This is the genre most of us on FOWR live for. It is the backdrop of the music we listen to and make and typically the thing we have the most authority in talking about, so naturally we save this one for last. 2012 was the year where we all felt rock regaining purpose and that prospect became one of the most exciting and uplifting things about this year. Cloud Nothings turned into something bigger than anyone could have seen coming, The Men created their resolution to the world of music, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Fiona Apple returned with reminders of their ingenuity, Swans fashioned everything Michael Gira wanted to achieve, and Mount Eerie invented a strong two-part narrative filled with relentless progression and scope. All of these records were amazing. Like, fucking all of them.
The Seer. My relationship with this album becomes stranger and more intense with every listen. John wrote a review on the site that I believe makes a lot of sense, explaining the power this music holds to western culture and its musical lifespan. The Seer encapsules and mourns, rejoices and throws its arms up — especially for the American spirit, experimenting around rock, country (“Song for a Warrior”, “A Piece of the Sky”), jazz (“93 Ave. B Blues”) , and even R&B (“The Seer Returns”). It’s easy to write off because of its fairly monstrous runtime but the things it does in that runtime are astounding and it captures attention at all times. If it wasn’t clear to me before seeing the band live shortly after The Seer’s, their power and control over music became something of an understanding to me after that night. I will go on record and say that is the greatest show I’ve ever seen. Their magnitude is real, their heart and love for music is real. The Seer is real.
Fermata over Whole Rest 