Best Ever Albums

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 04:30:30 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/31/2025 08:30

Link

I forgot to post a flavour of the Yazz Ahmed album. Here's the opening track

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 06:00:19 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/30/2025 10:00

A Paradise In The Hold (2025) by Yazz Ahmed

Yazz is a British / Bahraini jazz artist and this is her fourth album. I love bands like Sons Of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming & Ezra Collective & Yazz slots straight into that illustrious company.

I find this album very interesting with its mix of Persian and progressive jazz influences it takes you on an interesting journey through Jazz’s heritage. When listening to this album you certainly get the feel of the Bahrain influence in the music. Not everyone may feel this when listening to this album but it conjures up a portrait of the desert for me.

There’s complexity and real beauty in the music here. It can be hard to keep track of all the instruments on display here but they all play their part in creating a fabulous sound. There’s a great groove to the album as well which carries you along effortlessly.

This feels like the very definition of a fusion album. Arabic, modern jazz and Yazz’s trumpet playing. Phenomenal. Yazz also allows the other musicians on the album to have their share of the limelight.

The album as a whole works really well. A great piece of work

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 14:36:12 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/29/2025 18:36

Johnnyo wrote:

There’s another album that I want to share which is

A Paradise In The Hold (2025) by Yazz Ahmed

Thought that I’d share it pre my write up so you folks are aware of the album that I am thinking of

Sorry for my tardiness in getting this write up done. My wife has just come back from a month away in Japan so been rather preoccupied since her return. Going to start the write up tomorrow.

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 14:31:00 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/23/2025 18:31

There’s another album that I want to share which is

A Paradise In The Hold (2025) by Yazz Ahmed

Thought that I’d share it pre my write up so you folks are aware of the album that I am thinking of

Re: 2025 album listening club

II — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 16:29:23 GMT

Author: II

Posted: 10/22/2025 20:29

Johnnyo wrote:

A Single Flower (2025) by We Lost The Sea

Very much an underlyingly heavy musical theme running through the album and I really like the theme that they are giving us. Reminds me a little of the band Earth, but better.

I have mixed feeling about instrumental or predominantly instrumental albums, but I really like this.

Great guitar riffs abound throughout the album. I can make out middle eastern influence in there which adds to the music for me.

The percussion and drums are done very well. Not overpowering the music but used both sparingly and forcefully in equal measure depending on what is required to enhance the track.

This is going on my Wishlist and thanks for sharing II. A thoroughly engaging listen

You're welcome ➡ and thank you for listening to the album �'� II'm glad you've found it interesting 😎

II've listened to Earth very little a long while ago and II guess they're way more experimental than the average post-rock. II'll consider listening to some of their material in the future.

We Lost The Sea are more laid-back and semi-simple melodically, therefore II find them to be one of the most accessible post-rock bands II've ever listened to.

They definitely went heavy on A Single Flower, since some of the tracks can be even considered to be of the post-metal genre rather than post-rock, so we can feel they went with more doomy and macabre themes for this album, and it can be seen in the track titles and the album cover too.

Never noticed a Middle Eastern influence, which could definitely be present in the album. They might've used scales like "double harmonic" and/or "Phrygian dominant", which have been used in the Middle East and quite many other regions around the world. These scales could make riffs sound heavier, and as a result, they have been used several times by metal bands too, e.g. System of a Down, Mastodon, Disillusion etc.

The drums definitely compliment the album's heavy sound. Their recent drummer, Alasdair Belling, joined the band in 2023, so it's possible the heavier direction they went on for this album could be achieved by him along the other instruments and equipment.

Many albums II like are instrumental (of several genres), so II'm glad you liked "A Single Flower", and thank you for sharing your listening experience with the album 🙏 😇

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 08:24:10 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/22/2025 12:24

A Single Flower (2025) by We Lost The Sea

Very much an underlyingly heavy musical theme running through the album and I really like the theme that they are giving us. Reminds me a little of the band Earth, but better.

I have mixed feeling about instrumental or predominantly instrumental albums, but I really like this.

Great guitar riffs abound throughout the album. I can make out middle eastern influence in there which adds to the music for me.

The percussion and drums are done very well. Not overpowering the music but used both sparingly and forcefully in equal measure depending on what is required to enhance the track.

This is going on my Wishlist and thanks for sharing II. A thoroughly engaging listen

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 05:45:00 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/21/2025 09:45

II wrote:

I do indeed. A local record shop here in SW London has a New Music Night every Third Thursday of the month.

The staff take turns playing new released from the last month and this was one of their picks. I've picked up a lot of new albums from these sessions.

They also knock off 10% if you buy on the night and theirs a bar attached to the record shop. There's always a really good turn out as well and you get to meet loads of new people and chat about music. What's not to love.

That's amazing �'� 🥳 Especially how specific a place where one has found a certain album can be.
Thank you for sharing 🙏
It would have been very difficult to find out "Electric War" on all the music rating sites, so thank you once again for submitting the album to the club O:)[/quote]

I like this particulate record shop a lot because the people who work there, on the whole, have similar tastes in music to my own so I'm always finding interesting stuff in there. Their recommendations are generally spot on. It's one of those shops that you can hang around in for hours, just chatting about music and not having to buy anything. To be honest, I usually leave having bought something but that's because of the stock that they hold.

This, amongst other reasons is why I go solely for physical albums rather than digital. I like getting out, talking to people and supporting local traders.

Re: 2025 album listening club

II — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 19:07:09 GMT

Author: II

Posted: 10/20/2025 23:07

Johnnyo wrote:

II wrote:

Do you remember how you discovered "Electric War"?

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 09:30:12 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/20/2025 13:30

II wrote:

Johnnyo wrote:

Thanks for sharing your take on the album II. Glad that you like it.

It’s always nice when others get what you are sharing with them and I do love this album.

As I said in my write up, reminds me of Can in parts so the krautrock reference is spot on. Love Malcom’s repetitive, almost hypnotic drumming.

NB - don’t really have time today but going to give your suggestion a go either tomorrow or Tuesday. Thanks for sharing. Not an album that I know at all. Looking forward to hearing it

You're welcome! 😄 II'm glad II could share with you and everyone else my thoughts on the album, and recommend another one too.
After listening to it for the 2nd time, II can now feel the fusion of many genres in it, which is impressively amazing �'�
This album now feels more to me like a "2010s Radiohead / The Smile" collaborating with Can, or attempting to record a krautrock album, and not to mention that Little Barrie's vocals sound both like Thom Yorke's and Damo Suzuki's (also like NARASAKI's from the band Coaltar of the Deepers, but his are a bit more nasal).
II hope more users will participate and review your submission, since II believe some of them are into old school stuff and are into psychedelic rock, especially considering Tame Impala has been so well-received on BEA, and II like their music too.
[b]Do you remember how you discovered "Electric War"? [/b]

The only psychedelic rock music II've been listening to frequently are Tame Impala's pre-Currents era, and Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow" (also "Volunteers" but not enough times ("Hey Frederick" is probably the most underappreciated song of 60s II've listened to so far imo)), but "Electric War" has piqued my interest to discover more of what the genre has to offer, so II discovered Vol. 3 (1972) by Pappo's Blues two days ago and listened to it twice so far, and while the vocals are not the most thrilling, the bluesy solos are very impressive. And II also listened to the previous two volumes, so II've been impressed by him so far and II don't recall listening to an artist's discography that quickly.
You also mentioned Silver Apples earlier and it made me remember that Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) mentioned them in the "favorite drum sounds of his" video and that's how II discovered them. II could definitely feel how the drums on Silver Apples' debut album influenced Kevin, although II dropped the album twice since it felt a bit too experimental for me, but II'll keep giving it more shots.
II also remembered that II discovered the album Flow State (2018) by Tash Sultana on the Top-rated albums of all time page and while II haven't yet gotten into its alt-pop sounds, the songs which lean towards a psychedelic soul sound have sounded pretty great to me, so she should be checked out.
Perhaps II'll listen more to Jimi Hendrix in the future too.
Also Black Sabbath were influenced by Blues, so that's probably one of the reasons why their melodies and solos sound so great.

II await your write-up on A Single Flower, so you can say what you feel about it [-o<

[b]Do you remember how you discovered "Electric War"?[/b]

I do indeed. A local record shop here in SW London has a New Music Night every Third Thursday of the month.

The staff take turns playing new released from the last month and this was one of their picks. I've picked up a lot of new albums from these sessions.

They also knock off 10% if you buy on the night and theirs a bar attached to the record shop. There's always a really good turn out as well and you get to meet loads of new people and chat about music. What's not to love.

Re: 2025 album listening club

II — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 08:05:22 GMT

Author: II

Posted: 10/20/2025 12:05

Johnnyo wrote:

You're welcome! 😄 II'm glad II could share with you and everyone else my thoughts on the album, and recommend another one too.
After listening to it for the 2nd time, II can now feel the fusion of many genres in it, which is impressively amazing �'�
This album now feels more to me like a "2010s Radiohead / The Smile" collaborating with Can, or attempting to record a krautrock album, and not to mention that Little Barrie's vocals sound both like Thom Yorke's and Damo Suzuki's (also like NARASAKI's from the band Coaltar of the Deepers, but his are a bit more nasal).
II hope more users will participate and review your submission, since II believe some of them are into old school stuff and are into psychedelic rock, especially considering Tame Impala has been so well-received on BEA, and II like their music too.
Do you remember how you discovered "Electric War"?

The only psychedelic rock music II've been listening to frequently are Tame Impala's pre-Currents era, and Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow" (also "Volunteers" but not enough times ("Hey Frederick" is probably the most underappreciated song of 60s II've listened to so far imo)), but "Electric War" has piqued my interest to discover more of what the genre has to offer, so II discovered Vol. 3 (1972) by Pappo's Blues two days ago and listened to it twice so far, and while the vocals are not the most thrilling, the bluesy solos are very impressive. And II also listened to the previous two volumes, so II've been impressed by him so far and II don't recall listening to an artist's discography that quickly.
You also mentioned Silver Apples earlier and it made me remember that Kevin Parker (Tame Impala) mentioned them in the "favorite drum sounds of his" video and that's how II discovered them. II could definitely feel how the drums on Silver Apples' debut album influenced Kevin, although II dropped the album twice since it felt a bit too experimental for me, but II'll keep giving it more shots.
II also remembered that II discovered the album Flow State (2018) by Tash Sultana on the Top-rated albums of all time page and while II haven't yet gotten into its alt-pop sounds, the songs which lean towards a psychedelic soul sound have sounded pretty great to me, so she should be checked out.
Perhaps II'll listen more to Jimi Hendrix in the future too.
Also Black Sabbath were influenced by Blues, so that's probably one of the reasons why their melodies and solos sound so great.

II await your write-up on A Single Flower, so you can say what you feel about it 🙏

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 05:37:44 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/19/2025 09:37

albummaster wrote:

Post back tomorrow with some thoughts, been banned from computer today :lol:

Fair enough. Enjoy your computer free Sunday

Re: 2025 album listening club

albummaster — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 04:20:48 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 10/19/2025 08:20

Johnnyo wrote:

Any other thoughts on the album? I saw that you listened to it a few hours ago. If not, that’s fine. Just interested in others opinion

Post back tomorrow with some thoughts, been banned from computer today 🤣

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 03:07:12 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/19/2025 07:07

II wrote:

II finished listening to it not long ago, and II gotta say it was a very good first listen!
Malcolm Catto's drumming is very reminiscent of Jaki Liebezeit's, so the krautrock influence really elevates the compositions.
Little Barrie's guitar melodies were melodic and consonant, and his vocals are nice.
This album has encouraged me to listen to more music of the genres: psychedelic rock & blues rock.
Considering II finished listening to it in one sitting and was impressed by it soundscapes, it might be one of my favorite albums of the year! And it wasn't easy for me getting into to most of the 2025 albums II got recommended to me from anywhere else, so if II get myself listening to "Electric War" several times more, II'll give it a more proper critique and see if it has grown well enough on me 😊

By the way, here's the album title in Japanese, as displayed on the album cover: 電気戦争 [Denki Sensō] 8)

Re: 2025 album listening club

II — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 21:50:58 GMT

Author: II

Posted: 10/19/2025 01:50

.

Re: 2025 album listening club

musicoed — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 18:03:41 GMT

Author: musicoed

Posted: 10/18/2025 22:03

All video links provided are blocked in Russia because they contain material from UMG's partner. I understand this refers to Universal Music Group.
However, a link to a live performance of the track of the same name from the album is available.

Link

The associations I have with this track are reminiscent of the films "From Dusk till Dawn" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." They're wonderful films, but I don't remember the first one at all, and I still consider the second one to be one of the best of all time, mostly because of its wonderful, subtle humor.
Overall, I'm not drawn to this kind of music, probably because I don't understand Led Zeppelin, and I try to stay away from vampires and drugs.))

Re: 2025 album listening club

II — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 17:29:17 GMT

Author: II

Posted: 10/18/2025 21:29

.

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 15:26:01 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/18/2025 19:26

albummaster wrote:

Thanks, nice album to start off with...

Also, apologies for problems posting YouTube videos. The secret is is to make sure the URL inside the YouTube tag is in this format (the forums are a bit fussy about links):

Code:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXXXXXX

and then put between the youtube tag

Code:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXXXXXX[/youtube]

(plus make sure there's no stray opening or closing tags - just one opening and closing tag wrapping each video, looks like that was the problem with the initial post). (The image at top of post also looks like it's missing an opening square bracket. Just fixed the post so it renders as originally intended.

Thanks for the advice. I got there eventually which is the main thing.

Any other thoughts on the album? I saw that you listened to it a few hours ago. If not, that’s fine. Just interested in others opinion

Re: 2025 album listening club

albummaster — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 05:58:49 GMT

Author: albummaster

Posted: 10/18/2025 09:58

Thanks, nice album to start off with...

Also, apologies for problems posting YouTube videos. The secret is is to make sure the URL inside the YouTube tag is in this format (the forums are a bit fussy about links):

Code:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXXXXXX

and then put between the youtube tag

Code:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXXXXXX[/youtube]

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 05:48:59 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/18/2025 09:48

Link

This is the Little Barrie & Malcom Catto track that I tried to post earlier

It worked

Re: 2025 album listening club

Johnnyo — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 05:47:38 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 10/18/2025 09:47

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Doesn't appear that the youtube clip worked. I have continual problems with doing this. I don't get where I go wrong.

I'm going to try again in a separate post to see if I can work out where the bloody hell I'm gong wrong. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo frustrating