If Camera Obscura's jump from Merge (and Elefant) to 4AD had you worried, or if you had a nagging suspicion that the switch was some kind of cynical career move and that they might change from being a small band with a knack for creating small moments of transcendent beauty and emotion to bland major-label-styled product (not that 4AD is any more "major label" than Merge in 2009, but they do seem more like big business somehow), well, you can relax now. The only thing that's changed is that the band appears to have hired fancier stylists for their photo shoots. My Maudlin Career is almost an exact copy of their previous album Let's Get Out of This Country from Jari Haapalainen's echo-ey, layered production to the mix of ballads and uptempo songs to the preponderance of strings and the unflinchingly honest lyrics. And of course, Tracyanne Campbell's beguiling vocals and the band's -- now down to a five-piece with the departure of trumpeter Nigel Baillie -- note-perfect performances. Both albums lead off with their hookiest song (in this case the extremely lovely "French Navy"), have moments of Motown-fueled joy ("Honey in the Sun") and quiet country rock ("Forest and Sands"), and excel at dramatic girl group-influenced ballads (the title track, "The Sweetest Thing"). Like the last album, too, Campbell's words are sad to the point of gloomy. This time out, though, she cranks the sadness to 11 as the record unfolds like a travelogue of sadness and disappointment, stopping for frozen rivers in Toronto, "half full moons in Mexico," kisses in Spain, California redwoods, and bus trips from Cleveland to Chicago as her relationship unravels. That Campbell had her heart broken is plain, and she isn't shy about giving out details and delving deep into the dark corners of her misery. It's quite brave and she makes it work by pairing the despair of the verses with easy-to-sing-along-with choruses. Also by writing lovely melodies that band and producer fully flesh out with a light and steady hand. Too many confessional writers seem to forget these vital elements, but she stays on top of it almost without fail. In fact, the only song that on the album that falls a little flat fails in that very regard; "Other Towns & Cities" is a meandering ballad that has unusual rhymes and vocal lines, but not much else going on musically. Still, one not amazing song doesn't make the album any less of a musical success or a less powerful emotional experience, because it truly is both. And if My Maudlin Career falls a tiny bit short of Let's Get Out of This Country, and it does, it's only because that album was so wonderful. Really, the group could go on remaking it for years to negligible complaints from their fans and very few diminishing returns.
Now in its third year, everything about the three-day music festival Indie Tracks is unique. For one its Midland Railway Centre location in England must make it the only festival with a level crossing in the middle and steam engines charging across the landscape. It's also so small scale that it makes it almost inevitable that you'll be sharing a beer with some of the bands at one point or ano...
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Camera Obscura’s show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on June 21 should have been phenomenal: a series of tight, precise readings drawing largely from the band’s last two – and strongest – albums.But sometimes, great songs just aren’t enough. There’s something to be said about what stage presence can mean to a show. Someone needs to tell Camera Obscura. The sextet’s lack of ener
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Sometimes for whatever I don’t end up listening to recommendations. I just didn’t pick up on any of the Camera Obscura recommendations by their “similarity” to Belle and Sebastian or even when Last.fm said I would like them.They were right though, perhaps I don’t like “recommended if you like” so and so artist as it [...]No related posts. Sorry.
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Since the release of My Maudlin Career in April, Camera Obscura has seen heavy rotation on my iPod. Not to say that I haven’t enjoyed their previous three releases (I have, immensely), but each album has produced a bigger and bigger sound. So I walked into the Showbox yearning to be blown back by their brassy, melodic crescendos - finally a band has satisfied my horn fix. Unfortunately Agent Ri.
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Should I be worried that some tortured souls make me happy? It's just a fact that there are some artists out there who have built their career on depressing music yet oftentimes, those very songs for some reason put me in my happy place. The Smiths, for example, are funny to me, but not depressing. The Cure makes me dance. To some people this is just weird. Thankfully, there are other artists t...
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The band's finest work, My Maudlin Career continues the pop rush we've come to expect from Camera Obscura but also develops the band's sound and identity in significant ways.
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Too late, Lloyd, they've been heartbroken now. The Glaswegian sextet's fourth album finds them if anything even more exquisitely melancholic than ever.
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Camera Obscura are a Glasgow band that, unlike other bands from the same area like Franz Ferdinand and Glasvegas, have not broken through into the mainstream. Instead, every album of indie pop they muster is adored by the critics and gathers a dedicated fanbase. Their fourth album, ‘My Maudlin Career’, is the first of their [...]
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Camera Obscura are an indie pop band from Glasgow, Scotland.The first thing that came to my mind - this has a Phil Spector retro vibe to the vocal. It pulled me in and I was not disappointed.From Amazon:'My Maudlin Career' is the fourth studio album from Scottish outfit Camera Obscura. Enlisting the help of producer JariHaapalainen (The Concretes, Ed Harcourt) who produced 2006's 'Let's Get Out...
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Here's the title track off the upcoming Camera Obscura album, due out April 1. Dreamy.
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The title of Camera Obscura’s third album My Maudlin Career hints at the lyrical themes and melancholic subject matter that have helped this Scottish band garner fans in their native Scotland and abroad. Ahead of their Dublin gig in Andrew’s Lane Theatre on the 30th of April and the Stiff Kitten…
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Scottish band Camera Obscura are best known for their whimsical, sentimental ballads of youthful heartbreak and longing. Their latest album, My Maudlin Career lives up to this reputation, but falls just short of expectations. Being all too similar to their previous album, Let's Get Out of This Country, it leaves fans craving the satisfaction of knowing the lyrics and being able to sing and groo...
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Going to see a band live can be a surprise and delight at the best of times. It’s what music fans live for. For Camera Obscura tonight, the biggest surprise was that the 800 or so capacity venue in Dublin was JAMMED for their show. Fully booked. State could only imagine what the view was…
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Should I be worried that some tortured souls make me happy? It's just a fact that there are some artists out there who have built their career on depressing music yet oftentimes, those very songs for some reason put me in my happy place. The Smiths, for example, are funny to me, but not depressing. The Cure makes me dance. To some people this is just weird. Thankfully, there are other artists t...
More >
Since the release of My Maudlin Career in April, Camera Obscura has seen heavy rotation on my iPod. Not to say that I haven’t enjoyed their previous three releases (I have, immensely), but each album has produced a bigger and bigger sound. So I walked into the Showbox yearning to be blown back by their brassy, melodic crescendos - finally a band has satisfied my horn fix. Unfortunately Agent Ri.
More >
Now in its third year, everything about the three-day music festival Indie Tracks is unique. For one its Midland Railway Centre location in England must make it the only festival with a level crossing in the middle and steam engines charging across the landscape. It's also so small scale that it makes it almost inevitable that you'll be sharing a beer with some of the bands at one point or ano...
More >
Listen to song.verdict: fun. cutesy 50's sock-hop pop.Wait 20 minutes, eat a bagel & repeat.verdict: the best damn thing I've heard all week!Truthfully, I haven't listened to the rest of the new album yet. I'm gonna say its all great based solely upon hearing this first single (and the fact that PF gave the album an 8.3 and awarded it best new music).There you have it. The album is called My Ma...
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Camera Obscura’s show at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on June 21 should have been phenomenal: a series of tight, precise readings drawing largely from the band’s last two – and strongest – albums.But sometimes, great songs just aren’t enough. There’s something to be said about what stage presence can mean to a show. Someone needs to tell Camera Obscura. The sextet’s lack of ener
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Camera Obscura, Teenage Fanclub and Emmy the Great head the line up at this year's Indie Tracks festival - which unusually is staged in and around a rural steam railway line in England.The festival is based on five stages at the unusual venue of the Midland Railway, Butterley, Derbyshire, and will feature Au Revoir Simone, Butcher Boy, The Manhatten Love Suicides and Help Stamp Out Loneliness....
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Sometimes for whatever I don’t end up listening to recommendations. I just didn’t pick up on any of the Camera Obscura recommendations by their “similarity” to Belle and Sebastian or even when Last.fm said I would like them.They were right though, perhaps I don’t like “recommended if you like” so and so artist as it [...]No related posts. Sorry.
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Glaswegian pop band Camera Obscura have announced the details for their new album "My Maudlin Career". The album will be released on April 21 via 4AD. 'French Navy' will be the first signle from the album and it will be released on April 13. The band recorded their fourth...Click the link to read more
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Camera Obscura have announced dates for a forthcoming tour of North America.The jaunt is set to kick off November 18 in New Orleans and will run though December.Among the dates announced are shows in Brooklyn, Toronto, and St. Louis.Camera Obscura Tour dates:11-18 New Orleans, LA - Tiptina’s11-19 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree11-20 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse11-21 Norfolk, VA - Attucks Theatre.
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Camera Obscura who have released the wonerful "My Maudlin Career" this year will be touring North America in support of it. The band will be coming this fall to the North American continent following a heavy touring in Europe. The band will be supported by San Francisco's...Click the link to read more
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 French Navy |
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| 2 The Sweetest Thing |
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| 3 You Told a Lie |
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| 4 Away with Murder |
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| 5 Swans |
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| 6 James |
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| 7 Careless Love |
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| 8 My Maudlin Career |
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| 9 Forests & Sands |
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| 10 Other Towns & Cities |
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| 11 Honey in the Sun |
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Click to purchase…
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 "My Maudlin Career")
