Last Album you listened through

• Jarboe, Indemnity—The production alternates between appropriately minimalistic and goofily primitive, although some of the arrangements are pretty great. Seeing as these are mostly revisions of old Swans material, the songwriting is generally solid, so it's not *that* easy to screw up, but nonetheless, "Blackmail" is fucking awesome here. The two originals (or are they?) are decent enough and kind of weak respectively, though.
• Sonic Youth, Sister—Definitely an album that I respect more than I like, insofar as listening to it I can feel the seeds of the better part of alternative rock sprouting with every song, yet the writing feels largely like a dry run for better Youth LPs down the line. Everything is there but the little things that would make it perfect: Better production; tighter song structures; a little more breathing room, diversity, ambition. That said... song for song, it's still pretty exceptional. It's just not quite perfect yet.
  • Sonic Youth, EVOL—Listened to this one before Sister, and I basically came to the same conclusion, except more so. It's sort of a transitional album between the weird extended noise suite of Bad Moon Rising and the straight songbook format of the aforementioned, with the reverb-tacular production to match, almost Gothic in ambience, and it only sometimes clicks. "Shadow of a Doubt" and "Expressway to Yr Skull" are perfect, however, and the songwriting elsewhere is consistently solid if not always genius. Kudos as well to "In the Kingdom #19", an incredibly striking track and a great introduction to Lee as a lead vocalist, and "Bubblegum" for being hilarious and delightful.
• Xhol, Motherfuckers GmbH and Co—Like if you crossed Arthur Brown with Third-era Soft Machine, but extremely German and even weirder than that sounds. Hella fire, y'all—pun intended but deadly serious. Great motherfucking album.

edited 10th Dec '16 8:40:02 PM by JHM

Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising. I've proposed this idea of buying an album sound-unheard from Amazon's 3.99 digital music section once a month or so, and I'm making this the year I do it consistently. This is my first experience with Melodic Death Metal and I like it. Mildly amusing story: I saw the title "Aerials" in the track-list and was joking to myself that it would turn out to a System of a Down cover, just because SOAD and melodeath seemed like an unlikely match... It is in fact the SOAD song, and they manage to make it work within their style and lyrical themes.

I'm still on that pulling a year out of a hat thing, and it lead me to 1959. It'll be interesting because it's the earliest year I've gotten to yet, and there's not a lot of full albums from the period I'm familiar with. Of the following albums, I'd only heard the Miles Davis and Charles Mingus before ^note though I've heard different Chuck Berry and Nina Simone albums, and a Howlin' Wolf best of compilation. :

Charles Mingus – Mingus Ah Um
Chuck Berry – Berry Is On Top
Howlin’ Wolf – Moanin’ In The Moonlight
Ritchie Valens – Ritchie Valens
Nina Simone – The Amazing Nina Simone
Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue
Duane Eddy – Especially For You

Mag Mell (Mili). I also listened to most of Neverworld's End (Xandria) this morning, but didn't get through the whole thing.

Wolf's Rain soundtrack, volume 2. Proud owner of the official release.

edited 19th Mar '17 12:07:50 AM by KlarkKentThe3rd

Ol' Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers. I love ODB in the context of Wu Tang Clan, but listening to a whole solo album kind of made me realize his loose, rambling style of rapping kind of has the best effect when its contrasted with other rappers with tighter flows ^note Or, I guess, even with female singers - see "Got Your Money" featuring Kelis, or the hip-hop remix of Mariah Carey's "Fantasy". Admittedly, either ODB or someone else involved in the production of the album must have realized this too: 9 of the 17 tracks have Dirty as the sole rapper on them, and there's a total of 14 other Wu Tang members or affiliates spread out among the remaining 8 songs ^note the bulk of them all appearing on "Proteck Your Neck II Tha Zoo". Still, there are a couple great singles in there ("Shimmy Shimmy Ya" and "Brooklyn Zoo"), and if you like the production style of Enter The Wu-Tang you'll probably enjoy most of it.

Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile. At the time, this was where NIN lost me; now I kind of like it, though I appreciate it more for interesting textures and production than songwriting - Maybe I should check out that instrumental The Fragile Deviations 1 album I just recently found out existed. Also, I recently read Trent Reznor once speculated that, instead of a double album, he should have done the Kid A / Amnesiac thing and put out two albums from the same sessions a year apart from each other: I have this music-nerd hobby of rearranging double albums to my liking (or just to fit different concepts than intended), and I might try to run with that, trying to rearrange the two discs into the "experimental" album (the Kid A) and the "song-based" one (the Amnesiac).

edited 24th Mar '17 4:19:59 PM by MikeK

I last listened through Abbey Road. Before that it was Led Zeppelin IV.

System of a Down — Toxicity

• Autopsy, Mental Funeral—I don't always vibe with old-school death metal, but when I do... it's probably actually death/doom or something. Great record.
• Pocahaunted, Island Diamonds—Dub for the DMT set. Enjoyably atmospheric.
• Sutcliffe Jügend, Pigdaddy—Ahhhh, SJ, I'll never be able to quit you. Absolutely brutal power electronics. Very weird.

Jumping from Dream Theater's Images and Words to Gojira's Terra Incognita was quite the Mood Whiplash, but I loved both. I admittedly had more trouble with the latter, since I had only listened to L'Enfant Sauvage and Magma until now, which aren't quite as heavy, but I'm getting used to it.

In the rap department, Keny Arkana's 2012 effort Tout tourne autour du soleil was a bit disappointing. Lyrically she's still her incredible self, but thematically and musically it's not nearly as interesting as Entre ciment et belle étoile.

Listened to the early LZ albums too a while ago. But I can't seem to get into them for some reason… Most of their music just bores me. :x

edited 22nd Apr '17 5:27:10 AM by Lyendith

Wake- American Murder Song: Wake! From thy frozen slumber and come to the graven yard where ye will hear four eulogies moste alive and one marche for a country risen.

Gorillaz - Humanz: I didn't really know what to expect when I listened to this album. My first impressions of the singles had been very mixed (with Andromeda giving me hope and We Got the Power making me fearful simultaneously), and they hadn't really grown on me, so the idea had been implanted into my mind that the album would be a very mess, very mixed bag of tracks that are more feature than Damon. And really, I wasn't completely wrong. Sure, some tracks like Busted and Blue and She's My Collar have him being the focus of the vocals, but that's only two out of the twenty tracks (counting the shitty interludes). And sure, those other tracks aren't always bad, but the bad outweighs the good, really. 5/10.

Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime: This was an album I myself was surprised not to have heard before. Of course, for the longest time I got this one confused with Zen Arcade by Husker Du. And can you blame me? After all, they were released on the same date under the same record company and they've both become cult hits that kickstarted the alt rock movement. But anyways: My god, how well these have aged. Even today, putting on this album, the sound still feels fresh, cause it carries that uniqueness that creates a timeless feeling. If you can find another album that can mix hardcore punk, free jazz, avant-funk, and spoken word and not be a mess, you would have to be joking. 9/10.

Pink Floyd - Ummagumma: A word that I'll admit to overuse is pretentious. I use it to describe both myself and various people in media who make work that is just a bit too self-indulgent for me to take seriously. And yet, this album fits that title to a t. I love Pink Floyd to death, but I had not heard this whole album until today (I had gotten through the live album before but never got around to the studio album). And you know what? I can totally see why I had neglected to listen to this. There's a sense of pretension that permeates everything about this album, from the even lengthier version of the already overly long A Saucerful of Secrets, to the five minute tape effects wankery of Several Species..., to the seven minute poorly produced, badly played drum solo of The Grand Vizier's Garden Party. The only thing keeping this from being an album that should be forgotten are the versions of Astronomy Domine and Careful With That Axe, Eugene (which is somehow better than the original). 2/10.

edited 30th Apr '17 1:56:58 AM by golgothasArisen

Liv Sin (Liv Jagrell formerly of Sister Sin)'s debut solo album Follow Me. Gotta say, it's fucking badass. Similar enough to Sister Sin, but not quite the same in a good way.

edited 30th Apr '17 3:16:22 PM by MarkVonLewis

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, by Dream Theater. Okay, it was probably three months ago, but it's the last album I've listened to in full, and have been listening to my favorite songs from it for a while now. I thought it was hit-and-miss, but the songs that hit REALLY hit and the songs that missed only kind of missed, so overall I quite liked it. Blind Faith is probably my favorite song, with About to Crash, Solitary Shell, and The Glass Prison also among my favorites from the band.

The Wall. Just finished it a few minutes ago in fact. Still an emotional rollercoaster several months after I first bought it, and it always seems like I catch something different or gain new insight on its contents everytime I hear it. Out of the two Pink Floyd albums I've heard in full, I think I prefer The Dark Side of the Moon more, but The Wall is the only work of art/fiction that has ever truly impacted my worldview, and I think about it a lot.

[[quote]]Gorillaz - Humanz[[/quote]]

I really wanted to like this one, but on first listen it's their worst album yet. There are a few good-to-great tracks though.

I did the "pull a year out of a hat" thing again and got 2000 - that's the very latest year I wrote down for the project because anything later than that still feels "too new" to look back on in that way. Anyway, this is how that's going so far:

The Hives - Veni Vidi Vicious. I actually didn't realize this album was quite that old until I looked it up - apparently it was re-released 2 years after the original release due to growing popularity, as was its best-known single "Hate To Say I Told You So". A really fun, energetic blast of garage rock, and I'm always going to have happy memories of watching one of my friends sing for a Hives cover band formed for a Halloween concert.

Green Day - Warning:. Dates better than I thought it would - it might be their softest album, but there's still some trademark "snottiness" to it.

Radiohead - Kid A. I still really like this one, even though I've gradually come to realize that only half the songs work as "songs" instead of just as pure unnerving atmosphere.

It is now 1983 in the Mike K household. This isn't everything I've listened to, just the things I haven't heard before:

David Bowie - Let's Dance. On first listen, the best tracks are the hits ("Modern Love", "China Girl", and the title track), but even so it's kind of cool to hear the longer, album mixes of these songs and hear them in context.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Weird Al" Yankovic. Mild Early-Installment Weirdness: No polka medley, at least a little accordion on every song, and of the originals only one is a "style parody" of a specific artist ^note "Happy Birthday" is meant to be in the style of Tonio K., who I've never heard of. Part of me wishes he kept the accordion as a lead instrument: Nowadays the parodies mimic the original songs perfectly, but the focus on accordion brought something unique to his sound. It's also fun to hear say, the riff to "My Sharona" or "I Love Rock And Roll" on an accordion, but I guess the polka medleys were meant to replace that.

Def Leppard - Pyromania. The hits are generally as catchy as the "Hair Metal" thing comes, but a couple of the heavier tracks were also surprisingly credible and made me want to back-track far enough to when they were considered more of a New Wave of British Heavy Metal group.

Madonna - Madonna. Some of the songs start feeling a bit interchangeable after a while, but this is pretty enjoyable. No attempts at mature ballads, just 40 straight minutes of uptempo dance pop - basically if you like the hits ("Lucky Star", "Holiday", "Borderline"), you're going to like the overall style here.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana. Interesting album, I think I'm gonna listen to some more of these guys.

The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls With Sand

Somewhere in between Shoegaze and Drone Metal. The atmosphere it created was apocalyptic, dissonant riffs being drowned in reverb and fuzz. The vocals are yelled almost sorrowfully. The song structures are constantly changing.

Overall, It was really good. There are some parts that dragged on, but that's more shoegaze being shoegaze than any fault of the album.

digital druglord - blackbear

Mohammed El Bakkar's 5th album, Dances of Port Said (1960). The music of this album really teleport back in you back into night club in Port Said, Egypt in the mid-20th century. The percussion of the doumbeks are very intoxicating along with Bakkar's boisterous vocals, the clicky clang of finger cymbals and exotic Melodies by various tradition Arab instrument (and a few western ones). The Album is truly a must listen for any fan of old-school mid eastern music.

David Gilmour - Rattle That Lock. Really good album. I especially liked the Title Track, Today, In Any Tongue, Beauty, And Then..., and A Boat Lies Waiting. The last one was a really good tribute to the late Richard Wright and you can tell Gilmour misses him. Guitar work is great as always, considering it's David Gilmour.

The Goo Goo Dolls- A Boy Named Goo. Their last "rock" album before they became full-fledged pop. "Name" stands out like a sore thumb here, as most of the stuff is more uptempo alt-rock. Some of their punk roots do seep through, but really, this could actually be considered power-pop (much like Superstar Car Wash).

• Gasp, Drome Triler of Puzzle Zoo People"—So imagine if the most unhinged, high-speed post-hardcore outfit decided to apply the sonic techniques of Locust Abortion Technician'' to their sound, and you have a good idea of what listening to this is like. Really warped fun.
• St. Vincent, Masseduction—I am so glad that this was actually great. My trepidation, while perhaps warranted initially, was thankfully assuaged right off the bat. Some of the songs do feel a bit too short or loose, but the intense intimacy and energy of the record propels it to another level.

Abi Reimold, Wriggling.

I heard of her by just googling best new music 2016, and heard some of her stuff on Youtube before buying the digital album. Its not like any of the stuff i normally listen, it is what i would characterize by style, if not genre, as "sad music" which my default attitude towards is always "why would anyone want to be sad?" but she's incredibly talented with a rich, deep voice.

Her music kinds of swings between slightly folksy-sounding rock and more electric 90s alt rock sounding stuff, sometimes in the same track and her lyrics are personal to the point of almost uncomfortable intimacy, which makes them relatable. A lot of the songs have a very "dirty" quality to them (in a not-sanitized way, not a filthy way-though there is a tiny bit of that here and there) and there's the sense that she's not doing entirely well, which is why she's doing amazing.

9/10 do yourself a favor and listen to "clouded" or "bad seed" on youtube or summat.