Last Album you listened through

The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet. I'm gonna break with my normal album-livebloggin' procedure and give this at least another listen or two before writing it up, cuz I'm just not sure where I stand on it yet. it's kind of an interesting progression though - I sort of think of it as having the the spacy, reverb-y sound of Octohedron mixed with screwy-as-hell arrangements of Amputechture. Early favorites are "Vedamalady" and "Molochwalker".

So...

• Mirror, A Pilgrim's Solace—Not much to say. Spooky dark ambient drone stuff, shorter and less "eventful" than most Mirror albums but still effective, reminds me of Robert Aickman stories.
• Legendary Pink Dots, Chemical Playschool Volume Three—Easily the most consistent of the four original tapes, and densely populated with truly wonderful songs. Perhaps there are fewer classics than on the first volume, and there's certainly less experimentation than on the fourth, but consistency wins out here, and, my goodness, the synth lines are so catchy...

Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

Technically an EP, but whatever. I always try to listen to stuff that's popular just to be able to know what's going on in the music world at large but I held off on this for a while, for no real reason.

Couldn't get in to the title track. Everything else was good.

I can't understand why he got the one Grammy for that track. Scatta was definitely the best track on the EP IMO.

I guess 'cause it had the most violent drop and thus was most representative of his style?

My favorite was Rock 'N Roll (Will Take You to the Mountain). Fun song and the drop seemed much better incorporated into the structure than the title track.

None of them are artists, because no one can play the guitar!!!

I actually liked his debut EP more.

This kicks all kinds of ass.

And it's free,so you should own it.

edited 29th Mar '12 9:04:23 PM by inane242

Expensive Shit by Fela Kuti.

Great shit.

Today:

• HEALTH, Get Color—I love this album. I really do.

The Organ Beats - Sleep When We Are Dead. This is the newer project by Noelle, formerly the singer for Damone. Damone started out pretty pop-punk-ish, then turned to pop rock with a heavy undercurrent of Glam Metal. The Organ Beats have more of an alternative / indie feel, but you can still tell it's the same singer. I kinda think of Rilo Kiley mixed with some of the more popular female fronted alt-rock bands of the mid-to-late 90's (your Veruca Salt, your Letters To Cleo, etc). Sample song time: "Happy Birthday/Come on Home".

Yesterday:

The Kinks - Something Else By The Kinks. The only non-compilation Kinks albums I have are this and Village Green Preservation Society, and I need more.

The Ronnettes - The Best Of The Ronnettes. What's kind of weird is I hardly ever want to listen to this in full, yet any time one of these tracks comes up in shuffle I'm instantly a bit happier.

The Raging Teens - self-titled. The rockabilly band of the guy who runs the club I intern at. Not majorly into the genre, but they're good at what they do and I'll throw this on once in a while just because it's a short, fun record.

Morrissey - Vauxhall & I. I gave this a shot in a thrift store because "Now My Heart Is Full" and "The More You Ignore Me..." were on it. Much more solid an album than I was expecting. That is to say, I like The Smiths, but wasn't sure how well his solo stuff would measure up beyond a few notable singles.

edited 30th Mar '12 1:41:06 PM by MikeK

Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded

I hope this shuts up people who want her to make more rap songs and less pop songs because the rap songs on this album were mediocre and the pop songs were awesome (god I love Red One so much)

Joydrop - Metasexual

I found my sister's old copy looking for something else and decided to give it a listen. I vaguely remembered hearing "Beautiful" and pegging them as following the leader in the wake of Garbage, but that's not really the case, as a bunch of songs are either heavier or more shoegaze-y than Garbage generally got. There's a few memorable tunes, but nothing really makes them stand out from the late-90's "alternative" pack. Overall, it's okay, but something I'd have gotten more out of when this kind of sound was "fresh" to me - I opted to rip "Beautiful" from the cd, but probably won't be putting the rest on again.

edited 15th Apr '12 2:19:13 PM by MikeK

Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On

...I just love this so much...

Selected Ambient Works 85-92, and Selected Ambient Works Volume II, by Aphex Twin.

I sincerely wish at least a handful of his mountain of still-unreleased material hearkens back to these absolute masterpieces.

Queensryche, Operation Mindcrime. I listen to it all the way through about once a year for creative inspiration.

Buzzcocks - Product: Disc 1 (or in other words, Another Music In A Different Kitchen and Love Bites). I picked up this Buzzcocks box set for cheap used and I aim to listen to it one disc at a time so to not feel overwhelmed. My "gateway album" was Singles Going Steady, and so far I don't think their albums are as consistent as their singles were, but there are quite a few really good "album tracks" too. It's also interesting that they occasionally get a bit more experimental than Singles Going Steady really let on. I wouldn't have really expected something that sounded like "Late For The Train" out of them, though it's awesome.

edited 21st Apr '12 3:39:06 PM by MikeK

Steve Reich - Music For 18 Musicians

MGMT - Congratulations

I've listened to it before. It's fantastic.

Between The Buried And Me - The Great Misdirect. It became one of my favourite albums last year, a position that is only more firmly cemented with every listen, and it's high time that I checked out Colors.

fIREHOSE - Lowflows Disc 1, or in other words Flyin' The Flannel and Live Totem Pole EP. You can definitely tell two thirds of The Minutemen were in this band, but by now they sounded like their own thing instead of just a continuation of the earlier group. Ed Crawford has a pretty distinct singing and guitar-playing style from D. Boon, and he kind of started bringing out a more melodic, almost "alternative rock" element without polishing over the idiosyncrasies. Live Totem Pole is mostly cover versions, and is a lot of fun if you're already familiar with the band. The most surprising choice of cover by far is Public Enemy's "Sophisticated Bitch".

I went all the way through that Buzzcocks box too. On the whole I don't love most of the material as much as I do the Singles Going Steady stuff, but there was very little I didn't at least like, and they're a more interesting band than I initially gave them credit for - I think I'd almost put them up there with The Clash in terms of being a punk band that's willing to experiment. In particular on A Different Tension you've got pop punk right alongside weird-ass paranoid post-punk spy movie music.

edited 27th Apr '12 10:07:05 PM by MikeK

Heimataerde - Gotteskrieger

An Electro-medieval-Industrial concept album about a vampire Templar.

I really admire what the Buzzcocks did in terms of branching out from the minimalistic pop-punk format they started in, but at the same time I can't help but think back to the fact that, in a way, they were always a little out of step with other bands in what was supposedly the same vein; Paul Morley compared their early live performances to Ornette Coleman, and their general experimental playfulness is evident in their recordings as early as "Boredom"'s one-note guitar solo.

Intriguing. Was it worthy?

fIREHOSE - Lowflows Disc 2, or Mr. Machinery Operator and some live stuff, basically. Mr. Machinery Operator is pretty different from the previous album, mostly because 1) J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr produced it and gave everything a much more raw, sludgy sound, and 2) Mike Watt sings much more often. It looks like this got the worst professional reviews of any of their albums, but I kinda like it. The sludginess doesn't come off gratuitous in this context because it actually makes it sound more like their live material, and Mike Watt has this weird slurred, gruff vocal style that I can see putting people off, but I've gotten used to it and kinda find it charmingly "everyman"-ish. Definitely not where to start, but worth checking out if you're already familiar with either them or The Minutemen.

It was definitely in the vein of 4-on-the-floor God Module or Combichrist Aggrotech/EBM, but the Medieval inflection was very strong throughout, even in places where the traditional instrumentation was absent.

So yeah, its a good step above the more standard dancefloor fare.

Oh, and they don't have that obnoxious "I'm whispering loudly with a hoarse throat" vocals, so that's another draw.

edited 28th Apr '12 12:26:37 PM by inane242

Opeth — Heritage

Because it's awesome.

:wumpscut: - Born Again

The Embryodead remix album, as per usual it brings out the experimental weirdness Rudy generally tones down on the album itself.

edited 28th Apr '12 12:28:47 PM by inane242