Discuss the Musics Thread

[Sven]

I don't know if I should make a top 20 songs list or not, but listening to Hounds of Love sure makes me want to...

[MadMan]

My friend has a subscription to Rolling Stone, so I was able to see their Top 50 Albums of the Decade List. I'm sick and tired of publications (and Pitchfork online was guilty of this as well) listing Kid A as the best album of the decade. I'd say that Radiohead has done better than that with In Rainbows. Also, some of their selections and the albums they left off the list were head scratching. Oh well.

David Bowie Live Santa Monica '72 is a very raw, gritty and damn good early window into Bowie's then blossoming career. Its truly something to examine and look at how much his music has changed over the years, although I really like his 70s tunes the best. Space Oddity accoustic rules for one, and a decent amount of the album featured songs I had not previously heard before. Worth checking out, especially as the back of the cover features Bowie admitting that that they sometimes missed a couple of words and that this is one of his favorite bootlegs.

Finally, today I bought one of my favorite albums of the decade, British Sea Power's Do You Like Rock Music? I'm eagerly awaiting their next disc.

[Derek]

My friend has a subscription to Rolling Stone, so I was able to see their Top 50 Albums of the Decade List. I'm sick and tired of publications (and Pitchfork online was guilty of this as well) listing Kid A as the best album of the decade. I'd say that Radiohead has done better than that with In Rainbows. Also, some of their selections and the albums they left off the list were head scratching. Oh well.

In Rainbows is great, but Kid A it's not. Whether or not it's the best of the decade, and I tend to lean towards putting it there myself, it's certainly as influential as anything released since then, which is most likely a big consideration for big publications like you mentioned.

[Benny Profane]

In Rainbows >>>>> Kid A

[Derek]

Hyperbolas >>>>> hyperboles

[Benny Profane]

Animal Collective - MPP

Listened to this a few times now. What bothers me most is that the electronic loops that should be backup to the more "front" aspects of the music (e.g. lyrics) are just as loud as everything else, in some cases to the point of obnoxiousness.

Also there's a lot of singing the same line over and over again for 4 minutes and calling it a song. (this is a slight exaggeration)

It's definitely unique though and while I'm not crazy about it I look forward to listening to it again.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I was bored to death by MPP. It felt really monotonous. I've only listened to the entire album once, but I wasn't impressed at all.

[Adam]

Ah, nothing in this world makes me feel more painfully snobbish than looking over grammy nominations

I was bored to death by MPP. It felt really monotonous. I've only listened to the entire album once, but I wasn't impressed at all.

It sounds great in the car

[ledfloyd]

i like animal collective enough but MPP does nothing for me.

[ledfloyd]

Ah, nothing in this world makes me feel more painfully snobbish than looking over grammy nominations

the rap and alternative noms aren't awful.

beyonce is a guilty pleasure of mine as well

[MadMan]

In Rainbows is great, but Kid A it's not. Whether or not it's the best of the decade, and I tend to lean towards putting it there myself, it's certainly as influential as anything released since then, which is most likely a big consideration for big publications like you mentioned.

Then if we're going by that criteria (which is heavily flawed IMO) the LOTRs trilogy is the best movie of the decade. Which of course it isn't. Just because something is influential doesn't mean something else isn't better than it, nor does it excuse its flaws.

Also I've only heard one Animal Collective disc (I think it was Feels) and while I liked it, I'm not really sure what I heard was more than solid. Still I'm willing to give their other albums a go.

[Derek]

Then if we're going by that criteria (which is heavily flawed IMO) the LOTRs trilogy is the best movie of the decade. Which of course it isn't. Just because something is influential doesn't mean something else isn't better than it, nor does it excuse its flaws.

I'm not saying it's the only reason, mostly why, when choosing between four great Radiohead albums, that one comes out on top on concensus lists. What are it's inexcusable flaws?

Also I've only heard one Animal Collective disc (I think it was Feels) and while I liked it, I'm not really sure what I heard was more than solid. Still I'm willing to give their other albums a go.

They're an odd duck; either you love them or you don't and they really don't strike me as your kind of music. I think MPP is their best album to date - a culmination of everything they've moved towards throughout the decade and their most inclusive, far-reaching album without sacrificing any integrity. I'll go into more detail on my year-end list, but yeah, I love it. Although, I do have a real soft spot for Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I got Year Zero for $5 at Amoeba Music, and I kinda sorta think it's Reznor's best album proper since The Downward Spiral. I doubt there are many NIN fans here, but I have all his major albums except Ghosts I-IV and the Broken EP, so I'm quite a big fan of his.

Anyway, it's funny because most of the songs are exactly the same in their general structure: begin with punctuated fuzz/drums, build up the melody, thrash, return to melody, thrash, go out tinkly. And yet there's a surprising amount of variation, and the overall narrative (a post-apoc dig at Bush) helps distinguish the songs as chapters.

Also downloaded and listened to, for the first time, Arcade Fire's Funeral (great), David Bowie's Low (also great), and Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (also, also great).

[Spun Lepton]

Dunno if this is anything anybody would be interested in, but I recently did a little research on public domain music, and I found this site:

http://www.publicdomain2ten.com/

Packed full of classic blues, big band, country, folk, jazz, you name it. There's some excellent music here! (Don't bother going there if you can't handle listening to lo-fi music, though.) Check it:

Memphis Minnie -- Where is My Good Man At?
(Terrific song.)

Louis Armstrong -- Ain't Misbehavin'

Hattie Hart -- Won't You Be Kind?

And a few hundred more free songs.

[MadMan]

I'm not saying it's the only reason, mostly why, when choosing between four great Radiohead albums, that one comes out on top on concensus lists. What are it's inexcusable flaws?

Funny enough, Kid A is still one of the best albums I've heard this year. Its flaws aren't extremely inexcusable, but the album perhaps suffers as a result of failing to meet high expectations. Which means its partly my fault, sure-but there have been albums that actually exceeded or met expectations, so I'm not sure that is an excuse, either. I can't wait to hear the rest of Radiohead's albums, as I've listened to The Bends, Kid A, Hail to the Thief, and In Rainbows.

They're an odd duck; either you love them or you don't and they really don't strike me as your kind of music. I think MPP is their best album to date - a culmination of everything they've moved towards throughout the decade and their most inclusive, far-reaching album without sacrificing any integrity. I'll go into more detail on my year-end list, but yeah, I love it. Although, I do have a real soft spot for Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished.

Well there is another Animal Collective album down at the local library. I shall venture into it regardless, and then make a final decision if I should even bother listening to them further.

A final Top 15 is coming up for the year, but only after I finish listening to two more CDs so I can get to 80 albums on the year. I may expand it to a Top 20, Top 15s just don't get enough love. One disc actually received a **** rating upon further thought, and thus moved up a bit. A few dropped off the list.

[D_Davis]

The new Cornershop album, Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast, self-released, is pretty dang good.



One of the more underrated bands of the last decade or so.

[MadMan]

My Top 15 Albums of 2009 (that I listened to, not from the actual year. Although I did hear some 2009 albums last year out of the 80 total I listened to):

1. Illinoise, Sufjan Stevens
2. London Calling-The Clash
3. Attack and Release-The Black Keys
4. The Ghost of Tom Joad-Bruce Springsteen
5. Who's Next-The Who
6. Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven!-Godspeed You! Black Emperor
7. Neon Bible-Arcade Fire
8. Fox Confessor Brings The Flood-Neko Case
9. Turn On the Bright Lights-Interpol
10. Guero-Beck
11. Parachutes-Coldplay
12. Welcome Interstate Managers-Fountains of Wayne
13. Kid A-Radiohead
14. Daydream Nation-Sonic Youth
15. Funeral-Arcade Fire

Only the last three got *** 1/2 out of ****. The rest are **** worthy.

[Lasse]

http://www.publicdomain2ten.com/

Great site. Thanks.

[D_Davis]

Shoegazer fans, check these dudes out:

Lost Children



http://www.archive.org/details/LostChildren014

Awesome.

[MadMan]

Modern Guilt by Beck is actually a pretty damn good album. I went in not expecting much, so maybe that helped. Also I recently became a fan of both Mars Volta and M83, and I continue my exploration of The Moody Blues, and underappreciated 60s band.

[Glass Co.]

Speaking of Beck, I've been listening to Odelay a lot lately. What would people here say is the better Dust Brothers production, this album or Paul's Boutique?

[D_Davis]

Paul's Boutique

Although Odelay is no slouch.

[Llopin]

Swans are reforming.

Yipee yay.

[Milky Joe]

Shoegazer fans, check these dudes out:

Lost Children

Holy horrible picture Batman! I guess they think that to be a shoegaze band they have to look like they're from the early 90s.

[D_Davis]

Holy horrible picture Batman! I guess they think that to be a shoegaze band they have to look like they're from the early 90s.

The music is straight out of the '90s! So good.