You must listen to the album below you: canon edition

[LedZep]

(1)

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He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts Of Ligh...r Mt. Zion
Wow how did I not listen to this GYBE spin off earlier. This album honestly rivals anything Godspeed have done as a band, and they're one of my favourites. A huge, huge album. It borrows a lot from GYBE's style, from buildups, sound manipulation and field recordings to spoken word segments, but Silver Mt. Zion is by no means a GYBE clone. It sounds exactly like it should: the guys and gals (actually just 3 of them on this debut, Efrim Menuck, Sophie Trudeau and Thierry Amar) from Godspeed playing something different while using similar techniques which made them one of the most popular/best post rock bands out there. I could not imagine a GYBE album sounding like this, it's much more intimate, plays with timbre and sound, classical music influences are more apparent (prominent violin, among other things), it's soft, slow, repetitive and features vocals on several tracks. At times, it feels like GYBE without the climax after a buildup. And it works surprisingly well, maybe just as good as something with a more fleshed-out structure like Moya or Storm. A good amount of gorgeous improv and noodling. I'd like to write several more paragraphs, just don't have the time right now. I'll give it another listen tomorrow and decide if this is indeed a 10/10 album. Definitely one of the best I've heard in this game. Not that those ratings matter much, but for now, I'm going with 9.5/10

(2)
Since I've already recommended Desire, let's go with Half-Mute. Those two are close in quality.

(3)
Mixed + 2022

Disco Inferno - D. I. Go Pop
Squadra Bianco - Night of the Illuminati
Doom:VS - Dead Words Speak
Cursed - II
Vangelis - Spiral
Lee Morgan - Search for the New Land
Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (I, Car, 1977, whatever you wanna call it)
Ode and Elegy - Ode and Elegy
Boldy James & Real Bad Man - Killing Nothing
Angel Olsen - Big Time
_________________
Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[baystateoftheart]

1.

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Half-Mute by Tuxedomoon

Thanks for introducing me to Tuxedomoon LedZep

Like Desire, their debut LP Half-Mute is a beguiling avant-garde rock/post-punk adventure, fascinating from start to finish. It's beautiful, strange music that I have few reference points for and haven't been able to get ahold of on first listen. So it will require revisiting to fully appreciate this work of art, and I'm in no way displeased about that. The music of Tuxedomoon feels like the auditory equivalent for certain tendencies in visual modern art, but I don't have enough art history knowledge to put my finger on it. Anyone want to take a stab? I think I enjoyed this slightly more than Desire on first listen, and it's at minimum a very good record. 3.5/5.

~~~~~

2. This is a great album:

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Search For The New Land by Lee Morgan

~~~~~

3. Alphabet Game, Cohort 20 (4 picks left)

S3: At Mister Kelly’s - Sarah Vaughan And Her Trio*
S4: Halica: Bliss Out v.11 - Sweet Trip
T: Wilder - The Teardrop Explodes
T2: The Turtles Present The Battle Of The Bands - The Turtles
U: The Four Horsemen - Ultramagnetic MC’s*
V: Discover America - Van Dyke Parks*
W: Why Can’t We Be Friends? - WAR*
Y: Stranger - Yung Lean
&: LSD And Remixes - 佐藤理 (Osamu Sato)
V/A: Mi Media Naranja - Labradford

*Last chance!
_________________
Add me on RYM

[Purplepash]

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The Blueprint by Jay-Z

The album I was least looking forward to from the list of choices. But I knew I would get around to it one day so now is as good a time as any. This album sounds like money, power, and success - 3 things I have never had much of and don't chase, so I don't relate to this at all. Not that that always matters, but in this case it definitely didn't help. The music/beats/samples were perfectly fine throughout - just not to my personal taste of what excites me musically. A passable way to pass the time but nothing I liked a whole lot except for maybe the Eminem feature on Renegade. 6.5/10, and 59/65 for the year.




Let's go with Why Can’t We Be Friends? - WAR

Why Can't We Be Friends? by War




BEA Best Albums of 2011 (5 picks left)

6. El Camino by The Black Keys
9. 21 by Adele
11. Strange Mercy by St. Vincent
12. Section.80 by Kendrick Lamar
13. James Blake by James Blake
14. Exmilitary by Death Grips
15. Suck It And See by Arctic Monkeys
16. Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine
17. Take Care by Drake
18. Torches by Foster The People

[baystateoftheart]

1.

Why Can't We Be Friends? by WAR

Two years after the excellent The World Is A Ghetto was the #1 selling album of the year in the US, WAR released Why Can't We Be Friends?, which would yield two of their most enduring singles in Low Rider and the title track. Tonally, this is a much lighter, looser, and less substantial album. From start to finish, it's a laid-back, summery funk and soul affair, and one that's consistently quality, anchored by talented musicianship. This record may not be a masterwork, but it will relax you and get you in a good mood, and a lot of times, you needn't ask for more. Very good fun. 3.5/5.

~~~~~

2. Try Kendrick's debut album. Of the nine of these I've heard, I'd say it's the most interesting.

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Section.80 by Kendrick Lamar

~~~~~

3. Alphabet Game, Cohort 20 (3 picks left)

S3: 5 - Sault
S4: Halica: Bliss Out v.11 - Sweet Trip
T: Wilder - The Teardrop Explodes
T2: The Turtles Present The Battle Of The Bands - The Turtles
U: Perdition City - Ulver
V: 1984 - Van Halen
W: Seamonsters - The Wedding Present
Y: Stranger - Yung Lean
&: LSD And Remixes - 佐藤理 (Osamu Sato)
V/A: Mi Media Naranja - Labradford*

*Last chance!
_________________
Add me on RYM

[Purplepash]

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Section.80 by Kendrick Lamar

I'm glad this was chosen. It's the only Kendrick studio album I hadn't heard yet. He has really grown on me over the years since I first heard him and I think know I appreciate this first album more than I would have earlier. It was an interesting listen for sure, both musically and lyrically a lot to pay attention to and it kept my attention and focus throughout the whole thing. Sure I don't always like everything he does, and I wasn't too keen on some of the earlier songs on the album but the second half had some great tracks. Especially the run from the powerful Keisha's Song (Her Pain) to the closer HiiiPoWeR, with Ab-Soul's Outro the other highlight. 7.5/10, and 36/50 for the year.




I've liked the Sault albums I've heard so choosing 5 next.

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5 by Sault




BEA Best Albums of 2011 (4 picks left)

6. El Camino by The Black Keys
9. 21 by Adele
11. Strange Mercy by St. Vincent
13. James Blake by James Blake
14. Exmilitary by Death Grips
15. Suck It And See by Arctic Monkeys
16. Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine
17. Take Care by Drake
18. Torches by Foster The People
19. Angles by The Strokes

[baystateoftheart]

1.

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5 by Sault

Sault's debut is the fourth album I've heard by the mysterious soul collective, and like the others, it's an enjoyable listen. The production and vocals are both impressive, and there's a bit more to hold onto musically than on their less cohesive Untitled 2020 albums. My only critique is that the potency of the songwriting is uneven, with a number of tracks fading into the background. A strong first outing, and there are half a dozen great songs here (some earworms even!), but the slight majority is very good but not great. 3.5/5.

~~~~~

2. Listen to what is imo Florence + The Machine's finest hour:

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Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine

~~~~~

3. Alphabet Game, Cohort 20 (2 picks left)

S3: Mr. Scarface Is Back - Scarface
S4: Halica: Bliss Out v.11 - Sweet Trip
T: Wilder - The Teardrop Explodes
T2: The Turtles Present The Battle Of The Bands - The Turtles
U: Perdition City - Ulver
V: 1984 - Van Halen
W: Seamonsters - The Wedding Present*
Y: Stranger - Yung Lean
&: LSD And Remixes - 佐藤理 (Osamu Sato)
V/A: The Brotherhood Of The Bomb - Techno Animal

*Last chance!
_________________
Add me on RYM

[Mercury]

1.

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Vengeance by Tragedy

Somehow I had forgotten that Tragedy was composed of previous members of the seminal 1990s crust punk band His Hero Is Gone. When I discovered this or connected the dots, I was quite excited. And after 2.5 listens, I am not majorly disappointed. This is not on the same level of mind-blowing excellence as His Hero Is Gone's masterpiece, Monuments to Thieves. BUT it is some melodic, anthemic, atmospheric and slapping crusty punk.

The sound is soooo thick. The bass is this rumbling omnipresent beast. The guitar tones are these thick slabs of melodic hardcore beauty. The vocals are standard impassioned Hardcore vocals. The flow of the album is consistent to both a plus and a minus - a plus because the sound is style is so engaging and energized and the atmosphere is so dope that wanting them to radically change it is not present with me. A minus because there isn't too much variation or explorative change ups, which can make for a less inspired and relistenable LP.

Overall, this sound is made for me and my tastes quite nicely. This is just dark, brooding, epic hardcore with some crusty sludge sounds especially in the bass and riff work. My main gripe (if this can be called a gripe) is for something labeled Crust Punk and for an album created by people who just 4 or 5 years earlier created Fifteen Covnts of of Arson and Monuments to Thieves, this sounds quite clean, produced and contained. There is a trade off when you get more produced and clear and clean and melodic. When this happens it makes for some really engrossing and badass music. But also, especially for this genre, this cleanness can undercut the overall experience.

Anyway, what I will close with is saying if you want some epic, sludgy, thick hardcore sounds that will potentially amp you up and make even the smallest tasks seem like fucking acts of resistance, listen to this and maybe you will be satisfied. Its a good 'un.

Idk, i'd give this like a 3.7-3.8/5 on the RYM scale (actual rating is 3.5 there). And a 77 on BEA (actual score given is 80 - I know mathematically this makes no sense.

-------------------------

@Baystateoftheart, recently I spent a bit too much time (debateable) creating a massive list of every single album I could find that I, at one time of another, had an interest in checking out. It is up to 2,300 releases after one pass through lol. The point is there are 2 albums on your list that are also on mine. Seamonsters and Perdition City... it was close but I decided this is the one I am most curious your thoughts on:

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Seamonsters by The Wedding Present


------------------------

3.



Picks from my recently-created list of 2,300+ LPs, EPs, Compilations, etc that I have an interest in listening to or, in rare circumstances, relisten to.


1. Relatives In Descent by Protomartyr/2017 (noisy post punk noise rock art punk etc etc)

2. Nihil quam vacuitas ordinatum est by Ad Nauseam/2015 (avant garde, discordant, dissonant death from some of the best doing it today)

3. T H E by tricot/2013 (mathrock i think. have heard some tricot and it was cool)

4. MetaL MetaL by Metá Metá/2012 (recently discovered Juçara Marçal and she is an absolute gem. this is earlier group. very unique somewhat rock sound i think)

5. Unholy Cult by Immolation/2002 (death metal from one of the all time great bands)

6. The Ape of Naples by Coil/2005 (so called post industrial by one of the giants of the genre)

7. Hole In The Heart by Ramleh/1987 (noisy industrial that blew me away when I heard it before)

8. ½ Mensch by Einstürzende Neubauten/1985 (industrial)

9. Satanic Rites by Hellhammer/1983 (early thrash I think, very very influential for extreme metal)

10. Lobotomise by Incinerated/2017 (grindcore, deathgrind, death metal)
_________________
-Ryan

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

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

[Purplepash]

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Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine

Florence Welsh has an incredible voice, and they have some great songs I've liked a lot that I don't mind poorly belting out along with the chorus (Dog Days Are Over, Ship To Wreck, Hunger etc), but nothing on this album particularly interested me that much. Maybe the largeness of it all just didn't appeal to me here. The liveliness of No Light, No Light was probably the best moment on the album for me. 6.5/10




Not my favourite Protomartyr album but still very good, check out Relatives In Descent.

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Relatives In Descent by Protomartyr




BEA Best Albums of 2011 (3 picks left)

6. El Camino by The Black Keys
9. 21 by Adele
11. Strange Mercy by St. Vincent
13. James Blake by James Blake
14. Exmilitary by Death Grips
15. Suck It And See by Arctic Monkeys
17. Take Care by Drake
18. Torches by Foster The People
19. Angles by The Strokes
20. House Of Balloons by The Weeknd

[LedZep]

(1)

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Search For The New Land by Lee Morgan
This was absolutely wonderful. Being pretty unfamiliar with Morgan apart from his classic album The Sidewinder, I did not expect such a free flowing, melodic and easily listenable album. I've already stated that hard bop ala Sidewinder is a bit hit or miss for me, as I can only take so much frantic soloing. Now that I think of it, The Sidewinder is definitely one of the "hits" for me, perhaps it's because of the slightly more laid back approach compared to most bop. Anyway, Search for the New Land surpasses it. Or at the very least appeals to me more stylistically. Even more gentle, laid back, but it still punches hard when it needs to. Nothing against Sidewinder, on the contrary, but this feels compositionally the best Lee Morgan work I've heard. Add Green's soulful guitar, Hancock's intricate piano, Shorter's magical Sax, Workman's (can't think of another adjective) bass and Higgins' gentle drums and you've got a winning squad. One of the better sextets I've heard, that's for sure. 8.5/10

(2)
It's between House of Balloons and Exmilitary, but let's go with the best (possibly?) Grips work.

(3)
2022 + mixed

Disco Inferno - D. I. Go Pop
Squadra Bianco - Night of the Illuminati
Doom:VS - Dead Words Speak
Cursed - II
Vangelis - Spiral
Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (I, Car, 1977, whatever you wanna call it)
Ode and Elegy - Ode and Elegy
Boldy James & Real Bad Man - Killing Nothing
Porcupine Tree - CLOSURE/CONTINUATION
_________________
Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[Purplepash]

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Exmilitary by Death Grips

It was interesting going back and listening to their start, having mainly listened to them from Jenny Death onwards. This started off great with the first few songs, especially of course Guillotine, one of my favourite Death Grips songs, then I just comfortably set in enjoying the noisy discomforting atmosphere for the rest of the album, until a strong finish to the album left me satisfied. I loved catching the Pink Floyd Interstellar Overdrive sample in I Want It I Need It, and the development of it as the song went along was fun for a fan of that song like me. Another really good album from Death Grips - I haven't heard one yet I didn't like. 8/10, and 23/52 for the year.




D.I. Go Pop is on my to listen to list.

D. I. Go Pop by Disco Inferno




BEA Best Albums of 2011 (2 picks left)

6. El Camino by The Black Keys
9. 21 by Adele
11. Strange Mercy by St. Vincent
13. James Blake by James Blake
15. Suck It And See by Arctic Monkeys
17. Take Care by Drake
18. Torches by Foster The People
19. Angles by The Strokes
20. House Of Balloons by The Weeknd
21. Burst Apart by The Antlers