Reply With QuoteI've really been enjoying the new Japandroid's album, Celebration Rock. They kind of sound like Titus Andronicus minus the annoying vocals. Spotify link:
http://open.spotify.com/user/1121743...lRtD0fLbcXUdTZ
We had a great time at the OTC show. They did indeed have plenty of musicians (I counted nine) and instruments (clarinet, sousaphone, some kind of weird wet-finger-on-a-wine-glass sounding inverted bell thing, etc) and led us on a psychedelic exploration of pure pop and sonic texture. The only rule in effect was "if you don't like the weather, wait 2 and a half minutes." It was a unique concert, that's for sure. Both my friends enjoyed them, one more than the other, but I had no reason to fear.
I've really been enjoying the new Japandroid's album, Celebration Rock. They kind of sound like Titus Andronicus minus the annoying vocals. Spotify link:
http://open.spotify.com/user/1121743...lRtD0fLbcXUdTZ
Sounds like a good show. Were they doing any new material that you could tell, or was it mainly the two proper albums and assorted ephemera?Originally Posted by rrmorton
I was all set to reply "I have no f*cking clue" until I remembered... THE INTERNET!
Here's the the set list.
It was mostly album tracks but they also played some EP material like A Sunshine Fix and Shaving Spiders. And Spinning Continuous is a Circulatory System track.
I was surprised they didn't play the (relatively) new The Game You Play is in Your Head Pts 1,2 & 3
And speaking of 'first new music in over a decade', we're 8 days away from the release of the first new Beachwood Sparks album in 11 years. Sweet!
Huh. They did a lot of "Dusk At Cubist Castle" by that set list, which is definitely a more song-oriented album. Nice.
Cat Power is back!
She has short hair and broke up with Giovanni Ribisi after a long term relationship so, as you'd expect, her first song is... a latin-infused upbeat number.
I really like it, especially after feeling diminishing returns with her Memphis Soul stuff. She won't make another Moon Pix, although for her own health, that's a good thing.
What's more impressive is that she reportedly plays everything on this and her new album. How many 40-year olds are recording entire albums on their own?
Plus she's still absolutely smoking.
Yes, Cat Power!
And speaking of awesome forces of nature, the new Fiona Apple is out today. I've never been hugely into her albums, but damn if she wasn't riveting on Jimmy Fallon last night. She did a brief interview about her 2004 Roseland meltdown plus two songs with The Roots, Anything We Want and Let Me Roll It for Paul McCartney's 70th birthday. Link.
The new Fiona Apple is phenomenal—it feels artful, deliberate and abrasive in the same way that a Scott Walker album might, though perhaps a tad more adherent to pop convictions. Definitely the best work of her career though.
Anyways, is this the 2012 good music thread?
Django Django's debut (Spotify link) came out in January and is really, really fantastic. The band leader is the little brother of one of the Beta Band guys, and their music is quite evocative of the Betas. Worth watching: the fun, creative video for their single "Default" and their fantastic performance of their song "Wor" on Jools Holland last month.
Liars' new record (Spotify link) is really great. NPR said something to the effect of it being "the best Radiohead record since Kid A," and I think that really nails it.
Also very nice to see the Hundred Waters and Lower Dens albums get some love in this thread.
Soooo much music to go through on Spotify.
Last couple days I've been listening to a ton of Scriabin, mainly the solo piano music as performed by Maria Lettberg. Early Scriabin is almost eerily reminiscent of Chopin, though Scriabin is not as good a melodist. The piano textures are wonderful, though.
I'm also starting to dig into Spotify's collection of Sviatoslav Richter recordings. Many consider Richter the greatest pianist, pretty much ever; but I've never heard much of his stuff. So I'm excited to dig into it. His Beethoven sonatas are superb -- probably better than Brendel, who has generally been my go-to Beethoven guy over the years.
On the non-classical side, I put on Underworld's album 'Beaucoup Fish' for the first time last night, and quite liked it.
I just sampled Beautiful Son from the new Peaking Lights album LUCIFER and yes, more please. Think Beach House but a little spacier and dronier. Lovely summer music.
Here's the full album on Spotify. And here it is on Youtube.
Also just discovered this track from the Neneh Cherry & The Thing covers album THE CHERRY THING.
Dream Baby Dream
God damn. Is the whole album this good?
Other Music says:
They tackle tunes by the Stooges, Suicide, Martina Topley Bird, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, and even MF Doom(!), along with one original apiece by Thing saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and Neneh herself... There's a balance between the band's controlled violence and Cherry's relaxed yet untethered sensuality that's startlingly effective, and their chemistry helps elevate this from a one-off novelty into a collaboration that I'm hoping will bear further fruit. There is none of the kitsch value found in previous Thing albums, mostly thanks to Cherry's anchoring presence, and she more than holds her own as a vocalist amongst the trio's powerhouse performances, at times even making them sound surprisingly tame. This is one of the best soul records of the year, and its raw blend of jazz improv, loose-limbed sinister funk, and honeyed blues is unparalleled amongst contemporary peers. Welcome back, Neneh... you have been missed.
You can say that again, Holy sh*t this song and the whole album Making Mirrors are fantastic. It has crowded out all of the other music in my mind space.State of the art (written about a Lowrey Cotillion organ. Video has red noses!) is one of the best songs no one will ever hear on the radio. While there are a lot of different styles of music on the album, his music has such an atmospheric quality. He really is a master craftsman. He sounds like the best parts of Peter Gabriel and Thomas Dolby, mixed with Sting and Martin Gore/Depeche Mode. He sampled whole instruments in his quest to find the right sound for what he was looking. Most of the album is up on Youtube;
"Eyes Wide Open" is the next single; but definitely give the whole thing a listen. "Easy Way Out" and "Save Me" are probably singles as well. Among my favorites: "Giving Me a Chance", "Don't Worry, We will be Watching", and for the most heart-breakingly uplifting version of a pet passing away, "Bronte".
Last edited by rhinohelix; 06-21-2012 at 10:24 PM.
Two new releases I'll be listening to all day today. Click the album covers for Spotify links.
Yay, new album! :) Boo, it's their last. :(
I dare anyone to come up with a better male rock vocal performance this year so far than Shogun of Royal Headache. The guy looks goofy as hell--like the kind of dude you see on COPS getting pulled out of a trailer park in a meth bust--but he's got an astonishing set of pipes on him.I like it in theory. :)
Really digging what I've head so far from scuzzy Australian garage rockers Royal Headache. Lead singer Shogun (yes, SHOGUN) really brings the goods.
Girls
Psychotic Episode
Surprise
Here's their short but soulful debut album on Spotify.
Seriously, check out "Down The Lane". People don't sing like this anymore. They don't even try to sing like this.
NPR is streaming an entire Spiritualized show (the full 2+ hours on audio, only excerpted video, sadly) from the 9:30 Club in DC. Sounds about as amazing as you'd expect. Hopefully they put out the full video on DVD or something...would love to see the whole thing.
http://www.npr.org/event/music/15229...zed-in-concert
Came across this Gotye song called Somebody I used to know, on B101 near Philly, liked it quite alot, maybe you guys already talked about it.
I am in full "get off my lawn mode" when it comes to current day music.
I mostly listen to 70-80-early 90's stuff. And this song of his really reminds me of late 80's music, and has sort of a "Sting feel" to his voice.
A change of direction for Richard (or a return to his louder Brit-pop days with the Longpigs depending how you look at it) which sounds... okay? I guess? Not exactly what I want out of the bloke, but I'll try to keep an open mind.
Here's the album on Spotify.
The new Fiona Apple is phenomenal—it feels artful, deliberate and abrasive in the same way that a Scott Walker album might, though perhaps a tad more adherent to pop convictions. Definitely the best work of her career though.
I just came back from seeing Fiona Apple live in Danbury. Absolutely amazing show! Really strong, emotional performances of everything from all four albums.
I'm so glad I finally looked these guys up after seeing this post quoted. Thank you. This thread keeps on giving.
Yeah, yeah, yeah indeed.
My probably better friend than I give him credit for thinks I should post this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNoGEJslys8
I should also say: legislating that coppers can ask for ID will always make them when they should't and never when they should, and dancing you fucks... Justr do it. Nobody but you are watching anyway-
On first and second listen, and this album is kicking my ass nine ways to Sunday. If you peel back some of the layers--it's the same themes and tones of the Roy Orbison/Gene Vincent-sounding Hawley of previous records...but he's taking all that someplace new.
A change of direction for Richard (or a return to his louder Brit-pop days with the Longpigs depending how you look at it) which sounds... okay? I guess? Not exactly what I want out of the bloke, but I'll try to keep an open mind.
Here's the album on Spotify.
If you go back to 2007 and Hawley's masterful 4th album, Lady's Bridge, there's a change in tone and feeling halfway through. The last three songs especially are among the darkest and melancholy Hawley's ever done, and in retrospect represent him as an artist realizing he was in deep danger of painting himself into a corner where year after year he pumps out sad, romantic, lovely songs about Sheffield and its natives without expanding his artistic palette any.
Truelove's Gutter was a reaction to that. It is a darker, more modern-sounding record. On it, Hawley has already fully re-embraced the modern. While there are a few nods back to older stuff, repeated listenings reveal that he's departed from the retro...it's just hard to pick that up because he's departed from that earlier sound into an album that isn't particularly dissimilar to American Music Club or Red House Painters in tone.
And so now he's just decided to turn up the volume a bit, and also decided to let Johnny Marr and Bernard Butler know that there are records with Mick Ronson and Will Sergeant playing guitar in Richard Hawley's record collection, too.
Goddamn. This is a great record.
Is anyone else listening to Oshin by DIIV? 'Very interesting after only a single spin. I'm curious to see if it grows on me. This song in particular caguth my attention the first time through:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClfDZIt6XxE
Full album here:
http://open.spotify.com/artist/4OrizGCKhOrW6iDDJHN9xd
Officially my most anticipated record of 2012 (and I sure hope it actually does come out this year) is the 2nd album from The Elephant Stone, which is former High Dials sitar/bass/guitar/keyboardist Rishi Dhir's band.
Rishi's a 2nd-generation Punjabi who was born in Montreal. Instead of being overly immersed in his Indian heritage, he grew up a Beatles and Who fanatic, and didn't really seem to reconnect with his roots until a 1997 trip to his family's homeland. On that trip he decided to learn the sitar, and there you go. I've never heard a band that has meshed east and west so well--and that includes The Beatles. 1966 George Harrison would have done well to have studied what Rishi was doing on a song like this one:
"Don't You Know" (Note, clicking that link will bring tears of joy to your eyes for having been gifted with ears.)
Right now the Elephant Stone have an album and an ep out. The EP came out in 2010, and has 4 of the best songs no one ever heard. I raved about it here back then. When I play one of those songs on Turntable.fm, someone invariably snags one for their own queue. Yeah, it's that good.
Anyway, Rishi and his bandmates have been working on the difficult sophomore album, and they've been posting some videos.
First, they released a teaser single last September, and put out a video with it. The video was "fan created": at a show in July they invited folks to film with camera and iphones and sen the band the footage and that got cut together for a video of a fairly straightforward pop song called "Love The Sinner, Hate The Sin".
They've also been filming their recording process at Montreal's Breakglass studios. For instance, here's them doing an epic live take of a new song called
And then there's this: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6k6587or1c]7 minutes of the recording of a song called "My Silent Moment" that involves a pretty amazing tabla player and a classically-trained singer of traditional Indian music. The last 90 seconds tease the final recording and I can't wait to hear how it all comes together.
I listened to it and thought it was alright. There's a LOT of stuff that sounds like this just now, so I might be getting a little burned out on the whole shoegaze revival thing.
I really wanted a Madchester revival in there somewhere, but it never really happened. :-(
Lately...
Jean Sibelius, 2nd symphony
Richard Strauss, 'An Alpine Symphony'
Jimmie Rodgers, 'Blue Yodel'
Amorphous Androgynous, 'Tales of Ephidrina'
I am currently jamming the fuck out to Cheap Trick's 1997 re-record of "In Color".
Met_K back in the day sent me a link to it, but I lost the tracks after a bit, and they weren't of the highest quality anyway. Was pleased to see xtrmntr.com put them up today, and they're the actual masters this time. The original "In Color" might be one of the worst-mixed and produced albums of all time ever. It just sounds horrid, and The Trick have never been happy with it.
In 1997 they got together with producer and fan Steve Albini and re-recorded the album. Unfortunately, various contractual stuff has prevented them from ever releasing the re-record. The masters sound fantastic--"Downed" and "Southern Girls" are two of my favorite Trick, and they absolutely rule here.
Good find! So this guy decided to tone down the things about dubstep that annoy me the most, then threw in some international flavor? More, please! "Skirmish" and "Circulate False Notes" are my favs so far.
So when not rocking Loot, I am currently headbanging to:
Satellite Beaver, The Last Bow... to roughly translate and quote xxl-rock's review, "so suddenly Marilyn Manson decided to emigrate to Poland and front a stoner-rock band". Yeah, pretty much! Riffs that can flatten mountains, badass drumming, touches of psychedelic spacey shit here and there... Okay so this isn't a new formula but they execute it so very well here. And the vox don't annoy me as much as Manson's could sometimes.
Baroness, Yellow & Green... I got to give it a good listen in the car to/from work and I'm already considering it their finest effort. I love love love the new less-screamy vocal approach, something I think they've long since needed. JDBaizley always sounded like he was torturing himself in the past, only to still come across as weak compared to my other favorite metal acts. Seemed pointless. I think Y&G hammers home that, yes, it was pointless. So no this is not as heavy as Red Album or Blue Record, nor does it need to be.
Black Rainbows & Farflung, split EP... this is as awesome as I expected. Black Rainbows is a blues-tinged desert-rock crew from Italy who love their fuzzy guitars. Farflung is about as perfect as space-rock can get. The first songs from both groups aren't all that IMO, but then there's the other four songs and oh my holy mother of fuck yes, makes me want to scream OBEY THE RIFFS!!, just epic sensory-overload rock and roll. Cannot wait for the new albums from both.
Satellite Beaver - Roadtrip
Baroness - Take My Bones Away
Black Rainbows - The River, The Moon, The White Lake, The Megaelectrofantafuzzspace
Farflung - No Circuit (warning: it starts with two minutes of ambient noodling, maybe fast-forward)
He's so good.
If you like him there are a couple of others you might like along similar lines (that are weird and dub/raggaish influenced to a degree and don't sound like a dumb shit found a dubstep plugin for renoise)
The Bug - Pressure in particular, though most of the rest is also decent to quite good
Dj Rupture - my favourite is the shotgun wedding burner he did with Filastine called secret google cheat codes / a fist fight with the near east which is just fucking excellent and up there with something like Dj Food's "Now, Listen", only it's done with much more offbeat music than the pop/classics on that. Also definitely check out Porque Soy Sonidero Y Voy A Muchos Lugares and Low Income Tomorowland. He is kind of diverse though and you might as easily pick something of his that is all cumbia or east african music influenced - also kind of fun but less my thing.
Nettle - Rupture's side project that is almost all original music / original music recorded for him - though that also happens occasionally on 'normal' rupture cds. Again rather diverse and you will find african/dub/string/japnoise style tunes on different tracks of the same cds even.
A couple of weeks back I roadtripped with a friend of mine to hit NEARFest Apocalypse, the last iteration of what was probably the biggest prog rock festival in North America. Headliners were Van Der Graaf Generator (face-meltingly good, but I am a VDGG fanboy), Renaissance, and the re-formed U.K. (Eddie Jobson and John Wetton and a couple of session guys, and yes, they played some Crimson stuff).
The surprise act of the show was a Swedish instrumental group called Gosta Berlings Saga. They were...remarkable.
Video of the performance is here.
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