______ ________
______ \ / ' \ /
\ / \ / : \ /
\ / \/ . . ... .. ...:... . . \ /
_\/___________ _ ___________ _ __________ : \/ ______
____ / / /_____/_/ \_______/ / \ ' \ /
\ / / / / / \ \/ /____ : _ ______ \ /
\/ / / / / \ / / \ _________/ / \ \/
/ / / X / / \/ / \/ \ ____
/ / / / / / / / \/ / \ \ /
\_\_____/ / / / / / / / \ \/
sH!/ / / / / / / / / \
'17/ / / / / / / / / \
___ \_\_______\ /_____ _\______/ / / X
________ \ \ /_ __\_\_____/ / / / / /
\ / _ __ \_\________/ \ \ / /
\ / _ __\_\_______/ /
\ /__________ / / /____
\/ \ / _ ____\_\_____________/ \ /
\ / H O U N D \/
\ / : ________
\ / p r e s e n t s .. .:. ... \ /
\/ : \ /
, \ /
\/
Artist......: Nap Eyes
Album.......: Snapshot of a Beginner
Label.......: Royal Mountain Records
Genre.......: Indie
Catnr.......: RMR-122-2
Source......: CD
Rip.date....: 2020-07-22
Str.date....: 2020-03-27
Quality.....: 920 kbps avg / 44.1kHz / 2 channels
Url.........: http://napeyes.bandcamp.com
________ ________
\ / \ /
\ / \ /
\ / # title time \ /
\/ \/
1. So Tired 4:12
2. Primordial Soup 3:37
3. Even Though I Can't Read Your Mind 3:28
4. Mark Zuckerberg 2:45
5. Mystery Calling 5:03
6. Fool Thinking Ways 4:11
7. If You Were In Prison 2:17
8. Real Thoughts 7:44
9. Dark Link 3:30
10. When I Struck Out On My Own 3:57
11. Though I Wish I Could 4:51
______
\ / ________ Runtime 45:35
,\ /... . . .... .... \ / ' Size 316.04______
:\/ ', \ / , \ /
' '... ..\ /.. .. .....:. .. .... .. . ..\ /.
: Release Notes: \/ , \/ ,
' '
,: This oneÆs for the procrastinators and the slow learners. This :,
: oneÆs for the bungled and the botched, for the fumbled and :
:' humbled. This oneÆs for the late bloomers, and ultimately, ':
,: Snapshot of a Beginner is proof that sometimes, the late :,
: bloomers bloom brightest. :
:' ':
,: Eight years and four albums into it, the artistic arc of Nap :,
: Eyes finds itself tracing a line alongside frontman Nigel :
:' ChapmanÆs daily tai chi practice. Those first years and albums ':
,: are the cold mornings in the park: the measured movements, the :,
: joint aches, the self-doubt. With each new release, an :
:' incremental and invigorating step forward. And with the end of ':
,: each album and tour, a return to the beginner's practice. And :,
: now, Snapshot of a Beginner, Nap Eyes's boldest, most :
:' concentrated and most hi-fi album to date, a study of that ':
,: repeated return and all that it can teach you. :,
: :
:' ôThe fact that youÆll never reach some idealized goal of ':
,: self-mastery is exciting and a very good thing,ö said Chapman of :,
: both his musical and meditative endeavors. ôItÆs necessary to be :
:' patient and to accept whateverÆs happening now. Whatever you ':
,: understand today, there will always be much more to learn, and :,
: so thereÆs not much cause for either self-congratulation or :
:' self-negation. This is part of SuzukiÆs idea of the æbeginnerÆs ':
,: mindÆ [see: Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, BeginnerÆs Mind, 1970], :,
: that even after years of practice, a person should maintain an :
:' open-minded willingness to learn. For a true rank beginner, ':
,: this attitude also serves as a potent inoculation against overly :,
: harsh self-judgment.ö ThereÆs an immediately noticeable leap in :
:' arrangement and muscle on Snapshot..., one that still holds the ':
,: raw, nervous energy and the earnest, self-deprecating poetry :,
: that make Nap Eyes an enduring cult favorite. The music still :
:' brings to mind the bucolic ennui of the Silver Jews and Daniel ':
,: JohnstonÆs jittery na∩vetΘ. But the new sheen and maturity also :,
: now brings to mind the wide-angle appeal of The Jayhawks and the :
:' addictive brightness of Green DayÆs Kerplunk!. ':
,: :,
: Almost all the songs of Nap Eyes are whittled into their final :
:' form from ChapmanÆs unspooling, 20-minute voice-and-guitar ':
,: free-writing sessions. Each member ù drummer Seamus Dalton; :,
: bassist Josh Salter or guitarist Brad Loughead ù then plays a :
:' crucial role in song development, composing around the ':
,: idiosyncratic structures and directing the overall sound and :,
: feel of the songs. Until now, that final song construction and :
:' recording has been mostly done live in a room. But for Snapshot ':
,: of a Beginner, the band went to The NationalÆs neuvo-legendary :,
: upstate NY Long Pond Studio, working with producers Jonathan Low :
:' (Big Red Machine, The National) and James Elkington (Steve ':
,: Gunn, Joan Shelley), the latter of whom also did pre-production :,
: arrangement work with the band. And my friends, this last, new :
:' piece of the puzzle has made all the damn difference. Never has ':
,: Nap Eyes sounded more ferocious. ThereÆs an enormous, pummeling :,
: guitar moment in the back half of ôPrimordial Soupö that feels :
:' like the tide is about to sweep ChapmanÆs pondering philosopher ':
,: out into the deep. But then, there's the patient, new wave of :,
: ôMystery Calling,ö which may well be the thesis statement of the :
:' album, if not one of Nap Eyes' most nuanced, entrancing ':
,: compositions. :,
: :
:' And then thereÆs ôMark Zuckerberg,ö a hi-fi jangle-pop earworm ':
,: that, at its outset, sounds like it could be the theme song from :,
: Party of Five. Less a takedown of any one specific, capitalist :
:' tech fascist than it is a poem about the confounding and ':
,: beautiful swirl of modern life, it is their thoughtful, incisive :,
: Hit for The People. One minute youÆre watching FacebookÆs :
:' founder, pallid and grotesque, testify before Congress over ':
,: your morning coffee; the next, youÆve fallen into some :,
: conspiracy theory rabbit hole, clicking and liking away. Maybe :
:' your day wraps on a long walk through the city park, watching ':
,: teens bliss out with a jazz apple. And you see the matrix of all :,
: the meaning and meaninglessness in this Dance of Life. :
:' ôTranscendence is all around us,ö Chapman repeats, a freeing ':
,: incantation and a gift to us all as the coda slows and expands. :,
: It took Nap Eyes a long time and a long practice to reach this :
:' artistic zen, but one gets the feeling throughout Snapshot of a ':
,: Beginner that this balance is going to hold. :,
: :
:' ':
: '
'.. ..'
.. . :........... . . . . ............: . .
______________ ______________
\ / \ /
\ / Shout out to all our homies from: \ /
\ / \ /
\ / iPC BOSS HiT2000 1way UKi i8 RNS \ /
\ / RAGEMP3 MANDY DV8 pLAN9 BUTT \ /
\ / \ /
\/ ____ ____ \/
\ / H O U N D \ /
\/ 2 0 2 0 \/