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.
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
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?
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?
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.
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 ๐ )
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 (Pathรฉtique) 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?
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.
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:
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:
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.
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.
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.
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):
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