Best Ever Albums

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 00:20:50 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/23/2013 04:20

CHUTES WINS A NOT-SO-NARROW VICTORY

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 16:06:07 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/20/2013 20:06

pearljammer13 wrote:

Much of this album steps outside typical verse-chorus structure, though in comparison to an album like Daughter Of Darkness sure it's a bit more formulaic. But I've never heard anyone say "god how I hated it" to Chutes Too Narrow. It's pretty damn likable and at the very least innocent, not easy to hate with that kind of passion right away. To each his own I suppose.

I suppose it wasn't too bad, I just exaggerate.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

pearljammer13 — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 16:04:25 GMT

Author: pearljammer13

Posted: 06/20/2013 20:04

BrandonMeow wrote:

I just tried Chutes Too Narrow since my girlfriend loves The Shins and god how I hated it. XD Verse-chorus tends to annoys me. Not being pretentious or anything, I just, like Poe, like it when it flows more naturally and there isn't an abrupt change to get used to. Plus, I really love Daughter of Darkness, or at least the half of it I've heard.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 13:17:38 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/20/2013 17:17

I just tried Chutes Too Narrow since my girlfriend loves The Shins and god how I hated it. XD Verse-chorus tends to annoys me. Not being pretentious or anything, I just, like Poe, like it when it flows more naturally and there isn't an abrupt change to get used to. Plus, I really love Daughter of Darkness, or at least the half of it I've heard.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:15:12 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/20/2013 05:15

Jhereko wrote:

Yes, me too and I've only listened to it once.

This made me laugh.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:48:18 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/20/2013 04:48

The Poe wrote:

It's the album I have spent the most amount of time listening to.

Yes, me too and I've only listened to it once.

Anyway, I voted for the puerile simplicity of The Shins' verse-chorus "music for the plebs" type fluff.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:16:14 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/20/2013 04:16

CDQ wrote:

This.

Please no, no that. Not that at all...

...this album is as long as the listener desires.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:02:43 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/20/2013 04:02

Mehdi Ameziane as TwinSisterMoon

One of my favorite music artists. First for being a member of my favorite band, and also for being the folk artist I listen to most. That voice, man. It lacks masculinity yet isn't feminine either. It often achieves this gender neutral zone that comes as close as it gets to what I'd think of as the ideal singing voice.

Mehdi's lyrics also come across so me as smooth and natural to me. Mehdi's folk songs are generally simple-verse, a structure I think I prefer to verse-chorus. There are no logical or forced transitions that I have to adjust my mind to mid-song.

Listen to an 11 minute EP here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUDdQDu9MKU

Here's the latest TwinSisterMoon release: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPAESYaVvTE

Solange Gularte as Isengrind

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My favorite music artist in the world right now. I see Solange as one with an overactive imagination yet reserved enough to control it. There aren't many artists that can take me places the way Solange and Natural Snow Buildings do. There's an almost unconscious element to Solange's music that's hard for me to describe. There are no ear-worms or even much of anything one can call upon when reflecting on an Isengrind album, yet there are melodies and rhythms that exist in most songs. It has taken many listens to personally understand each Isengrind album, some albums I even thought of as unenjoyable at first, yet I wonder what has kept me coming back. There is usually a moment between the tenth and fifteenth listen where things click in a way, and what seemed like just some plain ambient before now becomes a whole world to explore. Solange's albums go very deep for me, even if Solange doesn't consider them to be as… well, deep as Natural Snow Buildings.

Here's the latest Isengrind release: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgflPiWa840

Solange Gularte and Mehdi Ameziane as Natural Snow Buildings

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This band is underground in every sense. They do not consider themselves a part of any specific scene of music, and they do not appear to consider themselves above anyone for it. They are "pretty comfortable in [their] outcast role" yet seem almost inspiringly humble to me. They live small lives, work regular jobs, rarely perform live, release all their albums in limited physical quantity, and they're still gaining recognition. They have even questioned whether they should be making money from their music at all. With that last sentence in mind, since 2006 they have released about 28 albums between these two artists, I'd guess the average length of the albums are between an hour-and-30-minutes to two hours. In my library they have over 50 hours of music total.

Aesthetically, the sounds of Natural Snow Buildings will take you back in time, drag you down to hell, lift you back up, explore supernatural places of earth, through the seas and the mountains and the snow and the forest, all the way outside of earth and throughout space, and take you back home.

I'll make one last note here that while they do take some influences from popular or critically acclaimed artists and bands, even including The Velvet Underground (specifically their third album) and Sonic Youth (specifically the album EVOL), most influences seemed stretched to more obscure places. The cultures of the Inuit, American Indians and South American Indians, Ethiopia, Sudan, Indonesia… and also philosophies and religions and such, like anthropology. This info here is all based on memory and I more advice reading some interviews with the band to better understand their interests and influences, and their general frame of mind.

Daughter of Darkness

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Daughter of Darkness to me is the greatest album in the world, as far as I know. It's the album I have spent the most amount of time listening to. I find every song to be immersive and transportive. It's deep. It's becoming ingrained in me as part of who I am.

It's dark. The universe is mostly dark. It's vast, spacious, and so long, full of environment, feeling. This is humanity's mark. Maybe. What's better than something so natural, improvised, untouched, unaltered…? And there's so much of it!

There will probably something better some day, I don't know. I'm trying to find more words, it's all abstract. I'm also tired. I think I'll go sleep to this album again, if my insomnia keeps me up I'll go for another midnight stroll with this thing playing. Maybe I'll lay down and look at the stars with it… again.

Okay, I'm done. I'm not going to edit anything here except pictures and links, so forgive me if something doesn't make sense.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:13:17 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/20/2013 03:13

Norman Bates wrote:

But that's the problem. I have no difficulties with an LP being as long as the artist desires. And the music is good. But, honestly, when am I going to listen to it again? In full? Probably never. I never have the time to listen to a 6-hours long LP, and most people don't. It's good music, but frankly, for an LP, it's far too long.

This.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 22:03:32 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/20/2013 02:03

Damnit. I haven't gotten any sleep in a while and now I've gotta say something about this. Oh well, I'll try.

First, here's a couple interview quotes from NSB regarding DoD.

Question (Brainwashed): Which albums of yours are you most proud of?

Answer: "We like Daughter of Darkness because it's totally improvised, no overdubs and totally self-indulgent, and Blackest Rainbow did a great job with the packaging (a VHS box with five tapes inside). "

Link: http://www.brainwashed.com/index.php?op...;Itemid=91

Question (Thumped): Some of your work, like Daughter Of Darkness, unfolds over a very long duration, several hours in many cases. What kind of experience do you expect the listener to have over such a long listening course?

Answer: "Well, it's something that happens when we play in a live setting, structure built by the interaction of the two of us improvising, and we like long, unfolding songs, epic movements, sounds that would take its time to modify something deeply in the listener's mind. Daughter of Darkness... is a particular case, it was almost a provocation: with more than five hours, you have to immerse yourself in it. It can be a pleasant experience or a very unpleasant one, you can let it enter your listening space. You can also shrug it, pretending that's just shitty noise, but you have to deal with it. The fact that everything was improvised and served without any edits was very important for us at the time, while most of our production was, uh, pop-like produced (with composed and overdubbed parts). It was some kind of affirmation, so five hours sounded appropriate."

Link: http://thumped.com/interviews/natural-snow-buildings-where-is-the-mothership.html

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Cymro2011 — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:10:12 GMT

Author: Cymro2011

Posted: 06/19/2013 20:10

Daughter Of Darkness is just way too fucking long and even though I liked The Dance of The Moon And The Sun it was still a struggle to sit through the whole thing in one sitting and that was pretty short compared to DoD.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

pearljammer13 — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:08:34 GMT

Author: pearljammer13

Posted: 06/19/2013 20:08

It's no secret that I have an unhealthy obsession with Chutes Too Narrow. To me it's absolutely perfect, easily my favorite album of all time. James Mercer has a brilliant knack for writing gorgeous melodies. The melding of the acoutsic and electric guitar might be my favorite aspect of the album, as most songs use both, always playing off each other beautifully. And don't even get me started on Mercer's lyrical prowess. Just take these lines for example:

"Just leave the ring on the rail, for the wheels to nullify."

"Just a glimpse of an ankle and I, react like it's 1805."

"Since then it's been a book you read in reverse, so you understand less as the pages turn."

Always clever, and always plenty of layers to pick through in his lyrics. Just abstract enough to keep you thinking, but straight forward enough that you can have an idea of what he's trying to say.

All songs on Chutes are wonderful, melding together to form musical perfection. It isn't the most complex album you'll ever hear, but the modest nature of the music is one of the things that makes it great. It's lighthearted (for the most part), uplifiting, and simply fun to listen to. #1 album of all time y'all, no question about it. If you think otherwise I feel sorry for you.

Guys I'm being facetious.

Anyway, if you care about ratings/reviews, it received a splendid score of 8.9 on Pitchfork along with a best new music stamp. A short snippet from the glowing review:

"The uniqueness and inventiveness of James Mercer's melodic sensibility simply cannot be overstated. On Chutes Too Narrow, as with its predecessor, Mercer makes brilliant use of his formidable vocal range, writing soaring melodies every bit as original as they are memorable."

It also carries a number of 88% (universal acclaim) on metacritic.

Personal favorites:

Link

Link

Link

He's freaky good playing with just an acoustic guitar.

A vote for Chutes Too Narrow is a vote for humanity!

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

MrFrogger — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:57:33 GMT

Author: MrFrogger

Posted: 06/19/2013 18:57

Norman Bates wrote:

I agree, most of the times I've listened to it(all except once), I've broken it down into smaller chunks in which I've listened to over the course of a week or so. Personally, the quality of the music makes up for the amount of time one must devote listening to it. I like it a lot.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Norman Bates — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:53:09 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 06/19/2013 18:53

MrFrogger wrote:

Daughter of Darkness is incredible, please take the time to listen to all 6 hours if you're going to vote in this poll.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

MrFrogger — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:49:33 GMT

Author: MrFrogger

Posted: 06/19/2013 18:49

Daughter of Darkness is incredible, please take the time to listen to all 6 hours if you're going to vote in this poll.

Shins are great though.

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:59:21 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/19/2013 17:59

While their other album was pretty nice, I really can't tolerate this Natural Snow Buildings album.

That being said, The Shins used to be one of the my personal favorites. i still think they're great, just don't hold them in the same light anymore. Voted Shins

Re: CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Norman Bates — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:52:31 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 06/19/2013 16:52

The Shins.

CLOSED- BNMAT- Chutes Too Narrow def Daughter of Darkness

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:15:18 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/19/2013 16:15

DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS by Natural Snow Buildings (captain: ThePoe)

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Daughter Of Darkness by Natural Snow Buildings

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Year Released: 2009

VS

CHUTES TOO NARROW by The Shins (captain: Pearljammer13)

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Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins

Year Released: 2003