Discuss the Musics Thread

[D_Davis]

And new Bill Callahan today! Awesome.

[dreamdead]

And new Bill Callahan today! Awesome.

Steven Hyden raved about this over at Grantland last week. I can't find much online to listen to, but is it worth a blind buy given my typical tastes?

[D_Davis]

Steven Hyden raved about this over at Grantland last week. I can't find much online to listen to, but is it worth a blind buy given my typical tastes?

Do you like Callahan in general? If so, it's more of the same - laconic, new Americana. Super minimal. I think it's great. He's from the old slow/sad core days of Red House Painters and Codeine, and I do really like his new stuff.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHVNUrcyJy8

The live Anathema album is pretty good. Great guitar and vocal work, but the drumming is not very great. There's no power or feel to the drums at all, and even the playing sounds sloppy.

[D_Davis]

The new Bill Callahan is excellent. It's not as immediately-awesome as Apocalypse is, but it's a grower, for sure, and will probably end up being viewed as a stronger album, even if it doesn't have a single track as good as "America." In one of the early tracks on the album, he mentions Marvin Gaye, and the album this most reminds of is What's Going On? It feels like a concept album, not one that tells a story, but one that is thematically coherent, and tracks work better in context to the whole.

[dreamdead]

Yeah, I had Dream River going during the 40 minute drive into Tulsa today. Those tracks just blend so seamlessly into one another. I think "Spring" might be the winner for me; "Winter Road" is quietly devastating as well. Very happy that you brought it up--I'm excited to continue digging into it.

Bummer about the Anathema sound quality, but that's not too surprising. Sad that the Anathema/Alcest tour is utterly skipping OK. We'd kill to be able to make that show...

[D_Davis]

Yeah, I had Dream River going during the 40 minute drive into Tulsa today. Those tracks just blend so seamlessly into one another. I think "Spring" might be the winner for me; "Winter Road" is quietly devastating as well. Very happy that you brought it up--I'm excited to continue digging into it.


I love taking road trips with Callahan - his music perfectly fits with long stretches of empty highways.

Have you listened to anything else from him (Smog)?

[D_Davis]

Any Robyn Hitchcock aficionados around these parts?

Top 5 albums?

[D_Davis]

The new Kilbey and Kennedy album (You are Everything) is excellent - even more dreamy and subdued than White Magic.

[dreamdead]

I love taking road trips with Callahan - his music perfectly fits with long stretches of empty highways.

Have you listened to anything else from him (Smog)?

Not yet. Only have money for the new Vienna Teng (http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/av/2013/09/album-stream-vienna-teng---aims.html) release on Tuesday. Will likely dig deeper into Callahan next month, though. Red Apples Fall, Dongs of Sevotion or another...? I like the standout tracks on both. Which has stayed with you more?

Meanwhile, am I alone in finding Janelle Monae's newest to be far more mid-paced tempo than expected? The energy and verve behind the last album is part of what made it so special; this one features her lovely vocals front and center, but the pace is more beleaguered than frenetic, and that's disappointing still.

[EyesWideOpen]

I'm actually going to have to go into a store and buy a physical new cd for the first time in a long time on tuesday. The new Icona Pop album has 4 bonus tracks that are exclusive to the Target cd version.

[D_Davis]

Stoked for the new Kings of Leon today.

[D_Davis]

About once or twice a month, since it's release, I've listened to the new MBV to see if it would grow on my. Unfortunately, it has not. While I admire its production, especially its quiet, dynamic mastering, there just isn't anything else on display to warrant any kind of affection. The arrangements are dull and uninspired, and almost everything on the album sounds phoned in. There is no spark. It's like the music was made by a MBV zombie that remembered how it was supposed to sound while merely going through the motions, but without an ounce of soul or emotion. The praise it gets might be this year's most profound pop-culture mystery.

However, it's at least better than the new Medicine album. :) Man - what a bore that thing is.

Bring on the full length Stargazer Lilies! October 22....

[D_Davis]

Born in a very different Berlin in 1934, Hans-Joachim Roedelius is an elder legend of electronic music and piano, having helped establish the voice of German krautrock and ambient music. (Think Cluster, Harmonia, Aquarello. (http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/09/roedelius-dreamy-ambling-ambience-electronic-legend-videos/))

Great view.

[ledfloyd]

Going to see Nat Baldwin from Dirty Projectors tonight with some fantastic local bands. Maybe this belongs in the concert thread. Either way, I'm excited.

[D_Davis]

Moby's latest is a huge disappointment after 2011's Destroyed. He continues the trend of having one good album for every 3 or so mediocre ones. While Destroyed was full of energy and passion, simply overflowing with creativity, Innocents seems to have take a few very large steps back to the blandest of his '90s output. There are few cool tracks (the one with Wayne Coyne is cool), but overall it's entirely dull.

This once again proves that the albums on which he sings the most are the best. Moby has a unique voice, and should use it more. It's not a great voice, but its earnest, and adds some humanity to the electronics.

[Idioteque Stalker]

It's like the music was made by a MBV zombie that remembered how it was supposed to sound while merely going through the motions, but without an ounce of soul or emotion. The praise it gets might be this year's most profound pop-culture mystery.

Loveless is my favorite album of all time, but I wouldn't say that soul or emotion are MBV's strong suits to begin with, save maybe for parts of Isn't Anything.

[D_Davis]

I should have used the word passion. I can feel the passion that went into their last albums. I just don't feel anything at all from this newest one. It sounds like boring music made by bored people. Maybe it's just not speaking to me on that level - that's a possibility. However, it still sounds lazy and uninspired. But then again, MBV was never my favorite of the shoegazers - always preferred Slowdive and Ride in terms of the big three, and early Boo Radleys over all of them.

[D_Davis]

Harold Budd's once-limited release, Perhaps, a live recording at CalArts from 2006, received a general release a couple of weeks ago. It is very good. Just one man, one piano, no treatments or effects; an hour long series of improvisational pieces full of the kind of introspective melancholy Budd is known for. It's minimalist neo-classical ambient piano at some of its very best.

[dreamdead]

Harold Budd's once-limited release, Perhaps, a live recording at CalArts from 2006, received a general release a couple of weeks ago. It is very good. Just one man, one piano, no treatments or effects; an hour long series of improvisational pieces fully of the kind of introspective melancholy Budd is known for. It's minimalist neo-classical ambient piano at some of its very best.

Nice, listening now. Thanks for the heads-up!

[Spun Lepton]

Anybody listened to M.I.A.'s most recent Maya? I made it three songs before I had to turn it off. I wish I could put my finger on what it is about this new one that made me cringe as I listened to it. Maybe it was her needless (always needless) use of autotune, maybe it was a sense that she's lost her edge and she's trying damned hard to maintain it ... I dunno.

It's rare when I physically cringe at music, let alone music from an artist I've really liked in the past.

[slqrick]

Anybody listened to M.I.A.'s most recent Maya? I made it three songs before I had to turn it off. I wish I could put my finger on what it is about this new one that made me cringe as I listened to it. Maybe it was her needless (always needless) use of autotune, maybe it was a sense that she's lost her edge and she's trying damned hard to maintain it ... I dunno.

It's rare when I physically cringe at music, let alone music from an artist I've really liked in the past.

Never really been a fan outside of a couple of songs, but I admit I'm curious about her latest album. I've liked what I've heard so far.

Chvrches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktoaj1IpTbw) on repeat. Enjoying some Danny Brown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8ZpCygkMa8) as well.

[dreamdead]

Nice, listening now. Thanks for the heads-up!

This is so smooth. Budd's playing remains liquid, undulating and returning motifs. Even without the atmospherics of Eno, Guthrie, or Foxx this is really impressive stuff. Great music for background grading marathons...

Purchased the Haim full-length due to Steven Hyden's praise. Their sound has a pleasant throwback to 70s and 80s folk/pop, but the music is almost so innocuous that I fear I'll remember nothing of it afterwards. Hopefully some of the complexity reveals itself soon.

[Thirdmango]

Anyone here listen to Foals? I picked up three of their albums after hearing them on later with jools. They sort of remind me of a newer version of the Talking Heads.

[bac0n]

Yeah, now that you mention it, I do hear some Talking Heads in The Foals, particularly in the song My Number.

At any rate, I dig their sound. A lot. Likely going to be my next album purchase,

[MadMan]

I was just thinking of artists that I went from not liking/hating to being a fan of, or at least enjoying their music. Recent ones that come to mind are Journey (Don't Stop Believing is still the most overplayed song ever though if it is good), Rush (I own two of their most famous albums) and to a slower extent Steely Dan (they have some tasty pop hooks, I'll give them that). However I still find Kansas sort of dull, even though I do love me a few of their hits I guess. And I'll never understand why people like Lady Gaga.

[D_Davis]

dreamdead - Haken's The Mountain is this year's We're Here Because We're Here. It's a little more on the prog side rather than the pop-rock side of things, but it still contains a ton of those great Anethma-like powerfully emotional moments, just with a bit more instrument noodling and proggy shit.

It actually reminds me of a mix between Oingo Boingo and Anathema.

[Thirdmango]

The Talking Heads are a perfect example of a band where I hated them and now they're one of my favorites. It's in particular because I don't like the song Once In a Lifetime, and for years that was the only song I associated them with. Now I love just about every song they do except lifetime.

[dreamdead]

dreamdead - Haken's The Mountain is this year's We're Here Because We're Here. It's a little more on the prog side rather than the pop-rock side of things, but it still contains a ton of those great Anethma-like powerfully emotional moments, just with a bit more instrument noodling and proggy shit.

It actually reminds me of a mix between Oingo Boingo and Anathema.

Listened to about 15 minutes of this on youtube. There's an occasional silly transition point between melodies, a la Dream Theater's worst excesses, but you're right, this starts out quite strong. Will definitely keep listening and see if it wiggles into my brainhole enough to warrant a purchase...

[D_Davis]

Listened to about 15 minutes of this on youtube. There's an occasional silly transition point between melodies, a la Dream Theater's worst excesses, but you're right, this starts out quite strong. Will definitely keep listening and see if it wiggles into my brainhole enough to warrant a purchase...

There is definitely some silliness that bothered me at first, but it really grew on me, and the strong points far outweigh the weak.

[D_Davis]

The Talking Heads are a perfect example of a band where I hated them and now they're one of my favorites. It's in particular because I don't like the song Once In a Lifetime, and for years that was the only song I associated them with. Now I love just about every song they do except lifetime.

It's pretty much impossible to beat their first 3 albums.

[bac0n]

It's pretty much impossible to beat their first 3 albums.

Even on the easiest setting?

[D_Davis]

Even on the easiest setting?

Even through NG++++.

[ledfloyd]

The Talking Heads are a perfect example of a band where I hated them and now they're one of my favorites. It's in particular because I don't like the song Once In a Lifetime, and for years that was the only song I associated them with. Now I love just about every song they do except lifetime.

Do you ever ask yourself, how did I get here?

[D_Davis]

Stargazer Lilies - We are the Dreamers (http://www.amazon.com/We-Are-the-Dreamers/dp/B00F6TR814/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_mus?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1382451610&sr=1-1&keywords=stargazer+lilies)

[D_Davis]

Stargazer Lilies - We are the Dreamers (http://www.amazon.com/We-Are-the-Dreamers/dp/B00F6TR814/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_mus?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1382451610&sr=1-1&keywords=stargazer+lilies)

"Don't Waste my Time," is one of the best shoegazer tracks since Slowdive's Rutti.

[D_Davis]

Anyone listen to Karl Hyde's (Underworld) solo album, Edgeland? It's very good. Reminds me a lot of David Sylvian/Japan crew.

[dreamdead]

Alright, grabbed up the Haken album since Amazon's MP3 Music service got it on sale. Man alive, that main piano melody in "Atlas Stone" is phenomenal. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, DD.

Also picked up Fred Ho with the Afro-asian Music Ensemble's "The Underground Railroad to My Heart," a fusion of Asian and African jazz motifs. It's one of the more fascinating non-classical jazz releases I've ever heard. Any of the tracks with lyrics are just so intricate in merging Asian themes together. Lovely and surprising, but I saw a book on Ho and just became enraptured by the idea of the music. The music lives up to its billing.

[D_Davis]

Alright, grabbed up the Haken album since Amazon's MP3 Music service got it on sale. Man alive, that main piano melody in "Atlas Stone" is phenomenal. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, DD.


That's what made me think of Anathema. Great track.

[MadMan]

I always liked The Talking Heads, but only recently have I started to actually love them instead of merely really liking them a lot.

[D_Davis]

New Gaston Arevalo album out.

http://www.kompakt.fm/releases/rollin_ballads

Haven't had a chance to get lost in it yet (still devouring the Stargazer Lilies), but I'm sure it'll be something great.

[D_Davis]

New Flaming Lips is AWESOME.

They suddenly remembered how to write songs again.

[bac0n]

Seriously - is there ANY better album to listen to when it's snowing outside than Bon Iver?

[Idioteque Stalker]

Seriously - is there ANY better album to listen to when it's snowing outside than Bon Iver?

Nice thought. I also like Seven Swans a lot for that time of year.

[Mr. Pink]

The Talking Heads are a perfect example of a band where I hated them and now they're one of my favorites. It's in particular because I don't like the song Once In a Lifetime, and for years that was the only song I associated them with. Now I love just about every song they do except lifetime.

Same thing happened to me. I never hated Once in a Lifetime and Burning Down the House, but neither of those songs made me look for their other stuff.

I heard This Must Be The Place watching Wall Street a few years back and now they're one of my favorite bands. Why the radio still plays Burning Down the House and Once in a Lifetime over stuff like Stop Making Sense and This Must Be the Place, I'll never understand.

[MadMan]

Most classic rock radio sucks. Btw I'm listening to Remain In Light. So far I dig it a lot. I love TH's '77 and Stop Making Sense. I like Fear of Music. At some point I'll finish their discography.

[D_Davis]

http://i.imgur.com/KtCQkyk.jpg

Glad to see this kind of cross-over appeal.

[Derek]

http://i.imgur.com/KtCQkyk.jpg

Glad to see this kind of cross-over appeal.

:lol:

Kinda makes me want to check out that Big Nigga Down Low album...

[D_Davis]

:lol:

Kinda makes me want to check out that Big Nigga Down Low album...

The atmospheric piano playing is masterful!

[D_Davis]

Five Finger Death Punch - proof that time travel is possible, and already happening, because these dudes came straight from the '90s.

http://www.fivefingerdeathpunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ffdp6.jpg

[D_Davis]

Russ - lot's of great stuff on this comp:

http://www.soundstagedirect.com/media/i_am_the_center_private_issue_ new_age.jpg

Collection of new age from 1950-1990. And it's funny, because Pitchfork gave it an 8.5. LOL. (http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18655-i-am-the-center-private-issue-new-age-music-in-america-1950-1990/)

[dreamdead]

Anyone interested in smart independent pop should check out Vienna Teng's Aims album (http://viennateng.bandcamp.com/album/aims). I suspect it's gonna be the best thing I hear this year, full of smart arrangements, quality across the board, veering from more ambient pieces to beat-heavy music. Last three tracks are particularly killer.

[dreamdead]

Welp, DD, The Stargazer Lilies's debut album is indeed quality. Been playing it repeatedly and it continues to improve with each listen.

Also grabbed up Callahan's Sometimes I Wish We Were Eagles. Been grooving on his material more... "Jim Cain" feels like a Nick Drake song in its prettiness, though vocal similarities are few and far between.

[D_Davis]

That's great, dd. Glad you're enjoying them.

Likewise, I've been enjoying the heck out of that SubRosa album you rec'ed. Really good.

[Derek]

Yeah, I've been loving the Stargazer Lilies LP. I'm almost certain I never would've heard about them without DD's recommendation. I've been awaiting their debut since their first 4 songs came out almost 2 years ago and it didn't disappoint. So thanks Daniel...this more than makes up for your repeated pot shots at MBV. ;)

[D_Davis]

Pot shots? You mean well-deserving criticism? ;)

The SGL is really, really good - no doubt.

[Derek]

Pot shots? You mean well-deserving criticism? ;)

I'll give you the first 50, but the next 287 were definitely pot shots!

[D_Davis]

I'll give you the first 50, but the next 287 were definitely pot shots!

LOL

[Derek]

LOL

You heard the new Flips EP, Peace Sword, yet? Great companion piece to The Terror. It's a bit lighter (how could it not be) with some flashes of Yoshimi-era, but really, you could tack onto the end of The Terror and it'd make an amazing, nearly seamless double album.

[D_Davis]

You heard the new Flips EP, Peace Sword, yet? Great companion piece to The Terror. It's a bit lighter (how could it not be) with some flashes of Yoshimi-era, but really, you could tack onto the end of The Terror and it'd make an amazing, nearly seamless double album.

Yeah - it's fantastic. Can't believe the FLIPS put out two albums that I love this year. Glad I never completely wrote them off.

The Terror is...wow. That thing is dense as can be. And Peace Sword is almost a return to Soft Bulletin/Yoshimi. They actually sound like a band making music again.

[D_Davis]

This is what I did tonight.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMvWOaDiqB0

[D_Davis]

Anyone listen to any Irish music?

I'm looking for some good collections of traditional and modern ballads.

Any suggestions?

[D_Davis]

The drumming on Dylan's "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" is so good.

[MadMan]

So did The Boss ever make a bad album during the 80s? So far I haven't heard it if he did. I've spent the last week listening to Born In the USA.

[Idioteque Stalker]

Any suggestions?

I've been listening to this and showing it to my friends a whole lot this year. It's a mix by Grouper with a bunch of traditional tunes. Surely there's something on it that fits what you're looking for.

http://www.factmag.com/2013/04/22/fact-mix-379-grouper/

It's gorgeous, regardless.

[D_Davis]

I've been listening to this and showing it to my friends a whole lot this year. It's a mix by Grouper with a bunch of traditional tunes. Surely there's something on it that fits what you're looking for.

http://http://www.factmag.com/2013/04/22/fact-mix-379-grouper/

It's gorgeous, regardless.

Interesting - I'll give it a listen. Thanks!

BTW, typo in the link: http://www.factmag.com/2013/04/22/fact-mix-379-grouper/

[D_Davis]

When it comes to the man-machine interface, we usually focus on ways of making the machines act more human. Drum machines and MIDI sequencers are capable of playing with swing and slop to emulate the human qualities that make music more nuanced and interesting.

But what happens when the humans begin to act more like machines? What happens when humans play live instruments (in this case upright bass, piano and drums) with computer-like timing, eschewing slop for a robot-like hypnotic rhythm, changing so minutely as to nearly avoid conscious attention?

The answer to that question is...

Dawn of Midi (http://www.amazon.com/Dysnomia-Dawn-Midi/dp/B00E5UHIN8/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_mus?ie=UTF8&qid=1386786196&sr=8-1&keywords=dawn+of+midi)

The new standard for minimal has been set.

[bac0n]

Anyone listen to any Irish music? I'm looking for some good collections of traditional and modern ballads. Any suggestions?

I would recommend you check out Altan. They are awesome. Also, you can't go wrong with Clannad, especially if you are a fan of hauntingly beautiful, ethereal vocal harmonizations.

[D_Davis]

I would recommend you check out Altan. They are awesome. Also, you can't go wrong with Clannad, especially if you are a fan of hauntingly beautiful, ethereal vocal harmonizations.

Wow! Thanks for the Clannad rec. Absolutely the kind of stuff I was looking for. Love this sad drinking music. :)

I'll check out Altan as well.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I pretty much love all of Burial's music, but this new EP is hitting me harder than anything of his since Untrue. A lot of the appeal of his music is its enigmatic quality, its mysterious sentimentality, but this is the most on-the-nose Burial release yet and, oddly, I think it gains power from that.

[dreamdead]

Van-Anh Vo's Three-Mountain Pass, a collection of classic and contemporary songs scored to a Vietnamese zither, is pretty wonderful. Translations of Satie and others, a little vocals, but quietly haunting in the approach to ambiant and minimalistic music.

[D_Davis]

I pretty much love all of Burial's music, but this new EP is hitting me harder than anything of his since Untrue. A lot of the appeal of his music is its enigmatic quality, its mysterious sentimentality, but this is the most on-the-nose Burial release yet and, oddly, I think it gains power from that.

I don't like this much at all. It feels aimless to me, like something any decent bedroom producer would create over a long weekend. The beat in the first piece is especially tired and uncreative - sounds like an old drum and bass beat. I was really disappointed by the EP, mainly because I've enjoyed a lot of what Burial has done in the past. I don't know - it just didn't grab me at all.

Did you happen to pick up Tim Exile's EP? Similar structure - 3 extended tracks. It's excellent. So sonically adventurous.

[Spun Lepton]

M.I.A's newest album Matangi is a return to form! Hooray!

[D_Davis]

Got my Audioengine A5 speakers today - can't wait to start listening to all of my favorite music on these things. To break them in tonight, it's going to be Eberhard Weber. It'll be liking listening to this music for the first time. These speakers bring out nuances and things in music you never even knew existed in the original recordings. The clarity is unreal, especially for only $300.

[D_Davis]

New Del album

http://ambrosiaforheads.com/2014/01/del-the-funky-homosapien-drops-a-surprise-album-iller-than-most-album-stream/

[D_Davis]

Stereolab's Dots and Loops - listened to this again for the first time in about 10 years. Still as good as I remember.

[D_Davis]

2014 is beginning a lot like 2013 did. In January of 2013, I heard an ECM artist that completely blew my mind - Eberhard Weber. Just today I discovered another ECM artist that has equally blown me away - Eivind Aarset. His album Dream Logic is a bona fide masterpiece. I'll be shocked if I hear a better album this year.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQUkJagczVs

[bac0n]

I feel terrible. Only now, several years after he has shifted off the mortal coil, have I realized that, holy shit, Robin is the Brother Gibb blessed with the voice of an angel. Barry is the one who should have been second fiddle.

Seriously, how could I have not known? This man was is magic.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFtISvXrvFM

[D_Davis]

A bunch of Tor Lundvall's albums are finally available via MP3, taking them out of the hands of collectors and into the hands of listeners. 4 albums were released on Amazon MP3 last November - Empty City, Last Light, Ice and The Mist. All four are worth owning for people who appreciate electro-acoustic, experimental, ambient stuff. (http://www.amazon.com/Tor-Lundvall/e/B001LH8O9U/digital/ref=ntt_mp3_rdr?_encoding=UTF8&sn=d)

[D_Davis]

Man, I am so stoked I rediscovered Elisa Luu this morning. I first heard her during my big net label kick in 2010, and have completely forgotten about her until this morning when one of her tracks "Slow Bass Flute" started playing on a random playlist.

Her music is masterful; the compositions are bold and interesting, and the timbres she produces are stunning - totally inventive, fresh, crisp and new.

And luckily, she's got a bandcamp. This is going to be a good day.

http://f0.bcbits.com/img/a3195450126_2.jpg


(http://elisaluu.bandcamp.com/album/chromatic-sigh)

[D_Davis]

Good lord, Elisa Luu's newest album - Un Giorno Sospeso - is absolutely, mind-boggingly awesome.

https://soundcloud.com/elisa-luu/sets/flussi

[Qrazy]

New mix up, some dark and moody electro. This one is much less dance focused than my usual creations.

http://www.mixcloud.com/DJQrazy/moments-after-dusk/

[Raiders]

Not sure why he had to be paired with Imagine Dragons, but Kendrick Lamar just killed it at the Grammys.

[dreamdead]

The two Elisa Luu albums are excellent. Thanks for mentioning them, DD. Wonderful stuff.


Not sure why he had to be paired with Imagine Dragons, but Kendrick Lamar just killed it at the Grammys.

Yeah, I was hesitant on that pairing, but the two somehow made it work. Not a fan of ID, though we did buy the album when the Radioactive single hadn't yet penetrated every which way, but the energy was surprisingly infectious. Made me want to go back and listen to Kendrick, that's for sure.

First time listening to Kacey Musgraves after a bucketload of NPR love at the end of the year. Think it might operate as this year's First Aid Kit purchase...

[Henry Gale]

Kendrick just brings that energy so believably and unflinchingly with those songs that even when I expect it, the consistency manages to impress me even more. Seeing him open for Kanye last month, I really couldn't believe how commanding he was, particularly to a crowd that was only partially in attendance or giving full attention. Such a singular artistic voice and talent, with performing power to match.

And as someone that loves Random Access Memories in addition to being increasingly impressed with Lorde with every new thing she does, I couldn't be mad at them dominating the major categories even a little.

So I really loved what all of them did on stage (particularly Daft Punk showcasing the perfect dominance of genre and decade spanning blended greatness with Wonder, Rodgers and their own catalogue in ways the album couldn't do itself), along with NIN / Buckingham / QOTSA, John Legend, Beyonce, and even unexpected performance of One from Metallica and the Chinese pianist I'd otherwise never heard of.

Good Grammys? Is this a thing anyone has ever said before? Whatever, it was best I'll likely ever see it.

[D_Davis]

RAM is the very definition of a Grammy-winning album. It's entirely non-confrontational, super polished, catchy, and a lot of white people ages 35-50 love it.

It could very well be the ultimate Album of the Year. I don't think I've ever agreed more with the choice of the award. It just makes perfect sense.

[dreamdead]

I really like Steven Hyden's take on the Grammy Awards (http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/the-grammys-after-party-hats-helmets-sippy-cups-and-everything-else-from-the-worlds-longest-awards-show/), even if it feeds DD's rancor:



Steven Hyden: So, first, a mea culpa: Turns out I am really, really bad at predicting the Grammys. I think I got cocky last year after successfully calling the coronation of Mumford. But how difficult was that, really? You didn’t need to be a weatherman to sense that the winds were gonna blow in the direction of beards and banjos last year.

Flash-forward to 2014. The choices seemed clear: Taylor Swift was already a proven Grammy favorite, and Red made her pop’s top star, so she had to be a favorite for Album of the Year. The Grammys also seemed to think that Bruno Mars was an agreeable-enough ex-Elvis impersonator, and “Locked Out of Heaven” was his best single to date, so I penciled him down for Record of the Year. Finally, I was convinced that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were just milquetoast enough to win the first-ever Song of the Year award for a rap act for “Same Love.”

When I heard that three dozen or so couples were going to get freaking married during Macklemore’s performance, I figured there was no chance I could be wrong about “Same Love.” Not only was I wrong, I was also woefully incorrect, completely off the mark, and embarrassingly incompetent. For starters, Daft Punk dominated the major categories, winning Album of the Year for Random Access Memories and Record of the Year for “Get Lucky.” As for my bold Macklemore pick, the Grammy instead went to a more conventional choice, “Royals” by Lorde, who is either being primed for a long career or cursed as a one-hit wonder with this award.

I don’t know what to say. If even Macklemore is considered too edgy for a songwriting Grammy, I suppose that rap’s only hope for a Song of the Year trophy rests with you, Andy Samberg. Godspeed.

Back to the robots. I’m kind of stunned by how deserving of these awards Daft Punk is. Certainly for Record of the Year, “Get Lucky” was the best choice out of the nominated tracks, or out of any group of records you’d want to pick from the nomination period. It is the one song from 2013 that I would bet my life on still being popular in 20, 50, or 100 years. As for Random Access Memories, it was definitely my favorite album in contention, though in a way it still feels like Red was robbed, since that’s the LP you would design in a lab to be a guaranteed lock at the Grammys. And while I didn’t expect Kendrick Lamar to have much of a chance, a victory for Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City would have been at least as daring as giving the night’s top award to The Suburbs three years ago.

Some in the media will inevitably spin Random Access Memories’ win as a breakthrough for electronic music, but at heart it’s really a reiteration of typical Grammy conservatism. Get past the kooky masks, and Daft Punk’s opus is essentially a traditional pop LP rooted in styles associated with the ’60s and ’70s, with a heavy emphasis on “real” musicianship. It’s like a prog-disco version of an Adele record. That’s not a criticism exactly, because I happen to love RAM. But the Grammys could’ve made history last night, and chose instead to stick with the status quo. That the status quo happened to align this time with some truly wonderful music is a fortuitous coincidence.

[D_Davis]

RAMs definitely not a breakthrough for Electronic Music, because a lot of the album is live studio musicians (at least it sounds like it is). It's a pop album, very similar to the stuff the Bee Gees and Abba were making in the 1970s. I actually don't really know what Daft Punk does on the album, beyond being the producers and engineers; they definitely weren't doing anything during last night's "live" performance, and all of the standout moments on the album are because of a guest or two. It's the perfect album of the year. My mom and dad were talking about it this morning on Facebook.

I'm really not trying to be snarky or anything. I really do think it's the perfect Grammy-winning album.

Now, had they won the award for Homework many years ago...damn. Now that would have been a statement about Electronic Music. That would have really said something.

[D_Davis]

Just found out I'm going to be playing at the Northwest Loop Festival this year, in October. Should be cool. Not sure if I'll just be playing the Seattle shows, or if that will also include the Portland shows.

This now gives me something to work towards for the year. I'll be starting a Youtube series called The Loop Diaries as I work my through the process of picking the gear I'll be using, and composing the piece to be performed.

[D_Davis]

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2014/01/27/kraftwerk-awarded-lifetime-achievement-grammy/#more-54641

[D_Davis]

Here's a three hour BBC documentary about Kraftwork.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4JhwDa2Wvc

[Winston*]

Check out this ridiculous new Red Hot Chili Peppers song

http://rhcp2014.com/

[Acapelli]

Check out this ridiculous new Red Hot Chili Peppers song

http://rhcp2014.com/
YESSSSSSSSSSS

[Acapelli]

i'm already on my 3rd listen

[D_Davis]

This is the greatest parody of all time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSXE5np_Tk#t=30

[dreamdead]

Unpopular music opinion: So we've got tickets to see St. Vincent in March, but man, I'm listening to her two tracks off the new album and her movement away from the style that she had perfected on her debut isn't ever quite as captivating. Occasionally Clark hits a masterpiece, as in "Cruel," but I miss so much of the Marry Me style. This is in direct contrast to Bat for Lashes, who has turned decent singles from her first two releases into a stellar album in The Haunted Man. So odd how these two have evolved, and how disparate my reactions are to their music today.

[Raiders]

Not sold on the new tracks either, but man, Strange Mercy is head-and-shoulders above her debut album. The sound and energy are amazing and it is packed with a lot more emotion. She was far more erratic in the early days. Strange Mercy is fiercely focused.

[Yxklyx]

So what bands had rather mediocre debut albums only to follow up with near masterpieces? I'm listening to Heaven Up Here by Echo and the Bunnymen again and it's so much better than their first album.

[dreamdead]

Not sold on the new tracks either, but man, Strange Mercy is head-and-shoulders above her debut album. The sound and energy are amazing and it is packed with a lot more emotion. She was far more erratic in the early days. Strange Mercy is fiercely focused.

Hmm, I do agree with element of this. Actor is the weakest of her albums so far, and Strange Mercy has an invigorating quality that lets me blow through the whole album. There are times in it, though (basically in the middle of the album), where I remember some of the piano instrumentation from the debut and mourn the growth of horns and fuzzy guitars, and she seems to have leaned even more in that direction. Her blend of instrumentation in the debut, even if more perfunctory in its development of beauty to shredding frenzy (see "Your Lips are Red"), doesn't have the same juxtaposition today. BfL's The Haunted Man balances those influences better.

I'm also saddened by the seeming change in Wye Oak's new material, as Civilian was mad fun.

[Ezee E]

Is it possible to not like Pharrell's Happy?

Or at least not be in a good mood after?

[slqrick]

Is it possible to not like Pharrell's Happy?

Or at least not be in a good mood after?

No. I'm really glad he's had such a big comeback in the past year...looking forward to his solo album.

[Lucky]

Catchy little bugger.


http://youtu.be/3O1_3zBUKM8

[D_Davis]

Man, why do so many people hate on Tim Buckley's final album Look at the Fool?

This thing is bad ass. Reminds me of Ween a lot.

[MadMan]

So weird listening to really early Flaming Lips. So far my impression of Hear It Is is that overall its a great album despite being a bit messy and a little unfocused at times. I naturally love "Godzilla Flick" on general principle alone.

PS: Upon checking Wikipedia its clear that this was their first full length feature album. Ah. Makes sense now.

[D_Davis]

So weird listening to really early Flaming Lips. So far my impression of Hear It Is is that overall its a great album despite being a bit messy and a little unfocused at times. I naturally love "Godzilla Flick" on general principle alone.

PS: Upon checking Wikipedia its clear that this was their first full length feature album. Ah. Makes sense now.

Have you heard Hit to Death in the Future Head and In a Priest Driven Ambulance?

Totally amazing. God I miss when these guys were just a crazy rock band.

[D_Davis]

Woah - Dave Fridmann produced the new Neil Finn. Some of the drums and strings sound like something off of The Soft Bulletin.

[D_Davis]

Track 4, "Divebomber," on the new Neil Finn album is the best Flaming Lips/Mercury Rev song since The Soft Bulletin/Deserter's Songs.

Totally sounds like an outtake from those two albums.

Reminds me of how some of the outtakes on Dylan's Oh Mercy! sounded so much like U2, and that's when I realized that their sound was so tied into Lanois' production.

[dreamdead]

Good month for music. The new Sun Kil Moon is rapturous minimalism, and there's still next week's Angel Olsen and the St. Vincent at the end of the month. For Ms. Clark, the newest single "Oh Johnny" is the first track that marks the transition from Strange Mercy to the self-titled, holding good melody and rhythm throughout. Hopefully I warm up to the rest of it.

The self-titled Warpaint is also digging in to my ears. Middle of the album (Biggy especially) is the winner for me.

[D_Davis]

I do not like the new Sun Kil Moon at all. It's the first studio album from Kozelek that I don't like. The main reason is that I can't stand his new vocal style - it's all talky and gravelly now.

[Henry Gale]

Is it possible to not like Pharrell's Happy?

Or at least not be in a good mood after?

Yep. I don't find it as annoying or tedious as Blurred Lines, but still does very little for me.

His Random Access Memories tracks and "Move That Dope" though... (Wooooo)


I'm really glad he's had such a big comeback in the past year...looking forward to his solo album.

I am in agreement here.

[dreamdead]

I do not like the new Sun Kil Moon at all. It's the first studio album from Kozelek that I don't like. The main reason is that I can't stand his new vocal style - it's all talky and gravelly now.

That's an interesting critique. There's elements throughout the album (Song Remains the Same...) where he does adopt a more singing tone, but it does have more of a spoken word quality. I'm perfectly fine with that approach, but I'm also a late bloomer to Kozelek's work, so I don't have 15+ years of expectations on vocal style determining my appreciation.

Was his most recent Desertshore album a harbinger of this style, or was that one basically sung?

Also, if anyone's in the mood for heavier music, Narjahanam (a Bahrainian metal band) has, on their album Wa Ma Khufiya Kana A’atham blended together Middle Eastern motifs and musicianship and stylings intelligently with a more typical metal approach. It luxuriates in those native sounds, but doesn't feel shoehorned in.

[D_Davis]

De La Soul is making their entire catalog available for free today.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/14/de-la-soul-entire-catalogue-available-free-25

http://www.wearedelasoul.com/

[D_Davis]

So one of the reasons why De La is giving their music away for free today is that there is a good chance that a lot of it won't ever be sold new again, on MP3, or any kind of future media, mainly because there are a bunch of samples that they can't get cleared now for any kind of new license.

Three Feet High and Rising and De La Soul is Dead are two of the best albums ever recorded.

[EyesWideOpen]

De La Soul was one of those groups I never got into even though I was the right age for it. I'm definitely going to download some of their albums and check it out.

[D_Davis]

The wordplay and sampling on De La Soul is Dead is unmatched.

Hope you can dig them now.

[D_Davis]

Man - 25 years since Three Feet High and Rising. Still remember riding my bike to the mall to buy the tape at Sam Goody's, and the cute skinny girl with the boy's name (Tony) who worked there. Had a huge crush on her, but alas she was a Sr. and I was a scrub. "Me, Myself and I" was in constant rotation on the local pop and college stations, and a staple on both Post-Modern MTV and Yo! MTV Raps (blows my mind that MTV used to be THE place to discover new awesome music). I bought it the summer before my freshman year of high school, and it completely blew my mind - I'm sure that many of my musical synapses were formed and connected while listening to that album. I'd never heard anything even remotely like it, and it quickly became the bar by which all subsequent hip hop purchases would be measured. It still sounds completely different than any other hip hop album, and it's still a masterpiece.

[Pop Trash]

I do not like the new Sun Kil Moon at all. It's the first studio album from Kozelek that I don't like. The main reason is that I can't stand his new vocal style - it's all talky and gravelly now.

I just listened to it all the way through today and I kinda get what you mean. There's some great songs on here but I find "Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes" to be unlistenable with its pseudo raps about Mark's prostate and eating ramen.

It's sad because it's really close to being a Great American Album. Other than Pinkerton are there any other (good) albums that have lyrics that are this uncomfortably specific? Maybe Lou Reed's Berlin but I feel that Reed probably took a lot of poetic licence there. Nebraska is very specific but not about Springsteen's personal life.

[dreamdead]

Agree on the specificity of the Sun Kil Moon album. I listen to the songs and feel that their "and then..." quality masks a clear precision in theme and artistry. The focus on his romantic exploits in ""Dogs" is horribly awkward to listen to, and yet the whole album is full of the type of confessional that independent music is supposed to capture. Regarding the singing--eh, I love Tom Waits and extreme metal and so un-pretty vocal styles don't matter to me as much.

The new Angel Olsen record is marvelous. The opening for tracks are stellar, and that closer is equally good. Love how transparent her Leonard Cohen riff is, but also how she builds upon that template for her own purposes.

Steve Reich's WTC 9/11 album with the Kronos Quartert is quite good. I don't ever think of him as the foremost minimalist (Part or Glass instead) but he's conjured up some haunting echoes and repetitions and adaptions on these tracks.

Finally the new Woods of Desolation is nice for those who were impressed by the post-influences on extreme stuff like last year's Deafheaven. The melodies never quite ratchet up to that level of lyricism (see DH's "Dream House"), but several of the songs embody that album's gorgeous guitar passages. So endeth a discussion of extreme metal with the hipster's obligatory ode to Deafheaven...

[D_Davis]

One time we went to see Red House Painters - I was with a few friends, including a couple of girls. During one of the songs, Mark stopped playing and addressed one of the girls I was with. He told her she was pretty and that she looked like Wynona Ryder. He asked her to come closer. As she did, she got into the light to reveal that, while pretty, she looked nothing like Wynona Ryder. Mark then said, "Oh, never mind."

That same night, Katy from "Katy's Song" was there, and he dedicated the song to her. "Like glass on the pavement under my show, without you is all my life amounts to," is one of the lines from the song.

There was also another woman there that he dedicated "Mistress" to.

The dude goes out of his way to sabotage his love life and create awkward situations so that he can write songs about it. He's kind of a big creeper.

[Pop Trash]

What year was that Davis?

I'm not going to fault him for self sabotage. Plenty of artists are self destructive. Look at the man on match cut's banner.

[D_Davis]

What year was that Davis?

I'm not going to fault him for self sabotage. Plenty of artists are self destructive. Look at the man on match cut's banner.


I don't fault him either - it's part of what makes his music so interesting.

I think that was when they were touring for what Mark called "The Three Hour Tour," because they played for three hours, and every single song had an extended electric guitar solo. It was after the self titled album with "Evil" was released, because they opened with a sludgy, almost doom-metal slow core version of that song. So around 1993-95? I saw them so many times back then, it's hard to keep track of which show was which.

Actually, it was probably a little later, because by that show they had their new guitarist, Phil - the guy who Mark still plays with. Gordon had already left at that point. So post 95.

I actually saw Phil's first show, and during it Mark kept going over and turning Phil's effects on and off when he wanted, shaking his head as if Phil was the biggest idiot ever. It was really awkward.

[dreamdead]

Looks like I might have to eat my words. Been listening to the new St. Vincent album the past week, and it's got a solid arc from song to song. Still not the biggest fan of this funk style that she's drawing on, but that's mainly qualms with the production mix, which renders everything a tad too mechanical and shorn of the reverb that I expect with funk.

[D_Davis]

For some reason I thought Beck would be one of the few artists to give a shit about how his music is mastered.

This is one of the softer acoustic tracks on his new album:

http://i.imgur.com/GWvnFn0.jpg?1?7330

Peaked in the red, with full digital clipping.

I noticed that it was distorting my headphones using my my new DAC, and distorting my car speakers.

It's a shame because the songs are great, but it's practically unlistenable as it is.


In contrast, here is Grant Lee Buffalo's "Lone Star Song," a louder rock song, especially when compared to the quieter Beck tune above. This version of "LSS" is from the CD pressed in the 1990s, before the loudness wars began:

http://i.imgur.com/FJ4P88p.jpg?1?5071


If you play both back to back, the volume at which the Beck track can be heard renders the GLB song almost mute.

Pathetic.

[amberlita]

Looks like I might have to eat my words. Been listening to the new St. Vincent album the past week, and it's got a solid arc from song to song. Still not the biggest fan of this funk style that she's drawing on, but that's mainly qualms with the production mix, which renders everything a tad too mechanical and shorn of the reverb that I expect with funk.

I'd never heard of St. Vincent before, never heard a one of her songs, but she was on Colbert the other night and I was absolutely mesmerized by her and the "Digital Witness" performance. I love getting blown away by artists that come at me brand new out of seemingly nowhere.

[Acapelli]

One time we went to see Red House Painters - I was with a few friends, including a couple of girls. During one of the songs, Mark stopped playing and addressed one of the girls I was with. He told her she was pretty and that she looked like Wynona Ryder. He asked her to come closer. As she did, she got into the light to reveal that, while pretty, she looked nothing like Wynona Ryder. Mark then said, "Oh, never mind."

That same night, Katy from "Katy's Song" was there, and he dedicated the song to her. "Like glass on the pavement under my show, without you is all my life amounts to," is one of the lines from the song.

There was also another woman there that he dedicated "Mistress" to.

The dude goes out of his way to sabotage his love life and create awkward situations so that he can write songs about it. He's kind of a big creeper.
read this on another forum, apparently it's true

saw him at the Hot Dog Fest a few years ago. Some obese woman kept yelling out during one of the quiet numbers, so Mark walks off the stage and starts punching her a few times, then just jumps right back on stage and does 2 Sonny and Cher covers. Then he told the crowd that its his drummer's birthday, and that he flew in his mom, his mom comes out on stage with a present, somehow Mark slipped a "You're Fired" note in it, and tells them both to get off the fucking stage. Then he ate 7 hot dogs and said that he isn't going to pay for any of them, and that they should be free for him.

[dreamdead]

So the full Pitchfork Festival line-up is below. Already saw St. Vincent last weekend, but what here should be prioritized in terms of performance quality...? Originally purchased the weekend passes to see Sun Kil Moon, Slowdive, Grimes, and Kendrick, but welcome thoughts on the other performers.

Friday
Beck
Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks
Giorgio Moroder
Sun Kil Moon
Factory Floor
Death Grips
The Haxan Cloak
Sharon Van Etten
Isaiah Rashad
Hundred Waters
SZA

Saturday
Neutral Milk Hotel
The Field
FKA Twigs
St. Vincent
Danny Brown
Kelela
TuneYards
The Range
Pusha T
The Julie Ruin
Cloud Nothings
Mas Ysa
Wild Beasts
Circulatory System
Empress Of
Ka
Twin Peaks

Sunday
Kendrick Lamar
Hudson Mohawke
Grimes
DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn
Slowdive
Real Estate
Jon Hopkins
Schoolboy Q
Dum Dum Girls
Earl Sweatshirt
Majical Cloudz
Deafheaven
Perfect Pussy
DIIV
Speedy Ortiz
Mutual Benefit

[D_Davis]

Beck.

Top 5 live performances I've ever seen. Although I saw him when he was still doing goofy hip hop, but his new album has some amazing tunes on it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Beck.

Top 5 live performances I've ever seen. Although I saw him when he was still doing goofy hip hop, but his new album has some amazing tunes on it.

Totally agree. I saw him right after Midnight Vultures and it was a fantastic show.

I'd also prioritize Neutral Milk Hotel just because it's a rare appearance. Not sure about the quality of the show.

[D_Davis]

Next week the bar for instrumental metal will be raised yet again - new Animals as Leaders.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P4GsF1zdzM

[ledfloyd]

Tune-Yards is a good show.

[right_for_the_moment]

Wild Beasts is terrific live imo

[D_Davis]

New AAL is mindlowing. Cannot even fathom the amount of raw talent on display here. Some of the best guitar playing and drumming ever recorded.

[dreamdead]

New AAL is mindlowing. Cannot even fathom the amount of raw talent on display here. Some of the best guitar playing and drumming ever recorded.

Headed up to Chicagoland area tomorrow and grabbed this and the new Future Islands for the drive. Hoping that both deliver excitement and energy for the 10-hour drive.

I also must highlight the excellence of Tengger Calvary's Ancient Call. They filter the epic and grandoise anthemic nature of metal through a Chinese lens, pulling in instrumentation and themes from their native country. It and Woods of Desolation have been the premier metal acts so far this year.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu1dYm9rI9g

[D_Davis]

Fans of contemporary ambient music, remember this name: Porya Hatami.

[dreamdead]

Been listening to the new Animals as Leaders the past couple days. It really undercuts the technical proficiency of Scale the Summit's The Migration, which I grabbed when Amazon put it on sale--while the latter band is anchored in volume with some exploration, so much of AaL is beyond the very genre of metal in terms of influence. As such, it was a bewildering first listen until the last few tracks, which are more typically metal guitar oriented. Love some of the skittish guitar effects that AaL achieve in their stop-start rhythms.

Also really been digging Hundred Waters's self-titled. Very subdued and atmospheric.

Can't say quite the same for Perfect Pussy's full length. It's got some inspired moments, but I'm hoping to find more "there" there soon. The submerged vocals are likely a detriment, though the singles quite noticeably stand out...

[D_Davis]

I like Scale the Summit, but they seem to me like a high school band when compared to Animals as Leaders. The technical display on the new AAL is stunning. AAL is just on a different level when compared to other "metal" bands.

[Milky Joe]

New Golden Retriever album is fucking phenomenal.


http://vimeo.com/88166455#at=0

[Milky Joe]

So the full Pitchfork Festival line-up is below. Already saw St. Vincent last weekend, but what here should be prioritized in terms of performance quality...? Originally purchased the weekend passes to see Sun Kil Moon, Slowdive, Grimes, and Kendrick, but welcome thoughts on the other performers.

Definitely check out Circulatory System. One of the best Elephant 6 bands.

[D_Davis]

This is your reminder for 2014 that this exists.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjP_l_dFMy0

[Kurosawa Fan]

My little sister absolutely loves those schmucks. She's paying a truckload of money to see them live and hang out with them after their show. It's really embarrassing.

[D_Davis]

I'm so sorry.

[D_Davis]

Every year I check out the old krunkcore stuff just to make sure that it actually exists IRL, and wasn't just part of some terrible nightmare.

[Spun Lepton]

The Bloody Beetroots: HIDE is pretty much fantastic.

[Kurosawa Fan]

This is your reminder for 2014 that this exists.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjP_l_dFMy0

I hadn't heard this song until just now. It's like if the song "Every Rose Has its Thorn" rolled around in horse shit, vomited on itself, passed out in the gutter, woke up in the morning, stumbled into traffic and got hit by a fucking bus.

[D_Davis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8F5YSA1Oz0

[D_Davis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFDCHdKbKBY

OMFG Andy side is so fucking hot that I'm masturbating the fuck out of my fucking pussy so my fingers are worn down to the bone and I need to amputate them because they don't have enough flesh circulation around them and after they're amputated I wanna stick them up Andy since ass hole and use them to tickle his prostate and dig out a giant log of shit and if they can't dig all the shit out of them then I'm going to use my mouth to suck the logs of shit out of Andy since ass hole and then j wanna suck his testicles out through his fucking penis and suck every testicle so hard that they become dryer than the Saharan desert, and then I wanna return to the logs of shit that I just sucked out of Andy sixxs ass hole. When I return to them, I wanna stroke those logs of shit until the logs of shit can't take it anymore and then I want the logs of shit to cum a giant load of shitty cum out of their little shit holes and then I wanna use that shit cum to lubricate my ass hole with because its so tight and I don't want to rip the skin off Andy sixxs dick... Determine, I kinda want to now, then I'll lick the skin up and form it into a condom and wrap Andy's dick around in the skin condom and then I want him to wear that condom when he pokes his dick so far up my 12 year old ass up to my fucking brain and hits the wrong part of my brain that I forget how to do math.

[Kurosawa Fan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFDCHdKbKBY

OMFG Andy side is so fucking hot that I'm masturbating the fuck out of my fucking pussy so my fingers are worn down to the bone and I need to amputate them because they don't have enough flesh circulation around them and after they're amputated I wanna stick them up Andy since ass hole and use them to tickle his prostate and dig out a giant log of shit and if they can't dig all the shit out of them then I'm going to use my mouth to suck the logs of shit out of Andy since ass hole and then j wanna suck his testicles out through his fucking penis and suck every testicle so hard that they become dryer than the Saharan desert, and then I wanna return to the logs of shit that I just sucked out of Andy sixxs ass hole. When I return to them, I wanna stroke those logs of shit until the logs of shit can't take it anymore and then I want the logs of shit to cum a giant load of shitty cum out of their little shit holes and then I wanna use that shit cum to lubricate my ass hole with because its so tight and I don't want to rip the skin off Andy sixxs dick... Determine, I kinda want to now, then I'll lick the skin up and form it into a condom and wrap Andy's dick around in the skin condom and then I want him to wear that condom when he pokes his dick so far up my 12 year old ass up to my fucking brain and hits the wrong part of my brain that I forget how to do math.

First of all, where the fuck did that spoiler text come from? Second, at least this last band has a talented musician. Still ultra-terrible, but that was worth mentioning after the first two videos.

[D_Davis]

That spoiler text is the first comment on YouTube.

[Milky Joe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7XgOXTtwFs

this is my cousin's band. their fans are exclusively 12-14 year old girls. it's strange.

[dreamdead]

Out of curiosity, I picked up Bikini Kill's Pussy Whipped and Liz Phair's Exile to Guysville. This stuff is really good, especially the Phair album, which makes for great driving music. Was surprised by how solid the music is given that it's spread out over 18 tracks. I know that the Phair record was celebrated fairly regularly after its release, but it holds up far better than many of its contemporaries... rather saddened that it doesn't regularly get even more press.

[quido8_5]

All right, I'm kind of making my way around the boards now. I posted back in the day and have been keeping up remotely. With that said, has anyone checked out Memoryhouse by Max Richter? As a piece, it's incredible, but there are also some stellar stand out tracks that are arrestingly beautiful.

I've also been impressed with the staying power of two seemingly slight albums: Mac Demarco and Frankie Cosmos. The former has some of the most pleasant music I've heard in a while. I could listen to that shit on repeat as the soundtrack to my life. It'd be super chill, but easy to ignore. Thus, the problem. My life would be the life of a stoner and that's, well, ummm, that.

Frankie could easily be cloying but she's so self aware and makes some deft instrumental decisions throughout this 22 minute album. As of right now, I'm not seeing much that can compete with Sun Kil Moon, though I haven't listened to EMA's latest.

Thinking about re-releases, though, Mobb Depp's The Infamous has been absent in my life for far too long and I'm glad that I finally listened to the entire album. Shook Ones Pt II is so devastating and distinctive, I didn't think I needed more. Damn, was I wrong about that. The entire album is astonishing and unflinching. One small, but notable distinction: I think it has possibly the best "preludes" (segues/skits) of any rap album I've heard. The "Infamous Prelude" is the realist shit and I think everyone could benefit from listening to it- if for no other reason than to get a better grasp on what it was (and is) like to be a black male in the City.

[MadMan]

I've spent the last week listening to David Bowie's epic masterpiece The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust. Its about time I listened to that album.

[dreamdead]

Wye Oak's shift from guitar to bass with The Shriek actually flows really well, a radical surprise given the shift of musical style that Jenn Wasner's bass playing gives it. Having her vocals mixed up higher certainly helps. I miss the guitar freakouts, but it's solid through and through.

Brian Eno's Apollo is wonderful stuff. Magnificent throughout. Not digging Thursday Afternoon quite as much, but the former album is great.

Agalloch's newest seems a bit lackluster so far. It seems a bit too transparent of a stylistic throwback--this'll make two albums in a row from them that don't ever quite resonate with me.

Swans's To Be Kind gets released in under a week! Been listening to it over at NPR for the last week and been getting even more excited.

[D_Davis]

Brian Eno's Apollo is wonderful stuff. Magnificent throughout. Not digging Thursday Afternoon quite as much, but the former album is great.


I've been listening to Thursday Afternoon and Shutov Assembly all week, to go along with my dive into FM Synthesis. I like both, but Shutov Assembly might be Eno's secret masterpiece.

[Qrazy]

New electro mix up!

http://www.mixcloud.com/DJQrazy/remix-nation/

[dreamdead]

Bah, Kathleen Hanna's Lyme's disease returned, leading to the Julie Ruin's cancellation at this summer's Pitchfork Music Festival. Sarah and I had really gotten into the Go Fast album (and, to a lesser extent, Le Tigre's debut), and we were really digging Hanna's focus on self-definition and feminism amidst more danceable rhythms--the title track on the TJR album is magnificent. Sad we won't get to see 'em.

Just ordered The Sound's Jeopardy/All Fall Down/From the Lion's Mouth compilation--very excited for this one. The tracks I've listened to were exceptional.

The Swans' newest is slowly revealing itself. Need more time for it, so hopefully it'll keep revealing new layers.

[Derek]

Just ordered The Sound's Jeopardy/All Fall Down/From the Lion's Mouth compilation--very excited for this one. The tracks I've listened to were exceptional.

The Swans' newest is slowly revealing itself. Need more time for it, so hopefully it'll keep revealing new layers.

Jeopardy is the best album I've heard all year, bar-none. Stone cold classic and once of the best post-punk albums ever. Gets better with every listen too. From the Lion's Mouth is great as well, just not as singular, spare and uncompromisingly awesome as its predecessor. Need to get to All Fall Down post haste.

The new Swans is great. It's a bit of dust-settling after the apocalyptic fury of The Seer, but it has its moments of intensity as well of course. It took longer for me to fully appreciate it than The Seer, but I ended up loving it.

[transmogrifier]

Jeopardy is great.

[Lazlo]

Look at these ridiculous features on the Jack White Lazaretto vinyl:


-2 vinyl-only hidden tracks hidden beneath the center labels.
-1 hidden track plays at 78 RPM and 1 plays at 45 RPM, making this a 3-speed record.
-Side A plays from the inside to the outside of the disc.
-Dual-groove technology: plays an electric or acoustic intro for "Just One Drink" depending on where needle is dropped. The grooves meet for the body of the song.
-Matte finish on Side B, giving the appearance of an un-played 78 RPM record.
-Both sides end with locked grooves.
-Vinyl pressed in seldom-used flat-edged format.
-Dead wax area on Side A contains a hand-etched hologram by Tristan Duke of Infinity Light Science, the first of its kind on a vinyl record.
-Absolutely zero compression used during recording, mixing and mastering.
-Different running order from the CD/digital version.
-Utilizes some mixes different from those used on CD/digital versions.

My turntable doesn't do 78rpm so one bonus track is out for me. And how the hell do you play it from the inside out? Pick up the needle after every song? Or do you place it in the middle and the grooves push the needle to the outside? So weird, kind of cool. Mostly weird. Jack White, ladies and gentlemen.

[dreamdead]

Boris's new album, "Noise," is the first album of theirs to altogether excite me in years. "Angel" is of course devastating, and having heard it live last year makes it even more resonant. Love that this album seems to be the one-of-everything in the musical stylings rather than committing exhaustively to a drone or stoner album template. Hoping it continues to excite so that the next two weeks just keep generating wonder.

[Henry Gale]

Loving the Alvvays album very very much. NPR's streaming it for the time being. (http://www.npr.org/2014/07/13/329491975/first-listen-alvvays-alvvays)

http://zumic.zumicentertainme.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/cache/2014/07/alvvays-alvvays-album-cover-750x0.jpg

Those first five songs might make up my favourite Side A of the year. Could've been a perfect EP right there, but then there's four more perfectly fine tracks to back it up as a legitimate (though still too short) full length debut. Any fans of Camera Obscura, Chvrches, Best Coast, Real Estate, et cetera... This one's for you.

[Milky Joe]

Look at these ridiculous features on the Jack White Lazaretto vinyl:

-2 vinyl-only hidden tracks hidden beneath the center labels.
-1 hidden track plays at 78 RPM and 1 plays at 45 RPM, making this a 3-speed record.
-Side A plays from the inside to the outside of the disc.
-Dual-groove technology: plays an electric or acoustic intro for "Just One Drink" depending on where needle is dropped. The grooves meet for the body of the song.
-Matte finish on Side B, giving the appearance of an un-played 78 RPM record.
-Both sides end with locked grooves.
-Vinyl pressed in seldom-used flat-edged format.
-Dead wax area on Side A contains a hand-etched hologram by Tristan Duke of Infinity Light Science, the first of its kind on a vinyl record.
-Absolutely zero compression used during recording, mixing and mastering.
-Different running order from the CD/digital version.
-Utilizes some mixes different from those used on CD/digital versions.

That's pretty cool.

[Idioteque Stalker]

The new How to Dress Well album is slowly growing on me. This year has been weak for me, but I'm really looking forward to the new Shabazz Palaces.

[D_Davis]

Pretty much been listening to nothing bu Sturgill Simpson over the last few weeks. The dude is a godsend. His cover of The Promise is the stuff of legends.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eWJmN8D820

[Idioteque Stalker]

New FlyLo is called "You're Dead!" and has outrageous cover art that I'm not too sure about.

Still probably my most anticipated of the year.

[ledfloyd]

I've been on the Sturgill Simpson bandwagon the last week or two as well. THAT is what good country music sounds like.

ETA: His album is up there with the new St. Vincent and War on Drugs records for me. Those are the three I've obsessed over at various times this year. I also really like the new Swans, but I don't think Michael Gira is aiming for obsessive repeat listening. Nor do I want to know what that would do to my psyche.

[dreamdead]

This is the year for female-fronted/solo artists for me, excepting The War on Drugs. Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, Hundred Waters, and St. Vincent have all done stellar work in my mind. This year's Swans album has clear standout tracks (opener, A Little God, Oxygen), but I'm having to work harder to find investment listening to a full side of the album at any one time.

Otherwise, not sure I'll hear anything as ethereal as Boris's "Angel" this year. Perturbator's newest is also pretty good. And Sun Kil Moon's "Benji" totally clicked on a Chicagoland-to-Oklahoma drive last month, which was wonderful. It only works at certain times, when it can coexist with my attention, but that one listen was among the best I've had all year.

Standout year for me so far... need to look into the Sturgill.

[D_Davis]

I've been on the Sturgill Simpson bandwagon the last week or two as well. THAT is what good country music sounds like.


He's amazing. A true talent in a sea of mediocrity.

Have you heard Jenny Scheinman's new album? She's a renowned jazz violinist. Her new album is alt-country, with Brian Blade - the best drummer in the world - on drums. It's incredible.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFfM3UUG0i4

[D_Davis]

DD - the new Anathema is pretty great. I like it a lot better than their last studio album.

Also, the new Devin Townsend has been blowing my mind. It's a weird mix between county, ambient, and mellow Pink Floyd.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi24h-8uBcE

Best if listened to as a whole album.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1vOGSG4Og0

[bac0n]

Holy shit @ that Sturgill Simpson. That's phenomenal stuff.

[bac0n]

He's amazing. A true talent in a sea of mediocrity.

Have you heard Jenny Scheinman's new album? She's a renowned jazz violinist. Her new album is alt-country, with Brian Blade - the best drummer in the world - on drums. It's incredible.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFfM3UUG0i4

...and Bill Frisell on the guitar? Wow. That guy is incredible. If you want some dreamy fusion jazz guitar that evokes Jean Luc Ponty, you need look no further.

[D_Davis]

Holy shit @ that Sturgill Simpson. That's phenomenal stuff.

Both of his albums are extraordinary.

[D_Davis]

...and Bill Frisell on the guitar? Wow. That guy is incredible. If you want some dreamy fusion jazz guitar that evokes Jean Luc Ponty, you need look no further.

Totally. The album is a study in alt-country minimalism, with a hint of atmospheric jazz because of Frisell and Blade. Many of the tracks consist of only vocals, drums, and guitar.

[ledfloyd]

He's amazing. A true talent in a sea of mediocrity.

Have you heard Jenny Scheinman's new album? She's a renowned jazz violinist. Her new album is alt-country, with Brian Blade - the best drummer in the world - on drums. It's incredible.
I haven't, but I will now. Brian Blade is my favorite drummer.

[D_Davis]

I haven't, but I will now. Brian Blade is my favorite drummer.

Heck yeah, the dude is incredible.

[ledfloyd]

And Sun Kil Moon's "Benji" totally clicked on a Chicagoland-to-Oklahoma drive last month, which was wonderful. It only works at certain times, when it can coexist with my attention, but that one listen was among the best I've had all year.

I've been bouncing around a bunch of 2014 stuff this morning. Everything from YG to Cloud Nothings to Todd Terje to Angel Olsen and Hundred Waters (both of which intrigue me, but I think I'll need to spend more time with them). I just put on this album and about a minute into the first song I thought "This. This is what I was looking for."

Also, I always thought Sun Kil Moon was a drone metal band (clearly, I was conflating them with Sunn O), so the initial few seconds were a bit jarring. Good stuff though.

[D_Davis]

I've listened to Roger Waters' Amused to Death almost every year since it was released, and each time I get back into it it continues to impress me.

Out of everything Waters has done, I think this album is his crowning achievement as an artist.

[dreamdead]

Shabazz Palaces--do I grab the new album or Black Up first?

[EvilShoe]

New Spoon album, guys. :pritch:

[Idioteque Stalker]

Shabazz Palaces--do I grab the new album or Black Up first?

Black Up. New album has some transcendent hip-hop on it, namely "They Come In Gold" and the suite that starts with "Soundview," but I can't shake the disappointment of not really being able to decipher much of what he's saying. I'll spend more time with Lese Majesty, but right now I prefer the clarity and immediacy of Black Up.

[ledfloyd]

Shabazz Palaces--do I grab the new album or Black Up first?
I found the new album a lot easier to get into.

[D_Davis]

Anyone here use Qello?

A streaming service for HD music concerts and music documentaries.

Seems pretty cool. Signed up for a month.

[D_Davis]

This is what my Oberheim sounds like.

https://soundcloud.com/davisjdaniel/ob8-test

[dreamdead]

Found this article, The American Band Championship Belt (http://grantland.com/features/the-american-band-championship-belt/), fascinating to think about, even if I disagree with some of Hyden's selections. I can't wholly subscribe to anyone who privileges Guns n Roses over the golden era of Sonic Youth.

[dreamdead]

Not the biggest Tori fan anymore, but this compilation of Amos covers on her most recent tour (http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2014/21/the-10-best-cover-songs-from-tori-amos-unrepentant-geraldines-tour) is wonderful. The Cure cover is just lovely.

[bac0n]

FYI, Sturgill Simpson just announced a shitload of new dates on his Fall/Winter tour on his website (http://sturgillsimpson.com/). I'm so there!

[Kurosawa Fan]

FYI, Sturgill Simpson just announced a shitload of new dates on his Fall/Winter tour on his website (http://sturgillsimpson.com/). I'm so there!

And none in Michigan. Bastard.

[bac0n]

If it makes you feel any better, it's been a few years since this board has considered the topic of how awesome is the band Kitchens of Distinction. So I'll just put this here.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JXk_oV4nbo

[Sven]

Anybody have any questions about Elton John, his life or work? For some reason I have recently become something of an Elton expert.

[quido8_5]

Anybody have any questions about Elton John, his life or work? For some reason I have recently become something of an Elton expert.

What is the name of his chief lyricist? On a related note, how does he manage to sing so passionately words that he didn't write? Seriously, the first time someone told me he didn't write his own lyrics I was stunned.

[Sven]

What is the name of his chief lyricist? On a related note, how does he manage to sing so passionately words that he didn't write? Seriously, the first time someone told me he didn't write his own lyrics I was stunned.

You are referring to Mr. Bernie Taupin, a complicated man. I think what clicks between he and John is their mutual workmanship. Neither is afraid to go through the motions. Metaphors for their own sake, cliches, free association, etc. Stuff, anything, to gel the hooks together. You are right to be stunned at EJ's ability to sell a line, though my impression is that his passion is less for the lyric and more for the gesture. The theater of rock star. The sound of boogie. The energy of percussive melody.

[D_Davis]

New Doyeq out next week.

You can listen to the whole thing here. He's gone back to his more dub-techno sound, and it's awesome.

https://soundcloud.com/draft-ltd/sets/doyeq-cutting-windows-doors-ep

[quido8_5]

Looks like Interpol is still making music:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19693-interpol-el-pintor/

[dreamdead]

For those Hum and like-minded 1990's rock fans who dig introspective lyrics over a wave of guitars, Arctic Sleep has released their newest release, Passage of Gaia, on their bandcamp (http://arcticsleep.bandcamp.com/album/passage-of-gaia) page. It's sounding good so far, but I'll need to spend some concentrated time on it.

[D_Davis]

New Aphex Twin for sale and streaming.

https://bleep.com/release/53848-aphex-twin-syro

[dreamdead]

John Luther Adams's Become Ocean, which won the Pulitzer for distinguished music composition last year, is now streaming over at NPR (http://www.npr.org/2014/09/21/348962229/first-listen-john-luther-adams-become-ocean). It's slow and droney, but encompasses huge swathes of build-up and release. It's nowhere near as iconic as Debussy's "La Mer," which commentators have drawn comparisons to, but I'm excited to explore it in the coming weeks.

[D_Davis]

John Luther Adams's Become Ocean, which won the Pulitzer for distinguished music composition last year, is now streaming over at NPR (http://www.npr.org/2014/09/21/348962229/first-listen-john-luther-adams-become-ocean). It's slow and droney, but encompasses huge swathes of build-up and release. It's nowhere near as iconic as Debussy's "La Mer," which commentators have drawn comparisons to, but I'm excited to explore it in the coming weeks.

I like Adams, but I don't hear the huge deal about his music to single out from a ton of other drone-based minimal. To me, it's pretty much the same as any other quality drone/minimal music from any number of artists. To single this out as something Pulitzer-worthy is a bit weird to me. He's good, but so are dozens and dozens of other artists working with drone, minimal and ambient music. Maybe it's because he has the interest of the intellectuals or academia or something. I don't know, but I was a little surprised to find that his work is so highly regarded.

[quido8_5]

Yes, I am so fucking sold on this. A self-aware, growing of age story by Wu-Tank? The only answer is yes to that.

http://m.pitchfork.com/news/56918-rza-talks-a-better-tomorrow-announces-limited-edition-portable-speaker-album-sampler/

[Idioteque Stalker]

Listening to the new Flying Lotus on repeat here (http://flying-lotus.com/youre-dead/). It's so sick. BY FAR his most fusion-heavy, but the concept comes through strong and keeps it from being formless. I can't wait to spend more time with it.

[D_Davis]

A little preview of my live looping performance. I'll be performing at the Northwest Loopfest in Seattle and Portland this week. A 40-minute ambient set that will slowing evolve as it progresses. This is the first movement.


http://youtu.be/Hw7WBYd14Jc

[D_Davis]

An interview with Eliane Radique, a living legend.

http://www.electronicbeats.net/en/features/interviews/eliane-radigue-an-interview/

Her work on the ARP 2500 represents one of the greatest examples of the musician-instrument relationship there is. She would sometimes spend months crafting a single perfect sound to use in her masterful compositions.

This might be the greatest piece of minimal-drone ever recorded:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RrsiGmLp_E

[quido8_5]

Yeah, I can get down with both of these:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1eYfVVK6vPM

http://pitchfork.com/news/57005-brian-wilson-stevie-wonder-lorde-pharrell-chris-martin-dave-grohl-more-do-the-beach-boys-god-only-knows/

[D_Davis]

Mark Bell of LFO (the first, original, and good LFO) died. Bummer. So young.

http://www.factmag.com/2014/10/13/lfos-mark-bell-has-died-according-to-reports/

Bell was a super influential force in the electronic music scene in the early 90s. Still remember booming that first LFO album in my old Toyota.

[D_Davis]

Achtung Baby is so fucking good. Every single song.

[Our Aurora]

Achtung Baby is so fucking good. Every single song.

Yeah it really is superb. Been giving it a relisten along with their earlier releases. Which seems to be what I do every fall.

[D_Davis]

Yeah it really is superb. Been giving it a relisten along with their earlier releases. Which seems to be what I do every fall.

I do the same thing about once per year. This week I've been listening non-stop to Unforgettable Fire (my favorite all-time album), Boy, and Achtung Baby.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Sleater-Kinney hints at new album in January (http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/10/sleater-kinney-release-first-new-song-in-nine-years-bury-our-friends-listen/)

PLEASE BE TRUE. AND PLEASE TOUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE RELEASE.

[Our Aurora]

I do the same thing about once per year. This week I've been listening non-stop to Unforgettable Fire (my favorite all-time album), Boy, and Achtung Baby.

Right on. The Unforgettable Fire is a close second for me... Love The Joshua Tree.

Not sure if you have seen this (more than likely) but it is worth at least a rewatch/skim through:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihcPhJF3wyg

[ledfloyd]

http://youtu.be/ZHuT0Gf8JMo?t=1m21s

(Skip to 1:21)

[transmogrifier]

Sleater-Kinney hints at new album in January (http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/10/sleater-kinney-release-first-new-song-in-nine-years-bury-our-friends-listen/)

PLEASE BE TRUE. AND PLEASE TOUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE RELEASE.

This better be true, or I'm holding you personally responsible for my tattered hopes and dreams.

[Kurosawa Fan]

This better be true, or I'm holding you personally responsible for my tattered hopes and dreams.

If it isn't true, my disappointment would be such that nothing you could do would make me feel any lower.

[Kurosawa Fan]

This better be true, or I'm holding you personally responsible for my tattered hopes and dreams.

It's true!!!!

New single, new album in January, new tour shortly after. (http://pitchfork.com/news/57108-sleater-kinney-return-new-album-no-cities-to-love-2015-tour-bury-our-friends-lyric-video/)

[D_Davis]

Daniel Lanois' new album, Flesh and Machine, is streaming on NPR.

It's very good, and very weird.

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/19/356126314/first-listen-daniel-lanois-flesh-and-machine

He's taking his love for sound and atmosphere to a whole new level.

[D_Davis]

It's true!!!!

New single, new album in January, new tour shortly after. (http://pitchfork.com/news/57108-sleater-kinney-return-new-album-no-cities-to-love-2015-tour-bury-our-friends-lyric-video/)

Wow - they aren't playing Portland or Seattle...but...Spokane?

Very weird.

That's pretty much like not playing LA and San Fran, but instead playing in Bakersfield or Fresno.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Wow - they aren't playing Portland or Seattle...but...Spokane?

Very weird.

That's pretty much like not playing LA and San Fran, but instead playing in Bakersfield or Fresno.

No dates in Michigan. Shouldn't be surprised, but it still hurts to see.

[transmogrifier]

It's true!!!!

New single, new album in January, new tour shortly after. (http://pitchfork.com/news/57108-sleater-kinney-return-new-album-no-cities-to-love-2015-tour-bury-our-friends-lyric-video/)

And here I was all ready to shoot the messenger. Cupcake?

Great news. Now I just need Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon to somehow forget about their divorce and get Sonic Youth rolling again.

[dreamdead]

First track from the Sun Kil Moon christmas album is here (http://pitchfork.com/news/57177-mark-kozelek-covers-christmas-time-is-here-complete-with-charlie-brown-and-linus-dialogue/). Is this more of an attempt to sing, Daniel Davis, or still frustrating to someone who wants to hear Kozelek in his higher registers and not in a monotone drawl?

[D_Davis]

First track from the Sun Kil Moon christmas album is here (http://pitchfork.com/news/57177-mark-kozelek-covers-christmas-time-is-here-complete-with-charlie-brown-and-linus-dialogue/). Is this more of an attempt to sing, Daniel Davis, or still frustrating to someone who wants to hear Kozelek in his higher registers and not in a monotone drawl?

That sounds pretty good. Not sure I'm totally down with the arrangement of the vocals, but at least he's singing.

I think I'm just not into new Kozelek stuff. That's fine. Lord knows I've got a ton of stuff by him that I do love, and have gotten decades of enjoyment from his music.

[D_Davis]

RIP Jack Bruce.

So glad I got to see him play a couple of years ago. Still in awe over that experience.

[D_Davis]

The new Daniel Lanois is something else. I don't know if pure sound design has ever been more exciting. Noise, chaos, brutality, beauty, subtlety and nuance....all mixed to create a work showing how masterful musicians use the studio as an instrument. Brian Blades drums often create the back bone to the experimental tracks, becoming a foundation on which Lanois piles layers and layers of sounds. His guitar work has never been better - he took what Neil Young did on Le Noise, and expanded it into the stratosphere.

[D_Davis]

New Floyd album is pretty good. It has some of the best guitar playing and guitar production I've heard. Gilmour has honed his signature style to the utmost level of human perfection, and some of the flourishes, licks, passages he plays are absolutely brilliant. The album is also mixed really well, and, like the Lanois album mentioned above, it comes alive on a good pair of headphones. I really love the final song, "Louder than Words." It's a perfect end to one of the most influential and revolutionary musical careers in the history of modern music.

[D_Davis]

Dynamics! Note to music industry: this is how you master a new album.

Thank you Pink Floyd.

http://i.imgur.com/U6lAtB6.jpg?1

[MadMan]

I'm enjoying Michigan from Surfjan Stevens. His song titles are rather amusing.

[D_Davis]

Live at the NW Loopfest 2014. The first video I talk a bit about the gear I'm using, and the second video contains my set.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGyRi_BAbQ0



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RyweWWqUb8

[Dead & Messed Up]

Wish I knew about this album sooner, but Fitz and the Tantrums' Picking Up the Pieces is a really fun modern pop Motown kind of a thing. Intentionally throwbacky, but satisfying. It's so weird that this is the same band behind "The Walker" and "Out of My League," both of which are way poppier, less soulful - not bad, but just so distinct.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu5i-OqZa4Y

[ledfloyd]

Dynamics! Note to music industry: this is how you master a new album.

Thank you Pink Floyd.

http://i.imgur.com/U6lAtB6.jpg?1

What is this sorcery? If modern music production has taught me anything, it's that sound waves are rectangular.

[D_Davis]

What is this sorcery? If modern music production has taught me anything, it's that sound waves are rectangular.

Hehehe....ain't that the truth? Look at all that wasted space they could be filling up with sound! This album is a rip off.

[dreamdead]

Been impressed by how much I'm enjoying Restorations lp3 album. Very much a throwback to '90s rock, with "Separate Songs" being a marvel of classic melodic/hard dynamics.

FKA twigs's release is growing on me as well. Was doing some work over the weekend and had it on, and just worked.

[quido8_5]

Oh my goodness, this new Big K.R.I.T. album fulfills all the promise he's hinted at in the past. It's an expansive, taciturn album- as smooth and humorous as it is biting and corosive. Whereas I had seen much of his previous work as slight, Cadillactica (please excuse the stupid title, you can't win 'em all) takes on some heavy topics with rare consideration. Can't remember the last time I was this excited about a Southern hip-hop album.

[D_Davis]

Fugazi's First Demo sounds better than a lot of bands best album. What an amazing band.

[D_Davis]

Oh fuck yeah.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBFhgNa9NoY

[bac0n]

Pretty much been listening to nothing bu Sturgill Simpson over the last few weeks. The dude is a godsend. His cover of The Promise is the stuff of legends.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eWJmN8D820

Saw Sturgill live last night. As good as this song is here, his live version is several magnitudes better. When he went up the octave for the last refrain, he had the whole place going nuts.

Man, whatta fantastic show. He had the whole place hootin' and hollerin' like some sorta outa control honky-tonk.

Oh, and his guitarist is a fricking phenom. Man alive, that guy is crazy good.

[D_Davis]

Man, that sounds awesome!

[D_Davis]

A couple of months ago I was singing the praises of Mandoman. Here is the concert I was talking about. Part 2 should be up sometime this week.

This is the best musical performance I've ever seen. I only wish there was direct sound, rather than the camera sound. Doesn't do it justice, but still....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTxdFb6DpRA&feature=sh are

[D_Davis]

Have you ever heard something that blew your mind so hard that you wonder how you lived your life without it up until that point? That happened to me tonight with Kevin Ayers' Joy of a Toy. My lord.

I mean I love Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt, the whole Canterbury scene, and Syd Barrett, and yet somehow I've gone nearly 40 years without hearing this album.

1969, seriously? This thing could be released today and the Pitchfork crew would be stumbling over themselves to find all the right quirky metaphors and adjectives to describe how insanely, batshit, crazy awesome this thing is.

Wow.

[Thirdmango]

That's what happened to me about two years ago with the talking heads. I never cared for (and still don't) Once in a Lifetime. So I steered clear of the band for years. Now I love 99% of their stuff.

[Idioteque Stalker]

2014 is the best year of all time for R&B music.

[transmogrifier]

A Thousand Leaves > NYC Ghosts & Flowers > Murray Street > Sonic Nurse may be my favourite four album run by any artist. What say you?

Runners up: Dry > Rid of Me > To Bring You My Love > Is This Desire?

The Velvet Underground & Nico > White Light / White Heat > The Velvet Underground > Loaded

Monster Movie > Soundtracks > Tago Mago > Ege Bamyasi > Future Days (that would be my pick for five)

[D_Davis]

King Crimson
Red, Discipline, Beat, Three of a Perfect Pair

[D_Davis]

I've spent a few hours over the last few days listening to Frank Zappa. Never really done so before

I hate it.

All of it.

I recognize the talent for sure. But I can't stand the music, and I find Zappa himself to be really arrogant and smug.

I'm one of the biggest prog-rock and experimental music fans around, but I actively can't stand Frank Zappa's stuff.

Anyone here a huge fan? What are generally considered to be his best albums?

[dreamdead]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFJSM3kvBQ4&list=PLqWCx9yzkJwL1YaKKKwjX1xO 4H7d9LATJ

Attention, Daniel Davis and DSNT. Please see French wonderfulness from Lantlôs, from their album Melting Sun. It's got both a slight Hum vibe and a large shoegaze element woven through it. The album's later tracks shift into a less content version of Slowdive's Pygmalion.

It's a little more of what I wanted from Arctic Sleep.

[D_Davis]

Thanks for the link, DD - very good album. Listened to it this morning. Really dug it.

[DSNT]

Slowdive working on new music. (http://www.avclub.com/article/slowdive-working-new-music-213860)

!!!!

[D_Davis]

A criminally underrated shoegaze ambient classic from the '90s.

Full album.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i23ClZ-Thrg

[dreamdead]

Last year was a bit of a tease, bringing St. Vincent, Haim, and Chvrches to Tulsa. This week was essentially four months of tours that run counter to my music tastes, but we grabbed up tickets for The War on Drugs in April (with Hop Along). This in turn led me to backtrack into their catalogue and begin listening to Slave Ambient, which is a marvel in melody in its own right. Not quite as lived-in as Lost in the Dream, but looking forward to a show that balances these interests...

[Russ]

Two Eno-related notes:

His much-maligned Nerve Net album was recently re-released as a 2 CD set that contains the entire unreleased My Squelchy Life. Much-bootlegged, but never officially released...until now. I love his ambient stuff, but it's his vocal albums that are really special events for me, and this one is fantastic. Never really understood why, at the last minute, he shelved it in favor of the much darker and more abrasive Nerve Net. It has some absolutely great songs (I Fall Up, Stiff, Some Words), and hearing Eno channel Louis Armstrong at the end of Tutti Forgetti is absolutely hysterical. If you like his "Big Four" classic vocal albums (Here Come the Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain, Another Green World, Before and After Science), you owe it to yourself to check out My Squelchy Life. It's the logical extension of those great albums.

Eno has been way too proficient lately for me to keep up -- although I do try to keep my ears peeled for any new vocal offerings. And although I haven't been particularly fond of any of the Warp stuff he's done, that changed when I purchased his latest collaboration with Karl Hyde, High Life. This is THE best new thing I've heard from Eno in years. It's absolutely brilliant, I can't recommend it highly enough. Echoes of the stuff he produced for Talking Heads, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and his last great vocal album, Wrong Way Up. The funny thing is, my favorite song (though I pretty much love 'em all) features Hyde on vocals and it sounds like an outtake from Bush of Ghosts, the wacky Time to Waste It (Hyde's vocal on this is treated and utterly bizarre (creepy/spooky) but in a good way). Eno vocals on three of the long songs, capped off with the captivatingly beautiful Cells and Bells.

Wow. Welcome back, Brian, It was worth the wait.

[dreamdead]

Leila Abdul-Rauf's newest ambient release (http://leilaabdulrauf.bandcamp.com/) has interesting textures. Tracks 4 and 5 really burst through the malaise that she intentionally crafts early on the album, with "Pull" especially coming off as singular with the exploration of piano notes and wandering vocals. Very soothing in the right frame of reference, and eerie in its own at other moments.

Recommended to the usual crew on that front.

[dreamdead]

So it's been a little over a week since Kendrick Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly. How have you reacted to the album been so far? What songs stand out to as exemplary singles ("King Kunta," "These Walls," the already released singles)? While it's certainly a messier album, do you feel as drawn to it?

I'm interested in Jay Caspian Kang's write-up (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/magazine/notes-on-the-hip-hop-messiah.html) in the New York Times:



Many of the first critical responses to “To Pimp A Butterfly” pleaded for more time to figure out what, exactly, Lamar was doing. In Slate, Carl Wilson wrote, “It’s too soon to say whether ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ is a more satisfying album.” In The Fader, Rawiya Kameir wrote, “God knows how long it will be before any of us fully grasp the stacked meanings, extended metaphors and shrouded complexities of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly.’ Definitely weeks, probably months.” There seemed to be a reluctance, especially among white critics, to straightforwardly criticize the album. (“How should white listeners approach the ‘overwhelming blackness’ of Kendrick Lamar’s brilliant new album?” read the deferential subheadline to Wilson’s review.) This caution is a testament to Lamar’s talent, but also to the power that comes with his messiah status: Critics seem afraid to say much about this album because they want to believe in him too, even when what’s in front of them doesn’t exactly deliver on their expectations.

[bac0n]

I can't believe Meat Beat Manifesto's Satyricon is 23 years old. Stands as one of a very small amount of electronic albums of the early 90s that has aged so well - better than a top shelf Cabernet Sauvignon. What a great, timeless album.

[ledfloyd]

I was completely blown away by To Pimp a Butterfly, and still am.

[D_Davis]

I can't believe Meat Beat Manifesto's Satyricon is 23 years old. Stands as one of a very small amount of electronic albums of the early 90s that has aged so well - better than a top shelf Cabernet Sauvignon. What a great, timeless album.

I listen to it and Subliminal Sandwich every year.