Music: Rate and Discuss

[Asknoone]

We are rejuvenating the “Rate and Discuss” threads, with the intent of generating discussion and debate, in regard to your recent watch, playthrough, or read. For the music forum, this could be the last gig you attended or the latest albums you have been listening to. As a prerequisite of posting in this thread, you must expand upon your rating with, at the very least, a brief paragraph as to why you delegated it said rating. You must discuss, analyse, and critique – “I liked it” is not sufficient, and any posts that do not meet this criteria will be deleted.

There can, of course, be discussion and argument - but in the same way that "I liked it" does not constitute a post, neither does - and it pains me to say this - "You're stupid, shut up" though some of you clearly are.

An example of a suitable post:

Pinocchio - 4/5
With the Disney movies, it takes me a while to work out whether I've seen them before in my childhood. I'm still none the wiser here, since I'm pretty sure I would have repressed memories of seeing this if I was a child... but then, as an adult there's a whole extra dimension of sinister to it. Some of it's probably not intentional (why does Gepetto want a real boy in his house anyway, huh?) but some of it must be (the coachman who takes young boys to pleasure island, and they 'don't come back as boys'?!), and it's just generally as far from a stereotype of Disney as simple, tedious good versus evil as you're likely to find.

Anyone who has problem with this, I suggest you pm me; your post will only be deleted here.

 

[knut]

Good call. This thread is far too spammy and mindless when compared to the other two threads (Films and Games) and I've been trying to make my own posts a little more interesting for a while. Hope others feel the same from now on - it's a great way to get into more music if you see someone putting a little description of what it is they are listening to.

Old Man Gloom - Seminar III: Zozobra

27 minutes of feedback, fuzz, ambient noise, voice samples, ''a gigantic ape?!'', monotonous and plodding strokes of downtuned guitars and the heavy rumble of the thunderous behemoth like bass in the background. It's the music of a secret underground missile base slowly left to rot amongst a jungle of dead weeds, spider like branches and uprooted tree trunks. This is the image in my head, anyay. Doom-y stoner experimental metal at it's finest, but what more can you expect from yet another project by Aaron Turner?

Stunning. Vinyl too, which just adds to the fantastic selection of textured layers of noise and sound that are currently slowly lining the walls around me in the middle of a thunder storm. Perfect.

 

[L3N!N]

My Review of:

Bibio: Ambivalence Avenue - 4/5

Album Art

Genre: electronica, "folktronica"

Release Date: ~June

Note: I have started listening to Bibio within the past 6 months, so veterans of Bibio, excuse me if some of my statements aren't exactly valid.

____________________


Bibio's latest album, Ambivalence Avenue, is a medley of catchy songs and mellow beats. Released by Warp Records, Ambivalence Avenue seems to be a far cry from Bibio's original ambient and pastoral style. Fear not, as Bibio dresses to impress with Ambivalence Avenue, and Bibio sure as hell impresses. Each of the twelve tracks included in Ambivalence Avenue are unique, with memorable beats and lyrics, provided there are lyrics.

Bibio's style in Ambivalence Avenue is radically different from past works. Vocals are a major part of some songs now, and are strong and confident. The title track combines good vocals, which are further accentuated by a good beat and some excellent use of [guitar?]. "Jealous of Roses," the second song, provides a psychedelic feeling with, again, a good, solid beat. "All the Flowers" is a nice transition to "Fire Ant," a majestic song in it's own right. While "Fire Ant" is indeed a good, strong song, it drags on for quite a while. But that's just me.

"Haikuesque (When She Laughs)" is a song embodied by a bold beat and, once again, good vocals. "Lover's Carvings," exemplifies a good use of guitar, vocals, and a steady beat. While pace is changed midway through "Lover's Carvings," nothing is lost. It's actually better than the instruments-only introduction.

Alltogether, Ambivalence Avenue is an excellent album. Why? Because Bibio utilizes a new style that suits them perfectly. And while that style might not be so original, but I'd rather have a great album than a lackluster piece of "art." Ambivalence Avenue delivers on a silver platter.

1. Ambivalence Avenue
2. Jealous of Roses
3. All the Flowers
4. Fire Ant
5. Haikuesque (When She Laughs)
6. Sugarette
7. Lover’s Carvings
8. Abrasion
9. S’vive
10. The Palm of Your Wave
11. Cry! Baby!
12. Dwrcan

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgGsnYpT3zg

Why is the image not working?

 

[McGooTheWise]

Alice in Chains: Jar of Flies (Album)

5/5

An all acoustic album from a Grunge band (Unless it's live) may seem odd, but Alice in Chains pulled it off quite well with 1994's Jar of Flies. The album opens up with the chilling bass line of Rotten Apple, dubbed over with a heavily synthesized guitar solo, followed by some of the most chilling harmonies Alice in Chains has ever come up with. When listening to this song, one can almost completely feel the pain Staley sing with. This song in particular has been interpreted many different ways, such as a story about a young girl losing her virginity to rape, Losing innocence through growing older, or any sort of tragedy that may disturb a child from early on. "Eat of the apple so young, I'm crawling back to start."

The next song, Nutshell, opens with one of the only riffs I've ever personally heard that pulled tears from my eyes. The song alone is enough to make one feel secluded, and depressed. (I would recommend not listening to this song if you're having a good day. It may depress you. Not that this is a bad thing, just saying.) It is apparent that Staley feels alone in the world in this song, not wanted by his own family, no love while he's on the road, and the truly bone chilling vocals couldn't do more to bring the sad lyrics to life. At the end of each verse, a sad harmony with a backing guitar fill bring out the true nature of the song.

It may seem strange, though, that such a sad song is followed by something semi-uplifting, as I Stay Away's beautiful intro rolls the record on forward, and Staley's voice comes barreling over it, in yet another chilling harmony. The chorus, seemingly compiled to sound like chaos, and uneasiness, turns the song on it's belly, making it a true Alice in Chains song.

And the album gets happier yet, with the title "No Excuses." Opening with an elegant pattern by Sean Kinney on the Drums, it is quickly followed by an uplifting guitar riff, and soothing vocals. My personal favorite line: "It's okay, had a bad day. Hands are bruised from breaking rocks all day." followed by the chorus: "Every day something it's me, oh so cold. you'll find me sitting by myself, no excuses that I know." The song, written solely by Jerry Cantrell, puts a happier spin on the album, telling himself to stop making excuses, or admitting that he has no excuse.

As the next track quickly picks up, one may be slightly disturbed from happy listening at first by the whale-like guitar riff that opens the song, Whale & Wasp. The listener can almost visualize whales swimming through the ocean, singing, as the part that may describe "Wasp" follows the riff. A rather interesting instrumental.

The next two songs, Don't Follow, and swing on this take a much more uplifting flavor to the album, the former utilizing a clarinet (You can clarify, I'm not sure.) to follow each line of lyrics in the verses, while Swing on This is more of a somewhat humorous, less serious poke in the eye to family and friends at home, asking Staley to come home, to which he tells them "Let me be, I'm alright, can't you see? I'm just fine."

You're goddamn right, I reviewed every single song. I love this album.

 

[gFrohman]

311 - Uplifter : 4/5

A fun, catchy album overall. The first song Hey You has lots of energy & positive lyrics. SA is becoming a much more solid singer, and this album shows that. Mix It Up & It's Alright are also very catchy, but they start to sound a little more main-stream-rock-ish than some of their previous work. Some lyrics in a few songs are a little off IMO (Jackpot, Too Much Too Fast), but overall another energetic, positive album. Tim Mahoney's guitar solos are brilliant, and the drum work from Sexton is solid. I'd still say it's not as strong of an album as Evolver, but I personally enjoyed this album a bit more than Don't Tread On Me - it seems to have caught me more.

 

[kineaesth]

Mobilia - The Field

Not his best track, but beautiful and mellow. Great use of vocal samples. I was discussing last night with a friend that The Field really needs to learn to introduce basslines a bit earlier. Glitchy, skittery, yet very smooth.

 

[knut]

ISIS - Hive Destruction

Just... watch the video. The song is so ridiculously heavy that it pretty much totals and borks the **** out of this guys camera/phone, which obviously won't need too much considering it's low quality tech but still, it's just silly. And I love it. I would KILL to see this song played live. A real neck breaker if I ever heard one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jX5ApfijDg&feature=related

From the fantastic Mosquito Control EP, a record I hadn't given as much attention to over the last few years as I was always more into the 'newer' post-Oceanic ISIS but man, it's a ****ing great record. Drenched in distortion, it almost feels like I have to wade through the music to get a proper ear to the ground.

 

[The Monkey]

My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow

The first track to MBV's second (and best) album, Loveless. It blows my mind away more than any other song. After a short drum opening, the sound of numerous loud guitar overdubs explodes and overflows your mind, creating a highly complex sound. Then the indistinguishable vocals of Bilinda Butcher comes in; the lyrics are irrelevant, they're rather acting like another instrument. A brilliant song from start to finish, the acme of the shoegazing genre.

 

[knut]

My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow

The first track to MBV's second (and best) album, Loveless. It blows my mind away more than any other song. After a short drum opening, the sound of numerous loud guitar overdubs explodes and overflows your mind, creating a highly complex sound. Then the indistinguishable vocals of Bilinda Butcher comes in; the lyrics are irrelevant, they're rather acting like another instrument. A brilliant song from start to finish, the acme of the shoegazing genre.

Mm, I've the latest My Bloody Valentine, Honey Power, and it's a little hit and miss for me. I'm a big fan of what MBV have paved the way for but I've never really taken the time to through their back cat. because I recall it to be quite extensive. Recommendations?

Maybeshewill - Co-Conspirators

Pretty good instrumental post-rock with a tinge of God Is An Astronaut style electronics and piano thrown in for good measure. Instrumental to the point that vocal come in the form of audio samples of speeches and quotes which are quite interesting, maybe a little overdone, though. Very riff based, quite a metal influence to their sound, but jaunty and bounding enough to keep me interested throughout. Only got this album, Sing The Word Hope In Four-Part Harmony today but overall, it's solid.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Zero 7 - Futures

Mmm sweet song. Can't sing along to it for shit though, always making me yawn. The vocals are great in this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuIyTJpUS28

 

[Ennui]

My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow

The first track to MBV's second (and best) album, Loveless. It blows my mind away more than any other song. After a short drum opening, the sound of numerous loud guitar overdubs explodes and overflows your mind, creating a highly complex sound. Then the indistinguishable vocals of Bilinda Butcher comes in; the lyrics are irrelevant, they're rather acting like another instrument. A brilliant song from start to finish, the acme of the shoegazing genre.

Ah, Loveless is such an excellent album. I'm listening to Come In Alone right now, which is by far my favorite track on this album. I love the thick, layered guitar noise - you can see where TV on the Radio gets their inspiration from - and the vocals are goddamn excellent (although christ only knows what the hell is being said).

 

[VirusType2]

Queen - Another One Bites The Dust

I absolutely love this song. When I was about 8, for Christmas I asked for this song and a portable tape player. So the first tape I ever got was this single. I still love this song more than 15 years later.

Incidentally, Michael Jackson was the person who insisted Queen release this song as their first single. He was certain that it would be a huge success. He was definitely right about that.

The similarities between this song and some of M. Jackson's early solo career work is striking. I wish I knew who influenced who.

 

[Ennui]

Queen is epic. The first tape I ever got when I was like 6 was a Queen Greatest Hits tape and I still love them to death. I think my favorite songs are probably My Best Friend, Don't Stop Me Now and of course We Will Rock You because when I was little I would jump up and down on my bed and air guitar along to the solo in that song... it absolute defined "rock and roll" at the time for me.

 

[VirusType2]

^ Lol. when I was a little kid, I used to sneak into my brother's room while he was at work and crank up his 200 watt Hi-Fi stereo system and jump on the bed while I listened to Van Halen 'Jump' and 'Panama'.


John Lennon - Imagine (album)

I haven't listened to this whole album yet as I found it in a box recently and don't know where the CD came from.

Obviously, the title track 'Imagine' got a lot of airplay and was a monstrous hit. It's beautiful. The second song, 'Crippled Inside' is pretty good, I like it. A bit folksy but has great rhythm. The third track was also a radio single, 'Jealous Guy'. It's beautiful as well. The next track 'It's So Hard' has a strong blues influence. I never cared too much for most blues music, but this is good.

Skimming through the rest of the tracks, there's another gem on here, called 'Oh My Love'. The rest of the tracks aren't my thing, but they aren't too bad.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

My dad made me listen to a lot of Queen up until this point. **** yeah dad thanks.

Amon Tobin - Hokkaido

I love his work on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory's soundtrack. All of the music from being detected, working through the level, and suspense all integrated so perfectly. Lighthouse, Ruthless (and the Reprise), and El Cargo are among the best off the ost.

 

[The Monkey]

Mm, I've the latest My Bloody Valentine, Honey Power, and it's a little hit and miss for me. I'm a big fan of what MBV have paved the way for but I've never really taken the time to through their back cat. because I recall it to be quite extensive. Recommendations?

No, it's not extensive at all, they only released two albums. I would start with the second one, "Loveless", and if you liked that get the first one too, "Isn't Anything".

Ah, Loveless is such an excellent album. I'm listening to Come In Alone right now, which is by far my favorite track on this album. I love the thick, layered guitar noise - you can see where TV on the Radio gets their inspiration from - and the vocals are goddamn excellent (although christ only knows what the hell is being said).

I'm gonna see them live on a festival in August :E

 

[SimpleAssassin]

The Cure- Join the Dots

A fantastic collection of B-sides and rarities throughout the 30 years of The Cure, i was really suprised at how beautiful some of these songs are.There are 70 in total and i havent listened to all of them yet but this is a brilliant collection of songs that people would have otherwise missed out on.

 

[Kadayi]

Amon Tobin - Hokkaido

I love his work on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory's soundtrack. All of the music from being detected, working through the level, and suspense all integrated so perfectly. Lighthouse, Ruthless (and the Reprise), and El Cargo are among the best off the ost.

That is a cracking album tbh. I often listen to it when I'm in deep work mode.

Talking of deep:-

Susumu Yokota - Acid Mt Fuji 8.5/10

An extremely rare ambient techno album by the versatile musical force of nature that is Susumu Yokota. This is a very stripped down affair compared to his later works (which are more layered) but still worth listening to (Kinoko is a blinder of a tune, that gradually builds up in intensity)

http://acrocosm.blogspot.com/2008/08/susumu-yokota-acid-mt-fuji.html

link included simply because its long since out of circulation (1994) and a second hand copy will set you back about $70. If you like it, I recommend you check out his later works, esp Grinning Cat, The Boy and the Tree & Symbol, all worthwhile purchases.

 

[kineaesth]

Be True (Burial Remix) - Commix

Woah, thanks for that link man. I only have Sakura, and I've been meaning to get more.

This song is an interesting feel for Burial, as he puts potentially heavy drums into an otherwise lush, ambient track. It's still got that lingering sense of dread, though, so it's all good. Unfortunately this is also a radio rip so it's not the full track.

 

[Kadayi]

Woah, thanks for that link man. I only have Sakura, and I've been meaning to get more.

Oh Sakura is a great album as well. I'd forgotten about that one in my list. What I like about Susumu is that he's constantly moving in different directions with each album, rather than repeating himself. I'll admit I'm not so much a fan of some of the more recent works, but there is gold in the back catalogue.

 

[Stigmata]

Clark - Look Into The Heart Now

Totems Flare is an interesting album. It sounds like Clark, but it also sounds at times like Justice, and if I listened to a wider range of electronica I could probably name a lot more similar-sounding artists. Probably the most striking difference with his older work is the addition of vocals, which when combined with a four-on-the-floor beat gives a lot of the songs a somewhat esoteric clubby feel. I don't know if I like the album yet, but it's definitely interesting, and Growls Garden is a menacingly cool song. As a bonus, the cover art is great too. I could see myself picking this up in the stores if I still like it when I've paid off my rent.

 

[knut]

Did I get a post deleted? Far as I remember I was discussing music with someone... that or I closed the tab before I posted. I forget.

No, it's not extensive at all, they only released two albums. I would start with the second one, "Loveless", and if you liked that get the first one too, "Isn't Anything".

It is quite extensive - they've quite a few EP's and singles and I don't feel too happy unless I own everything, but I'll check it out. That said, I had no idea they had only released two albums and when I went to Wiki to have a look, I saw no mention of Honey Power. I'm not sure what this release is now when I think about it as the tracklisting isn't anywhere...

Manatees - The Pulp Cut

I remember I ****ing hated this band when I listened to this track one or two years ago - I recall naming it 'hobo sludge' as the vocals on this track consist of few multitracked cuts of Oxbow's lead singer Eugene Robinson whining and wailing to himself over some pretty slow droning metal. Loathed it, I did, and now it's one of my favourite tracks simply for how paranoid and downright horrifying it sounds. Metal to be heard from a wooden shack in the middle of a swampy valley by hillfolk. Awesome.

 

[Kadayi]

No, it's not extensive at all, they only released two albums. I would start with the second one, "Loveless", and if you liked that get the first one too, "Isn't Anything".

I'd actually say that 'Isn't Anything' is a poor relation Say 'Loveless' and tbh your much better off avoiding it.

Talking of Shoegazers if you like MBV, I strongly recommend 'Just for a day' & 'Souvlaki' by Slowdive

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-Day-Sl...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1246383579&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Souvlaki-Sl...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1246383579&sr=8-1

Wonderful sound, stand out track being 'When the sun hits'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF96gNl7O5A&feature=related

 

[Viperidae]

Pogo - Scrumdiddlyumptious

Well, that pretty much seals it for me. He's basically a one trick pony.

Every recent track has been the same--very quick sample slices of a movie, square or sine arpeggiated bass, sampled drums from a non-movie source, and sampled pads from the movie. So far so good, except in his latest creations the samples are so short they don't really form any sounds, just little snips of voices. Whereas his most famous Alice sang in a sense when he used the voice samples, his latest are just too choppy, and thus lose any conception of melody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1jmhbw3JHw

Then again, he made SplurgenShitter, which shows an excellent use of canned samples that work amazingly together. So at this point I don't know if he's trapped himself in his own style or is trying to cater to it because of its popularity. I guess my main complaint is the shortness of his recent sampling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2-gHbSh2AY

So, I'll have to wait and hope that he can pull himself to his older style. Or try something new altogether.

 

[Qonfused]

I have a feeling he'll do something more like his past work soon. Though, if you listen to most of his tracks, they are mostly the same; the only difference being the movie from where he took samples from. It doesn't really bother me, though; the combination is really intriguing. And even when the novelty has worn off, I still enjoy the tracks.

 

[Sheepo]

CAKE is making a new album you guuuuuuuys.

 

[Ennui]

Damn I gotta say that this thread is owning the **** out of the old Mandatory thread so far. Good discussion The music subforum here has always been my favorite because we've all influenced each others tastes to the point where we're all AWESOME.

Bluetech - Swimming in a Feverdream

This is off of Bluetech's latest album (a few months old) called The Divine Invasion. This song in particular is great, has a kind of Mum/BOC feel going on in addition to the usual Bluetech psybient sound. The whole album is well worth some serious time devoted to it, I've been absolutely loving it so far, probably more than any other Bluetech album but Prima Materia. It's still centered in ambient/psybient but this album has heavier IDM influences than the rest I would say, and there's not as much dub stuff going on as usual either.

 

[Qonfused]

Grizzly Bear - All We Ask

from: Veckatimest

I saw that they were on Warp (Boards of Canada, etc.) so I was curious, but then I saw that a douchebag-about-music I know listens to them, so I wrote it off. He's seriously that big of a douche. Well, tonight I decided to hop down off from my own high horse and give 'em a try. I'm only three songs in, but if the rest of the album is like this, I'm probably not going to keep the MP3s on my hard drive. I'm not really caring for the sound too much--that being said I jumped into this band not even knowing what their sound was or knew any like-artists.

edit: Grizzly Bear - Cheerleader

This song is really good. The album is slowly getting better.

edit 2: The album is okay. I'll give it another listen some time.

 

[knut]

ISIS - The Beginning and The End

The very first ISIS track I heard, taken from the stunning Oceanic record. As far as ''concept'' albums go, this is by far the most in-depth, interesting and well written releases I've ever heard.

A man at the brink of emotional numbness finds a female counterpart who completes him ("The Beginning and the End"). However, he soon finds that she has had a long-term incest relationship ("False Light", "Weight") with her brother ("Hym," "The Other"). This drives him to lose all hope, and he commits suicide through drowning ("from sinking sands, he stepped into light's embrace").

That's a very loose sum up of the album as the writer, Aaron Turner, is often hesitant to go into too much detail about his work but from listening to the bleak, jarring and desolate sounds of atmospheric keys, melodic and crushing blending guitars, throbbing basslines, muted and panned percussion and the strained shouting and hoarse screaming of the vocals really - and I mean really - brings the album to life. Phenomenal.

now listening to ISIS - Carry, which ends in possibly my favourite line ever;
''He sees like he's never seen before
He is light in water''

The end of this video really emphsizes the power put into this songs finale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYYXiBDoIio&e

I urge everyone to listen to this album even if you don't like metal, and if you do - even better. I got into ISIS after a few years of standing back from metal and coming to terms with just how ****ing dull alot of what I was listening to was, and then I picked up Oceanic and it changed my life. Seriously.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Elbow - Fallen Angel

Had this stuck in my head for a while now. Something about the vocalist's voice is kinda comforting.

 

[Vegeta897]

Venetian Snares - Circle Pit

Probably my favorite song from the album (Detrimentalist) if not only for the beginning. The voice clip "Watch this!" is just so perfect for the super hectic funky vibe, and then comes in the punchy amen break slamming every beat in the 7/4 rhythm, with an absolutely sick pair of pitch-enveloped buzzy hoover type bass hits that just compliment the vibe and hectic-ness perfectly.

Then after some 4 minutes you reach the ending which returns to an even more relentless and repetitive loop of the amen, and as if that wasn't enough, it keeps doubling in speed until reaching a wall of noise which abruptly ends with an old sound clip from a movie or show of a phone being slammed down followed by "damn!"

9/10

 

[Stigmata]

Our Lady Peace - One Man Army

I always liked Our Lady Peace. Not their new stuff so much, but their first few albums are fairly classic up here in Canada. Good melodies and songwriting, great musicianship, GREAT vocals. I love falsetto.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Steve Miller Band - Rock'N Me

This song makes me want to hop in the car and drive up the country alone with nothing but this looping. It gives off a good vibe.

 

[dfc05]

The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters - 8/10

I've never been a huge fan of shoegaze or "noisy" music or whatever genre this falls into (I am really awful at figuring out genres ), but this is one of the few albums where the "wall of noise" thing makes sense to me. They do it nicely and I actually look forward to the parts where all the noise comes in. The vocals are also nice although it took a little while to get used to their Scottish accent.

The only things I dislike are that some of the songs are all fairly similar, some of them seem to end weakly (I'll love the first part of the song, then find that I've stopped listening halfway through), and a few of them have genuinely annoying tunes ("Last Year's Rain..." in particular is strangely reminiscent of those jeering chants kids do on the playground to make fun of other kids, especially since the same line is repeated over and over again).

My favorite songs are "That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy" and "I'm Taking The Train Home."

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Danny Elfman - The Little Things (UNKLE Surrender Sounds Session 13)

Quite possibly one of the best songs I've heard in a game's soundtrack that isn't instrumental. After finishing Wanted: Weapons of Fate this little beauty played through the credits. Fit the game imo. Awesome to listen to. Danny's voice is still as sexy as it was 20 years ago when he was in Oingo Boingo. This mix actually sounds a lot better than the original version composed for the Wanted movie. **** yeah UNKLE.

Youtubed version sounds a bit shit.

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

 

[Ennui]

Sheepo, if you're wondering why your post was deleted it's because you didn't try hard enough. Next time there will be an infraction with it, and be glad that Samon didn't take care of it before I did.

I spent the four hour car ride to the mountains today listening to Ween. I acquired much of their discography a few months ago, half due to a particular female (who is no longer relevant) and half because my friend Sam is a massive fan. Since I hadn't really spent any time getting into them I listened to a few albums on the car ride, most notably Chocolate and Cheese, which I really enjoyed. I have no idea how to classify them as a band, other than they are refreshingly wacky and extremely diverse from track to track, with a lot of different tacks insofar as their musical direction is ocncerned. It's too early yet to tell, but I tentatively recommend them.

 

[knut]

Man, I think Ween might actually be unique to me as a band who I respect for being totally out-there, but utterly loathe for how out-there they are. Cannot tolerate that band at all.

Grails - Reincarnation Blues

Stoners rejoice, for this is the music conjured up in the mists and swirls of a bong. Or a palace in Arabia. Wicked sweet instrumental rock/metal with some cool-as grooves and vibes to bound along to the licks and fantastically melodic bass playing. If Kyuss is the stoner rock of the desert, then Grails are the humid and sweltering tokes from beneath some great palace above a labyrinth like maze of... something. Go listen.

 

[Qonfused]

That track you posted is rather different, haha. I guess I hear some stoner influence but not outstandingly so.

Hymie's Basement - Hymie's Basement (album)

Another anticon. group made roughly of the members of Why? And yet another success. Admittedly, the first half of the album is merely okay in terms of quality and enjoyment. Even with that, the second half more than makes up for it. Starting at Pretty Colors (Smile Your Brains Out), it turns into a melody driven poetic masterpiece. Pretty Colors features a rather addictive deep voice off beat with the percussion which makes for an awesome combo. The last three tracks on the album are very memorable, often earning multiple plays from me in one sitting, Lightning Bolts and Man Hands being one of those three: you can almost feel the tears coming from his face.

 

[knut]

Well that description sure got me interested.

That track you posted is rather different, haha. I guess I see some stoner influence (I'm a huge fan of stoner music, usually some of the best stuff) but not outstandingly so.

They've some really drawn out stuff, such as on the Take Refuge In Clean Living release but the album that was from, Doomsdayer's Holiday, is more stoner like as a whole. Really it just reminds me of the little cafes in Paris with the elborate bongs in a seated area - I forget their name - as one of the 'hosts' was playing Grails at the time and it sounded sublime in that state of mind.

 

[Qonfused]

Phil Collins - Take Me Home

Goddamn I love his music. So nostalgic in a way. Rich and beautiful.

I've never wandered far from his greatest hit CD, but I'm thinking the best is here.