[NickVolos]

These 3 are tied for "my album of the day" today:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Jeopardy by The Sound

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Sumday by Grandaddy

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Synthesist by Harald Grosskopf
_________________
"And can’t you see you’re in on it?
You were born though you need not
And is that not some cause
For worship, being born among these trees?"

[SuedeSwede]

Songs About Leaving by Carissa's Wierd

Seeing as I don't think I've actually given this a full review outside of my chart, I'll give it - not a review but - a long summary.

I don't know what to feel, think, or act like during this album. There are stories of hatred, guilt, past love, deceased affection, and an overwhelming dose of the realisation of reality. The songwriters (Brooke/Ghetto) here are of opposing genders, which is very strange to listen to. Considering there is near to no credit given to individual songs, you never know what is coming from who, and I don't think I want to know. My point here is that there are two polar opposites in gender, and the whole album is so lyrically cohesive throughout. That confuses me in such a way that is fascinating, and when the two are harmonising and sharing songs, it's as if they are both having a bond in emotions, and this cannot be broken. They understand each other and, to be honest, each song sounds like both of their experiences merged together. Both Brooke and Ghetto feel the same way, and I don't think this is a coincidence. I like to think that there was, at some point, something between the two of them and that through everything, they can still pull through and create one of the most poignant experiences ever, together. Now, this is not a conclusive fact, so it shouldn't actually contribute anything. But even if they weren't actually together, the two of them are on the exact same page emotionally. This adds so much personality to the album, it makes it sound a lot more heartfelt and it tells listeners that, when you are down, and when you are feeling a sense of loss, may it be death, heartbreak, or just someone close leaving your life, there is so much sympathy throughout the world, and so many people feel the way you do. Additionally, this is actually explored in "it's hard to write this song, it's all a joke, it's all been wrote down by someone who's probably dead". I first heard this album a few weeks after a breakup (which wasn't really that devastating), and I wasn't feeling anything negative about this breakup at that time. I was past her, but what really made me forget about the whole ordeal completely was that lyric. I wrote a song about the breakup (which is bitchy and whiny), and I realised it was just so pointless because this song can be found anywhere, in anyone's mind, all over the world. Every lyric has been explored in some song somewhere, and it was pointless. The song brought nothing contributory to anyone anywhere anyway because it was just about the "pains" I was going through after what was actually a really easy breakup. So, I scrapped it. And I scrapped worrying about the past. Yeah, the past has shaped who you are up to now, but what shapes you even more so, is your future actions. You shouldn't care about your past, and you should move on to try and craft a better you and a better future.

Now, this is very astray from my original point, but if an album can make me waffle this much while still staying on the topic of what I realised after listening to it, then it sure is powerful. And it is powerful, for me at least. If it were a boxer, it would be Muhammad Ali. It floats like an elegant butterfly, the music is so beautifully crafted and rich, it is what all chamber musicians should aspire to sound like. But, under this elegant music, it stings like a bee. The lyrics are so compellingly strong that you are being, to reuse a metaphor, stung like a bee.

There's probably countless contradicting points in here but just take into account I didn't stop typing whilst writing this, so most of it is just trying to word thought processes.
_________________

[NickVolos]

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Carol Of Harvest by Carol Of Harvest

"Ask most prog fans to guess who Carol of Harvest was, and they'd say something along the lines of "Er... was she an A&R rep at Pink Floyd's record label?". Nice guess, but nope - in fact, Carol of Harvest is an intriguing prog-folk band from Germany. J'rgen Kolb uses his keyboards and synthesisers to weave spacey textures and soundscapes into the delicate folk tapestry woven by the rest of the band, with Beate Krause's fine vocals adding the final embellishment to the mixture. As far as mellow, trippy space-folk goes, it's a very strong release indeed, and it falls into the category of "so-called lost classics that are actually sort of worth the hype"." (progarchives)

"Stunning sole album from this very recent discovery even among hard-line collectors, this group is now more reputed but it still has loads to achieve in notoriety to achieve the popularity it merits. This quintet recorded what can be considered a masterpiece of progressive Folk Rock in 1978, when the interest for such a record had been on the wane for a while, which might explain the confidentiality of it (it was also pressed to minimum quantity). Looking back, this album probably sounded quite dated in 78, but I assure you that nowadays this music is timeless and absolutely beautiful." (progarchives)
_________________
"And can’t you see you’re in on it?
You were born though you need not
And is that not some cause
For worship, being born among these trees?"

[Norman Bates]

Definitely this



V/A, Project Blowed (1994)

Remarkable post-Freestyle Fellowship/proto-BAWP jazz hop V/A comp. Check it out.

[Guest]

Well aside from both NMH albums which I've basically been playing on repeat:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Exile On Main St by The Rolling Stones

It's been on my chart for a while now but I don't know that I've ever really taken the time to get super into it. I'm discovering a lot in this that I hadn't before. What a record!

[Cymro2011]

[Goodsir]

Basically what swedenman said but with this album:

Remain in Light by Talking Heads

[Guest]

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Iamthemorning by Iamthemorning

Dingerbell is awesome. This is beautiful. And such a nice voice.

[Norman Bates]

Reviving this, lots of listening today to help that damned pile of exam papers getting corrected right.

Today's discoveries:

Acid Mothers Temple & Whatevs, s/t from '97, good. First Acid Mothers record I hear, will listen to more.
Big Star, Columbia: Live at Missouri University (1993), awesome!

Re-listens:

Some Schoenberg
Dälek, Absence (2005), that's intense! Need to listen to more Dälek albums, I know only this one.
The Sea & Cake, Everybody (07), same old same old, by which I mean: very good. The poppier side to Chicago post-rock, incredibly well adjusted to that lovely weather we're having.

The day's not done yet, but so far

Absence by Dalek

is my record of the day.

[Cymro2011]