Music: Rate and Discuss

You must have epic school days, fighting little guidos and shit.
 
Red Sparowes - The Fear is Excrutiating but blahblahblahwestillmakealbumswithexcessivelylongtitlesalthoughoursongtitlesaresanenow

Wow I haven't listened to Red Sparowes in a long time. I was never a particularly huge fan of them. I'm not sure how to rate this new album. It's decent, but not exceptionally great. It's post-rock. There's not much to say about it. Post-rock really is dead (unless Godspeed decides they want to revive it).

If you're new to the genre, I suppose you might enjoy this a lot. If you've been listening to post-rock for, say, the past 6+ years, you won't be missing out on much if you skip this.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaxNnoKrK9o&fmt=18

This song, album, band, and anything related to them is art in it's purest form.

I love how the song tries to push through the chaos that it creates in itself towards the end, the signal of some instruments breaking up, before the whole ensamble comes crashing back into the scene, over-distorted, clipping, it keeps trying to survive on it's own merits for another few pushes, only coming back more and more distorted, until it just abruptly falls apart and you are left with your iPod main menu.
 
neurosis just got announced for ATP in december, now playing alongside godspeed you! black emperor. i am literally rocking in my chair with excitement. might put the eye of every storm on. for now:

palehorse - waited

actually just a backtracked version of sun starved day (be patient), the closer from the phenomenal gee, that ain't swell LP. this is the habitual linestepper EP and it's just as ridiculously angry as before. crushingly bitter music is probably the best music,
 
I haven't posted in this thread for awhile and I've been rummaging through a lot of music lately to keep me distracted from this shitty, shitty semester, so I'll run through a few things I've been listening to.

Jonsi - Go
Single album from the lead singer of Sigur Ros and goddamn is it good. It's essentially Sigur Ros (go figure), but faster and happier. Lots of movement, emotion and awesome melodies. Listen to Around Us for a sample of what the album sounds like.

Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow and Blue
Mainly hipster bullshit, but it's okay because they're on Warp.

Fang Island - Fang Island

More hipster bullshit.

The Flashbulb - Soundtrack to a Vacant Life

While odd isn't the correct word to describe this album, it's what I'm going to use. It's really a mix of everything which provides for a confusing at first but growth during later listens.

Hammock - Raising Your Voice... Trying To Stop an Echo
Holy shit. Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky all together in one artist. I don't care if most of the songs sound essentially the same, it's ****ing fantastic. If I had to assign a genre, I'd say ambient post rock, but genres suck so nevermind.

Lemon Jelly - Lost Horizons
Excellent electronic chill with great breakbeats. Really, really awesome to listen to in the summer. Instant good mood music.

Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
I'm late to the game, I know. And I don't think I could praise this album any differently than thousands (millions) have already.

Younger Brother - The Last Days of Gravity
1/2 Shpongle, 1/2 something else...basically just more Shpongle that sounds a little different.
 
Album review:

the-good-the-bad-and-the-queen.jpg


9/10

One of the most astonishing albums ever made, and definitely among my top 5 albums of the 00's. The soundscape they create is very unique, with a very special bass and piano interplay. The social commentary in the lyrics is brilliant, and every song continues from the next in a great way, the general theme is kept but it never becomes repetitive. If it doesn't confirm Damon Albarn's position as one of the finest artist of the day I don't know what will. No Blur or Gorillaz album comes close to this.
 
I bought a book of Chopin Nocturnes recently and I've been listening to some of them; they're so nice and relaxing (not to play though!) I really like this one, there's something so meditative about it (except for when it goes mental but most Chopin pieces do that, to be fair).

Chopin Nocturne No.48 Op.1
 
Just grabbed the new Ocean Collective album, Heliocentric. Kind of undecided on it so far, they've lost a lot of their signature heaviness, but I guess you could say this gives the music more room to breathe. The compositions seem a bit more simplistic, though, although the layered guitar sound is as sweet as ever, and the drums are even better. The new singer also has a very capable clean voice, which he seems to use through most of the record, as opposed to their previous releases which featured mostly death vocals. I don't really have a problem with this on principle, but it seems at times like they wanted to showcase him a bit too much (that and their preachy anti-christian lyrics, irony~), and the technicality of the music suffers as a result. It's still great, it's just not quite what I've come to expect from the band... but anyway, this is just preliminary listening, since I'm only on my third play-through or so.

Anyway, a song. Unf, dat guitars, dat drums.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLCGIFoP-Io
 
Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere

Can't believe I hadn't seen this DVD yet. It's pretty spectacular, the first two songs (Open Car, Blackest Eyes) are a bit off on the vocals, but everything else is spot on. I especially loved Hatesong, it's great to see Gavin drum the hell out of that song.

Best part of the DVD: it had three songs I never heard before, released only as B-sides and all of them kick ass. Namely:

Mother and Child Divided:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvgYwx0SFBg&feature=related

A great instrumental track. Sounds like the sequel to .3

Buying New Soul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz89VQuMlJs

I love the vocals and lyrics of this song.

So Called Friend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kwB5ipoVWU

Just fucking great.

"Sleep well my so called friend, a virus in your heart".

Not on the album, but also heard this one for the first time recently, Access Denied:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnTmMsxHUq0

Funky tune, very nice.
 
Blackstratblues - The New Album

Warren Mendonsa is brilliant as usual. I especially recommend Ode to a Sunny Day, which is just so goddamn beautiful... It's perfect listening as you enjoy a cup of tea on a bright and cloudless Saturday!

This is a free download, so you'd have to be stoopid not to get it.
 
A Silver Mt. Zion - I Built Myself A Metal Bird

I remember not liking this song at all back when I first started hearing live recordings of it. But it's grown on me a lot. Might be one of my favorites now. I think what finally got me was the awesome instrumental parts that come right after Efrim shuts up (yeah just kidding, I like his voice a lot now).

Also, they made a cool video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y5pmhcOqxs
 
Blackstratblues - The New Album

Warren Mendonsa is brilliant as usual. I especially recommend Ode to a Sunny Day, which is just so goddamn beautiful... It's perfect listening as you enjoy a cup of tea on a bright and cloudless Saturday!

This is a free download, so you'd have to be stoopid not to get it.

It's pretty nice. I don't feel anything while listening to it, but it doesn't bother me or anything.

For me, the best track is #6 'Ode To A Rainy Day'. Yeah, track #8 'Ode To A Sunny Day' is pretty good. The lead guitar reminds me of classic Pink Floyd, but it lacks something. Still feel nothing. It sounds like elevator music, but it gets better about 3/4 in with the piano.

Anyhow, thanks for the recommendation. I imagine some will find this fantastic.
 
It's pretty nice. I don't feel anything while listening to it, but it doesn't bother me or anything.

For me, the best track is #6 'Ode To A Rainy Day'. Yeah, track #8 'Ode To A Sunny Day' is pretty good. The lead guitar reminds me of classic Pink Floyd, but it lacks something. Still feel nothing. It sounds like elevator music, but it gets better about 3/4 in with the piano.

Anyhow, thanks for the recommendation. I imagine some will find this fantastic.

I agree with this. I think this reminds me a little of an album called Lost Horizon by Friends of Dean Martinez, which I haven't listened to in years but I remember feeling about the same way about them.
 
Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere
Favourite live DVD, this. Gavin's so consistently great all the way through, never misses a beat that I can notice. It's wonderfully edited as well, giving almost every member a share of the spotlight (save for maybe the bass player who is honestly pretty uninteresting to watch). Buying New Soul is probably one of their best songs, too, love it. Just too bad this DVD didn't occur after Blank Planet, a couple songs off that would've pushed it into legendary status.

The new(ish) Deftones, Diamond Eyes, is really great. Saturday Night Wrist was a nice surprise after their self-titled album came off as a disc full of mediocre B-sides from White Pony, but this one really steps it up again (if not quite topping Pony). I like that they've further embraced the catchy, poppy edge they picked up on Wrist; whereas with other bands it might make them sound watered down, it fits their niche perfectly, and allows them to write better and more varied songs instead of just making riff-driven metal tracks or Digital Bath-wannabes (as endlessly exploitable as that sound is). Not to say there isn't still a similarity, or that Carpenter's riffage is any less of a driving presence, but it all seems to be packaged in a way that doesn't seem so immediately derivative of their previous stuff. I'm probably doing a pretty rotten job of explaining it, so here's a song (neat video too).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qksTlo_1Tpw

Also, totally unrelated and old, but jesus christ this is a gorgeous song. Really has it's hooks in me lately.

And no I have no idea why there is a half naked woman there. :V

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30R_Rr7-IQc
 
Lis Er Stille - The Construction of the Amp Train - 8/10

I haven't listened to this in a long time. I think it came out 4 or 5 years ago. Danish band; Construction of the Amp Train was their first ep. Pretty awesome. Probably what Muse would have sounded like if they had become some kind of crazy progressive-postrock fusion instead of whatever they are now.

And it's free to download on their website (on the right hand side of the page).
http://www.liserstille.dk/home/?page_id=81

[edit] Whoa all these songs are epic. I'm not sure why I stopped listening to this. Also lol at how in the middle of the last track you have to listen through like 2 minutes of unintentionally cheesy stuff before you get rewarded with awesome. Gonna have to up the rating to 9 or 9.5.
 
Favourite live DVD, this. Gavin's so consistently great all the way through, never misses a beat that I can notice. It's wonderfully edited as well, giving almost every member a share of the spotlight (save for maybe the bass player who is honestly pretty uninteresting to watch). Buying New Soul is probably one of their best songs, too, love it. Just too bad this DVD didn't occur after Blank Planet, a couple songs off that would've pushed it into legendary status.

The new DVD called Anesthetize will be released this month. It was recorded here in Dutchland, but unfortunately I couldn't be there ("nah, don't order tickets yet, we can do that later" :rolleyes: ). But that was over one and a half years ago, so they sure took their sweet time.

The new(ish) Deftones, Diamond Eyes, is really great. Saturday Night Wrist was a nice surprise after their self-titled album came off as a disc full of mediocre B-sides from White Pony, but this one really steps it up again (if not quite topping Pony). I like that they've further embraced the catchy, poppy edge they picked up on Wrist; whereas with other bands it might make them sound watered down, it fits their niche perfectly, and allows them to write better and more varied songs instead of just making riff-driven metal tracks or Digital Bath-wannabes (as endlessly exploitable as that sound is). Not to say there isn't still a similarity, or that Carpenter's riffage is any less of a driving presence, but it all seems to be packaged in a way that doesn't seem so immediately derivative of their previous stuff. I'm probably doing a pretty rotten job of explaining it, so here's a song (neat video too).

I think I get what you mean, the refrain is very different from other Deftones songs I've heard. It's only recognizable by the singer's voice and the occasional heavy riff. I quite liked that song. Never saw the singer before, and for some reason I imagined him with dreadlocks. Or perhaps I saw him before when he did have dreadlocks. I don't know.

I really like Change and Knife Party by them.
 
Peter and the Wolf - "Lightness"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9-mYs6YOxg

Beautiful mellow song. Just noticed on the video credits that Bill Baird of {{{sunset}}} worked on the vid. Knew they were both from the Austin area but didn't realize they knew or worked with each other at all. Interesting.
 
If I lose it, by Unique 3

not much of a techno fan, but simple music like this (when free in cost) rocks! been listening to a lot of screamo/hardcore music so this is a nice break
 
In case you hadn't already seen it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95QS3c_Tei4

FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

IT'S OUT? :O

The site where I've pre-ordered it says it will be released the 14th of May.

I was surprised to see John Wesley sing as much as he did in that song. On the album, I think all vocals are done by Steven as John isn't a part of the band or the album making and only tours with them. He also did backing vocals on Arriving Somewhere which did make songs sound different from the album as on the album there were done by the guy from Opeth. He does have a good voice though.
 
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