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?Quoting D_Davis (view post)
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
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.
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.
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.
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...
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
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 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.
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
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.
TV Recently Finished:
Catastrophe: Season 1 (2015) A
Rectify: Season 3 (2015) A-
Bojack Horseman: Season 2 (2015) A
True Detective: Season 2 (2015) A-
Wayward Pines: Season 1 (2015) B
Currently Playing: Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (replay) (XB1) / Contradiction (PC)
Recently Finished: Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (PS4) A+ / Life is Strange: Ep 4 (PS4) A / Bastion (replay) (PS4) B+
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....
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nice, listening now. Thanks for the heads-up!
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
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 on repeat. Enjoying some Danny Brown as well.
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.
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
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.
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,
Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)
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.
BLOG
It's on America's tortured brow
That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
Now the workers have struck for fame
'Cause Lennon's on sale again
See the mice in their million hordes
From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads
Rule Britannia is out of bounds
To my mother, my dog, and clowns
Posting Permissions
forum
Reply With Quote