Best Ever Albums

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

Anonymous — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 17:19:14 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 11/30/2014 22:19

19loveless91 wrote:

And speaking of songs that people don't generally talk about:

Link

This might be my favourite Beatles song. It might be one of the quietest songs I've ever heard. Entrancing

One of my favourite Beatles songs too and one of the reasons The White Album is so much better than every other Beatles albums for me. Though kyooo wins in the quiet department (and other things besides that):

Link

Gonna scour this thread for recs now that it's over, wasn't keeping up with it as it went on. Wish it coulda gone on for longer, really. Who is next?

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Sun, 30 Nov 2014 15:36:18 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/30/2014 20:36

Well I'm ending this in a fairly boring way. Not many new listens today.
First I reaffirmed my love for the following two

Bitter Tea by The Fiery Furnaces
Not the Fiery Furnaces album people will talk about, but it's certainly got the most interesting sound on it from all. The use of backmasking throughout, the noisy snyths, and some moments of probably most straightforward songwriting (melodic! with a structure!) you'll hear from the band. Benton Harbor Blues (the 7 minute version) is just fantastic.

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Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
Another case where the ability to create a compelling soundscape precedes the actual songwriting. From their vocal harmonies, to the way their instruments sound - I can't explain it, just listen to the drums throughout this and Yellow House, or the guitar line in Ready Able or While You Wait for the Others, like these sounds are reaching you from another time and place, but instead of sounding unnatural it just adds to the depth of the sound texture sorry that sounds retarded; or the way they manage to bring together a whole spectre of sounds, while still sounding incredibly mellow - even in more dynamic, "explosive" moments. That's the thing that always amazed me most with Grizzly Bear (this album and Yellow House at least). Compared to Yellow House, this is perhaps still a touch more reliant on the strength of its individual songs, and consequently a bit more uneven, but it's still absolutely fantastic.

Then I went on to:

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Too Bright by Perfume Genius
Sorry, Squish, can't share the enthusiasm :/

Metamodern Sounds In Country Music by Sturgill Simpson
Certainly not an "ordinary" country album, but I still felt like I should be more into the genre than I am, to really love it. That last track was pretty special though. A very bluesy and psychedelic take on his sound.

The Lemon Of Pink by The Books
This is also amazing guys.

And that's it from me. Now I'll go watch a bunch of depressing movies before I fall asleep.

It's been fun doing this, I felt like a camwhore without an audience. Hope any of you got something out of it at least.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 18:10:07 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/29/2014 23:10

Thanks, latenighttv, The Verlaines are indeed on my list, along with some other bands like Straitjacket Fits. Yesterday I ended up listening to this

Daddy's Highway by The Bats
Not really on the level of The Clean, but as with the rest of the music on this label, a fun jangly (I really really like jangly) experience. (my god what a creepy album cover though)

Anyway weird day today. Mostly just recovering from a night out yesterday, and eating out for my dad's 50th birthday, meaning I listened to zero albums today. Just a few words about the songs that I listened to:

Link

My love for the band isn't anything like what it was when I was 12-13, but I still love to put on BSSM + a select other songs every once in a while. Porcelain is one of my favourite songs on the album, and one of my faves in general. It's such a simple and short song, but so fucking beautiful. Such a contrast to the fucking machismo that a lot of their stuff reeks off. Frusciante's backvocals, the dreamy guitar, the bassline in the background. Anyone else loves this as much as I do?

And speaking of songs that people don't generally talk about:

Link

This might be my favourite Beatles song. It might be one of the quietest songs I've ever heard. Entrancing.

Link

I am slowly making my way through Mercury's Country Blues genre extravaganza thread, but so far this song is the peak for me. Heard it via Ghost World soundtrack first, and got kind of obsessed with it afterwards. Gorgeous.

Link

Thanks to Norman in one of the plug.dj sessions. So much emotion in this. Need to give this whole album a try.

Link

An underappreciated beauty. Broadcast vibes all over this.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

latenighttv — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 09:17:31 GMT

Author: latenighttv

Posted: 11/29/2014 14:17

If you like the Clean you might like the Verlaines (first two albums are pretty solid). So much great stuff on the Flying Nun label, though - still exploring it myself.
Serious international flavour to this log! Actually just added your Yugoslav chart to faves - gonna have to try out a band or two on youtube and see what happens.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 12:15:36 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/28/2014 17:15

Listened to latest Andy Stott album this morning and thought it was pretty stellar, but more about that after a relisten. Now it's time for...

Weird sounds from around the world, brought to you by The Poe Appreciation Society!

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RYM says "Various Artists", but I think this is just Los Chiriguanos. I only know about the band because a song of theirs, the gorgeous Subo, played during the closing credits of Calvary. And this album is what Soulseek had to offer by the group. The rest of the songs here are more upbeat, also more uneven as far as its quality goes, but it's still a recommended listen. Also, it's basically Defago's native music (Peru-Paraguay, same thing basically 😉 )

Link

You should also listen to El Polen, only listened to this one song today, but the whole album is great.

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Hisou (Pathétique) by Fushitsusha
Listening to this again. Some of the weirdest and also best guitar work I've heard, songs with a sort of a structure, but played as if its members were all shitfaced... And the last track is just pure sonic assault, I can't imagine being in a live show of this and not coming out deaf. Awesome.

15 minutes of the last track to go, still thinking about what to listen next. I've got a few more 2014 albums lined up, but thinking I should go with something else... Maybe some Dunedin sound, The Clean sounded awesome the other day. Suggestions?

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 19:39:28 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/28/2014 00:39

Silver wrote:

Agree with you on how amazing Inside Out is, easily my favorite on TWMS. Just an immaculate sounding track, the slick production really took that one to another level. It's still up in the air for me whether Kill the Moonlight or Transference is my favorite by them though.

As for Iceage, I can understand why you wouldn't like Elias' vocals, but they're one of my favorite parts of the album. Maybe it's just an acquired taste or maybe it's just a polarizing thing, but to me they're so visceral and ear-catching. I love all the drunken inflections, I think it just goes to highlight the kind of desperate, fragmented nature of the album.

Anyways, since you're doing 2014 today may I rec one of these beauties?

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Palace Of Wind by Battle Trance

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Atomos by A Winged Victory For The Sullen

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Sea Island by Loscil

I did kinda think that I would eventually get used of the vocals, but this has been my third listen and it just keeps getting more and more irritating. Sigh, maybe someday.

Thanks for the recs, though it'll have to wait until tomorrow at least. I'm probably just gonna attempt to watch a movie now before sleeping.

Also, the Kleemar gig was pretty great, I think his music is easily the best I've heard of Slovenian electronic music, it's just a shame that he doesn't have a full length release yet.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 17:26:14 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 11/27/2014 22:26

Agree with you on how amazing Inside Out is, easily my favorite on TWMS. Just an immaculate sounding track, the slick production really took that one to another level. It's still up in the air for me whether Kill the Moonlight or Transference is my favorite by them though.

As for Iceage, I can understand why you wouldn't like Elias' vocals, but they're one of my favorite parts of the album. Maybe it's just an acquired taste or maybe it's just a polarizing thing, but to me they're so visceral and ear-catching. I love all the drunken inflections, I think it just goes to highlight the kind of desperate, fragmented nature of the album.

Anyways, since you're doing 2014 today may I rec one of these beauties?

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Palace Of Wind by Battle Trance

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Atomos by A Winged Victory For The Sullen

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Sea Island by Loscil

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 16:12:08 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/27/2014 21:12

Day started with

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Pom Pom by Ariel Pink
Sigh, I really don't know what to make of Ariel Pink. Like, do you take him seriously? Isn't he getting a bit tiring with his super ironic schtick? I always liked his sound though, so it's an enjoyable listen regardless...

After listening to Ga x5 for yet another time, giving it a rating of 85/100, but again having nothing substantial to say about other than it's just a perfect example of what I'm looking in the genre, I decided to make this a 2014 albums day - ie. I decided to give another listen to some of those albums I already heard once or twice but not given a rating yet, because I felt I was not familiar with them yet.

In order of listening:

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Tomorrow's Modern Boxes by Thom Yorke
I don't know, I like this... Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it any different in style to The Eraser or first half of King of Limbs or the Atoms for Peace album? No, it actually treads in a very similar territory. Considering his music progression throughout the years with Radiohead, you'd deem it disappointing to see him "stagnate" in this area of glitchy IDM-ish electronica, but i don't know. I just dig it, I dig the mood, I dig the basses, the bit of melodicism that's still around, even on those tracks that are more focused on the beats and sounds. I dig his vocals, still. Which as you will see is kind of important for me.
+75/100

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Meshes Of Voice by Susanna / Jenny Hval
I didn't really care for this the first time around, and it was mostly because of what I called irritating vocals. Didn't start any better this time around. Also, while I like the idea of the third track, I Have Walked This Body, I could only think about how it's trying to be "edgy" without much of a result. Dunno... Unfortunately, I can't say much about the tracks after that, cause I took an involuntary afternoon nap. Woke up at the last couple of tracks, the last one is actually pretty great, with a good vocal interplay. Um... Will give it another listen soon.

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Plowing Into The Field Of Love by Iceage
An even more obvious case. I really, really dislike the vocals here. And I'm annoyed that this is otherwise filled with excellent songwriting, excellent ideas that seem like an amalgam of the highlights of post punk and punk rock music throughout the years, it's like their London Calling in a way (comparing the album to the more straightforward efforts that came before), but it's ruined by... I don't know, those forced inflictions in the vocals, like he was constantly drunk and not even trying. One RYM commenter called it "like if Nick Cave was shit", and I agree with that. And even more annoyingly, though maybe it's just me, it's as if this was mixed the way to put the vocals in the forefront.
70/100 (which sounds good, but it's just frustrating)

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Run The Jewels 2 by Run The Jewels
No rating, still. I'm Slovenian and can't follow what they're saying half the time. I did kinda feel that this is much more braggadocio than before (on the first album), but this is not really a value judgement. Production is great, as always, but maybe not quite on par with other El-P projects I've heard so far.

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Seeds by TV On The Radio
I liked the first 4 or 5 tracks, then it just got a bit... I don't know.. Vanilla? Like I always dug their rhythm section and the textures they managed to create and this isn't anything extraordinary in either department. It's also even more "poppy" than most of their other albums, but again this is not exactly saying it's bad - I thought the same of Nine Types of Light and it's probably my favourite album of theirs, it's just that it doesn't work well enough. Still a nice album though, and with a handful of songs that I find to be pretty great.
70/100

Off to see this guy live now 😉

Link

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 16:38:13 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/26/2014 21:38

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They Want My Soul by Spoon
Jeeeesus how good is Inside Out? Thoughts on the album later, need to give this beast another listen or two. Loving it so far though.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 11:13:30 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/26/2014 16:13

Phew, through with the big assignment of the week, now I can relax my asshole a little bit and focus on important stuff like this ULL.

Let's update my previous entries a bit

19loveless91 wrote:

.

Relistened to Vehicle (great album), and gave yet another listen to Real Estate (s/t).

I forgot to mention that I also listened to The Clean's EP, Boodle Boodle Boodle, which was fun, but it didn't reach the level of Vehicle. I think just because of the guitar work.

Quote:

Also:

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Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls

Thanks for the rec, Skinny, it was fun enough, and in the realm of what I was looking for at the time. Maybe lacking a bit on a song to song basis, I would need a standout or two, something really catchy, or maybe like what Real Estate have going for them, which is just this incredible way their sound "embodies" a certain mood - it's like nostalgia of long gone summer days, and without needing the lyrics to paint that picture. This however was just an overall nice record, with a nice sound, but nothing that would elevate it above that. Above nice that is.

Quote:

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Silur by Tarwater
(Norman's plug.dj rec)

Sweet album, I don't really get why RYM lists is at post-rock though. Have no other comments on it apart that I like its atmosphere (again). See it similar to what I mentioned above for TRUS! and their connection to Pram. Or maybe closer to their compatriots The Notwist 🤔

Quote:

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Gimme Fiction by Spoon

I guess I was too busy with my assignment, because I don't remember much from it. It was a nice enough listen, but as Ga Ga Ga... followed, I immediately forgot about the songs on this album, and just started thinking about how great Ga Ga Ga... is.

I also listened to a few other AnCo songs beyond Sung Tongs . Maybe my favourite band at this moment. I wish I had the knowledge and energy to do a write-up of sorts about them.

Now listening to

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Spokojnie by Kult
Preferred Posluchaj to do ciebie (1987), but this is a good band. Reminds me of some of the yugoslav new wave bands from early 1980s, I like the way they kind of mix post punk aesthetics with a richer instrumentation (eg. a brass section). Anybody have a polish band rec apart from this and Siekiera?

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 01:08:55 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/26/2014 06:08

7 AM

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Sung Tongs by Animal Collective
Is there a better early morning album? Adore this band.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

Norman Bates — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 15:03:29 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 11/25/2014 20:03

19loveless91 wrote:

Cheers, I'll give it a listen tomorrow.

In the meantime I figured that there should be a Dunedin band that has what I was looking for

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Vehicle by The Clean
And this album is pretty damn great, guitar work is just endlessly creative. A joy to listen to.

Yep! And Hamish Kilgour jas released his... first solo LP this year! More than 20 years after The Clean. And a good LP it is too, lo-fi as hell though, you need to like lo-fi.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 14:31:37 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/25/2014 19:31

Here's a list of things I managed to listen today. Since I don't have much time now, I will write something about these albums tomorrow. Maybe.

Relistened to Vehicle (great album), and gave yet another listen to Real Estate (s/t).
Also:

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Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls

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Silur by Tarwater
(Norman's plug.dj rec)

And right now listening to

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Gimme Fiction by Spoon
Will give another listen to Ga Ga Ga... later... And go for their newest tomorrow.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 22:31:38 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 11/25/2014 03:31

Alt-J rarely do anything interesting with their music but I found This All Yours to be vastly superior to their debut (not that that says much).

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

meruizh — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 20:24:08 GMT

Author: meruizh

Posted: 11/25/2014 01:24

19loveless91 wrote:

Not sure what Pitchfork's problem with these guys is, in both reviews they mention how they're regarded by some as "new Radiohead" (something which apparently one person once said something about, and then the rest media starting talking about it for whatever reason), but it's not reason to throw a fit over...

Totally agree, but you know it's Pitchfork, at times their reviews make no sense. Alt-J makes pleasant music. I really enjoy it. "This is All Yours" is not as good as their debut, but it still is a pretty good album.

Great log

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 17:40:06 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/24/2014 22:40

Skinny wrote:

I thoroughly enjoyed Veronica Falls' Waiting for Something to Happen from last year, it's nice and jangly. Also liking this so far. Hope you enjoy pom pom whenever you get around to it - in my top three albums of the year.

Cheers, I'll give it a listen tomorrow.

In the meantime I figured that there should be a Dunedin band that has what I was looking for

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Vehicle by The Clean
And this album is pretty damn great, guitar work is just endlessly creative. A joy to listen to.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

Skinny — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 16:58:42 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 11/24/2014 21:58

I thoroughly enjoyed Veronica Falls' Waiting for Something to Happen from last year, it's nice and jangly. Also liking this so far. Hope you enjoy pom pom whenever you get around to it - in my top three albums of the year.

Re: BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 16:31:57 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/24/2014 21:31

Well I mostly just chilled to this

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Real Estate by Real Estate
...and I think I'll continue to do so... Real Estate just make me want to melt. Jangly, lo-fi, occasionally murky but mostly just like a warm summer breeze. Days might be my favourite album of theirs, but I actually prefer the sound here...

I also started, then stopped The Go Betweens' 16 Lovers Lane. Not because it would be bad, but because I was looking for something more.. jangly. If you have something to recommend here, I'd love to hear it.

Oh I also watched Enemy which is a pretty damn solid movie. Psych thriller or something like that.

BEA ULL: 19loveless91

19loveless91 — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 11:34:31 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 11/24/2014 16:34

Hi guys. I decided that it's my turn to do this now, and even though it's shaping up to be a busy week for me, I'm gonna try to make this as busy as possible.

My listening habits have been a bit out of sorts this year, apart from listening to new releases on a fairly regular basis, I haven't had a clear direction and have just been listening to music randomly. My post-hardcore binge earlier in the year ended abruptly, my attempts of getting into classic blues and country ended before they properly started, couldn't really follow any of the recent tournaments either, even though I wanted to use this opportunity to get more into the classic hip hop, which I honestly don't know much about.

Anyway, if there's anything that you would love to recommend to me, particularly within the above mentioned genres, please go ahead. Other recommendations obviously welcome as well, but don't throw a fit if I don't end up listening to it, my wishlist is long enough as it is.

OK here we go, most of this is gonna be incoherent as fuck, but what can I do, I'm Slovenian.

---

Anyway, woke up late today again. Feeling really light-headed lately, what's up with that. Needed something calm, nice and boring, and gave this another go.

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This Is All Yours by ∆ (alt-j)
Not sure what Pitchfork's problem with these guys is, in both reviews they mention how they're regarded by some as "new Radiohead" (something which apparently one person once said something about, and then the rest media starting talking about it for whatever reason), but it's not reason to throw a fit over...
This is Yours is not as good as the debut, it's also less immediate, not really for expense of being cohesive, because it is not... But it still works. There's a couple of really serene, chilled out tracks on here, just taking their time to build the sound slowly, before entering any sort of melody or hooks. Mostly it works well, Arrival in Nara is an example of that.
While I get that some hate the singer's voice, I for one find myself on the opposite end, and I especially like the moment when he's joined by a few others in Warm Foothills - album's best song by far in my opinion. Love how the vocals interweave here.
I also really like the slightly Black Keys-ish Left Hand Free, even if it feels like a bit out of place on the album.
A bit of an anticlimactic closer, but whatever.

BEA type rating:
75/100

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First Step by TRUS!
Had no idea what to listen next and decided to put this on again. I've been whoring them out on plug.dj for the unfortunate bystanders, but I do really recommend these guys. A fairly new Slovenian band, only with this (short) album + one half of a compilation/collaboration with another artist, both released last year, and they play this slightly noisy mix of electronica and alternative rock. I often get reminded of Pram (and with that consequently of Stereolab), while maybe not the best comparison, they do achieve that similar mood.

2:00 - 3:00 PM

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Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon
Lunch time, I'm in need of some easy listening, catchy indie rock. Spoon have a new album out this year, and I want to listen to it based on solid reviews, but I decided to go through their back catalogue first - I only listened to Kill the Moonlight before, and I don't have much of a recollection from it anymore, apart from knowing that I "sort of liked it" and gave it a pretty solid rating.

Well, Ga Ga Ga etc. was an extremely pleasant listen. Groundbreaking? No, but a well-produced, catchy, instrumentally rich, energetic enough, just a really damn solid album. Maybe one or two misfires at most, funny enough, one song I didn't seem to care for at all was The Underdog, which loads of people seem to like. Oh well.

No rating yet, but this is something I will listen to in the coming days for sure, and it's made me excited for the rest of their discography, including the latest album.

3:30PM =>

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Mature Themes by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Similar to the Spoon album, the main reason I'm listening to this is, because I intend to give his latest effort a go, and I haven't even heard this yet (despite liking Before Today quite a bit).

Well, this treads on a very fine line between fun and downright annoying, but I think it still manages to work. Like, I have no idea what to make of Schnitzel Boogie or Symphony of the Nymph, but there you go. I suppose it's even weirder that an album like this closes with the two songs that it does. After what felt like an hour long joke, an exercise in kitsch and irony that I wasn't sure I was into at all, we first get served with this astonishing, dreamy and kind of spacey 7-minute Nostradamus & Me, and another brilliant track, a soulful and seemingly straightforward, Baby. Or is this still just the same exercise in irony? I don't know. But I loved it.

No rating until a relisten, I imagine it'll be a positive one though.

---
Taking a break now, will return later in the evening I guess...