Right now the albums I'm most excited about are new ones from The National, and I heard that His Partiness, Sir Andrew WK has a new one coming out as well.
Went to see old faves Social D a few nights ago, at a new venue in St. Paul. Wow, what a great place to see a show. Probably my new favorite venue, despite the fact that it's in Loserville St. Paul.
Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)
New Andrew WK? Awesome!
My most listened to album from 2016 (with nearly 100 listens), was Forsvinder, from Bremer/McCoy. They're a jazz duo consisting of piano/keyboards and bass. It is one of the most detailed recordings I've ever heard. You can hear everything, from the musicians breathing, to the pedals of the piano being pressed, to the felt pads on the hammers hitting the strings, to the creak of the wood in the studio, to the squeak of the bassist's hands moving up and down the neck of the bass. There are some very light dub techniques used with subtle echo and delay, and a striking amount of melody. It is an atmospheric jazz album with hooks. An incredibly achievement.
Two very different vibes with that and the Sleaford Mods clips, but enjoyed them both. I like the looser feel of the second part rather than the sexy Air thing they do at the beginning, maybe because the bass gets more to work with. He has crazy good tone.
At the Big Ears music festival earlier this year there were a bunch of Norwegian musicans collaborating, giving talks, etc.
Arve Henriksen
Nils Okland
Frode Haltli
Sigbjorn Apeland
Mats Eilertsen
Deathprod
I've seen the Supersilent dudes play before and this year I saw Deathprod (one of the scariest shows I've ever been to), but skipped the rest. Did I miss something big?
Master Ace Inc.'s 1995 album Sittin' on Chrome is a forgotten classic. This album should be mentioned in the same breath as any of the great hop hop albums from the Gangsta Era, and is easily on par with the best from Dre, Snoop, Cyprus Hill, Ice Cube, NEW, Warren G, etc. It's a little more playful, more party orientated than other gangster rap albums, focusing more on cruising in cars with great stereos, than it does on busting caps in a nigga's ass or fucking hoes.
The production is top-notch, with great beats, memorable synth-bass lines, and catchy melodies, and the lyrics instantly put me in that backyard BBQ, head-boppin', 40-drinkin' mood.
Post-punk as a genre is perplexing. It's hard for me to pin down exactly what makes an album post-punk, so in the end I just go by feel. It has a lot to do with attitude, but it doesn't have to be your typical rebellion. For instance, B-52s feel more like post-punk to me than Pink Flag. Smiths, Talking Heads, Replacements don't make the cut--don't ask me why. London Calling feels like post-punk to me, but that's not its reputation so oh well.
Then there's the issue of timing. I guess you get bonus points coming out in the early 80s. So I'm gonna make two lists:
OGs:
1. Joy Division - Closer
2. Public Image Ltd. - Metal Box
3. Minutemen - Double Nickels On the Dime
4. The Slits - Cut
5. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy
Newbies:
1. Women - Public Strain
2. Sleigh Bells - Treats
3. John Maus - We Must Be the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves
4. Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
5. Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights
Entertainment! is the clear winner here. I left it off my list to challenge myself a little. Love the B-52s call, but I don't often listen to the album front to back. Early U2 is good stuff--I prefer War slightly. Never listened to New Order really. Pink Flag to me is the golden standard of punk, but doesn't really feel like post-punk to me.Quoting D_Davis (view post)
Been on a 2017 music bender. I'll probably post a list after I hear Bjork's album, but here is a list of artists who I'm 99% sure will not make the final cut.
Sampha
Fever Ray
Jlin
Alvvays
Real Estate
Julien Baker
King Krule
Jay Z
Japanese Breakfast
Young Thug
Neil Cicierga
Visible Cloaks
Creeper
Tyler, The Creator
The Weather Station
Priests
Julie Byrne
Kelly Lee Owens
Rostam
Princess Nokia
Mount Kimbie
LCD Soundsystem
SZA
St Vincent
Dirty Projectors
Migos
Amnesia Scanner
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Vagabon
Alex G
Wiki
Charly Bliss
Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile
Vince Staples
Iglooghost
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
Big Thief
Leif Vollebekk
Chad VanGaalen
Earthen Sea
Gas
TOPS
I haven't listened to a ton of new stuff this year. Love the new Four Tet. The new Quicksand is fantastic. Arve Henricksen's new one is great. As is the new one from Cornelius.
My main discovery this year was Sleaford Mods, which was seriously all I listened to for a couple of months.
With the release of the 30th Anniversary of Master of Puppets last week, I've been on a non-stop Metallica kick. Haven't seriously listened to them since 1992 or so. Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All and the S/T are probably the four best back-to-back rock albums ever recorded. There isn't a single track I dislike on any of those albums. These guys were just so good during these years. Complex arrangements, strong lyrics, and great performances all around.
Cool. Four Tet was already on my to-do list. I'll add the others and let you know what I think.
The Four Tet and Quicksand albums are both incredibly well-produced. These people really know what they're doing. I didn't much care for either in the end, though. Seems to me Four Tet is working with pretty much the same musical palette he always has. I'll be seeing him live and am greatly anticipating it because the sounds are lovely, but to me it's background music. I'm not familiar with Quicksand's 90s releases, but personally this style of music reminds me of the boys in middle school who "took music very seriously" and listened to Foo Fighters instead of Ashanti. I know that's unfair, and I do really like the song Cosmonauts, but for me it is somewhat of a corny sound.
More artists who will not make my year-end list:
Ellen Arkbro
Four Tet
Nick Hakim
Girlpool
Open Mike Eagle
BROCKHAMPTON
Paramore
The Clientele
Nite Jewel
Gaussian Curve
Broken Social Scene
Ibibio Sound Machine
Laurel Halo
Arca
G Perico
Chief Keef
Mark Templeton
Oh Sees
Quicksand
Kehlani
Spoon
Father John Misty
Odonis Odonis
Everything Neil Young ever recorded is available to stream fro free in Master Quality.
http://neilyoungarchives.com
2017 Top 30:
1. The xx - I See You
2. Lorde - Melodrama
3. Nai Palm - Needle Paw
4. Kendrick Lamar - Damn
5. Kirin J Callinan - Bravado
6. Perfume Genius - No Shape
7. Feist - Pleasure
8. Ariel Pink - Dedicated to Bobby Jameson
9. Metro Boomin, 21 Savage, Offset - Without Warning
10. Richard Dawson - Peasant
11. Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up
12. Bibio - Phantom Brickworks
13. Rapsody - Laila's Wisdom
14. Idles - Brutalism
15. Circuit Des Yeux - Reaching for Indigo
16. Jay Som - Everybody Works
17. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me
18. Various Artists - Mono No Aware
19. Randy Newman - Dark Matter
20. Slowdive - s/t
21. Bing and Ruth - No Home of the Mind
22. Armand Hammer - Rome
23. Moses Sumney - Aromanticism
24. Playboi Carti - s/t
25. Golden Retriever - Rotations
26. Jens Lekman - Life Will See You Now
27. Algiers - The Underside of Power
28. William Basinski - A Shadow In Time
29. Expressway Yo-Yo Dieting - Undone Harmony Following
30. Young Thug - Beautiful Thugger Girls
Sorry Bjork, Aldous Harding, Jane Weaver, John Maus, Mac DeMarco, Kettenkarussel, The Courtneys, and Charli XCX. I don't think I've ever listened to so much music from one year.
Top 10 for 2017
1. Sleaford Mods – English Tapas
2. Roger Waters – Is This the Life We Really Want
3. Arve Henriksen – Towards Language
4. Brother Ali – All the Beauty in this Whole World
5. Cameron Mizell – Memory / Imagination
6. Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band – Body and Shadow
7. Four Tet – New Energy
8. Cornelius – Mellow Waves
9. Kilby & Kennedy – Glow and Fade
10. Kraftwork – 3-D Catalog
For the first time in my life, one of my songs played on the radio right after...Def Leppard?
http://wfmu.org/playlists/LE/180110
What a truly bizarre set.
"Combining: Van Morrisson, Vangelis, AntonĂ*n Dvorák, Jim Steinman's bombastic Wagnerian 80's pop, Def Leppard, David Guetta & Sia, The Police, Ella Fitzgerald, Erasure, Escala, Matthew Mathis, Moby, Vincent Duseigne, Ogurusu Norihide, Fairuza Balk, Pink Floyd, Charlie Kaufman, Nicholas Cage, Claire Danes, Radiohead, Richard Stallman, Seconds, Lara Flynn Boyle, Twin Peaks, My So-Called Life, THX 1138, Donald Pleasence, WarGames, Matthew Broderick, Daniel J. Davis, Air Supply, Bonnie Tyler, Ingrid Bergman... and a lot more, in ways never previously imagined. "
What a great day for music. Moby's new album is the best thing he's done since Animal Rights. Reminds me of David Bowie's Outside a bit, in its dark, dystopian vision.
And then Thandi Ntuli's new jazz epic, Exiled. Might be 2018's first great jazz album.
https://thandintuli.bandcamp.com/album/exiled
Let's not forget that ANDREW WK's ALBUM IS RELEASED TODAY AS WELL.
Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)
If I had to choose my absolute favorite song of the last 10 years, it might well be this:
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
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Their first two albums are legendary. The new one is merely good technical rock.