Best Ever Albums

Re: SLP #1

RoundTheBend — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 23:52:24 GMT

Author: RoundTheBend

Posted: 08/11/2016 03:52

Can you tell us more why you picked these tracks and what you like about them?

Re-listened to this and still have an issue with the neoclassical metal sound (Beard Fish, Pain of Salvation, Symphony X). Can you tell me more about what you like about that vocal style/musical style? Was it an acquired taste for you? Are you more interested in the lyrical content? I feel the focus is on the words... meaning the words were written and then the music (of course I'm wrong, but that's how I feel).

I already voted on my favorite, but don't remember what I originally thought. This time around it was easily 3rd Line Butterfly. The bass/synth work was fantastic and felt the vocals fit the music really well. It felt like a 7/8 or odd time signature... anyone better at the musics know?

My next favorite was Dax Riggs. His vocals melted into the music so very well. I got a small Velvet Underground feel from it too and not just with the tamborine, but the bass line and overall "grooviness" of it. Vocally, this was the most impressive to me. Just perfect vocals. If it was a whole album of that style of vocals though... there'd need to be something else to keep me interested.

Then Brooke Waggoner. Although simple, I felt the piano part was really expressive... funny how some things come off formulaic and others come off as passionate. Curious what causes that... is it the passion of the playing, the listener's interpretation... dunno but that's something about music that I love (the control of the simple). I liked how the vocals were important, but also melted into the music well.

Then the Ulver track. Lyrically, it probably was what I immediately related to. I like that melodic, yet driving bass line. Somehow I feel like this should have been limited to one verse - somehow that'd be more hard hitting. I do like the trumpet and the ending and maybe one verse wouldn't have built that up much. I suppose the droning message is the point.

The Devin Townsend Project was borderline interesting with the synth and what sounded like a fret-less guitar, but could have just been an effect. Reminded me a bit of Pink Floyd's latest album. Overall it sounded a bit too new-age like for me.

Re: SLP #1

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 15:04:48 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 06/19/2016 19:04

alelsupreme wrote:

Sorry to be bringing back such an old thread but I'm only now getting through these and I don't want to leave them uncommented.

thank you for digging these up so I don't have to 😁

Re: SLP #1

alelsupreme — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 13:12:16 GMT

Author: alelsupreme

Posted: 06/19/2016 17:12

Sorry to be bringing back such an old thread but I'm only now getting through these and I don't want to leave them uncommented.

I figured I'd address the proggier songs (Beardfish, Symphony X, POS [Aptly named :V]) on here as a block as I uniformly dislike them all. Beardfish I will admit, had some pretty engaging instrumentation, even if I was a bit confused as to what exactly the lyrics were on about, and Symphony even got me a little hooked near the end. However, they tended to share a certain sort of style (obviously not all the same), that sort of symphonic, proggish approach to metal which I really dislike, especially with regards to the vocals (That sort of... soaring style of singing just goes right through me like fucking bleach, can't stand it). I suppose in a sense one could maybe put the Devin Townshend track under this label, but I didn't mind that one so much - maybe I would of if he had sang ;).

With regards to the other songs, I was on the whole pleasantly surprised (I remembered not liking this playlist much at all first time I listened to it). Highlights were definitely "You Were Born To Be My Gallows", very Martyn-esque as others have already remarked, and the 3rd Line Butterfly track, intriguing indie rock which incorporated some rather psychedelic elements really well. "Splitting of Yourself In Two" was a very pretty piece, and given what little I know of Ulver I didn't expect this sort of brooding, dark lugubrious rock.

Overall, a fairly mixed playlist. Given it was intended as a selection of songs rather than a mix, I can't really give it any flack for its lack of flow.

Re: SLP #1

benpaco — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 18:27:04 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 04/28/2016 22:27

So I've done an awful job at commenting on these so welcome back to the front page, SLPs! Hopefully some others who may've missed some/forgotten to say anything will revisit these now (maybe). This was a good list as a whole and I basically had the same Beardfish problem as everyone else and honestly wasn't big on Ulver either but at the same time, 8/10 here were good and I've revisited both The Splitting of Yourself In Two and Heart Baby since listening to it for the first time.

Re: SLP #1

alelsupreme — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 18:51:02 GMT

Author: alelsupreme

Posted: 03/30/2016 22:51

dividesbyzero wrote:

Now let's go see if Luke knows what he's doing...I see Meatloaf so I'm gonna suggest "no"

Re: SLP #1

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 17:06:40 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/30/2016 21:06

I've listened to this a couple of times so far and gotta say despite a few moments that aren't particularly to my liking (and despite the fact that there's no specific listening order which to be fair doesn't pertain to the quality of song selection but just represents something of a mixtape philosophy dissonance) this was a fantastic selection overall.

Will first address the Symphony X in the room. Honestly not as grating as I expected given everyone else's responses here. Hardly my jam but it was I just perceived it as too one-dimensionally I dunno "glittery" I guess? Even when I can't take prog seriously I can sometimes derive a certain degree of cartoonish fun from it, but this didn't pain me so much as it just left me cold (although there was one momentary chord progression that I dug at one point... might listen again just to figure out where that was...) Pain of Salvation was a bit better, but heh sorry Gow you already know my thoughts on that band, although I did respond to this slightly better than I did the first time you had me listen to them. Do they have any songs that are basically just the exquisite staccato strings of "Fandango" but without layers upon layers of backing instrumentation and melodramatic vocals 🤣

Shockingly I actually quite enjoyed the Beardfish track. The soaring vocals and soloing didn't do too much for me but I felt like there was a pretty tightly crafted ebb & flow between a few different melodic progressions and minor tempo differences that didn't feel too overly exaggerated and didn't seem to be drawing too much attention to themselves. Still had the excess that I tend to detest in a lot of prog but I felt here it just kinda existed for its own sake rather to make a "grand statement" or Art™. Also Gowi I think I like the other tracks you played in dubtrack even more. Huh. Go figure.

The rest (sans the Devin Townsend bit which I can't even remember despite having heard it at least 3 times) was varying degrees of stellar. I haven't listened to too much not-black-metal Ulver (although I've been meaning to despite being endlessly bored with Perdition City), and I think this gives me a good feeling about their art-rock endeavors.

3rd Line Butterfly song was very good, although I can't say I enjoyed it as much as the two you showed me in skype, especially the very Jefferson Airplane-esque one. Still I'll be copping this LP for sure.

The Anna von Hausswolff track was a wonderful piece of droning-backdrop art-pop evoking certain traits of Zola Jesus and Bat For Lashes, whilst feeling like an imitation of neither. Not sure how this style would hold up over the course of an album but there was enough sonic development within a relatively limited palette to make for a lovely 3 minutes here.

Dax Riggs track was also great. Dude has an ear for melody. Those layered vocals + falsetto + guitar plucking + key change moments were true ear candy. Like stripped down Jose Gonzales but better

Snow Ghosts track definitely fit with the art-pop/art-rock vibes of the Anna von Hausswolff track, but with notably more energy by way of 2000s indie rock progressions and 90s UK electronica production techniques. Not my favorite cut here per se but enjoyable nonetheless.

And of course I'm already familiar with Brooke Waggoner (thanks to Gowi of course) so I'll just restate that she can throw down some totally unashamed hyper-melodic chamber folk ballads that manage to not feel overtly saccharine or faux-emotional. The way the very minimal piano here contrasted the rest of the backing instrumentation and exactly mirrored the evenly paced vocals gave the whole thing a kind of children's lullaby vibe, and I love lullabies, but also the very personal lyrics w/ slightly oblique imagery transforms that such that it feels like she's singing that lullaby to herself; it's stylistically evocative of Laura Marling (and maybe to a lesser extent Cat Power?) but ultimately feels very personal and certainly more genuinely "intimate" with its fairly lush instrumentation than a great many solo guitar + "pretty" voice affairs of the last decade that have struck me as remarkably shallow for all their supposed confessionalism. Stripped-down performance and cookie-cutter "expressive" lyrics does not emotive intimacy make, and Waggoner seems to get that. In any case it makes for a very pleasant listen.

Cheers Gowi. Solid mix. Now let's go see if Luke knows what he's doing... I see Meatloaf so I'm gonna suggest "no"

Re: SLP #1

Grzywa — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 03:55:32 GMT

Author: Grzywa

Posted: 03/29/2016 07:55

Gowi wrote:

Did any songs really make you note to dig through a discography?

I just got down to listening to 3rd Line Butterfly's Dreamtalk and it sounds cool all the way through. Definitely an album that deserves more warm feelings here. I'm planning to explore them more.

Re: SLP #1

SquishypuffDave — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 03:24:53 GMT

Author: SquishypuffDave

Posted: 03/26/2016 07:24

Dreamtalk is a bloody good album. Probably going to listen to more 3rd Line Butterfly material.

Re: SLP #1

mickilennial — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 22:11:46 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 03/26/2016 02:11

I’m really glad everyone is listening with an open mind here. It makes me happy that some nice random cuts I threw together came to an enjoyable experience. I expected Symphony X to not be to many folks liking but elaborating this for a spell— anybody want to go into detail about the songs they came out with the strongest experiences for? Did any songs really make you note to dig through a discography? Stuff like that. I know Keith said something about a Motorpsycho connection and I think that was really cool that my playlist allowed that to happen.

Re: SLP #1

Grzywa — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 01:40:11 GMT

Author: Grzywa

Posted: 03/23/2016 05:40

Three tracks that really caught my attention were:

In a Dream by 3rd Line Butterfly
Daughter / Whore by Beardfish
You Were Born To Be My Gallows by Dax Riggs,

The first two tracks are progressive, in a positive sense of the word, I mean they develop in their own interesting ways (Bearddfish reminded me remotely of The Mars Volta). I also enjoyed the Dax Riggs song; it could well fit as one these perverted little songs in Tarantino's movies.

I was surprised that Evocation ended so quickly. I sort of expected it to go on for at least 6-7 minutes.

The majority of tracks failed to disappoint (well, Paradise Lost not really my cup of tea, but whatever, nice to hear such sounds once in a blue moon), I appreciate the variety and I'm gonna keep this little playlist for further listens. Thank you, Gowi.

Re: SLP #1

SquishypuffDave — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 03:42:04 GMT

Author: SquishypuffDave

Posted: 03/22/2016 07:42

Interesting how different styles can be interpreted as honest/dishonest. I think there's something really endearing about prog rock where the musicians have this conviction that what they're creating is a Great Work and that their lyrics are Serious Business. I almost prefer it when a prog band is hit and miss; when they fail to measure up to their goals it's this vulnerable experience where all of their flaws are on display, and when they succeed it's like they're momentarily touching the divine and are washed clean of their musical sins. Could be an interesting point of discussion though: honesty in music.

Re: SLP #1

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 10:07:25 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/21/2016 14:07

[I listened to the playlist on shuffle] I'm going to echo the disdain for the polished theatricality of Beardfish, Pain of Salvation, and Symphony X; the latter sounded like a worse Mannheim Steamroller and the music of PoS sounded like the type of easy listening that Ariel Pink's "Can't Hear My Eyes" intended to be kitschy about, while the lyrics should have realized why singing like Dracula about Dracula was a joke in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Most of the other tracks had really great elements, but nothing particularly stands out as something I would listen to on my own. This is in part because, instrumentally, many of them simply don't hit what I look for in a lot of music, be it timbres pleasing to me, or rhythmic repetition and complexity, or a masterful use of silence, among other things. The other part is that I'm not interpreting any of the emotivity in these songs as mature, or anything I relate to, or maybe even as honest; I think this relates back to none of these musicians knowing how to utilize silences well, or really any of the pitch-bending that might echo their torment, and only using simple song structures in a minor key. There's an outside chance I might check out Anna von Hausswolff's 2015 album. I was not familiar with this period of Ulver, but am a fan of other works of theirs. The positive in all of this is that I enjoyed the technical showcase of the ambient trumpeter in the Ulver cover, and looked him up. It's Mathias Eick, who I've heard in some Jaga Jazzist recordings that I enjoy and am most familiar with through In the Fishtank 10, with Motorpsycho, in which Eick also plays. I never ended up looking into Motorpsycho, but they look promising, so I'll be looking into some Motorpsycho recordings later today. I think this is obvious, but none of this negativity should be interpreted as directed at you (Gowi) or your taste, just this set of songs. You did achieve your purpose of promoting exploration in my case with the Motorpsycho. Thank you.

Re: SLP #1

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 23:53:16 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/21/2016 03:53

Regardless it reminded me of things I've heard before somewhere that aren't my thing. 😜

Re: SLP #1

mickilennial — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 22:52:19 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 03/21/2016 02:52

Quote:

It just really grated, and it calls on a lot of awful bits from random songs I've heard on rock radio stations.

Symphony X doesn't really feel comparable to generic radio rock at all. So... what?

Re: SLP #1

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 22:08:50 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 03/21/2016 02:08

Very romantic (as in like romanticism) and I'm partial to that sort of thing but it does get too bombastic and silly at times. (neither of which are things I'm inherently against)
My fav track is The Splitting Of Yourself in Two by Brooke Waggoner. It took a second but then BAM!

And the rest of the songs (excluding some Ima talk about in a second) I also really really enjoyed. I can't really say anything bad about them (will be listening to them more), but Symphony X's song is probably one of the worst songs I've ever heard. It just really grated, and it calls on a lot of awful bits from random songs I've heard on rock radio stations. Beardfish and Dax Riggs weren't my cuppa either. I personally thought Pain of Salvation's style mostly worked and was enjoyable to me.

People are talking a lot about prog but I can't really recognize prog elements in frankly any of these songs? I don't listen to the genre so I wouldn't really know.

Re: SLP #1

Patman360 — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 19:46:49 GMT

Author: Patman360

Posted: 03/20/2016 23:46

This is pretty much a style of music I don't generally lean towards, had only heard of a handful of these artists and Dax Riggs was the only one who I'd actually listened to an album by before, but I've certainly gained a lot from my first listen here and I'll be returning to this a few more times over the week. Voted for that Beardfish track which I really dug, clear stand out for me, there was nothing there really intolerable though, generally enjoyed it for the most part.

Re: SLP #1

Norman Bates — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 16:58:58 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 03/20/2016 20:58

Definitely musically. In the famous words of Grady to Jack Torrance: "You don't have the belly for it". Or, more accurately maybe, I might be too cynical to stomach such heartfelt ingenuity - which is a shame and my problem more than theirs, certainly.

Re: SLP #1

mickilennial — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 16:54:12 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 03/20/2016 20:54

Quote:

and I'll be perfectly honest and admit I had to skip halfway through that Symphony X track.

I know Skinny’s reservations with progressive metal in line with stuff like that, but can I ask if it was musically or lyrically (or even something else) that made you skip over it? Both? Thanks for listening regardless!

Re: SLP #1

Norman Bates — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 16:50:43 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 03/20/2016 20:50

Really liked Brooke Waggoner, Dax Riggs (a touch of John Martyn in his singing), the Ulver track's good too. Not too strong on Snow Ghosts' lyricist, and I'll be perfectly honest and admit I had to skip halfway through that Symphony X track. Thanks for the playlist Gowi!

Re: SLP #1

mickilennial — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 16:44:53 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 03/20/2016 20:44

It’s interesting considering Beardfish is more of a modern progressive rock band rather than a metal one. I suppose there is some crossover and I’m being pedantic about the classification but there’s a big leap from bands like Symphony X and bands like Beardfish. Heh. But with that aside, I could basically predict what Skinny wouldn’t like on this playlist considering Pain of Salvation’s melodramatic aesthetics, Symphony X’s flowery theatrics, and Beardfish’s lean towards a heavier Symphonic Prog style. I really appreciate those who are and have listened to it thus far though, because it is always cool to give things outside your threshold (prog joke, haha) a listen even though it’s not really your thing.

Loving that you guys are liking South Korea’s (IMO) best indie rock band (with psych/prog elements, but they are executed really blissfully) in 3rd Line Butterfly. I really hope some of these songs are making people look into stuff they haven’t explored before.