Best Ever Albums

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Jasonconfused — Mon, 1 Jul 2013 17:33:35 GMT

Author: Jasonconfused

Posted: 07/01/2013 21:33

Lol I saw this on vinyl at Amoeba yesterday. I felt strange seeing a relatively unknown album on vinyl and knowing that I very well could have been the only person in the store that had heard it. It was a cool feeling. If nothing else, I'm glad I got that out of this album.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 13:49:37 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/30/2013 17:49

Needs moar reverb.

Actually I was pretty disappointed, I got the sound he was going for but the actual songs felt a little weak and I think he should have 'filled' the production more (minimalism is only okay if the handful of elements that are there are particularly strong).

Definitely strongest in the middle (the run from tracks 5-10 specifically) with 'Like A Baby' probably my favourite from the album. The bookends really let the album down though.

Overall I guess I'd give it 55/100 right now but this is all based on a first listen. I'll post back tomorrow with thoughts from a second earful.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

videoheadcleaner — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 20:18:39 GMT

Author: videoheadcleaner

Posted: 06/30/2013 00:18

Not bad at all. I have listened to a lot this year already so it hasn't made it into my 100 yet. As mentioned before, very Prince-esque. Enjoyable but not anything that is jumping out at me.

Ranked between iamwhoami's bounty and New Order's Lost Sirens (just out of the 100).

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 11:09:58 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/29/2013 15:09

Well, well; It was a pleasant listen overall (These are the times that more than any other time I can take 80's cheesiness); the vocals seemed aimed at personal honest delivery, but at times it just seemed too much aimed. About the lyrics I can say that approach is good, execution not that much. but Like lethal I'm also a fan of early house keyboard sound so that was not out of my comfort zone and the combination of that (which for me is essentially a happy sound) with gloomy content seemed a little weird at first but in the middle section it worked somehow creating some memorable moments (that is to say when I got used to it after second track, which in itself means that I should listen to the album again) but unfortunately there came this combo of shitty songs at the end which seemed all forced and superficial and filler-like. Why one should do that? Just cut/trim the crap/fat already.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Norman Bates — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 07:32:38 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 06/29/2013 11:32

itsit wrote:

On a second listen, yeah definitely lovin' this album apart from "It's Real"

Exactly the same. Lovely record, that one track is really too much though, probably the price to pay for trying something like that, the man's bound to be off-limits at least once, it's so risky. Can't blame him.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

alelsupreme — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 07:26:26 GMT

Author: alelsupreme

Posted: 06/29/2013 11:26

On a second listen, yeah definitely lovin' this album apart from "It's Real"

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

videoheadcleaner — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 00:54:32 GMT

Author: videoheadcleaner

Posted: 06/29/2013 04:54

Listening now.

First track was recorded in 1987 right?

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

GeevyDallas — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 21:18:14 GMT

Author: GeevyDallas

Posted: 06/28/2013 01:18

tekin wrote:

Will listen to this tomorrow. We still have time, right?

Yeah, a new thread won't be posted until Monday, so you still have loads of time.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 18:38:03 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/27/2013 22:38

Will listen to this tomorrow. We still have time, right?

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

EyeKanFly — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 17:39:17 GMT

Author: EyeKanFly

Posted: 06/27/2013 21:39

I wrote a bunch down while I was listening, so here's what I have, kind of a stream of consciousness, but more concise. Overall review's at the bottom.

Quote:

1. She Looks Like You
⁃ Okay so the sound of this music is pretty much exactly what I expected from the album artwork. Not digging it much, but the singer is very good, I just wish the music behind it was more interesting.
2. Other Life
⁃ Similar stuff, this song is more interesting, but not by much.
3. Lonely Woman
⁃ Okay, now this song is actually interesting. Though the backing music is still kind of boring, it's a pretty neat 80s throwback, and his voice is very pleasant to listen to.
4. More Than I Love Myself
⁃ This song is by far the most interesting so far. While the first 3 were between "eh" and "meh", this song is actually good. The lyrics are alright too. I enjoyed that.
5. Like a Baby
⁃ This one reminds me of Prince, I'm surprised I haven't made that connection yet (especially with the album cover). Also, maybe I'm not listening to all the lyrics correctly, but "Just like a baby, I want to know you inside and out"...um...
6. You Changed Me
⁃ Not much new to say here, more of the same. It gets more interesting by the end though.
7. We Used to Live in a Dream
⁃ This one reminds me of a soft Wham! song (again, don't know why I'm surprised).
8. Bygone Summer
⁃ This is getting boring.
9. Change Your Mind
⁃ This one's a little different, there's a synthy guitar sound (not really sure what that is actually) in the middle, which sounds nice.
10. Look at Me
⁃ This may sound completely stupid and irrelevant, but Savage reminds me a bit of Frank Ocean...except less good...and less interesting...but still...gay.
11. It's Real
⁃ I'm ready to be done with this now.
12. Chin Chin
⁃ A slightly upbeat end to the album, still just as non-interesting as the majority of the album though. This song is really creeping me out.
Overall consensus: My impression was "meh". I was getting a kind of weird pedo vibe from parts of the album, but maybe I was just interpreting the lyrics wrong or just downright tuning in and out and hearing them incorrectly. Parts of it were very sweet ("She Looks Like You", "Other Life"), but parts were downright creepy ("Chin Chin" and "Like a Baby"). With the exception of "More Than I Love Myself", were I to hear any of these songs on the radio, I'd change the station.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

junodog4 — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 17:37:17 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 06/27/2013 21:37

My first listen, I kept thinking it was ironic, so I gave it more credit.

My second listen, I thought it was sincere and cheesy, so I gave it less credit.

Now I don't know. I still think it's sincere, but I don't see it solely as a 80s soft-rock rehash. It seems to have more substance than that.

I hope all the recommendations are this head-scratching. 🤔

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 10:00:43 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/27/2013 14:00

Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and so far it has held up to repeated listens. Definitely hear the Phil-Collins-in-ballad-mode vibe, especially on the first half of the record, but for some reason it works, despite the fact I fucking hate Phil Collins. I like the minimalist, almost cheap sounding production, it suits the sincerity of his voice and lyrics. 'More Than I Love Myself' has this great early house vibe (those uplifting keyboard flourishes) mixed with a lovely new wave sensibility. I dunno, I get a proper disco feel at times (especially on 'Change Your Mind', which reminds me very much of Edwyn Collins' lo-fi white boy reappropriation of the genre), despite the record clearly not being disco. And it's just fun enough to offset the sense of melancholy that pervades throughout, especially in the lyrics. There are a couple of times when I don't think the songs deviate enough from each other ('We Used To Live In A Dream' and 'Bygone Summer' are essentially the same song, and to have them sit together on the record just seems like a strange decision), but on the whole it's an experiment that really works. I imagine this will end up pretty high on my end of year chart come the 1st January, and deservedly so. A great recommendation Hayden, and a brilliant start to what will hopefully be a really fun little book club type thing. Very impressed.

85/100

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

ShaneSpear — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 13:15:21 GMT

Author: ShaneSpear

Posted: 06/26/2013 17:15

ppnw wrote:

I think #ShaneSpear will like this one..

I did! 😎

I'll have to listen to it again before I properly score it though.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

meccalecca — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 12:42:34 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 06/26/2013 16:42

Hayden wrote:

I know BEA would have mixed reviews about this album.. but it wasn't very well known and I thought that was what this group was about 😄

For those who did like it, I'm glad I could give a rec.

My personal favourite off the records is "She Looks Like You".

Sorry DLGGLD for not making a separate thread... I blanked out on that :|

Hayden, Thanks for sharing this pick. As I mentioned earlier, I don't totally dig the record, but upon second listen I definitely enjoyed it more than my earlier assessment. I don't see myself returning to this record much, but I definitely appreciate you sharing something that I would have otherwise never heard.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

GeevyDallas — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 09:59:48 GMT

Author: GeevyDallas

Posted: 06/26/2013 13:59

Hayden wrote:

It's cool man, really great rec. Definitely gonna make my top 20/30 of the year.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 09:22:17 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/26/2013 13:22

If people are reacting negatively to this, I think I’m gonna have a bad time listening to most everyone else’s recommendations. I might not remember it at the end of the decade, but it’s great now. At first I hoped it was sung by Michael McDonald instead of Dean Wareham, but it fits after a bit; You Changed Me even reminds me of Roy Orbison. The music reminds me of what Ariel Pink is doing, which I also dig, but without the kind of overtly cheesy, shock factor lyrics. I think #ShaneSpear will like this one. Thanks, Hayden.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Hayden — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 08:51:59 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 06/26/2013 12:51

I know BEA would have mixed reviews about this album.. but it wasn't very well known and I thought that was what this group was about 😄

For those who did like it, I'm glad I could give a rec.

My personal favourite off the records is "She Looks Like You".

Sorry DLGGLD for not making a separate thread... I blanked out on that 😐

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Norman Bates — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 04:44:24 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 06/26/2013 08:44

OK.

1. "Time After Time, Mr Lawrence". Sounds like a mix between Cyndi Lauper and the Furyo OST. Somehow it works. Everybody'd be raving about it if it had been released in 1983. Good opener.

2. "Nighshift" feel about this, without any trace of soul.

3. Someone's been listening to Prince.

4. Someone's been listening to DeBarge. Strange how there seems to be quite a lot of this these days: artists trying hard to sound soft-soul pop or something, without absolutely any clue how to sound soul except for stripped down gimmicks they picked from this or that record. Not that I mind it, but is there a trend here?

5. By this time it's really beginning to sound samey. Haven't yet chosen if it's a good thing, as in: "this record really has a distinctive sound and works a limited of obsessions, but deep", or a bad one, as in: "effing guy has just written the one song and it's all slight variations afterwards". Anyway, by track 5, the best track is still track 1.

6. Slight change of tone here, was I being unfair? Post-modern "Blue Moon" shows interest in doo-wop.

I know that by this time I'm sounding like I despise the record or something. Not at all, they're just first-draft reflexions, it's a nice record, really. References there are, but on the whole it does sound personal.

7. Either I got an awful copy of the record, or it's very very lo-fily produced, this one. Moving on to some early EBTG/Beautiful South mood. Reminds me of "Have You Ever Been Away" on their s/t. The sound's really awful, probably my copy though, would sound terribly out of place in the overall production otherwise. Benefit of the doubt.

8. Prince meets Erasure meets early Baby Bird meets Denim ca. Denim On Ice. Works.

9. Bontempi surf-bossa? Why do I feel Edwyn Collins likes this?

10. That's where I get off. I don't need a Simply Red revival.

Last two tracks sometime later, I must go about the housekeeping. So far, I'd give 70/100, meaning "good/interesting" by my book. Nice rec, I'll come back to it, the désuet feel is actually nice and nicely undertaken, and the second half shows some welcome variation, however hit/miss it might be.

EDIT: closing track's very good.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 17:06:54 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/25/2013 21:06

I really enjoyed it. A nice and easy listen with a cool voice.

Re: 2013 ALC #1: Sean Nicholas Savage - Other Life

MrFrogger — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 16:31:42 GMT

Author: MrFrogger

Posted: 06/25/2013 20:31

Listening now, feeling the bad vibes that other users have already pointed out, but i'll power through.