's for sure a bit of cheekiness to this song

Agreed.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now