| A Weekend in the City | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 24 January 2007 (2007-01-24) | |||
| Recorded | 2006 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 51:13 | |||
| Label | Wichita | |||
| Producer | Jacknife Lee | |||
| Bloc Party chronology | ||||
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| Singles from A Weekend in the City | ||||
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A Weekend in the City is the second studio album by Britishindie rock bandBloc Party. It was recorded atGrouse Lodge Studios inWestmeath, Ireland, in mid-2006 and was produced byJacknife Lee. The album was refined andmixed at several locations in London at the end of 2006. It was released on 24 January 2007 in Japan and in the first week of February in the rest of the world, withWichita Recordings as the primary label. The album peaked at number two on theUK Albums Chart and on theIrish Albums Chart. In the United States, it entered theBillboard 200 at number 12.
Bloc Party worked to craft an album that distanced them from the conventional guitar band set-up by incorporating more electronically processed beats and additional instrumentation. Computer programs were extensively used to enrich and amend recorded takes, while astring sextet was hired to perform on some of the tracks. The subject matter offrontman and chief lyricistKele Okereke's lyrics forA Weekend in the City covers issues such as drug use, sexuality, and the media's use of moral panic surrounding issues such as terrorism. The album's three original singles, "The Prayer", "I Still Remember", and "Hunting for Witches", address these themes respectively.
Bloc Party's new musical directions and more forthright lyrics either impressed or alienated critics. Reviewers generally treatedA Weekend in the City as an important stepping stone for the band members in their quest for musical maturity, whileThe Guardian included it in its list of the "1000 Albums To Hear Before You Die". In November 2007, the album was re-released globally—with the final single, "Flux", as a bonus track—to coincide with Bloc Party's extensive touring schedule.
All band members of Bloc Party conceivedA Weekend in the City during 2005 while on tour in support of their critically acclaimed debut albumSilent Alarm. Despite missing their home city of London, the quartet became increasingly disillusioned with the culture in the area each time they sporadically returned. Band memberGordon Moakes has noted, "The contrast we saw between being away on tour and being home ... we would see that London wasn't changing really and that the people we'd grown up with were part of that."[1] Okereke wrote many songs in 2005 and early 2006 and used a concept he called "Urbanite Relaxation" to expand upon the themes of life and leisure in themetropolis.[2][3] The band recorded around 30 soundchecks for the initial lyrics using aMiniDisc player.[2][4] The rest of the tracks were written in April 2006 before they entered the studio recording process.[5]
The band members drew up a shortlist of possible producers in early 2006, which includeddance music-oriented staff such asChemical Brotherssound engineer Steve Dub and high-profile producers likeGarret "Jacknife" Lee. At the time, Moakes toldRolling Stone that the album would hopefully include electronic, processed beats and a sound in the vein ofalternative rock bandRadiohead andindie rock ensembleTV on the Radio. Bloc Party wanted to expand their sonic palette without losing the musical "jerkiness" ofSilent Alarm.[6] They selected Lee—who had worked with world-renowned actU2 and indie rock bandSnow Patrol—based on the rapport that developed between the two parties while recording the demo song "I Still Remember", which later appeared inA Weekend in the City.[2]
Moakes has explained the choice of producer by stating that the band members were looking to work with someone who could help them craft an accomplished album, "although as much as anything it's about finding someone who you'd want to spend six weeks in an enclosed space with".[7] Before the studio sessions, Bloc Party listened to varied musical sources, from composersPhilip Glass,György Ligeti, andKrzysztof Penderecki to urban artistsAmerie andMissy Elliott.[8] The band members were largely disillusioned with the evolution of contemporary guitar music and aimed to re-create the highly stylised production values ofR&B andhip-hop records,[9] while relying on an atmosphere similar toneo-classical music.[8]
In mid-2006, Bloc Party travelled to Lee's Grouse Lodge Studios in Westmeath, Ireland, to recordA Weekend in the City.[2][10] The band members initially worked by experimenting with their respective instruments and sound check arrangements. Moakes additionally focused on using different types of synthesiser.[9] All parties soon moved to the main recording room, a large area with "a lot of natural ambience" according to sound engineer Tom McFall. A makeshift booth was built around the back of the drum kit to reduce any sonic interference, while a roof was sometimes used over drummer Matt Tong to isolate a pure sound. Different types of microphones were used for each component of the drum kit. Themiking scheme was crucial to prepare the drum tracks for thelooping and processing Lee planned using production programLogic.[2]
The band worked by setting up all the instruments with only a singlepower amplifier. McFall has pointed out that distorted and heavilycompressed mics were used to capture some of the room's ambience "to add a bit of grit" to the instrumental tracks; the recordings were often processed further using distressors,[2] special types of compressor noted for their distinctively aggressive sound.[11] The production staff tried other unconventional effects once the basic tracks were recorded. The band sometimes performed while Tong's kit wasre-amped and played sections live while a brick was placed on thesustain pedal of a piano to capture the vibrations during the performances.[2] During the six weeks at Grouse Lodge, Bloc Party tried multiple versions of songs and, at times, attempted playing live alongside recorded versions of the same track.[12]
Lee recorded everything usingPro Tools and treated the parts as individual stereo files in Logic. The drum and guitar tracks were processed using computers.[8] Much of the synthesiser-sounding parts of the album were generated byRussell Lissack's lead guitar following his extensive use ofpedal effects.[12] Lee added the live string, synth,drum machine,sample, and ambient noise tracks to create an expansive, hyper-stereophonic final product.[2] After finishing the instrumental album, Bloc Party left Ireland to continue touring. Okereke later returned to Lee's studio to add the vocal tracks to the album;[13] he has noted that he tried to "conveyrange anddynamics" rather than simply yelp the lyrics.[2] Several track names were changed following the voice sessions: "Merge on the Freeway" became "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)", "A Prayer to the Lord" was renamed "The Prayer", "Wet" became "On", and "Perfect Teens" was renamed "Where Is Home?".[14][15]
"One thing that we've learnt from touring over the last two years is that there are other ways to be powerful whilst making music, rather than being completely full on, 100 miles per hour. We learnt so much about the power of arrangements. I know it sound cheesy, but I guess it is going to be a more grown up Bloc Party."[16]
Bloc Party confirmed a preliminary track list of 13 songs in August 2006; this included future bonus tracks "England" and "We Were Lovers".[15] A low-qualityrip ofA Weekend in the City wasleaked in November and showed a track list of 11 songs. Wichita Recordings did not comment, but the band members were quoted as being worried about a reduction in the potential impact of the album's content and sales.[17] Bloc Party started a promotional tour of North America the same month withPanic! at the Disco, but cut it short after three concerts when Tong suffered acollapsed lung. The focus was changed to interviews throughout the world to explain the album's stylised lyrics and composition in the run-up to its release.[18]
Final tweaks on the album were completed in December 2006 in London.[18] A high-quality version was leaked in January 2007 and its contents were confirmed by Okereke.[17] Journalists who obtained an official copy of the album's final mix suggested that it featuredelectronically tampered rock soundscapes in the vein of Radiohead,New Order, andBjörk.[19] Bloc Party previewedA Weekend in the City in its entirety on 24 January 2007 at theBournemouth Old Firestation,[20] a performance which coincided with the Japanese release of the album.[21] The first single, "The Prayer", was released on 29 January.[22] The band performed at a specialBBC Radio 1 showcase atMaida Vale Studios on 30 January as a precursor to a February promotional tour of the UK.[23]
The album was released in the rest of the world in the first week of February.[23] The title comes as a tangent to the central theme of the album, "the living noise of a metropolis".[24] Thecover art is part ofA Modern Project by German photographerRut Blees Luxemburg, famous for her nightcityscapes of London and for the cover art ofThe Streets'Original Pirate Material.[25] The photograph is an aerial image ofLondon's Westway, which shows the road and the adjacent sports pitches lit by thesodium glow of street lamps,[26] and was chosen because the band believed "it was important we captured London breathing".[24] Luxemburg has explained that "in this picture you can see how intricately and optimistically public space in the city is shared".[27]
Okereke's lyrics attempt to juxtapose the monotonous events—nights out on club dancefloors and waiting for a train—with the seemingly epic experiences—terrorist attacks and racial angst—witnessed in a city environment.[1] The direct narrative approach divided reviewers.[28][29]BBC's Tom Young concluded, "Some will appreciate Kele's openness and revel in his philosophical focus on modern lives ... others will be too distracted by questionable content such as ... lines aboutsudoku to take Okereke's grumbles into consideration."[30] Okereke has conceded that he was disappointed with the abstraction inSilent Alarm; he usedThe Smiths as inspiration to try to make a personal album with "a real centre".[31] The lyricist has noted, "I wanted it to be a snapshot, a frozen moment in time. Like in a city, with thousands of stories going on at once, layered on top of each other ... Although I might be speaking through the voice of a character, I'm still expressing, perhaps, my sentiments."[32]
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The words to "Where Is Home?" begin at the funeral ofChristopher Alaneme, a black teenager stabbed to death in Kent in April 2006 in a racially motivated attack. Okereke has described him as a "cousin" due to their Nigerian mothers' close friendship. The track castigates right-wing newspapers for perpetuating a hysterical fear of black youths in hoodies, an action which often leads to opportunities being denied to theBlack British community at large.[31] Populist media is also the target of "Hunting for Witches" (with the right-wing tabloidDaily Mail being singled out for criticism), whose subject matter is terrorism, namely the7 July 2005 London bombings. Okereke has stated, "I guess the point about the song for me is post-September 11th, the media has really traded on fear and the use of fear in controlling people."[16]Two songs, "Kreuzberg" and "I Still Remember", explore sexuality and homosexuality; the former is an account of promiscuity in theBerlin area of the same name, while the latter details an unrequited crush of a boy for his schoolmate.[33]
The leading track, "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)", was inspired byLess than Zero, a novel byBret Easton Ellis which depicts excessive hedonism and its effects on individuals. The song title references the protagonist Clay and a billboard in the book which displays the phrase "Disappear Here", while the action is relocated to Les Trois Garçons restaurant inShoreditch, East London.[4] "Waiting for the 7.18" provides an escapist counterpoint by mentioning a trip toBrighton following disillusionment with working life in the capital.[10] The fifth song onA Weekend in the City, "Uniform", references London again and criticises the youth subculture in the area. It is directly inspired byDouglas Rushkoff'sMerchants of Cool documentary, which details the corporate exploitation of popular culture by advertisement companies.[4]
Okereke readGuy Debord'sThe Society of the Spectacle andHenri Lefebvre'sCritique of Everyday Life, works which analyse how people experience leisure in modern societies, and was inspired to pen several songs which detail the drug and drink culture present in a metropolis.[9] "The Prayer" is based on drug use during nights out in clubs, while "On" specifies the effects and after-effects ofcocaine. Okereke tried to treat the tracks as explanations of people's actions, rather than moralising tales; he has stated, "In a time when so many people feel they can't communicate or feel hemmed in, I can see the appeal of cocaine."[33] "Sunday" details the morning-after hangover following a drunken and promiscuous night out, while "SRXT" takes the form of a suicide note following the loneliness and despair of hedonism in the metropolis. The album closer is named after Seroxat, a trade name for theantidepressantparoxetine, and was crafted following the suicide attempts of two of Okereke's friends after they left university in 2005.[31]
A Weekend in the City is largely built around a mix of distorted and layered guitars, electronic elements, and multilayered vocals.[33] The creation of compositions required a high level of technical proficiency and led to songs "tinged with discord".[1] The opening section of "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)" includes a barefalsetto,[34] while "Hunting for Witches" starts with aJohn Cage-likecollage of spliced voices from random radio broadcasts as its main rhythm.[12] The rest of the second track makes extensive use of guitar pedal effects and includes a heavily distorted riff.[34] Moakes has pointed out that the original sound check of "Waiting for the 7.18" was aballad with a simple rhythmic pattern on theglockenspiel before the band members added adrum and bass section to its second half.[9] "Kreuzberg", "I Still Remember", and "Sunday" are the few songs to provide a counterpoint to the musical manipulation on the rest of the album by having more conventional indie rock arrangements;[34] Moakes has called the compositions "lush, without being too syrupy".[35]
InA Weekend in the City, layered vocals are often used to resemble choral sections, for example in the middle of "The Prayer" and throughout "Uniform", which has over 100 stacked vocal tracks.[12] "SRXT" is achiming ballad directly inspired byBrian Eno's "By This River" and incorporates double-tracked lead andbackground vocals.[12][34] Synthetic aspects—drum machines, synths, and computerglitches—were included as integral parts of compositions.[2] "The Prayer" is built around a computer sample and includesMTV Base-inspiredurban contemporary beats and a prominentguitar solo towards the end.[9][13] "On" is also a computer-reworked livetake. Half of the song was recorded as a series of loops of drum beats and bass guitar chords. The recorded take was split in two to make up the first and last quarters of the track, while the middle section was intentionally left blank for the band to improvise in.[12] "On" is one of two songs, together with "Where Is Home?", to use a string sextet. The latter track includes erratic rhythms and clashing guitars.[34]
Media response toA Weekend in the City was mixed, but generally positive; aggregating websiteMetacritic reports anormalised rating of 65/100 based on 30 critical reviews.[36] Louis Pattison ofNME described the album as "tender and reflective, edgy and embittered; a difficult and emotional beast that jolts with nervous electricity" and pointed out that its notable achievement is that it finds moments of genuine contentment amidst "a maelstrom of anger and confusion".[37]Allmusic's Heather Phares did not find the album as immediate as Bloc Party's earlier work, but noted that "its gradual move fromalienation to connection and hope is just as bold asSilent Alarm, and possibly even more resonant".[28]Drowned in Sound's Mike Diver called it "dirty, dishevelled, unsure and paranoid; fearful, easily distracted, boisterous and ashamed; reckless, wild, nervous and terrified; graceful, thought-provoking, clumsy and contradictory ... and very nearly perfect."[38] Jeff Miller of theChicago Tribune concluded, "For Bloc Party,Silent Alarm was a baby step and this is a giant leap."[39]
Michael Endelman ofEntertainment Weekly was less receptive and stated, "Too often, the music onA Weekend in the City is less memorable than the ambitious subject matter."[40]Robert Christgau, reviewing forRolling Stone, suggested that the album fails because it lacks "killer choruses",[41] while Sia Michel ofThe New York Times wrote that the multitracked vocals and baroque effects do not have "the wiry catchiness" of Bloc Party's previous work.[42] Mike Schiller ofPopMatters commented that the sonic direction the band had moved to was unsuited to the members' musical strengths,[43] while Dorian Lynskey ofThe Guardian stated "grand statements are not earnest frontman Kele Okereke's forte...there's barely a song that isn't kneecapped by one of Okereke's lyrical clangers".[44]
The album was named byLos Angeles Times in its unnumbered shortlist of the best releases of 2007.[45] It figured in several other end-of-year best album lists, notably, at number eight byGigwise,[46] at number nine byHot Press,[47] and at number ten byThe A.V. Club.[48]The Guardian includedA Weekend in the City in its "1000 Albums To Hear Before You Die" list compiled in November 2007 and praised the band's "ambitious indie soundscapes packing a sizeable political punch".[49]
A Weekend in the City was a commercial success and entered the UK Albums Chart, the Irish Albums Chart, and theAustralian Albums Chart at number two.[22][50][51] The album was listed at number 56 on the end-of-year UK Albums Chart for 2007 and was certifiedGold by theBritish Phonographic Industry.[52] In the US, it sold 47,726 copies in its first week of release and entered theBillboard 200 at number twelve,[53] a marked improvement on predecessorSilent Alarm which had only made number 114 when it was released in 2005. The album also topped theBillboard Top Independent Albums.[54] According toNielsen SoundScan, it had sold 148,000 copies in the US by August 2008.[55] More than one million copies have been sold worldwide.[56]
The first single, "The Prayer", became Bloc Party's highest charting song on theUK Singles Chart and on theIrish Singles Chart to date by peaking at number four and number 18 respectively.[22][50] The song reached number 20 in Australia and is the band's onlyAustralian Singles Chart career entry.[57] The next single and the first US release from the album, "I Still Remember", entered theHot Modern Rock Tracks at number 24 and became the band's highest charting US single to date.[54] The third single, "Hunting for Witches", failed to chart in the US, but peaked at number 22 in the UK.[22]
Bloc Party started a lengthy promotional world tour forA Weekend in the City in March 2007, which included concerts in Japan, the US—where they also headlined at theSXSW Festival in Austin, Texas—Canada, and Italy.[58] A few UK performances in mid-April were followed by a month-long headlining tour withBiffy Clyro, which covered most of mainland Europe.[59][60] Bloc Party spent the end of May and the start of June 2007 on another headlining tour of the US and were asked to play atLive Earth upon their return to London.[61][62] The band performed at the main stages of several European summer fests, includingGlastonbury,T in the Park, theReading and Leeds Festivals,Oxegen, andSummercase.[63][64][65]
Bloc Party embarked on their second major worldwide tour for the album in August 2007, playing across Australia, the US, Mexico, and Canada.[62][66][67] Upon their return to Europe, the band performed at theBBC Electric Proms with theExmoor Singers as backingchamber choir.[68] The final single fromA Weekend in the City, "Flux", was released on 12 November 2007 after the European Flux Tour; a promotional CD of remixes of the song was given out free with the 14 November issue ofNME.[69] The track gave Bloc Party another top 10 hit in the UK Singles Chart by entering at number eight.[22]A Weekend in the City was re-released with "Flux" in the track list on 16 and 19 November in mainland Europe and the UK respectively.[51][70]
All tracks are written by Bloc Party
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)" | 4:49 |
| 2. | "Hunting for Witches" | 3:31 |
| 3. | "Waiting for the 7.18" | 4:17 |
| 4. | "The Prayer" | 3:44 |
| 5. | "Uniform" | 5:32 |
| 6. | "On" | 4:46 |
| 7. | "Where Is Home?" | 4:54 |
| 8. | "Kreuzberg" | 5:27 |
| 9. | "I Still Remember" | 4:23 |
| 10. | "Flux" (Not included on initial release) | 3:38 |
| 11. | "Sunday" | 4:59 |
| 12. | "SRXT" | 4:51 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Uniform" (James Rutledge Remix) | |
| 13. | "Hunting for Witches" (Fury666 Remix) | |
| 14. | "I Still Remember" (Speaker Junk Bass Bin Remix) | |
| 15. | "Hunting for Witches" (Crystal Castles Remix) |
When present, all songs follow "SRXT" on the January/February 2007 release after a silent three-minutepregap.
Another B side, "Vision of Heaven" (3:32), was released as a promotional track exclusively atPureVolume.[71]
Vinyl
DVD
Credits adapted from the liner notes ofA Weekend in the City.[10]
Bloc Party
Additional musicians
| Technical personnel
|
| Region | Date | Label | Format(s) | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 24 January 2007 | V2 Records | CD | V2CP-320[21] |
| Europe | 2 February 2007 | Wichita Recordings | CD, CD+DVD | WEBB120[10] |
| Australia | CD | |||
| United Kingdom and Ireland | 5 February 2007 | CD,digital download, CD+DVD, LP | ||
| United States | 6 February 2007 | Vice Records | CD, digital download, LP | VICE 94598[28] |
| CD(Best Buy version) | VICE 94700[30] | |||
| CD(Target version) | VICE 94677[77] | |||
| Canada | CD | |||
| Australia | 16 July 2007 | Universal Records | CD+DVD | 3628120[51] |
| Europe | 16 November 2007 | CD+DVD(new edition) | ||
| United Kingdom and Ireland | 19 November 2007 | Wichita Recordings | WEBB120X[76] | |
| Australia | 3 December 2007 | CD(new edition) |
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
Singles
| Song | Peak | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [22] | IRE [50] | US Mod. Rock [54] | AUS [57] | |||
| "The Prayer" | 4 | 18 | X | 20 | ||
| "I Still Remember" | 20 | — | 24 | — | ||
| "Hunting for Witches" | 22 | — | — | — | ||
| "Flux" | 8 | 41 | — | — | ||
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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| Singles |
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| Related articles | |
