Get To Know A Top 10: December 2018 Thread - SquishypuffDave

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Poll: Which album is your favorite? Please listen to all ten before voting.
The Runners Four by Deerhoof
0%
 0%  [0]
In Rainbows by Radiohead
29%
 29%  [7]
The Way Out by The Books
4%
 4%  [1]
Hounds Of Love by Kate Bush
4%
 4%  [1]
Of Natural History by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
4%
 4%  [1]
Selected Ambient Works Volume II by Aphex Twin
8%
 8%  [2]
Music For 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
8%
 8%  [2]
Endtroducing... by DJ Shadow
12%
 12%  [3]
Laughing Stock by Talk Talk
20%
 20%  [5]
Donuts by J Dilla
8%
 8%  [2]
Total Votes : 24

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Kool Keith Sweat





  • #11
  • Posted: 12/02/2018 17:54
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Fans of Talk Talk's last two albums need to jump on (besides O.rang and Bark Psychosis)


The Sweetness Of The Water by Spring Heel Jack


Songs & Themes by Spring Heel Jack


Field Recordings From The Cook County W... Brokeback
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
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  • #12
  • Posted: 12/02/2018 23:32
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1. The Runners Four - Deerhoof

Wow, this is a fantastic record! Chock full of musical ideas, and featuring great vocals throughout. Unlike a lot of other experimental albums, the vast majority of the material here turned out great. Thanks for the introduction to this album and this band! I'll have to explore their discography more.* 4/5.

2. In Rainbows - Radiohead

Just listened to this again this week in the games forum, and here was my take:

baystateoftheart wrote:
I've only taken a liking to Radiohead in the past year or so, and I still think they're pretty overrated. But In Rainbows might be their best work. It was instantly my favorite of theirs when I first heard it in January, but then got passed by A Moon Shaped Pool. After a second listen, I think it's back on top. Sonically, it's consistently good, often great, and significantly more interesting than other Radiohead records. The textures, the atmospheres, the execution, and the stylistic variety are all above average. Lyrically, I haven't absorbed it much yet, but at the very least the lyrics never seem to detract from the music. Vocally, Yorke sounds much better than on several other records, including BEA's & RYM's consensus GOAT album. Yeah, it's a great album. And I'm looking forward to listening again later. 4/5.


~~~~~

Now it's time for me to check out The Way Out and reassess Hounds Of Love. Will report back.

*SquishypuffDave, I see you have nine of their albums at 100/100. What's your second favorite?
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SquishypuffDave



Gender: Male
Age: 33
Australia

  • #13
  • Posted: 12/03/2018 01:53
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baystateoftheart wrote:
*SquishypuffDave, I see you have nine of their albums at 100/100. What's your second favorite?


Second spot I'd probably have to give to Friend Opportunity, but honestly for such a prolific band I don't think there's a dud among them.


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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
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  • #14
  • Posted: 12/06/2018 19:07
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3. The Way Out - The Books

Maybe my expectations were too high. While good, this was somewhat of a letdown. The vocal samples were so key to the construction of the album, and the sample selection was honestly pretty subpar and hokey in my view. Musically, it was pleasant throughout, but nothing blew me away or stuck with me. Again, I enjoyed it, and I'll check out their other albums, but this is probably not destined to be a favorite. 3.5/5.

5. Hounds Of Love - Kate Bush

This album has grown on me with every single listen. I think this was my fourth or fifth, and my opinion has steadily risen from a starting point of "it's decent" to my current view of "it's a masterpiece." Instrumentally and vocally, it's immaculate, and this is a record overflowing with artistic ambition. I much prefer the defined pop songs of side a to the conceptual suite of side b, but they're both great. Tracks 1, 2, and 5 are three of the best songs of all time. Vaulted into my all-time top 100 just now. 4.5/5.

~~~~~

Thanks, I'll add it to my to-do list. Will post here again after the next two.
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SquishypuffDave



Gender: Male
Age: 33
Australia

  • #15
  • Posted: 12/07/2018 02:36
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baystateoftheart wrote:
3. The Way Out - The Books

Maybe my expectations were too high. While good, this was somewhat of a letdown. The vocal samples were so key to the construction of the album, and the sample selection was honestly pretty subpar and hokey in my view. Musically, it was pleasant throughout, but nothing blew me away or stuck with me. Again, I enjoyed it, and I'll check out their other albums, but this is probably not destined to be a favorite. 3.5/5.


That's fair. I get a good chuckle out of the samples, especially the weird non-sequiturs:

"You may just possibly detect from my voice that I am Irish, and now I leap forward in time."

Thinking back on your comment about common threads between the albums on my list, I'd say quite a few are indebted to dadaism in some way, particularly Deerhoof and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and I think a lot of the sample choices on this album fit that description too. They almost have a Tim And Eric Awesome Show Great Job vibe, with that sort of clumsy sincerity. I have a strange emotional reaction where it's not entirely ironic and not entirely serious. When I've tried putting together plunderphonic tracks, I've looked for similar qualities in my samples:

https://davidmcgorlick.bandcamp.com/releases
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gloriousgoo





  • #16
  • Posted: 12/07/2018 02:42
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Oh man there's some great stuff on here. Already a huge fan of the Reich and Aphex Twin selections. I'll have to check the rest of this out!
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
United States

  • #17
  • Posted: 12/09/2018 21:13
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6. Of Natural History - Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

Given the genre tags and your comment about dadaism, I was expecting this to be very weird, and it certainly delivered on that. A fascinating album and a worthwhile listen, but my problem is that I simply don't enjoy most of it that much. There's definitely more good than bad though, and perhaps it will be a grower. 3/5.

7. Selected Ambient Works Volume II - Aphex Twin

I've listened to this multiple times, most recently just two months ago, so I won't be revisiting it at the moment. A really good record containing some of the best and most interesting tracks in ambient music. However, it's overly sprawling at two hours and thirty-two minutes, and a lot of the material doesn't live up to the standards of the highlights, so at present it's not a personal favorite in his discography or the genre. 3.5/5.

The next two are already some of my favorites, but I haven't heard them in a while, so I will revisit both.
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash



Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts
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  • #18
  • Posted: 12/12/2018 20:17
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8. Music For 18 Musicians - Steve Reich

This was already my favorite classical work and the only one within my top 100. But after revisiting, it took another big jump. Immaculately composed and played, this is a landmark record in minimalism, but also has a lot of depth and nuance to its sound. Depending on my mood, this can either feel soothing or anxious and frenetic, and I appreciate how it is a bit of a mirror in that way. 4.5/5.

9. Entroducing..... - DJ Shadow

Ever since I first heard it in 2011, I have loved this album. But it's been a couple years since I revisited, and it's even better than I remember. Probably the best samples-only album ever made (I could be wrong, but I think Donuts has largely original drums). The atmospheres are magical. Midnight In A Perfect World is my favorite track, but Stem / Long Stem is basically perfect too. Promoted to my top 50! 4.5/5.
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  • #19
  • Posted: 12/13/2018 06:02
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These top 3 are interesting together, like they are all over a 5 year period of time and were all active (Deerhoof even opened for Radiohead on the In Rainbows tour following The Runners Four). I see Radiohead as kicking something off with Kid A, not in a "rock bands discover electronics" kind of way, but like in a "bands go relatively genre agnostic and becoming something idiosyncratic, making significant changes between albums while maintaining and refining a core identity". I'm not saying Radiohead invented that or anything, like there's certainly that spirit in Talk Talk. But I think it's present in the top 3 artists specifically, and I think it says something that these specific albums were picked. The artists are all a ways into their careers but at much different points. Deerhoof were riding a huge wave of success with a long future ahead of them, Radiohead were solidly in the middle of a long career coming off of an album that has it's fans but had maybe set some expectations that they were past their peak, and The Books were at the end of their run. And in each case, they ended up making a singular album that is maybe a bit out of step with how they might usually be characterized, but in a way where it makes sense to consider it their best. The Runners Four turns down (but does not eliminate) the noise relative to what came before and gets into a warmer sound, and uses the huge tracklist to throw in some curveballs like having John Dieterich do some of the vocals instead of Satomi Matsuzaki. And then with In Rainbows, Radiohead were on a streak of albums that were diverse in sound and style, but outside of the first two tracks I think this one is their most sonically consistent release. And for The Books, this was a band that started out making a sample heavy type of electronic music, but really started to make an effort towards lyric centered songs. It seemed like the interest in following that was a bit one sided for the duo, and I think of The Way Out as the sound of that all collapsing. But in the process I think they took their songiness as far as it could go as The Books.

So yeah they're pretty different albums but having them all at the top still feels like a celebration of the great possibilities of this idiosyncratic spirit, and I think that is pretty great.
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Tha1ChiefRocka
Yeah, well hey, I'm really sorry.



Location: Kansas
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  • #20
  • Posted: 12/13/2018 17:02
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Quote:
And for The Books, this was a band that started out making a sample heavy type of electronic music, but really started to make an effort towards lyric centered songs. It seemed like the interest in following that was a bit one sided for the duo, and I think of The Way Out as the sound of that all collapsing. But in the process I think they took their songiness as far as it could go as The Books.


Yeah, just compare a Zammuto album with a Paul DeJong album. It was clear that they were both going to opposite directions.
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