Why listen to the Lemon Twigs? "A Dream Is All We Know" analysis

[@aegisfate117]

One of the most interesting quotes I can think of about suffering and art is something along the lines of "more musical projects and art projects were never finished or never completed because of suffering thsn musical projects or art projects that were created because of suffering"

[@macsaviour]

Gave this album a listen and honestly fell in love with it, took a couple listens first but I like it a lot now. Church Bells & How can I love her more are standouts for me. Love the production and the whole feel of the album, I've been down for a couple weeks and it makes a change from the typical music I listen to. Preciate you prof. aava

[@27remdog27]

AVAA, I called this the opposite of the beef because of the joy you mentioned and the complete lack of conflict. The live setting also factored in because when I saw them live it was all cheers and kids with their parents. I got home from the concert and saw footage from people booing drake when played in the club after Kendrick. I guess it was just whiplash or something .

[@PabloHernandez-rr1or]

AVAA, the prof is dripped out fr fr

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

AVAA, I am now very intrigued by this album and am going to check it out! Any album that evokes 'joy' sounds like something I would like these days

[@ECCOTURK]

There's something so official about this new one. Got to know the Twigs' discography after your Everything Harmony video and heck yeah they're all solid listens but this one is special. So excited to catch the vid when it drops!!!

[@Man_of_Oil]

AVAA your explanations at the beginning put into words what I've been trying to tell detractors about this band for a while. I think I prefer this to Everything Harmony just because its so joyous and just makes me so happy when I listen to it!

[@cinemaocd1752]

I feel like all critics should have to have at least tried to do the thing they are criticizing you know. It's very refreshing to hear from someone who was in bands and can play an instrument, actually speaking on things because a great deal of music criticism comes from people who have just maximized the quick retort, the punchy copy. Not saying that doesn't have value, but it's often at the expense of people who don't deserve to be punching bags.

[@evanalexander7706]

AVAA! Joy is such an important part of this album and is why it'll probably end up as one of my most listened to this year. Just so pleasant and stellarly made. Church Bells has a sound that I love, the guitar is just so sweet.

[@FakieeFN]

Massive inspiration for me making this summer really count! (its cold where i live)

[@xboden1608]

avaa - disowning someone for liking friends is completely valid. don't worry prof.

[@stealthbastard8837]

Album of the year, amazing from beginning to end. Also the b side is awesome. Also I love Rock on, great closure for the album.

[@fivesilvercoins]

get that 100k plaque, prof!

[@professorskye]

I'm hoping for it. Going to put it on a chain when I get it. :)

[@Lucas-hz8ts]

AAVA! I had never heard about The Lemon Twigs before but I really connected to this album for how light it feels. will definetely be cheking out their work! besides the point, but I thought I'd reccomend an album to you. There's this grest argentinian artist called Dillom who just released his new record "Por Cesarea". It's an indie rock masterpiece that's just as agressive as it is soft, I think you'd love it. love from Argentina 🇦🇷🫶

[@javiterrazas9825]

I hope you get to 100k soon

[@hippydippy]

Your intro to why you should listen to The Twigs was spot on. I've been listening to them for years. The last 2 have been my favorites so far, but I also really enjoy their very early release "What we know" from 2015 when they were very young & just trying things out in their make shift studio. Also just watched a recent live concert of them from Paris that is amazing! You should check it out. The mix is top notch too.

[@etamommy]

AVAA - I agree that it is not so easy to do well - imitate the great bands of the 60's like Beatles, Beach Boys, Kinks, Simon and Garfunkel. I mean Dukes of Stratosphere did it pretty seamlessly to the point that I enjoyed the parodies better than the originals if truth be told and XTC the real band also have some songs which to my ears also better the original artifacts (say The Man Who Sailed Around his Soul for example for James Bond soundtrack pastiche). Love XTC and Dukes of Stratosphere for that reason. They bettered their sources, dude. And that is not easy!!! Lemon Twigs albums (this one and its predecessor Harmony) I now have only discovered in the last couple days but pretty much every song on both of these albums are noteworthy successes I think. (I will go ahead and exclude Every Day is my worst day as it is awful I think and maybe I will hit another clunker or two upon further listening). I'll just use an example of Peppermint Roses...just freakin' fantastic and revives mid-period Kinks at a time when dang we all need that! Or I DO!!!! Thanks for the review professor!

[@NiNEoNiNEDotDev]

didn't even know there was a new twigs record, let's gooo!

[@theolliedog]

I really enjoyed your review and cultural references. I'm sort of new to The Lemon Twigs after coming across one of their first videos 7 years ago and good-naturedly dismissing it as, "What the hell is this? But I've really come around. This new album is probably my favorite album of theirs. It's so accessible without compromising their core sound which is an amazing amalgamation of the best bands of the 60s and 70s. Great stuff!

[@jennydeaf9O9]

26:03 we forgot to tell him the twigs duo Brian & Michael were named after da beach boys...

[@jennydeaf9O9]

everything harmony is a loose collection of ballads, most of which cannot compare to what's on this record. skye agreed with the voices that the lemon twigs are /less/ than they were last year in an artistic sense and i'm just frustrated with it, backhanded tangent ≠ music analysis. they aren't "throwin' it back" this is culture they are people this is what they sound like and you dismiss their integrity for where they come from and yet hold other cultures of the new world in such high regard.

[@Quarter_Notes]

AVAA! I also noticed a strong Beatles revolver-era influence in this album.

[@drbobinski1]

Hey Prof, agree that Everything Harmony can't be topped. But the Twigs were interviewed and stated that they needed more "pop" material for live shows. Everything Harmony needs to be played with an orchestra so they went with this style to make people dance. We are in for quite a ride assuming these brothers stay driven. I am seeing them at a really cool tiny venue in November. Can't wait.

[@rhuzain]

AVAA. i live in malaysia and i LOVE Everything Harmony. i tried to share with my friends here about this album but they looked at me weird and they think that i am weird af and now i am lonely. still a banger album tho. their new album is aight. you are such a great reviewer btw 🙏 i also inconsistently make music too. please check them out and let me know if its a banger or not 🙏🥺🥺🥺

[@indieguy81]

They are very open and honest about their influences. It's obvious they have a great reverence for bands like the Beatles, Beach Boys, Big Star, Rundgren, etc. The thing that makes them good is the fact that they write good songs. Like, really really good songs. Especially on their last two albums. And if you can do that then playing the "spot the influence" game is pretty much useless. A great song supersedes all. I think these guys are only going to get better as the years go on, and their live band is hot! All of them are multi-instrumentalists and they can all sing. That's super rare these days. The Lemon Twigs are the real deal.

[@prestopasta_]

“Praising it with faint damnation” is just how Shakespeare would have described a backhanded compliment

[@bobfresh473]

Very dripped out

[@pkreillly]

This album is lighter and fluffier than everything harmony but if you listen song by song this is actually the better album, more consistent. Many of the songs that seem straightforward sunshine pop are actually quite complex musically, unusual chord progressions, wandering tonal centers etc (try to tell me what the heck they are doing on they dont know how to fall in place). This album is too new to relegate it to mix tape status and I think time will show it to be the masterpiece. And having seen them a week ago I can tell you the songs work great live as well. Peter

[@MrDobalinaMistaBobDobalina]

The 17 month old singing along is the best review of this album there is ❤ shout out Danny D’Addario that kids awesome!

[@A5ids]

You're selling some of these songs a bit short. This one takes me to places the last did not and it has better production--though preference of the last is fair! its great.

[@jennydeaf9O9]

my house, garage, and RV are all full of music. cassettes, vinyl, CDs. from all sorts of cultures and decades. The Lemon Twigs' new album has become my most favorite album of all time. every track is so full and expressive, its all perfection to my ears. can't believe skye didn't like it. their style and musicianship is a culture of music that's written off as retroist and insincere. they are no less valid and no less genuine than something sacred like a hindu raga music concert. people roll their eyes at the LT's callbacks to brian or da beatles, but how is that any less respectable than bob dylan's "song to woody." its style, its genre, its culture. they're human beings and this is what they sound like.

[@matthewbrown7572]

I agree with every point you've made about the validity of what the Twigs are doing, it's just that the songs didn't catch me, move me or stick with me that last album. I'm curious as to why. By all measures, it should. It's based on everything I love in the music I grew up with. I'm going to listen to this new album and figure that out.I appreciate your love and support of art and music.

[@professorskye]

Let me know when you figure it out, I’d be curious what you find out.

[@matthewbrown7572]

@@professorskye A couple of thoughts after listening to this new album, first, they seem to have doubled down on the pop side of their sound. Much more Beach Boys, and even Monkeys influences, which can be a little bubble gummy and off putting. Second, I think I can understand how young listeners could really be excited about them. They're hearing this sound maybe for the first time and it sounds new and fresh, and unlike a lot of contemporary sounds they're used to, which speaks to the idea that a great sound is a great sound and has room to grow and expand.I think I'm not crazy about them because I don't hear them expanding on the vocabulary of their influences.Someone like Kevin Parker, of Tame Impala on the other hand, takes similar influences and builds on them. On the other hand , it's nice that a new audience is discovering this sound and perhaps will dig into the groups this springs from.

[@wardpaine8194]

Avaa. Nice suit

[@MarcioSilva-ssiillvvaa]

I have just seen an interview with them, and had the exact same thought, "do you think it's easy to make it THIS GOOD?" Give it a try yourself.

[@eazy-j1d]

I would appreciate your thoughts on What do you feel the music biz expects from an artist? What do YOU expect from the music biz? How do you fit music into your life? Just a few questions to know you better. I asked these same questions to my music business professor. His answers were to look at old stories about heroes and villains from medieval times and to find what good/bad qualities you can find in modern from the past then simply adopt the traits you like and abolish the bad ones. Could also do this with different eras of stories but medieval times culture resonates heavy worldwide maybe not in Asia but everywhere else yea

[@BoboMusicalHobo]

nice jacket, prof

[@readynreadin]

Can you please review mckinley dixxons last 2 albums, for my momma and anyone who looks like her, and beloved paradise jazz aava

[@readynreadin]

I think you would really enjoy it

[@snailcage]

Are you familiar with Deleuze & Guattari at all? I see the Foucault book you always have in the background and was curious. I always thought it would be interesting to see somebody use schizoanalysis or critique through a D&G lens on somebody like MF DOOM or Kool Keith or Jam Baxter or somebody like that. Even something using Foucault to talk about themes in hip hop would be cool. I think you’re uniquely positioned to do so as a French professor that also teaches hip hop.

[@dastupidquestionz9073]

AVAA! Nice drip. So is Afroman rap? He can sing like Prof, or east 1999 bone thugs n harmony, but is he rap? And Afroman also got raid and made a song for the cops to pay for his door, and about two weeks ago repurposed a song and called it "hunter got high." #20 trending. What has Afroman been up to since "because I got high"? I think it would be a fun video for you to make and for us watch. I think it also explains why the Kendrick and Drake beef blew up, in my opinion. Thanks for your time. 😁

[@dastupidquestionz9073]

He is rap, I'm just dumb.

[@iiceewater1860]

AVAA Hey professor.. I know I’m late but may we PLEASE have a video of your opinion on the album ‘Alone at Prom’ by Tory Lanez .. I was put in a time machine to the 80s with pure perfection thought you might enjoy

[@Khaldunii]

Love & Service by Brother Ali, please!

[@dbsalas]

All music is repetitive and goes in circles, once you accept that, you can go back to enjoying music again. To me, very few music genres (mainly in rock) were innovated past the 90s. By the 2000’s everything coming out had similarities to the past and were throwback, nothing breaking new ground, not that there anything wrong with that. Even in the early 80s with no-wave music was literally deconstructed and was just literal noise, rock n roll was repetitive even then. Just accept the circle coming around and enjoy the sounds even if they are familiar; so many songs go from D to G to A minor because there are a limits to how many variations you can move around a guitar, but take a step back from your pretentious argument and enjoy the song for what it it is.

[@JalenZachhM]

AVAA!!!

[@Lat3xE4teR]

I found your channel a few months ago when I discovered Ants From Up There by BCNR- I fear you might be one of my favorite KZbinrs nowadays. Great video as usual, glad to see an influx of people appreciating your content recently!

[@usalwaysnetwork]

#madeinusa

[@ambientbosatsu]

Please cover the Macklemore song!

[@nuptvalorant1494]

The views fallout after the beef explosion is unbelievable I feel bad. I've been rewatching some of your older videos, did you used to only review an album after one listen? Out of curiosity when did you change that approach and why? AVAA

[@dpaono13]

Please review AG Cook's new album Britpop

[@RhombusEnterprise]

skye agreeing with the line "you were less than you were last year" was the moment i realized i should unsub. as much as i've enjoyed the show before, its clear that you don't care about music made by instruments and musicians. you're looking for people rapping over laptop noises. i make beats too, but lemon twigs is high art and is undeserving of such disrespect. so as you continue getting wrapped up in hiphop, you forget how to feel anything besides braggadociousness.

[@DuUbermensh]

I listened to the whole album and I can tell you the two good songs they did: Peppermint Roses, I Should Have Known Right From the Start. The rest of their songs have the musical elements from The Beach Boys and the Beatles, yet their lyrics are the weakest part of their music. They wind up sounding like a vibey band that could be decent background music if the number of changes in their songs didn’t force you to listen more closely; after you listen closely, you realize their lyrics are written almost as if they were an afterthought and the main point was the instrumentation of a song. Even in the music, they generally overload the song either elements that we love to the point where of cheapening them. I love harmony but it should be used strategically in a song for emotional impact. Another misgiving I have is that the harmonies throughout the album don’t contain lyrics that reinforce the song’s meaning nor are they melodically distinct, so they wind up functionally being filler noise that reminds us of those old songs a bit. Overall, the band is great at instrumentation, but terrible at lyric writing.

[@johnpatrick7426]

I personally, don’t know, because every Lemon Twigs song I’ve tried has bores me to death

[@FakieeFN]

The opposite effect may take place here, haha!