Music: Rate and Discuss

[Dandan]

Just got the newest 311 CD, its really good and I got it cheap but holy crap...its only 28 mins long

 

[stemot]

Noel Gallagher High Flying Birds: The Death Of You And Me

Not a great song for his big return. A very familiar experience to his other track Importance Of Being Idle and TBH exactly the kind of song I was expecting from Noel and suspect his new album is full of. That being plodding, middle of the road tracks without balls. Hope I'm wrong and it is still better than most the shite being offered up in the top 40 but essentially it's nothing more than Oasis B-side quality from the 2005 era.

 

[FrostedxB]

New Dash Berlin track that debuted on A State Of Trance last week now has an epic music video with a 2 minute long trailer. The first time I heard it I nearly cried, and music rarely sparks emotion within. The past few days this is all I've listened to. Dash Berlin has always been a phenomenal DJ and the beat proves that yet again but it's the vocals that really make the song. Jonathan Mendelsons voice is haunting and the lyrics give me chills everytime, particularly in the third verse though. The whole song is just beautiful.

 

[Viperidae]

The Flashbulb dans l'âme de Eno, sauf comme un vrai musicien. Tous qui apprécient l'ambiant doivent déjà posséder cet album. C'est le premier pour lequel il a crédité son nom réal, probablement à cause du différence de style en comparaison avec ses autres.

 

[Bad^Hat]

I know, right?

Edit: You know what, I already mentioned these guys, but I really have to urge anyone with an interest in ambient/post-rock or progressive/experimental music in general to give this album a serious try, because the pay-off is incredible. Already my favourite album of the year, and the band has easily crept its way into my top 10.

http://music.tangledthoughtsofleaving.com/album/deaden-the-fields

Listen to, like, the first ~6 minutes of the first track, at least. If that doesn't give you an idea of why I love them so much, they're probably not for you. :v

Edit: Wrong link again lol, fixeded.

 

[Minister]

I've been listening to this album almost non-stop for the past few days. Sounds somewhat similar to Janes Addiction. Really, really, really need to see these guys live.

 

[Stigmata]

Recurring pattern; it turns out an older release EP C/B EP by this band I listen to a lot Battles is very good. And because of this song I'm buying drumsticks. The last bit is new ground for me.

 

[dfc05]

I just saw these guys live earlier tonight. Soooooooo good. One of those bands that's at least twice as good live as on the recording. For this song, he played the slide guitar parts with a beer bottle. Pretty frickin sweet.

 

[Edeslash]

Because perfection cannot be reached, I'm going to say The National's newest album High Violet (2010) is maybe the most perfect album I've heard. I've been listening to it and only it for a week now. And I do listen to a lot of music. Every single album I've heard before this has had bad moments, the songs that I skip because they don't affect my feelings. High Violet has 1 song that I prefer skipping, the second one.

Some of my favorites:

And my absolute favorite:

 

[Dynasty]

Incubus - If Not Now, When

I feel a bit sorry for Incubus, as they've been seriously ridiculed by reviews and fans saying they've become **ssy-whiped and gone soft and gone all mainstream to increase radio figures.

This is arguably true, but they're trying something different is all. On their break from being in a band, they took music courses to be inspired by a wider range and broaden their tastes in music, and this, they have said, has been reflected in their new style in this album.

It's definitely slower, but some of their best songs are slow songs. Echo, Drive, Miss You, Are You In, 5 am, all fantastic songs because they steered away from the hardcore music they made back in their SCIENCE days.

They're not kids anymore, they've matured and it shows.

I've always loved Incubus for about 9 years now, first hearing Fungus Amungus and then SCIENCE, followed by the awesome Make Yourself album.

Incubus have just grown up and are trying something different. Remember that word? Different? I swear there's more evil and repetition in the charts these days than in an Al Qaeda suggestion box.

Few songs from If Not Now, When. Who knew Brandon had such a clean voice live.

Probably their fastest song on the album:

 

[stemot]

Noel Gallagher - The Good Rebel

Christ, I remember when Noel used to write good songs. His solo career is off to a shit start.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Still have a soft spot for Incubus, but that sounds kind of bland. They had a really nice thing going with Light Grenades, not liking their new direction too much.

Odessa Chen - the Ballad of Paper Ships

So this is well outside the purview of my usual tastes, but dang it's purdy. Melancholy female vocals with really understated, like... I don't know, folk or indie vibes, or something. Can't say I'm too familiar with this stuff. In any case this is some haunting, desolate, ****ing sorrowful-ass shit. Really lovely. Full points.

 

[dfc05]

Siskiyou - Twigs and Stones

This band is on the great Constellation Records label and has one previous album, which I didn't think much of. This song though..... so many happy sounds. Colin Stetson contributes brass and sax, which automatically elevates everything. Very very good. Singer reminds me of someone else, but I can't put my finger on it.

Speaking of Constellation Records, sooooo looking forward to this dvd:
[video=vimeo;27041738]http://vimeo.com/27041738[/video]
Looks so freakin amazing. Admittedly I don't listen to much metal/post-metal/whatever, but professional-quality (I'm guessing) footage of Godspeed & ASMZ? Yes please. Also just recognized some of that artwork from Tom Neely. It's like everything good in one package.

 

[Stigmata]

Spoiler

On a plain, in a storm;
There they prayed, and there we got born

Rarely made, in rare form
Fairly played and fairly forlorn

God bless the cyborgs at your door,
Retching rich regrets on the bathroom floor
It feels like it's been here 70 times before

We wish they would lose their appetites,
For alcohol and acolytes
Still the starving set their sights on more.

We had the jury hung,
We had the Judge strung up,
And at the gallows' steps
The twelve civilians slept

The drunken doctor almost cried
When he saw the cell divide
"In 30 days and 3 weeks time
this new body will fit fine!"

"Sit down, stand up."
This order is a set up
"Sit down, stand up."
This set up is a setup
I'd trade my mind for the written line!
I'd trade my eyes for satellites!
I'd trade my hand for iron clamps!
I'd trade my lungs for vacuum pumps!

That's what we wanted!

How... political.

 

[knut]

Looks so freakin amazing. Admittedly I don't listen to much metal/post-metal/whatever, but professional-quality (I'm guessing) footage of Godspeed & ASMZ? Yes please. Also just recognized some of that artwork from Tom Neely. It's like everything good in one package.

i knew you were a godspeed/mt zion fan, but i didn't think anyone else here was familiar with tom neely. kudos :cheers:

also really looking forward to that film, the ISIS and neurosis parts esp.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Oh god yes, I will watch the shit out of that. Been meaning to have another post-metal binge and check out all the bands I've missed, this will be the perfect catalyst.

 

[Shakermaker]

Whiskey Shivers - Gimme All Your Lovin'

I have had soft spot for bluegrass ever since the 'O Brother Where Art Thou' soundtrack. Great little song.

Noel Gallagher - The Good Rebel
Christ, I remember when Noel used to write good songs. His solo career is off to a shit start.

That B-side sucks. It sounds like it was written for Liam in stead for himself. The single however is pretty good.

 

[dfc05]

i knew you were a godspeed/mt zion fan, but i didn't think anyone else here was familiar with tom neely. kudos :cheers:

also really looking forward to that film, the ISIS and neurosis parts esp.

Actually, I heard about Tom Neely here, several years ago. Someone posted about wanting to read The Blot. Might've been you . I thought the concept was intriguing so it stayed on my To Read list for a long time until I actually got it.

 

[knut]

aye, could of been! cracking book, have you read his latest, 'the wolf'? thoroughly haunting read, even more bizarre than the blot. worth a purchase just for the wonderful illustrations/painting alone!

 

[dfc05]

Didn't even know there was a new one! Just looked it up. This one does look crazier, but also intriguing. Guess it's going on my To Read list. Hopefully I get around to it sooner than 4 years from now....

Should probably post some music now and rate and discuss it

9/10 - I might like this song even more than Good Morning Captain. I like that it feels a little bit mathy but not excessively mathy? The wikipedia page for the Spiderland album is a pretty good read: "the absence of anything resembling a tune continues to nag." ha, somehow catchy though.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Man I've had that album sitting around for ages, only given it a couple partial spins. Time to crack it out again.

 

[dfc05]

Yessss do it. Middle gets kinda slow and it can be a bit of a downer (just because it's pretty dark), but sometimes it really hits the spot.

 

[The Monkey]

Jack White is probably the most talented musician who still active. He has such passion for what he does, it's really inspirational.

 

[stemot]

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds- If I Had A Gun.....

The US single is a marked improvement over the European single "The Death Of You And Me" but I'm still waiting to be blown away by anything Noel is putting out so far. I'm actually getting the impression I'm going to be disappointed in his album.

EDIT: A few more listens later and I'm actually really enjoying this song, far better than The Death Of You And Me.

 

[Minister]

Was at Leeds Festival over the weekend and amongst all the alcohol consumption I managed to go see a few bands.

By far the standout were Muse. Played the entirety of Origin of Symmetry back to back, it was so ****ing sweet!

I made the tough decision to go watch DFA 1979 instead of Interpol and thank **** I did. Something so fantastic about deafeningly loud bass, drums and synth. Can't find a live version from Leeds but nevermind.

Never really listened to White Lies prior to Leeds, but they were good live hence I'm now bumming their album.

Deftones were a disappointment unfortunately. The crowd was so ****ing shit. I also missed Pulled Apart By Horses as they were on at mid-****ing-day. Who's up at that time?

 

[Bad^Hat]

By far the standout were Muse. Played the entirety of Origin of Symmetry back to back, it was so ****ing sweet!

Ahhh so thoroughly jelly.

A few post-rock-ish albums I thought some of you might appreciate, mostly because they're 100% cheap-o-free!

The Mountaineering Club Orchestra - A Start On Such A Night Is Full Of Promise

This one's more classical with a post-rock aesthetic. Real mellow, slowly building tracks that give off a nice, chilled vibe (haw, geddit).

Empty Space Orchestra - Dark Matters

These guys do a little more to earn the "orchestra" in their name by adding some brass to the mix, but it's more or less your straight instrumental rock, ala Russian Circles or something. The heavy riffage is pretty much the focus here.

Cmn ineed yr hlp - The Curse of B'zhang

The great band with the stupid name! Another straight-instrumental-rock one, but with a touch of psychadelia. I warmed to this album immediately, the first track is instantly likeable and contains some of the catchiest riffs I've heard in a while. Only criticism for this one is that the recording sounds a little washed out, not sure if this is intentional or not but it's very listenable regardless.

Arktika - at zero

Post-metal/sludge with growly/shouty/beardy man vocals, beware! I don't think I need to say much else after that, if you're into this kind of thing you'll be able to make up your own mind about it. Of course, I like it, otherwise I wouldn't bloody well be posting it.

And finally, a slightly-less-than-free one:

O - The sea of trees tape

... although I could have sworn it was free when I grabbed it a month or two ago. Nonetheless, a real stonker(tm) of an album, more in the traditional EITS/Mogwai sense of the term "post-rock," but no less impressive for it's derivativeness. You can stream the lot on that site to see if it's worth your €5.

And now I'll stop before someone accuses me of working promotion for bandcamp.

 

[dfc05]

Awesome, thank you! Already liking the first one. A couple of tracks here vaguely remind me of Johann Johannsson's IBM 1401. Mostly the spoken word bits with strings. Then it gets totally different and less minimalist.

And bandcamp is awesome.

 

[MJ12]

One of the best examples of a song and video merging together perfectly. In my personal opinion it is one of the most relaxing music videos to watch, both the song and video are very sensual to me.

 

[kineaesth]

Pfadfinderei is generally pretty excellent - http://www.pfadfinderei.com/motion/-moderat--out-of-sight
But good call on that song - Moderat has been an album that has kept revealing itself to me over the years, and I can always go back and listen to it and appreciate new elements of it. Incredibly forward thinking, it's just a shame about the track with the crappy MC.

One of the more interesting remixes to come from the album - Headhunter (Now releasing as Addison Groove) remixing A New Error (it all makes sense at 3:00)

 

[Bad^Hat]

Forgot one in my free post-rock post:

Amnesis - The Pier

Short album which was made as an alternate soundtrack to 1962 sci-fi movie La jetée. Haven't actually seen it yet, let alone with the album playing, but I might have to now. Sounds great by itself anyhow. Relatively typical post-rock, but it has a certain quality to it I can't quite put into words. So I'll just settle with "good."

 

[Mellish]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVMmjEVVAk0

A bit of a leap in terms in sounds compared to their first album, but I really love this. It captures many things I love about justice, although I can already see negative feedback from fans because they expect the exact same from cross. I am always wary of their new stuff at first, but I don't want to be disappointed by their next album. However, from what I've heard I don't think I will be. Hopefully.

And that isn't the official album art..

 

[JUL3]

I'm With You - Red Hot Chili Peppers - 8.5/10

Was rather apprehensive about this, according to Kiedis the Chilis are "a new band". Not such bad thing, perhaps, after their abysmal performance in Melbourne 2007. Mind you Stadium Arcadium was a masterpiece of the 'old' Red Hot Chili Peppers.
But the Chilis pulled through, I'm With You is somewhat amazing. I wasn't very impressed the first time I listened through, it just didn't seem right. But the more you listen, the more you like. Kiedis still has it, Flea is very prominent, Chad's drumming is superb, and the new guy, Klinghoffer, fills the shoes of Frusciante quite adequately. I personally preferred Frusciante's style, but Klinghoffer gets the job done. 8.5/10

My favourite track of the album (seriously, listen to it):

 

[stemot]

Noel Gallagher - AKA...What A Life!

AKA... doesn't really go anywhere and so far I prefer Beady Eye's singles with the exception of "If I Had A Gun" which is a masterpiece. Great song though.

 

[dfc05]

I'm With You - Red Hot Chili Peppers - 8.5/10

Man I haven't listened to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in a loooong time. Not really feeling their new stuff. I just went back and listened to a few old songs though. Maybe I shouldn't have. I remember it being awesome back in the day, but now even my favorite old songs are just ok. Probably holds up better than a bunch of other 90s alt rock, but pretty disappointing/saddening :\

 

[stemot]

Noel Gallagher - If I Had A Gun (Acoustic Performance)

****ing Beautiful.

 

[dfc05]

Ambient ambient ambient. I listen to a lot of minimalist but not particularly so much ambient drone, so I've never quite understood all the praise heaped upon Stars of the Lid before. But A Winged Victory for the Sullen (half of SotL + minimalist composer Dustin O'Halloran) is playing at a museum here, and Pittsburgh has an otherwise crappy show listing through the rest of the year. So I started checking out some live SotL vids. ...wow, I don't get how I like these live videos so much more than the studio recordings (it's not just the visuals, I don't have 'emup right now). This show is going to be amazing.

[edit] ...On further thought, sleep deprivation may have made the SotL vids seem more mind-blowing than they are. Still going to see A Winged Victory though, especially since in my exhaustion induced haze I already bought my ticket. I am still 98% sure it's going to be amazing though.

In the meantime, I started listening to more ambient:

The person who put up that video, aside from choosing some nice clips to set to the music, picks some of my favorite tracks of the artists I've already heard of. Finding lots of good stuff just going through the rest of his videos. This Goldmund song bizarrely reminds me of the soundtrack to Ken Burns' Civil War documentary, except slower, which is a good thing because I like that soundtrack.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Sooo... I know not many people are big fans of them anymore, but Dream Theater's new album came out this week. Upon my first few listens I was kinda disapointed, as my favourite albums are Images and Words, Awake, and Scenes from a Memory, and there were still quite a few heavy-crunchy-riff songs. As I listen to it I am warming up to it, and I personally think its much better than Black Clouds and Silver Linings.

The one thing I will say though, is that I think anyone remotely interested in Dream Theater should listen to Breaking All Illusions. It is by far the best song on the album (and IMO probably ranks up there as one of their better songs period). People who liked Images and Words will probably like this.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Yeah, idunno, it sounds like they're trying really hard to turn back the clock and channel some of that classic DT goodness, but it sounds so formulaic and bland to me. Like they're trying too hard and not enough at the same time. Then again other people seem to like it so maybe I'm just over them.

 

[dfc05]

Battles and Four Tet
I kinda agreed to maybe go to a show where both of them are playing (it's either that or a prog-spacerock-psychedlic-synthpop-instrumental group called Zombi?). I know Battles and Four Tet are both widely acclaimed, but I just realized I've tried listening to both of them before and stopped listening because I didn't get the appeal. Now I'm listening to them again and Four Tet seems maybe a little better, but wtf Battles, wtf. This reminds me a lot of how I don't get The Books either when I feel like I'm supposed to like them.

 

[Stigmata]

Listen to "Tonto" and you'll get it.