You must listen to the album below you: canon edition - Games

AfterHours

Gender: Male

Location: The Zone

Has this thread ever been about those who make the recommendations attempting to "make a case" for their recommendation afterwards if the user who attempted it didn't like it all that much (or even hated it)? It's a good thread that I check out every so often just to see what you guys are up to, but it could be interesting too if such discussion took place (maybe it has and I just haven't caught it during the occasional visit...).
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baystateoftheart

Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 30

Location: Massachusetts

AfterHours wrote:

Has this thread ever been about those who make the recommendations attempting to "make a case" for their recommendation afterwards if the user who attempted it didn't like it all that much (or even hated it)? It's a good thread that I check out every so often just to see what you guys are up to, but it could be interesting too if such discussion took place (maybe it has and I just haven't caught it during the occasional visit...).

Sometimes on an ad hoc basis, but not formally.

You should join us in the game! Very Happy

The list of albums can be drawn from any source, including your personal to-do list. Instructions are in the original post.
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Rhyner

soft silly music is meaningful magical

Gender: Male

Age: 37

Location: Utah

AfterHours wrote:

I'm glad you gave this masterpiece a go Rhyner. Here are some things about it that might assist when listening again.

It's impressionism, abstract art. The instrumentation, guitar, drums, effects, are alluding to (but not substantiating outright; again its impressionist, abstract art, allusive) emotions, themes, pictorial elements, movement, city scapes, the like; it's there but barely in ones vision or grasp, hanging as a moment or an allusion. It will help immensely that the lead instrument(s) (such as in the first track, its weaving, yearning, guitar figurations) alludes beautifully, poetically, yearningly, to the entrapped, faded, lost and lonely voice and one can make out the 'contours', an abstraction of speech, like a mouth trying to speak but only emitting the sounds and contour of the syllables around the words. This is of a voice trying to elicit from the cobweb of repression, underneath the clouds of oppression, Fascism, immense loneliness and immense internal anguish (or from inside other alike Dystopian nightmares). While the surrounding instrumentation is echoing, impressionistic, abstractly, the city scape, even a party-goer but of the lost, the anguished, the alone, the ennui (of the night life), the movement through the city and this scene, the percolating thought and atmosphere. Despite the omnipresent impressionism and abstraction these elements will likely become more and more "emotive" and profound, perhaps even catastrophic in their loneliness and allusion and poetry, the more one listens and grasps its nightmare, of the oppression of the humane. Not just impressions and abstractions but the album alludes to even Pop Art in its artifice of "excitement" and "driving" through the abstraction of the city or of atmosphere, or moving through the vague abstraction of night life, in its artifice of "melody" and "simple" beats. Nevertheless the whole album will be seen to be under such 'oppression' of the humane, such allusion, such anguish and impressionistic poetry amidst a dystopia (or consumerist society, and/or a society repressed of feelings and connection...). Some of the instrumental lead takes on an increasingly more abstract, increasingly mental phenomena -- as in thoughts percolating, emoting, the (allusion towards) vocalizations increasingly absent turned more inward by yearning thoughts, introspection, solitude, ennui, sheer (haunted) mood and foreboding -- after the first track -- and across the whole the 'protagonist' (instrumental lead) loses the ability to have a voice amidst the devastated, sinister, quietly threatening (rather haunted, ghostly, harrowing) impressionistic/abstraction of dystopian atmosphere, hemming the character within it, impressing down upon its mind, its sense of individuality, of free will, of the self, a crushing of the soul. Before the final track that finally sings out, haunted as in someone suddenly arising from a coma, and like a "rebirth" now almost yelling (but, ambiguously, simultaneously, also "whispering") singing, crying almost, out into empty space for any one to try and reach out and connect to, finally emotively expressive outside of its devastated shell, but still can no longer really enunciate words.

Hasty as usual in reply, so if you need me to explain something a little more (or maybe even show where what I mean occurs in the music itself, time permitting), just ask...

I'll have to give it another listen with all this in mind, but no promises my opinion will change.

AfterHours

Gender: Male

Location: The Zone

Rhyner wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

I'm glad you gave this masterpiece a go Rhyner. Here are some things about it that might assist when listening again.

It's impressionism, abstract art. The instrumentation, guitar, drums, effects, are alluding to (but not substantiating outright; again its impressionist, abstract art, allusive) emotions, themes, pictorial elements, movement, city scapes, the like; it's there but barely in ones vision or grasp, hanging as a moment or an allusion. It will help immensely that the lead instrument(s) (such as in the first track, its weaving, yearning, guitar figurations) alludes beautifully, poetically, yearningly, to the entrapped, faded, lost and lonely voice and one can make out the 'contours', an abstraction of speech, like a mouth trying to speak but only emitting the sounds and contour of the syllables around the words. This is of a voice trying to elicit from the cobweb of repression, underneath the clouds of oppression, Fascism, immense loneliness and immense internal anguish (or from inside other alike Dystopian nightmares). While the surrounding instrumentation is echoing, impressionistic, abstractly, the city scape, even a party-goer but of the lost, the anguished, the alone, the ennui (of the night life), the movement through the city and this scene, the percolating thought and atmosphere. Despite the omnipresent impressionism and abstraction these elements will likely become more and more "emotive" and profound, perhaps even catastrophic in their loneliness and allusion and poetry, the more one listens and grasps its nightmare, of the oppression of the humane. Not just impressions and abstractions but the album alludes to even Pop Art in its artifice of "excitement" and "driving" through the abstraction of the city or of atmosphere, or moving through the vague abstraction of night life, in its artifice of "melody" and "simple" beats. Nevertheless the whole album will be seen to be under such 'oppression' of the humane, such allusion, such anguish and impressionistic poetry amidst a dystopia (or consumerist society, and/or a society repressed of feelings and connection...). Some of the instrumental lead takes on an increasingly more abstract, increasingly mental phenomena -- as in thoughts percolating, emoting, the (allusion towards) vocalizations increasingly absent turned more inward by yearning thoughts, introspection, solitude, ennui, sheer (haunted) mood and foreboding -- after the first track -- and across the whole the 'protagonist' (instrumental lead) loses the ability to have a voice amidst the devastated, sinister, quietly threatening (rather haunted, ghostly, harrowing) impressionistic/abstraction of dystopian atmosphere, hemming the character within it, impressing down upon its mind, its sense of individuality, of free will, of the self, a crushing of the soul. Before the final track that finally sings out, haunted as in someone suddenly arising from a coma, and like a "rebirth" now almost yelling (but, ambiguously, simultaneously, also "whispering") singing, crying almost, out into empty space for any one to try and reach out and connect to, finally emotively expressive outside of its devastated shell, but still can no longer really enunciate words.

Hasty as usual in reply, so if you need me to explain something a little more (or maybe even show where what I mean occurs in the music itself, time permitting), just ask...

I'll have to give it another listen with all this in mind, but no promises my opinion will change.

Ok hope it's worth it. Regardless, no worries...

Some visuals, atmospheres, dystopias, that may or may not help...

The film Blade Runner makes a pretty good parallel especially IF it were more abstract (less visually condensed, less "expressionist")...

Regardless it does make a good comparison... Pretty similar trajectory of development, momentum, including how and where and to what degree it climaxes along its run time.... Being a dystopian nightmare as well, and the emotional toll and 'mental' paralysis, ennui, impression this seems to overwhelm the characters with... Elements like its strobe lighting and general chiaroscuro momentously passing through (not just visual or environmental, but also reflective of mental phenomena too) epiphanically, allusive, across its scenes matches up well with the effects of, for instance, track 2 and, later, of Negativland on Neu!

Von Trier's Europa is also a pretty good parallel (though also too "expressionist") ...the train track motif and the film's rhythm (virtually "motorik" at times). If only it were also more "contemplative" more consistently like Blade Runner ...

Tarkovsky's Stalker is closer as regards abstraction, impressionism, the visual artistry of it, and especially true of the mood of several of its passages, the contemplation and general ennui, but is too slow most of the way through to match up (not meant as a criticism, the film is a masterpiece in its own right) and would need more momentum for good stretches of it to align better -- it doesn't really have a sort of "Negativland-like" section (of similar momentum, emotional ferocity)...

Anyway, this is all perhaps unnecessary baggage to "getting" it but just passing thoughts on visual works as examples that might assist with getting across at least the gist of what I'm getting at (regardless, "Neu" is its own thing and none of these are actually meant to replace or be taken as the "same" as that unique experience).

Also come to think of it, Kubrick's 2001 is also not a terrible choice...

Tarkovsky's Solaris is also a pretty good one in regards the bulk of the mood, ennui, psychic devastation, but too slow overall...

(again, these are just passing thoughts, not to be taken up too seriously or as if too needed to really grasp the album).

So ummm, that's that, coming from every which angle on this... fwiw... Laughing

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AfterHours

Gender: Male

Location: The Zone

baystateoftheart wrote:

Sometimes on an ad hoc basis, but not formally.

You should join us in the game! Very Happy

The list of albums can be drawn from any source, including your personal to-do list. Instructions are in the original post.

Thanks Baystate! I may do so - right now I'm just too focused on visual art so I doubt right away but it's crossed my mind on a couple occasions...
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baystateoftheart

Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 30

Location: Massachusetts

1.

Berry Is On Top by Chuck Berry

While this is a new album for me, I had already heard half of the songs on The Great Twenty-Eight, so it's not that new. Let's start with the highlights: Maybellene, Johnny B. Goode, and Roll Over Beethoven are all stone-cold rock and roll classics. Building around those three, how could any album be a dud? Now the good: Carol and Around And Around are both really fun songs. Unfortunately, these five tracks only get us to 13 minutes combined, less than half of the runtime. The rest of the album consists of 10.5 minutes of more or less filler, 5 minutes of creepy songs about little girls, and 2 minutes of whatever the hell Hey Pedro is. Ultimately, the sum total of this record is far closer to mediocrity than it has any right to be given those three legendary songs. Not essential listening as an album, I'm afraid. I'll give it a 3/5, or 55/100 on BEA.

~~~~~

2. At the time she released this, it was probably her worst work yet, but that mostly speaks to the quality of what came before. A great record with some standout tracks.

Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe

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3. 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die

Modern Cosmology - Jane Weaver (2017)
Django Django - Django Django (2012)
Blunderbuss - Jack White (2012)
In Our Heads - Hot Chip (2012)
D - White Denim (2011)
Two Dancers - Wild Beasts (2009)
Cross - Justice (2007)
Savane - Ali Farka Touré (2006)
Coles Corner - Richard Hawley (2005)
Want Two - Rufus Wainwright (2004)
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Rhyner

soft silly music is meaningful magical

Gender: Male

Age: 37

Location: Utah

(1)

Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe
A mixed bag. There are lots of good hooks here, but also a lot of stuff that is not to my taste (mostly rap-related stuff). Here are some thoughts on the tracks that I consider standouts:

Dirty Computer and Crazy, Classic, Life - Pleasant but lacking substance. I like the vibes, but feel like there's something missing... And the last minute or so of Crazy, Classic, Life doesn't work for me.

Screwed - The chorus is a bop and I like it a lot, but there are transition bits that kill the energy, in my opinion. And the rapping in the last minute or so (I'm sensing a trend) is...well, rap. Enough said.

Pynk - Best song on the album. I like the whole thing all the way through.

Make Me Feel - The only track I recognized. I must have heard it in a BEA song tournament or something. It sounds like a Prince song. (I'm not the only one who says this. There are lots of Prince sounds throughout the album. And there's a good reason for it--apparently he contributed to the album) This is the other contender for best song. No real problems with this one either.

The rest of the tracks are generally okay, but some are crap (Django Jane is a good example, because it's just a rap) or have very crappy parts (I Got the Juice is a good example, because of the rapping in it--has anyone noticed that I don't enjoy rapping?). But overall, the good stuff outweighs the bad, I think, and I'd say I lean toward liking this album.

58/100

(2)
Two Dancers is one of the favorite albums of a good friend of mine. In his honor, I have to choose it.

(3)
My ten are split between two lists:

Here's one album from each of the first eight pages (20 per page) of albums I've not yet rated on BEA. I've tried to choose the albums I'm least familiar with.
1: 489. The Yes Album by Yes (1971)
2: 623. Kick by INXS (1987)
3: 675. Pure Comedy by Father John Misty (2017)
4: 758. Microcastle by Deerhunter (2008)
5: 835. Clics Modernos by Charly García (1983)
6: 901. Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey (2023)
7: 936. A Seat At The Table by Solange (2016)
8: 977. Brat by Charli XCX

And two albums from the first page (40 per page) of albums I've not yet rated on RYM. I've tried to choose the albums I'm least familiar with.
1: 163. El jardín de los presentes by Invisible (1976)
2: 201. En el Palacio de Bellas Artes by Juan Gabriel (1990)

baystateoftheart

Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 30

Location: Massachusetts

1.

Two Dancers by Wild Beasts

I listened to Present Tense years ago and wasn't a big fan of it, so this is my second experience with Wild Beasts. This album isn't that different, to be honest. I appreciate the rich instrumentals, in terms of songwriting there's not a lot that catches my ear, and I can take or leave the vocals. But compared to Present Tense, the texture of Two Dancers is less smoothed down, and the songwriting seems a bit more compelling. Ultimately it's quite a nice listen, and some parts are legitimately beautiful, but this record is not exactly my thing, and I can't imagine adding it to such a list myself. Starting at a light 3.5/5, or a 65/100 on BEA.

~~~~~

2. Culturally important as an album and as a meme/phenomenon:

Brat by Charli XCX

~~~~~

3. 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die

Modern Cosmology - Jane Weaver (2017)
Django Django - Django Django (2012)
Blunderbuss - Jack White (2012)
In Our Heads - Hot Chip (2012)
D - White Denim (2011)
Cross - Justice (2007)
Savane - Ali Farka Touré (2006)
Coles Corner - Richard Hawley (2005)
Want Two - Rufus Wainwright (2004)
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2004)
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