this is incredible and i will be returning to it OFTEN, but also Grouper has been my most listened to artist for 3 years running so this is really up my alley
must've been an unofficial upload. unless she's changed her stance on Bandcamp, i think the only things she's ever uploaded are a couple of demo compilations and the initial releases of Golden Age and Inbred (via Homie Shit Magazine in order to sell CD and cassette copies, which have been long out of print).
meta-narratives about fame aside, it is SO COOL that Ethel Cain is introducing drone and ambient music to so many people. as a comparison point, I checked out the last Godspeed! record from October, and Ethel's new album has almost as many streams in three days.
I'm trying to find the time when I can listen to this at least in it's majority if not entirety. I had initially written it off based on the reviews but the thread has me interested.
thought this was a great album. will check out Preacher's Daughter at some point but think I'll be sad to lose the ambience if it doesn't have that
It's certainly not a focal point and there are not entire lengthy songs dedicated to it, but it's there for sure. PD is much more linear in nature and centers more around it's narrative and it's devastating in the best way
I love this album a lot. Just been listening with my nice headphones and marveling at everything I can hear. Thank god for Ethel Cain.
This is such a polarizing listen, because I know exactly what Ethel was aiming for… but I think it self indulges maybe 40 minutes more than necessary. But I also didn’t hate it (except maybe the back half of Pulldrone).
I enjoy a long ambient album. It’s not unusual for this genre for albums to clock in over an hour. She didn’t hold back on the immersive sprawl and I say good for her.
I have had a listen. I do actually like some forms of ambient music and I don’t mind really long albums. I can’t say I’ve been that familiar with drone though and I found the drone tracks lacking the ability to retain my attention or move me emotionally. I think this release actually reinforces why I think Ethel Cain is incredible and that is due to the voice. When there is singing on this it is haunting and beautiful. Even the long, drawn out drone bits could be enhanced by those vocals, even if as sporadic as the distorted spoken voices. It just doesn’t do much for me - I’ll give it a few more listens to see if my ears can find it more palatable. I want to give it a chance.
Added to the ongoing list of things conservatives are afraid of and call a boycott for while they continue to cry foul over "cancel culture": Ethel Cain
Call me old fashioned, but I’m kind of not sure about a person killing anyone, no matter how heinous they are. Like, I get the Ethel Cain argument and completely despair about so many aspects of this world… but it still doesn’t sit well with me taking anyone’s life.
It's so strange watching U.S News as a Brit - you can tell that anybody in any sort of elevated position suckles at the wonderful teat of capitalism, and is horrified when somebody challenges that ideal. I suppose that's why the idea of nationalising the healthcare system over there was so terrifyingly horrific.