Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas

[edison]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/01/leonard-cohens-going-home-new-song.html

I am admittedly not in the best emotional state right now, but I listened to this this morning and I cried for five minutes. I'll be making a trip to Germany to buy the record on the 27th, that's for sure.

[Chet]

I liked that.

[alex]

Apparently my copy has just shipped. I'm excited, but also impatient, and find myself unable to resist the temptation of giving it an advance listen on luisterpaal.

[edison]

I have resisted so far! Going to pick up a copy at the record store in Kehl first thing tomorrow morning, though.

[alex]

That is commendable. I can't promise that you won't regret not listening to it earlier, but at least I'm pretty confident that you wouldn't regret the trip to the record store.

[edison]

I guess I, erm, kind of took a sneak listen to "Different Sides" once or twice this week. But I still have six songs to discover!

[mountmccabe]

We tried to listen via the NPR first look stream but it wouldn't last much more than a song or so.

I liked what I heard and will have to look into buying it!

[edison]

So the guy at the record store in Kehl (which, to be fair, seems more schlager-oriented) was slightly exasperated that I asked if he had the Leonard Cohen record and said he only had three copies reserved for his customers, and that I should come back next week. "Everyone's going Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen and I have no idea why". I left feeling kind of miffed that my German is no longer good enough to get into an argument about that sort of thing, and had more luck at Media Markt in Offenburg (though the Old Ideas stack was hard to find and a for a while I thought I'd come back home empty-handed).

Oh, and I was very impressed by my first listen. Only "Amen" seemed to drag on a bit too long.

[Brian Doherty]

I heard what i think was a track from this on the radio in LA...and....it sounded like he was using a warm, organic, drums and organ sound....not the pure synthy electronicness of most of his last, oh, 4-5 records....is it so?? I hope so. I'm one of those evil crumbs who wanted to hold him back to some slight variation of his "classic" 60s-70s sound.....as much as I love so many songs on things from 84 on, I just kept wishing he hadn't gotten so stuck in a weirdly sterile vision of what "modern records" should sound like.

[alex]

Why aren't we talking about this album?

I haven't had as much opportunity to listen to it as much as I would like, but I'm really very enthusiastic about this album. "Amen" is not going to make it onto my list of favourite Cohen songs any time soon, I don't think, but just about everything else seems like a possible contender. "Different Sides" is probably my favourite so far, though.

[fishjim]

Got it yesterday and loving it so far - haven't had a chance to get more than halfway thru, though.

I agree, "Amen" does drag on, but I loved the verses (chorus, not so much).

E.g., these lines.

Tell me again
When the filth of the butcher
Is washed in the blood of the Lamb

Tell me again
When the rest of the culture
Has passed through the eye of the cam

[edison]

I don't think anything here is going in my personal Leonard Cohen pantheon (though "Going Home" and "Different Sides" are not too far) and to my mind the record as a whole falls short of such achievements as I'm Your Man, Songs Of Love and Hate or The Future, but still, this is such a consistently excellent, thoroughly satisfying album indeed!

I actually grew to like "Amen" after a few listens, but I'd still say it's probably one or two minutes too long and still my least favorite on the record. The backing vocals on "Different Sides" are a fantastic touch. I also have a soft spot for "Come Healing". The singing is astoundingly great throughout.

Also, I read an interview of his in the airport the other day, and someone asked him whether he followed hip-hop a little bit, and he just replied, in that inimitable Leonard Cohen tone, "I got 99 problems/But a bitch ain't one".

[fishjim]

You know what would make "Amen" a lot better? A cover by Tom Waits circa Bone Machine.

[alex]

Maybe I was too hyperbolic above. I didn't seriously suggest that everything on the album would be listed among my very favourite Cohen songs, only that there are a few of which I wouldn't rule it out after the first one or two dozen listens. I do think it's his most consistent album since The Future, possibly even I'm Your Man.

[fishjim]

So I shelled out for the March 2012 MOJO to get the CD compilation The Songs of Leonard Cohen Covered, which I'm listening to now. It's really pretty great, and has 5 extra songs I don't think you can hear online. Gandalfs mysteriously missing. Happy to upload it to mediafire if anyone's interested.

Tracklist here:

http://www.willardswormholes.com/?p=8903

[mountmccabe]

North American tour dates. Presales and onsales start next week or so.

October 31 Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall
November 3 Denver, CO 1st Bank Center
November 5 Los Angeles, CA Nokia Theatre
November 7 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion
November 9 Seattle, WA Key Arena
November 11 Portland, OR Rose Garden
November 12 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
November 16 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
November 18 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
November 20 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre
November 23 Chicago, IL Akoo Theatre
November 26 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
November 28 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
December 2 Quebec City, QC Colisee Pepsi
December 4 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
December 7 Ottawa, ON Scotiabank Place
December 11 London, ON John Labatt Centre
December 13 Kingston, ON K-Rock Centre
December 15 Boston, MA The Wang Theatre
December 18 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
December 20 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center

[edison]

If ticket prices are anything like in Europe, though, if you really, really want to go, be ready to have to save up...

[jebreject]

I can't decide whether it's important to see him again. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's one of my favorite artists of all time, and when I saw him last, it was one of the most magical experiences of my life. I can't quite explain it, but I guess I worry that seeing him again would somehow change that. Or something? I dunno.

[edison]

The good thing about the ticket pricing this time around is that it took care of that decision for me! But yeah, I understand your feelings...

[mountmccabe]

Last time I saw him was more fraught than magical, though it was a great (but short) setlist. Got tickets for the Madison Square Garden show.

[ellaguru]

I'm not going to see him again, but I do recommend him to anyone who hasn't been yet.

[edison]

I do as well, to be clear! The one thing that really bugged me during the show I attended (in July 2008) was that he thanked the musicians so often (during and between the songs, giving them cues for soloing, etc.) that it became quite disruptive, but I'm told he stopped doing that so much later - and apart from that it was wonderful. I'd certainly like to see him do the new songs, too.