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The Execution of All Things | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1, 2002 | |||
Recorded | March 2002 | |||
Studio | Presto! (Lincoln) | |||
Genre | Indie rock | |||
Length | 47:44 | |||
Label | Saddle Creek | |||
Producer | Mike Mogis | |||
Rilo Kiley chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Execution of All Things | ||||
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The Execution of All Things is the second studio album released by Los Angeles-based indie pop band Rilo Kiley. Expanding on their previous musical sound that mostly incorporated guitars, vocals, percussion and pianos, the album contains heavy electronica sampling mixed into the songs in a rather unusual and displaced-sounding way. Also, unlike their previous tracks which were written in very traditional manners, the lyrics to the songs on Execution are very wordy and read like prose. Musically, the record has a very sunny disposition, with bouncing bass lines and simple melodies complemented by lead singer Jenny Lewis's vocal style, but the upbeat music is generally counterpointed by the often dark and morose subject matter that the lyrics reference. The album was released by Saddle Creek Records in Omaha, Nebraska, and the aforementioned features show the influence of that studio's associated Omaha Sound. It was recorded at Presto! in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The album is also strung together by a song that is broken into pieces and that trails between several tracks. Called "And That's How I Choose to Remember It", it tells the story of Lewis' childhood and her parents' divorce. This theme is visited throughout the album, which is lyrically filled with childhood recollections of loss, displacement, anger and hopelessness.
The songs "So Long" and "Three Hopeful Thoughts" feature lead vocals by Blake Sennett. Lewis sings lead on all other tracks.
The song "With Arms Outstretched" played in the final moments of the series finale of Weeds , just as it had in the pilot.
The song "A Better Son/Daughter" was played in the trailer for the first season of the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black . It is also featured at the end of Hannah Gadsby's 2018 Netflix special Nanette .
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 80/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Alternative Press | [3] |
Blender | [4] |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [5] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [6] |
Los Angeles Times | [7] |
MSN Music (Consumer Guide) | A [8] |
Pitchfork | 7.5/10 [9] |
Q | [10] |
Uncut | [11] |
Critics received the album positively upon release. Pitchfork praised the album's music and lyrics — saying "the words here are descriptive and articulate, but gracefully rendered" — writing that the album surpassed all Rilo Kiley's prior work. [12]
Anne Hathaway called the track "A Better Son/Daughter" "a life-changing song" for helping to improve her mental health during a difficult period of her life in 2009. [13]
Critics again celebrated the album at its 20th anniversary in 2022. Stereogum called Better Son/Daughter a "towering, monumental achievement" and praised the interconnected nature of all the tracks on the album. [14] Paste Magazine noted "the album's continued reverberation in a new generation of contemporary artists and listeners" and praised its treatment of mental illness, trauma, and gender. [15] Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan wrote of Things' influence on 2010s emo music. He saw it impact the genre's lyrical focus for that era, helping it move from unrequited love to mental health. [16] Paste's Natalie Marlin recognized that same influence carry into the future of indie rock as well. She saw how well the album fit in a culture "more prone than ever to accommodate piercing, honest lyricism about issues of mental health", which was driven in part by its own impact. [15]
In the years since its release, Things has impacted various musicians. In a 2013 interview, indie rock musician Waxahatchee revealed that she had bought the album "when it had just come out" and "listened to [it] so many times." [17] In a Talkhouse essay released the following year, she wrote of feeling "a massive surge of enthusiasm and revelation" when listening and realized "that I really wanted to make music myself." She singled out the album's "musical theater-like vocal glory" and its lyrics' "airtight incisiveness" as inspiring to her. [18] Harmony Tividad, bassist for former duo Girlpool, called opening track "The Good That Won't Come Out" one of her all-time favorite songs. [19]
All songs written by Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett, except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Good That Won't Come Out" | 4:31 | |
2. | "Paint's Peeling" | 3:20 | |
3. | "The Execution of All Things" | Ben Boyer, Lewis, Sennett | 4:13 |
4. | "So Long" | 5:27 | |
5. | "Capturing Moods" | 3:35 | |
6. | "A Better Son/Daughter" | 4:39 | |
7. | "Hail to Whatever You Found in the Sunlight That Surrounds You" | 3:20 | |
8. | "My Slumbering Heart" | 5:36 | |
9. | "Three Hopeful Thoughts" | 2:50 | |
10. | "With Arms Outstretched" | 3:43 | |
11. | "Spectacular Views" | 6:30 | |
Total length: | 47:44 |
Sourced from The Execution of All Things' liner notes. [20]
Rilo Kiley was an American indie rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1998, the band consisted of Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Dave Rock.
Rilo Kiley, also known as The Initial Friend EP, is the first release by Los Angeles–based rock band Rilo Kiley. It was initially released independently in 1999 under the title Rilo Kiley. It was subsequently re-pressed in 2000 and again in 2001, under the name The Initial Friend EP with an alternate track-listing and cover. All three releases commonly sell on eBay for between $250–400 and are fairly rare.
Jennifer Diane Lewis is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley.
More Adventurous is the third studio album by American indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Released on August 17, 2004 by Brute/Beaute Records, a self-made imprint distributed by Warner Records, it was the band's major label debut.
Blake Sennett is an American musician and actor who served as the lead guitarist for indie rock band Rilo Kiley, as well as the lead singer/lead guitarist for his alt-rock side project the Elected. Until 2017 he led Night Terrors of 1927 with Jarrod Gorbel. In addition to being a musician, Sennett was a teen actor, appearing on the television shows Salute Your Shorts and Boy Meets World. As an actor, Sennett originally went by the names Blake Soper and Blake Swendson.
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Take Offs and Landings is Rilo Kiley's debut studio album, originally released in 2001 on the vanity label "Rilo Records", then shortly thereafter on the independent label Barsuk Records. It was released for the first time on vinyl on March 15, 2011.
Michael Riley Mogis is an American producer/engineer and multi-instrumentalist who, along with his brother A.J. Mogis, founded Presto! Recording Studios. Mogis currently runs ARC in downtown Omaha.
Motion Sickness: Live Recordings is a live album by Bright Eyes. Documenting the I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning tours from the first half of 2005, Motion Sickness is a compilation of live tracks, including covers of Feist and Elliott Smith. It comes with a 24-page booklet featuring an extensive tour diary written by Jason Boesel.
Rabbit Fur Coat is an album in collaboration by Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, with The Watson Twins. It was released in the United States on January 24, 2006, by Team Love. Lewis has described the album as a "sort of soul record". The album contains a cover of the Traveling Wilburys song "Handle With Care", featuring Ben Gibbard, Conor Oberst and M. Ward.
Jason Lyon Boesel is an American musician, songwriter and producer based in Los Angeles. He was the drummer for Rilo Kiley and has also played with The Elected and Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band.
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Under the Blacklight is the fourth and final studio album released by American alternative rock band Rilo Kiley. It was released on August 20, 2007, in the United Kingdom - three years and three days after the release of their third album, More Adventurous. Warner Bros. Records released the album one day later in the United States. "Silver Lining" was No. 27 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.
This is a comprehensive listing of official releases by Los Angeles-based indie rock band Rilo Kiley.
This is a comprehensive listing of official releases by Jenny Lewis, lead singer of the band Rilo Kiley.
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"The Execution of All Things" is the title track of Los Angeles-based indie rock band Rilo Kiley's second album. It was released as a single on September 22, 2003, via Saddle Creek. Rilo Kiley's cover of The Velvet Underground's "After Hours" appears as a b-side, as does a new track called "Emotional ". The single and its b-sides are available to download on the iTunes Store.
Maybe This Christmas Too? is a holiday compilation album released in October 2003 through Nettwerk Records featuring contemporary musicians performing both classic and original Christmas songs. The compilation served as a sequel to Maybe This Christmas (2002) and preceded Maybe This Christmas Tree (2004). A portion of the proceeds from the album went to Toys for Tots, a charity supported by the United States Marine Corps. Critical reception of the compilation, which failed to chart in any nation, was mixed.
Michael Evan Bloom is an American musician, singer, composer, producer and mixer who has performed, produced or recorded with artists such as Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis, Julian Casablancas, Johnathan Rice, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, and Rachael Yamagata. He was a co-founder of The Elected. Bloom plays guitar, bass, lap steel guitar, keys, drums, banjo, and harmonica. He is also a composer and has served as music supervisor for films and TV shows. He is the younger brother of actor/writer Brian Bloom and actor/producer/writer Scott Bloom.
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