My Woman by Angel Olsen
Going into this, I had little to no familiarity with Angel Olsen. I'm pretty sure I listened to Strange Cacti at least once at some point, but if so it was before I was using last.fm so there's no record of it. Either way I don't really remember it. Also, I had heard Shut Up Kiss Me in the BEA 2015-2019 best songs tournament and seemed to remember thinking it was pretty good but nothing that special. So I came into this album fairly blind. The first song immediately gave me the strong impression of a certain type of tryhard indie sad girl music that I don't particularly like. But after that things immediately pick up. Tracks two and three are a significant improvement. Not amazing, but better. Sister and Those Were the Days also stand out to me above the rest. All in all, it's listenable indie rock and not much more. Her voice, admittedly, has some character to it that sets it apart from the pack, so I suppose that should be points in the album's favor. But her voice also has a very slight off-putting quality to it that I can't quite put my finger on. It's strikes me as almost an emotional detachment, like she has this intense longing but she's distancing herself from it and not letting it fully express itself in her performance? I don't know what I'm talking about, so feel free to ignore me. And anyway, it's not anywhere close to a deal-breaker or anything. Just not especially my cup of tea. Whatever. The album's decent. I don't mind it at all (except the first song).
57/100
(2)
I haven't heard any of those, but I thought Maruja's previous EP was pretty good. Check out Connla's Well.
(3)
Here's one album from each of the first ten pages (20 per page) of albums I've not yet rated on BEA. I've tried to choose from each page the album I'm least familiar with.
1: 464. I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One by Yo La Tengo (1997)
2: 517. Piñata by Freddie Gibbs & Madlib (2014)
3: 648. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty (2017)
4: 655. Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey (2014)
5: 750. All Mod Cons by The Jam (1978)
6: 813. Canción Animal by Soda Stereo (1990)
7: 849. Ctrl by SZA (2017)
8: 894. Out To Lunch! by Eric Dolphy (1964)
9: 909. Weezer (White Album) by Weezer (2016)
10: 950. Saturation II by Brockhampton (2017)
Connla's Well by Maruja
Excellent EP. I probably like it better than Knocknarea, it's a bit less meandering. Maruja's music still mostly follows the post-rock pattern of atmospheric build ups and chaotic payoffs, but it's executed so well it doesn't even matter. The prominent saxophone adds another dimension to the record. In fact, if we go through the history of (post)punk music, the saxophones are a hit instrument. Stooges, X-Ray Spex, The Contortions (and most other no wave bands), The Stranglers, Swell Maps, Birthday Party... That's some list.
Back to Connla's Well. All 5 songs are fantastic, the intro is probably the best album or EP introduction I've heard this year. Invisible Man is an incredible single, Zeitgeist continues where it left off, and One Hand Behind the Devil goes into even louder and more noisy territory. The highlight has to be Resisting Resistance though, such a wonderful crescendo on that one. Comparable to BCNR's recent style, but still uniquely Maruja. Their first album will be wild. 8/10
(2)
Piñata is 10 years old and slaps more than ever.
(3)
R marks relistens
Leviathan - The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide (R)
Squarepusher - Dostrotime
abriction - Banshee
Kamasi Washington - Fearless Movement
Chief Keef - Almighty So 2
Lana Del Rey - Did you know there was a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
The Sound - From the Lion's Mouth
Ultravox - Ha! Ha! Ha!
King Tubby - Dub From the Roots
Le Mystere Jazz De Tombouctou - Le Mystere Jazz De Tombouctou _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
This was weird, almost in a good way but not quite. It reminds me a bit of The Residents or Throbbing Gristle in the experimentation but not quite to the point of atonality. As far as noise rock goes, this is pretty solid. One thing I do like about this compared to most other experimental rock is how the singer’s voice sounds, it still has a “wall of noise”-type effect. Chad VanGaalen produced the album and contributed a ton to its sound, and I guess I can see the similarities. I much prefer VanGaalen’s slightly more polished solo albums though.
3)
Acclaimed Music best "bubbling under" albums of the 2010s (https://acclaimedmusic.net/year/2010-19a.htm):
- Hell on Heels by Pistol Annies (2011)
- More Than Any Other Day by Ought (2014)
- Oshin by DIIV (2012)
- Relatives in Descent by Protomartyr (2017)
- Hope Downs by Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (2018)
- Everything in Between by No Age (2010)
- Poison Season by Destroyer (2015)
- Soft Sounds from Another Planet by Japanese Breakfast (2017)
- New History Warfare, Vol. 2: Judges by Colin Stetson (2011)
- Singing Saw by Kevin Morby (2016) _________________ 51 Washington, D.C. albums!
I had a hard time finding much to say about this one. Really nice album with some really nice songs, but not a lot of standout tracks. Lighter and more relaxed than your usual Talking Heads, the closest I've heard from them to a pop sensibility, and the production is more 80s than their earlier albums in the decade. But it's still quite quirky lyrically and off-kilter stylistically. Fun first listen, but this didn't become their first studio album to fully click with me (the live albums cook though). 3.5/5.
~~~~~
2. This is probably the most fun of those that I've heard:
2021: We Are - Jon Batiste
2014: Morning Phase - Beck
2012: Babel - Mumford & Sons
2007: River: The Joni Letters - Herbie Hancock
2006: Taking The Long Way - Dixie Chicks
2005: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - U2
Pazz & Jop
2006: Modern Times - Bob Dylan
1992: 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days In The Life Of… - Arrested Development
1990: Ragged Glory - Neil Young And Crazy Horse
1979: Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
Piñata by Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
Rap is not for me. I just don't see the appeal. I wish I did, but it endlessly eludes me. In my opinion, rap lyrics generally suck and tend to be among the sh***iest of all of music. And they're often full of misogyny and general hatefulness. The skits are always godawful. What else is there to enjoy about rap? Melody? There's usually not much to speak of. Whatever "flow" is? Meh. Something else? Clearly I'm missing what everyone else is hearing. Sometimes the samples are nice, and indeed some of the samples on this album are nice. Shame there's all the rapping. I wish I could hear this stuff through the ears of a fan, just once. Because in my dumb opinion this album sucks, like almost all rap (every once in a while there is some rap I almost kinda like, but it's rare), and I simply can't see how anyone could genuinely disagree. I find it very tedious. A chore to listen to. I am not a fan. What am I missing? I don't like being negative about music. I like it when I like music, believe it or not.
28/100
(For what it's worth, I will soon (i.e. within the next year or two) undertake the colossal project of going through the entirety of rap history and listening to just about every release that people generally agree is worth listening to. I'm almost done with doing the same thing for metal, and my appreciation for metal music--another genre I've historically struggled to enjoy--has noticeably increased. Here's hoping the same will be true for rap.)
(2)
I love Joni Mitchell. I didn't know Herbie Hancock did a Joni tribute album. Let's see if that's any good.
(3)
Here's one album from each of the first ten pages (20 per page) of albums I've not yet rated on BEA. I've tried to choose from each page the album I'm least familiar with.
1: 466. I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One by Yo La Tengo (1997)
2: 560. Up The Bracket by The Libertines (2002)
3: 653. Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey (2014)
4: 678. "Awaken, My Love!" by Childish Gambino (2016)
5: 750. All Mod Cons by The Jam (1978)
6: 819. Canción Animal by Soda Stereo (1990)
7: 832. Malibu by Anderson .Paak (2016)
8: 864. Weezer (White Album) by Weezer (2016)
9: 930. Construção by Chico Buarque (1971)
10: 948. Saturation II by Brockhampton (2017)
Before talking about the album, let me first establish that this is successful Grammy bait, aggressively tasteful and providing an opportunity for the industry voters who skew older to give overdue recognition to two legacy artists. As we know from their interviews, Grammy voters are a very frustrating group, frequently voting in order to correct past oversights, reward long-tenured artists, and award who they think "deserves" an award or taps into the zeitgeist, rather than voting based on what they think is the best record musically. So to set a better example for them, let me set the fact that this won a Grammy aside and evaluate the album independently based on its own merits.
This is a very good record, and I like it far more than I expected to. The song selection is interesting, and so are Hancock's reinterpretations of Mitchell (plus two jazz classics). They are mostly relaxed and un-showy, with focus squarely on his piano playing. The backing band keeps things minimal for the most part, and features Wayne Shorter. The songs with vocals range from pleasant enough but dispensable (Leonard Cohen on The Jungle Line) to album highlights (the tracks with Tina Turner and Mitchell herself). This is not going to be in regular rotation for me, but it's a mellow and pretty listen that hits the spot on a Sunday afternoon. 3.5/5.
~~~~~
2. Oof, hip-hop is one of my favorite genres and I love that album. I understand your views about disliking certain lyrical content and skits, but maybe this video would help show some of what people like about hip-hop flow and lyrics.
2021: We Are - Jon Batiste
2014: Morning Phase - Beck
2012: Babel - Mumford & Sons
2006: Taking The Long Way - Dixie Chicks
2005: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - U2
2004: Genius Loves Company - Ray Charles
Pazz & Jop
2006: Modern Times - Bob Dylan
1992: 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days In The Life Of… - Arrested Development
1990: Ragged Glory - Neil Young And Crazy Horse
1979: Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
Construção by Chico Buarque
This is nice enough music, but I simply don't hear in it the masterpiece that the consensus insists is in there somewhere. The lyrics seem to be the most praised aspect of Construção, so a huge part of my relative lack of appreciation of this album could be that I don't speak Portuguese, but surely that doesn't explain it all, because (a) plenty of folks who don't speak Portuguese agree with the consensus, and (b) I read translations of all the lyrics (as well as commentary on them) and I think I at least dimly grasp the poetry going on here. Good on Chico Buarque for criticizing a terrible military dictatorship, but I can't honestly claim it has a whole lot of power for me personally. I usually don't attach lot of importance to the lyrics of music I like anyway (unless they are exceptionally good or bad), and judging by the subject matter and what I understand of what Buarque is doing here, I think that even if the lyrics were in English, or even if I fully understood them in Portuguese, my bet is that I wouldn't find them to be especially impressive or impactful. This type of political messaging in music doesn't appeal to me on a deep emotional level. I don't mind it at all (assuming it's not done poorly, like super on-the-nose or what have you), but it really only gets a shrug from me even if it's "masterful" and "scathing" and super "artistic" and "poetic" and all that good stuff. I could be way off the mark here, and I fully admit that. Perhaps if I learned Portuguese this would shoot to the top of my list, but I think the odds are strongly against that. And there's no way I'm learning a whole other language just on the off chance I might appreciate one particular album a bit more.
So I really have only the musical aspects of this to judge, and...it's fine. Even judging on music alone, I do think the standouts are tracks one and four, just like everyone seems to agree. The opening track is probably my favorite. Aside from those two, everything else is nice and pretty, if a bit forgettable. All in all, not bad. In fact I kinda like it.
60/100
(2)
Beck next.
(3)
Here's one album from each of the first ten pages (20 per page) of albums I've not yet rated on BEA. I've tried to choose from each page the album I'm least familiar with.
1: 419. Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü (1984)
2: 562. Up The Bracket by The Libertines (2002)
3: 655. Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey (2014)
4: 679. "Awaken, My Love!" by Childish Gambino (2016)
5: 788. Clics Modernos by Charly García (1983)
6: 825. Canción Animal by Soda Stereo (1990)
7: 834. Malibu by Anderson .Paak (2016)
8: 868. Weezer (White Album) by Weezer (2016)
9: 914. The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) by Steven Wilson (2013)
10: 966. A Seat At The Table by Solange (2016)
First listen, its what I expecting, I enjoy the singles King Kunta and Alright, but as a whole its not really my vibe. I'm lucky enough that I don't relate to most of the themes on here and my dislike of jazz isn't helping my impression. I get that its quite a big deal and I'm sure if I listened to it many times I'd likely enjoy it but also it took me 3 months to listen to it the first time and I don't want to play it again.
2. Ultraviolence - Lana Del Rey : )
3. 10 albums from the overall chart I haven't yet heard but I expect I'll enjoy
Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
Hot Fuss - The Killers
Reflektor - Arcade Fire
So - Peter Gabriel
Meat is Murder - The Smiths
Scary Monsters - David Bowie
Strawberry Jam - Animal Collective (I've hated MPP the last few times I've played it but something tells me I need to stick with these guys and it'll click)
On Fire - Galaxie 500 (Never made it the whole way through this album)
Tell Me How You Really Feel - Courtney Barnett
When The Pawn... - Fiona Apple (I did listen to this for the first time a few weeks ago and hated it, but like AC I think it might be worth trying again? The jazz though, ick)
Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey
This isn't for me. While there are some aspects of it I like (as an example, the chorus of Brooklyn Baby is solid, and there are a few bits here and there that similarly appeal to me), for the most part this album epitomizes the type of "sad girl" music I mentioned not particularly liking in my comments on Angel Olsen's My Woman. (I mean it's right there in one of the song titles!) At the moment I don't feel like spreading negativity by going over everything about this album that I dislike, so I'll sum it up by saying that I generally find it musically, vocally, and lyrically uninspired and boring. As I said, it has some redeeming qualities. But not enough for me to really care to listen to it ever again.
40/100
(2)
The flesh you so fancifully fry is not succulent, tasty, or kind. It's death for no reason, and death for no reason is MURDER!
(Meat Is Murder - The Smiths)
(3)
Here's one album from each of the first ten pages (20 per page) of albums I've not yet rated on BEA. I've tried to choose from each page the album I'm least familiar with.
1: 418. Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü (1984)
2: 565. Up The Bracket by The Libertines (2002)
3: 637. Kick by INXS (1987)
4: 684. "Awaken, My Love!" by Childish Gambino (2016)
5: 789. Clics Modernos by Charly García (1983)
6: 823. Canción Animal by Soda Stereo (1990)
7: 871. Weezer (White Album) by Weezer (2016)
8: 905. Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole And The Commotions (1984)
9: 916. The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) by Steven Wilson (2013)
10: 978. A Seat At The Table by Solange (2016)
Despite it being embroiled in one of the bigger Grammys controversies in recent years, I never got around to listening to this album until now. And it is much better than I expected. A mellow, pretty, understated record that's just really well-made in every way. There aren't a lot of highlight tracks, because it's more of an atmospheric experience, but what Morning Phase lacks in catchiness it makes up in vibes. A very good listen, albeit not better than Beyoncé's self-titled, but I now understand better why so many voters selected it. 3.5/5.
2021: We Are - Jon Batiste
2012: Babel - Mumford & Sons
2006: Taking The Long Way - Dixie Chicks
2005: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - U2
2004: Genius Loves Company - Ray Charles
2000: Two Against Nature - Steely Dan
Pazz & Jop
2006: Modern Times - Bob Dylan
1992: 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days In The Life Of… - Arrested Development
1990: Ragged Glory - Neil Young And Crazy Horse
1979: Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
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