alogsupreme

[alelsupreme]

Hey.

I listen to things three times before giving them a rating, so as to not bore you I'll only note down my final thoughts on things.

Today I listened to Another Side Of Bob Dylan and Over The Edge (Wipers) but I can't be bothered typing about them so I'll get to y'all whenever I've finished my current batch.

Current batch:
Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
The Gaslight Anthem - The ''59 Sound
Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch!
Wes Montgomery - The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

[Mercury]

Better be giving Dylan a high rating otherwise we ain't friends.
_________________
-Ryan

ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!

[alelsupreme]

[Lowkey]

what a diary

[alelsupreme]

[Saoirse]

#lolopinions

[alelsupreme]

leave me ALONE

Anyway albums for today are:

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The '59 Sound by The Gaslight Anthem

Really enjoyed this, proper sound modern rock. You can tell what kind of an album this is from the cover tbh ahaha, pretty Springsteen-esque very American. I can't think of much to say about this, it's just a great album.

85/100

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The Life Pursuit by Belle & Sebastian

O Belle & Seb, can you do wrong? Another classic by the group, with a muscular (well, by their dainty standards at least) pop sound and the same wit and ear for a melody as ever.Murdoch and pals turn out yet another great album.

85/100

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The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montg...Montgomery

Jazz albums with short tracks always feel weird to me, like I'm used to them having at least one track close to or over 10 minutes long. Anyway, while I'm not overly awed by Wes himself (Guitar as a lead instrument just doesn't feel right in Jazz) he is undoubtedly very skilled and these tracks make for some very nice easy listening. 85/100.

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Out To Lunch! by Eric Dolphy

This was a very odd album, seemed very loosely structured and sparse. Not much to hold on to, but very interesting. I feel like the more I listen to this the more I will find to enjoy.

85/100

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Ray Charles by Ray Charles

Ray's debut, a compilation of his early solo singles. Very good. 75/100

I can't write much today, don't feel too good.

Next batch of albums:

The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & The Lash
Arthur Russell - World of Echo
Galaxie 500 - Today
Boogie Down Productions - Criminally Minded

[alelsupreme]

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Rum, Sodomy, And The Lash by The Pogues

Ohh this is some good stuff. Putting aside the more raucous tracks (which are good, don't get me wrong), the Pogues in ballad mode are up there with the best of them. "I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day", "A Pair Of Brown Eyes" and "Dirty Old Town" are all fine, fine pieces of work (in fact I think imma stick the latter back on again" and of course, the capstone to all of this is "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda". Christ, that song's crushing. Shane's rough but passionate voice coupled with the bands rich celtic accompaniment is just.. oh!

85/100

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World Of Echo by Arthur Russell

Very strange one this, all murky and lo-fi. I kinda expected some kind of artsy electropop, not... this. Not quite sure what to even say, but I did like it.

70/100

Criminal Minded by Boogie Down Productions

A few people call this the first gangsta rap album... not convinced myself but oh well. KRS is a really great rapper, but I'm not a huge fan of these old-school beats, some are a bit too basic for my liking.

55/100

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Today by Galaxie 500

First half is nice but a bit samey (I don't get the hype about their Jonathan Richman cover like it's ok but way people talk about it on RYM you'd think it's some face-melting guitarfest) like there's only so much reverby slow rock I can take dude!!!!!

Second half is definitely an improvement, "Oblivious" kinda has a swing to it (!) "It's Getting Late" has some nice synth to add flavour, "Instrumental" is Gud and "Tugboat" is too.

Wow I'm sooo good at writing Lester Bangs eat my shit!!!

75/100

Next batch of albums:

Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - The Good Son
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Portishead - s/t
The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree

[alelsupreme]

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The Sunset Tree by The Mountain Goats

I've got little to say - I listened to this rather passively tbh. More personal than Tallahasse or West Texas, a strong listen.

75/100

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Amnesiac by Radiohead

fusion between electronica of kid a and previous alt-rock leanings. some of these songs seem to drift a bit, a bit directionless, or lacking real force in some way. I honestly think most of this is just down to Yorke's vocals - he's no Otis Redding or anything. This said, the only real misstep is Spinning Plates, more than made up for by Life In A Glasshouse (jazz horns make me weak at the knees). Oh and of course Pyramid Song is a beautiful dark stone, swirling like the river styx drawing Yorke to the other side.

75/100

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The Good Son by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

Pretty much all the best songs on here have "Song" on the end. All I have to contribute thank you for reading.

70/100

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Portishead by Portishead

GOOD

85/100

Next batch:
Ella Fitzgerald - Ella In Berlin
The Replacements - Pleased To Meet Me
The National - Alligator
Grimes - Art Angels

Hopefully I can finally get all my year charts filled out!

EDIT: Okay, had to take a sneak peek at some.

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Ella In Berlin by Ella Fitzgerald

I can already tell I'm going to loooove this album. Ella is a remarkable singer, very inventive and playful, and the bands on point. Also it concludes with a fucking insane version of How High The Moon (aka THE BEST SONG EVER). Will try and write something better up for this after three listens.
_________________

Romanelli wrote:

We're all fucked, lads.

[alelsupreme]

Alligator by The National

Yeah sure cool whatever same deal as with Sunset Tree.

75/100

Pleased To Meet Me by The Replacements

Were the Replacements sounding more poppish because they wanted more success or because they were becoming more successful? I could find the answer to this through like 5 minutes of research but I'm far too lazy for shit like that.

Anyhow from what I can gather this is pretty much their last album worth bothering with (though there's only two after it so that doesn't mean much) and yeah, definitely a step down from Tim. That said, all that means is it has three relatively mediocre songs, I Don't Know (GOSH those backing vocals grate!) Shooting Dirty Pool (pretty average rocker) and Skyway. Westerberg being Westerberg, he still knows how to craft some bloody great tunes. Alex Chilton is a great puncy tribute to esteemed power pop songwriter of the same name, who features on Can't Hardly Wait, a lovely horn driven number that, frankly, SHOULDA BEEN A HIT. Nightclub Jitters is a nice low-key jazz tinged tune as well, and The Ledge through to Valentine is solid, if not remarkable.

65/100

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Ella In Berlin by Ella Fitzgerald

Further listens just confirmed my initial feelings about this. Ella's best during the more comical and lighthearted songs, handling them with great ease, such as on her playful trashing of Mack The Knife. That's not to downplay her talent as a straightforward jazz singer such as on Summertime and Misty, both of which she handles very elegantly. The band complements her well, very tight and never overshadowing her.

Oh and of course, that final track. This version of How High The Moon is simply insane, with Ella chucking in song snippets at random and various musical imitations into the melting pot and coming out with an absolute fucking tune. On par with Les Paul and Mary Ford's rendition, which is not a compliment I give out often.

85/100

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Art Angels by Grimes

I can't be bothered writing anything substantiative - lots of others did it for me in the first week of the diary :p.

oh okay ill try. basically as anyone who's heard of this album knows this is far more pop-oriented than visions - it's honestly rather jarring at first, totally at odds with what you'd expect from her, but once you get accustomed to it it's very rewarding, very well done electropop that's not afraid to experiment.

75/100 (this is what ive rated like half of the albums from 2015 i've heard lol)

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The Joshua Tree by U2

Relistened to this to see if I could finally fill out the last year, 1987, that needed filling out in my year charts.

Joy of all joys, it worked!

65/100
_________________

Romanelli wrote:

We're all fucked, lads.