The Loop : Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)

There are a few albums, for one reason or another, that I just set out to hate. Not necessarily all the time outwardly, but mostly when it comes up over and over in conversation, I tiptoe around the fact that "well, I dunno, I don't get it, really."

This is one such album. Very often when it comes to these albums I hate, I usually only listen to part of a song and pass judgment then. This album was in every corner of the internet and followed me most of the summer in some capacity or another (like that time I was asked if I wanted an extra ticket to see them, but I opted out. Way to go, Ashley) I heard a few people I respected here and there mention how much they loved the album so I went ahead and bought it, but then it sat on my iTunes forever, barely coming up on shuffle, let alone being purposely put on.

It wasn't until one of my coworkers called me one day and said "dude, have you seen the Fleet Foxes La Blogotheque session?" At that point, I didn't know what La Blogotheque was (but now I'm obsessed. Video below) so I said no. He told me "dude, just fast forward to 3:30, I don't really like this band, but it's really awesome." I watched through the video once, skipping through their acapella version of "Sun Giant" and to 3:30ish.

The band piles into a big empty cement room in Paris, with singer Robin staring around, seemingly oblivious to the room full of cameras and people. The band stands in a circle in the middle and starts the song, where Robin clearly turns back on and into the music. The cameras slowly makes it's way to Robin and to the other members of the band. After the "I love you, oh brother of mine" the band chimes in with a very circular string of instrumentation. Around the time he sings "in the quivering forest, "the cameras start circling around the band in this incredibly powerful way. It puts faces to the many instruments involved in the song, but wraps together everything seamlessly just like it is on the record.

And at that point, I totally got it.

I sat with the record A LOT after that, trying not to exhaust myself with how much would be going on in any given song. There are few bands that incite that feeling for me, who has a more limited knowledge of how a song is pieced together. They feel as concentrated as Robin looked when walking into that cement room, with a synergy that is so necessary to pull off such intricate music night after night. The tone was something that felt very signature Sub Pop (although not recorded with them), sort of washed down but bright and airy, yet clearly well produced. Robin's voice is effortless (as seen in the video) almost disarmingly so. They, like other bands such as The Decemberists and Band of Annuals, feel completely timeless. Songs like "White Winter Hymnal" are mind-numbingly brilliant, so much so that it makes me sad that most bands can't write to that same caliber.

Anytime I mentioned this band to anyone moving forward, I showed them this video. Obviously, there is no better way to end this. I put videos on all these posts, but you HAVE to watch this, starting at 3:30. Thank me later.