2010s Music Diary

[NJ]

Bottomless Pit by Death Grips - I don't know if I like this or The Money Store more. I'm thinking this, though. While I don't think any of the songs compare to the highlights of that record, I do think it's more consistent. More importantly, the overall sound is more varied, experimental, and interesting. However, the middle third of the record is noticeably lower in quality than the rest of it. The Money Store was better at spreading out its weaker tracks. So they're about equal, but I'm leaning more towards this record. It's a great album, I love their style, and it's definitely a great progression from where they were in 2012. I'll have to go back and listen to the records they released in between these two, but BP was short and popular so I decided to check this one out.
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"Those are you've got some nice shoulders, I'd like to put my hands around them."

[NJ]

Okay, I'm gonna listen to Fetch the Bolt Cutters after I write this, and then I'll post about that tonight. Sorry for being lazy, I just have a full-time job. And depression. Anyways...

Apparently 2016 is the year for which I have listened to the most albums, so I wanted to discuss my opinions on our charts in regards to that year, and more specifically the at this point I suppose overdone topic of our over-love for Radiohead. A Moon Shaped Pool, which is a great album, does not deserve to be #1 for 2016. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't. The four albums immediately below it on our chart (and Lemonade, shame on you all for having it so low) are all so much better. Again, I do love AMSP, I even like it more than The Bends and In Rainbows. It's just not super interesting. Blackstar is an amazing experimental rock album that sonically and lyrically blows AMSP out of the water. Atrocity Exhibition is similar to Blackstar in that it's more amazing musically and lyrically, though it's rap instead of rock. It's simply one of the best produced albums ever, in my opinion, and I have no clue why AMSP is ranked so much higher. It simply doesn't deserve it, and shows a huge rock bias. As far as it goes for more standard rock albums, Teens of Denial is so much better too, largely due to being the top-dog of the year lyrically.

Guess I just felt like starting a discussion. Defend AMSP again if you want. I mostly just brought this up since I just got done listening to Atrocity Exhibition again and wanted to clarify that I do enjoy it much more now than when I first listened to it. It's truly a masterpiece. And it should be higher than #5 for 2016. Blackstar and I guess maybe Blonde I'll accept being above it, but AMSP? Really?

Okay, to FTBC.
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"Those are you've got some nice shoulders, I'd like to put my hands around them."

[NJ]

I just finished FTBC, and it was great, but I'm tired, so I'll write a more official review or whatever of it tomorrow.
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"Those are you've got some nice shoulders, I'd like to put my hands around them."

[NJ]

Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple - I guess to start, I'll get these two things out of the way: one, I like this quite a bit more than Idler Wheel. I found the lyricism and music to be more interesting in pretty much every regard, and I really liked that album. This one was quite emotional for me, though, which I'll get to in a bit, but Idler Wheel wasn't. Two, I think I still like Peaceful As Hell a little more. While Apple's lyricism is certainly stronger than Rook's and Devi's, and overall I preferred Apple's vocal performance, I think musically Peaceful As Hell is simply more interesting. That isn't to say musically FTBC isn't interesting - it certainly is - but the lyricism and vocals on Peaceful As Hell are also excellent. However, I think I prefer Peaceful As Hell simply because it makes me happy, where at FTBC makes me emotional in wierd ways, and at this point in my life it's rare for me to come across something that genuinely incites pure joy in me the way Peaceful As Hell does, but plenty makes me sad and inspired like FTBC.

The other thing is that FTBC could've been a few songs shorter. Some of the tracks just didn't feel necessary, especially the closing song. I do love the album, but it's more for its standout tracks. The first two songs are excellent, but the two that made me emotional are Rack of His, for personal reasons, and Ladies, for wierd reasons. I'm not a woman, and I've never been cheated on, but there's something about the "we're not alone, we need to stick together" vibes of Ladies that made me burst into tears. It was possibly due to me gradually getting more emotional throughout the album, and it just came to a head on that song.

Also, the cover art is bad. So is Peaceful As Hell's, but that's bad in a charming way. This is just bad in a bad way.
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"Those are you've got some nice shoulders, I'd like to put my hands around them."

[NJ]

With Teeth by Nine Inch Nails - Whoops, look like a month's gone by. I didn't realize it had been so long. Anyways... This was a solid album. Reznor's vocal performances were strong. I've heard some people complain about his falsetto, but I liked it. His lyricism is good, as it's always been, but he hasn't really progressed much since the 80s. Though the lyrical content was quite different than on his more famous records, since this was a time in his life when he was sober. The production was the best part of the album. It sounded amazing. It was really polished and more pop-oriented than his previous records, which isn't a positive or negative inherently, but it did sound great. I do prefer The Downward Spiral because it's one of the few concept albums where I actually like the concept, but I certainly enjoyed this more than The Fragile. Though I should probably listen to them all again.
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"Those are you've got some nice shoulders, I'd like to put my hands around them."

[NJ]

Eh, I feel bad cause of how long it's been. I've been listening to a lot of music, but I've been too lazy to write about it. I'm a writing major and also review albums for my college newspaper, so sometimes I get fatigues from writing. Least I haven't been depressed in a while. Here's a small rundown of some of the albums I listened to that stood out:

Because the Internet by Childish Gambino - I liked this a lot. The production was great and none of the songs stood out as bad or anything. I guess I didn't care as much for the lyricism or concept as others though.

What's Your Pleasure by Jessie Ware - So good. Still think Peaceful as Hell is my AOTY so far, but this is a serious contender.

Shore by Fleet Foxes - It peaks early with Sunblind and kind of just meanders along until its over. It's alright. Pleasant, but not really great or anything.

American Head by Flaming Lips - I liked this quite a bit. The orchestration was great and I didn't dislike any song except for the unfortunate closer. Don't care much for it lyrically though.

Throat by Little Women - I was expecting this to be a lot more unpleasant than it was. I was enjoying it quite a lot until the last track.

The Powers That B by Death Grips - What an amaazing album. Definitely my favorite of theirs thus far. I dunno if I like the first or last half more.
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"Those are you've got some nice shoulders, I'd like to put my hands around them."

[NJ]

Oh geez, it's been some time. My bad

I thought to make up for the many months it's been since I've looked at this thing, I'd once again rank all the albums from the 2010s I've listened to, along with my current scoring system (F- to A+), which I did almost a year ago now. I've listened to probably close to double the amount of albums, and changed my opinions quite strongly on many of them. Before I do that, though, I will explain why I'm excluding one album, which is Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror). It's simply way too important to me for me to rate on any sort of objective level. It obviously has its flaws, but rating it based on that feels like I'm stabbing myself in the gut, so it's rated N/A and is excluded from the list. Regardless, this list is still mostly based on my subjective enjoyment of stuff. I don't care too much about "objectively" rating things. I'm just excluding the one album because it's too personal for me and I don't wanna.

Oh, and this should be farily obvious, but in case it isn't: my grading system is not the same as the American school's grading system. There, a C is a 7.5. For me, it's about a 5 (though not exactly - these ratings are a bit looser). Everything above a C is good, and everything below a C is bad. C is average. I like most things I've listened to because I typically actively seek good music to listen to.

Also, I really need to relisten to some of these. Mostly Vulnicura and Teen Dream and Lonerism. Some of the others deserve a relisten too, though.

1. Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial - A+
2. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly - A+
3. David Bowie, Blackstar - A+
4. Death Grips, The Powers That B - A
5. LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening - A
6. Car Seat Headrest, Twin Fantasy - A
7. Daughters, You Won't Get What You Want - A
8. Danny Brown, Atrocity Exhibition - A
9. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city - A
10. Father John Misty, Pure Comedy - A
11. Car Seat Headrest, How to Leave Town - A
12. Death Grips, The Money Store - A
13. Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - A
14. Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool - A
15. Tyler, The Creator, Flower Boy - A-
16. Kanye West, Yeezus - A-
17. Frank Ocean, Blonde - A-
18. Tyler, The Creator, Igor - A-
19. Death Grips, Bottomless Pit - A-
20. Weyes Blood, Titanic Rising - A-
21. Beyonce, Lemonade - A-
22. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blue - A-
23. Kids See Ghosts, Kids See Ghosts - B+
24. Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear - B+
25. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree - B+
26. Mount Eerie, A Crow Looked At Me - B+
27. Car Seat Headrest, Nervous Young Man - B+
28. Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel... - B+
29. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs - B
30. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Nonagon Infinity - B
31. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City - B
32. Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell - B
33. Frank Ocean, channel ORANGE - B
34. Kanye West, The Life of Pablo - B
35. Earl Sweatshirt, Some Rap Songs - B
36. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. - B
37. Tame Impala, Currents - B
38. Ghost, Meliora - B
39. Childish Gambino, Because the Internet - B
40. Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels - B
41. Lorde, Pure Heroine - B
42. Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Style - B
43. Little Women, Throat - B
44. Bjork, Vulnicura - B-
45. Tame Impala, Lonerism - B-
46. Beach House, Teen Dream - B-
47. Pusha T, Daytona - B-
48. Kanye West, ye - B-
49. LCD Soundsystem, The American Dream - B-
50. Car Seat Headrest, My Back Is KIlling Me Baby - C+
51. Car Seat Headrest, Monomania - C+
52. Lizzo, Cuz I Love You - C
53. Car Seat Headrest, 4 - C
54. Car Seat Headrest, 3 - C
55. Car Seat Headrest, Disjecta Membra - C
56. Hozier, Hozier - C
57. Aries, Welcome Home - C-
58. Kanye West, Jesus Is King - D+
59. Car Seat Headrest, Little Pieces of Paper With "No" Written on Them - D
60. Car Seat Headrest, 1 - D
61. Car Seat Headrest, 2 - D-
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"Those are you've got some nice shoulders, I'd like to put my hands around them."