The Flat Earth Society

Other Discussion Boards => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: Snupes on December 02, 2013, 12:23:29 AM

Title: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 02, 2013, 12:23:29 AM
In alphabetical order by artist:

2Pac - Better Dayz
30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie
A$AP Rocky - LONG.LIVE.A$AP
Above and Beyond - Tri-State
The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High
Active Child - You Are All I See
Adam Lambert - Trespassing
Against Me! - New Wave
Against Me! - Reinventing Axl Rose
Against Me! - Searching for a Former Clarity
Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
Air - Moon Safari
aivi & surasshu - The Black Box
Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
Alban Berg - Lulu
Alban Berg - Wozzeck
Alesana - A Place Where the Sun is Silent
Alex Clare - The Lateness of the Hour
Alice Cooper - Greatest Hits
Alicia Keys - The Diary of Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor
Alison Krauss - Too Late to Cry
All Time Low - Don't Panic
Allie Moss - Late Bloomer
Amanda Mair - Amanda Mair
Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - Theatre Is Evil
Anamanaguchi - Endless Fantasy
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire - The Swimming Hour
Andrew Rose Gregory & The Color Red Band - The Song of Songs
Angels & Airwaves - We Don't Need to Whisper
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Kingdom - The Looking Away
Apex Manor - The Year of Magical Drinking
Arcade Fire - Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Arcade Fire - Reflektor
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Armin van Buuren - A State of Trance 2004
Army of the Pharaohs - Ritual of Battle
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Fruit
ATB - Future Memories
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
Avalanche City - Our New Life Above the Ground
Avicii - True
Awake! Awake! - We've Been Strangers
AWOLNATION - Megalithic Symphony
The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Azealia Banks - 1991
Azure Ray - Azure Ray
Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell
Bal-Sagoth - The Power Cosmic
Bal-Sagoth - Starfire Burning Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule
Battles - Mirrored
Basement Jaxx - Scars
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys - The Smile Sessions
Beach House - Teen Dream
Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill
The Beatles - The Beatles
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Bee Gees - Bee Gees Greatest
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones - Left of Cool
Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs
The Beta Band - The Three EPs
Beth Orton - Central Reservation
Birds & Batteries - Stray Light
Bison - Quill
The Black Keys - El Camino
Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil
Blackfoot - Strikes
Blackmill - Miracle
Blessthefall - Witness
Blind Pilot - Three Rounds and a Sound
Blood Red Shoes - In Time to Voices
Blue Chill - Fake Memories
Blur - Parklife
Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children
Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan - Tempest
Bon Iver - Blood Bank (EP)
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - I See a Darkness
Borknagar - Urd
Bowling for Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case
Boy - Mutual Friends
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Bring Me the Horizon - There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret.
The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
The Broken West - Now or Heaven
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
Bruno Mars - Unorthodox Jukebox
BT - These Hopeful Machines
Buckethead - Colma
Buddy Holly - Buddy Holly
Burial - Untrue
C418 - Minecraft - Volume Alpha
The Cab - Symphony Soldier
Cake - Fashion Nugget
Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
Can - Tago Mago
Carina Round - Tigermending
Carly Rae Jepsen - Curiosity
Carly Rae Jepsen - Kiss
Cazazza Dan - Frozen Bob's Estranged Wife
Cazazza Dan - Sailin' Tuns!
Chancellor Warhol - The Silver Factory
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady
Chase & Status - More Than Alot
Childish Gambino - R O Y A L T Y
Choir of Young Believers - Rhine Gold
The Cinematic Orchestra - Every Day
The Clash - The Clash
The Clash - London Calling
Coil - Love's Secret Domain
Cold Specks - I Predict a Graceful Expulsion
Colton Dixon - A Messenger
Colora - Straight Through Your Mind
Com Truise - Wave 1
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys
The Crüxshadows - DreamCypher
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II
The Cult - Love
The Cult - Sonic Temple
Daft Punk - Musique, Vol. 1: 1993-2005
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Dan Deacon - America
Dan Deacon - Bromst
The Dandelion War - We Were Always Loyal to Lost Causes
Danny Brown - XXX
Dark Dark Dark - Bright Bright Bright
Datach'i - wearealwayswellthankyou
David Arnold & Michael Price - Sherlock: Original Television Soundtrack Music from Series One
deadmau5 - > album title goes here <
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Denise Ho - What Really Matters
Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Sing Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious
Die Verbannten Kinder Evas - Dusk and Void Became Alive
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
DJ Shadow - Endroducing.....
Dntel - Life is Full of Possibilities
Do As Infinity - Deep Forest
The Doors - The Doors
The Doors - L.A. Woman
Dot Dot Dot - Dot Dot Dot
Doves - The Last Broadcast
Dr. Awkward - Boy Without a Fairy
Dragonette - Bodyparts
Dragonland - Astronomy
Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style
The Drums - The Drums
Duran Duran - Rio
The Early November - In Currents
Ed Sheeran - +
Edgard Varèse - Varèse: The Complete Works
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Here
Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado
Eligh - Grey Crow
Ellie Goulding - Halcyon
Ellie Holcomb - Magnolia
Eluvium - Talk Amongst the Trees
EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
Emancipator - Safe In the Steep Cliffs
Emilie Autumn - Enchant
Emilie Autumn - Fight Like a Girl
Emilie Autumn - Laced/Unlaced
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Emo Side Project - The End of Something
Enter Shikari - Common Dreads
Enya - Watermark
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch!
Erin McCarley - My Stadium Electric
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Eskadet - Tokyo Chillout
Evanescence - Fallen
fakuta - Al Vuelo
The Fall of Every Season - From Below
Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian
Faust - Faust So Far
Feist - The Reminder
First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
Florence + the Machine - Lungs
Flyleaf - Memento Mori
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
The Format - Dog Problems
Fossil Collective - Let It Go
Foster the People - Torches
Four Tet - There Is Love in You
Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!!
Framing Hanley - The Moment
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Frank Zappa - Civilization Phaze III
Frank Zappa - Guitar
Frank Zappa - Italian Debris
Frank Zappa - Italian Debris II
Frank Zappa - Jazz from Hell
Frank Zappa - Läther
Frank Zappa - Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
fun. - Aim and Ignite
fun. - Some Nights
The Future Sound of London - Lifeforms
Ganucheau - Beneath the Surface
Garbage - Garbage
Garry Schyman - Sounds from the Lighthouse: Official BioShock 2 Score
Genghis Tron - Dead Mountain Mouth
George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
Giacinto Scelsi - The Orchestral Works I
Girls' Generation - The Boys
The Glitch Mob - Drink the Sea
The Glitch Mob - Love Death Immortality[/b]
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯ A♯ ∞
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike
Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner
GOOD Music - Cruel Summer
Grace Jones - Slave to the Rhythm
Graffiti6 - Colours
Green Day - ¡Dos!
Green Day - ¡Tres!
Green Day - ¡Uno!
Green Day - American Idiot
Greg Laswell - Landline
Greg Laswell - Take a Bow
Grimes - Visions
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Grooverider - Mysteries of Funk
Groundislava - Groundislava
Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Guster - Ganging Up on the Sun
Helios - Moiety
Herbert Kegel - Orchestral Pieces
Hole - Live Through This
Holy Fuck - Latin
Hoodie Allen - All American
Hopsin - RAW
Howard Shore - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Husky - Forever So
I See Stars - 3-D
I:Scintilla - The Approach
Imagine Dragons - It's Time
Imagine Dragons - Night Visions
Imogen Heap - Ellipse
The Ink Spots - The Best of the Ink Spots
Infected Mushroom - B.P. Empire
Inspired Flight - Through Sight and Sound
Isaac Shepard - Letting Go
Jack White - Blunderbuss
James Blake - The Bells Sketch
James blake - Overgrown
James Newton Howard - The Hunger Games (Original Motion Picture Score)
Jedi Mind Tricks - Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Jess Klein - Behind a Veil
Jessica Curry - Dear Esther
Jill Barber - Chances
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced
Joanna Newsom - Ys
John Coltrane Quartet - Ballads
John Butler - Tin Shed Tales
John Lennon - Sometime in New York City
Johnny Hollow - Dirty Hands
Jon Hopkins - Immunity
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Judas Priest - British Steel
Justice - â€
Justice - Audio, Video, Disco
Justin Bieber - Believe
Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experiences
Kanye West - Yeezus
Kasey Chambers - Barricades & Brickwalls

v Continued in the next post v
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 02, 2013, 12:25:18 AM
Kat Graham - Against the Wall
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Kate Miller-Heidke - Nightflight
Ke$ha - Deconstructed
Ke$ha - Warrior (Deluxe Version)
Keane - Perfect Symmetry
Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city
Kendrick Lamar - Section.80
Kerli - Utopia
Kid Ink - Up & Away
The Killers - Battle Born
The Killers - Day & Age
Kim Churchill - Kim Churchill
King Crimson - The Power to Believe
Kirsten Arian - This City Kills
Kiss - Dressed to Kill
Kite Rider - Thump
KMFDM - Attak
The Knife - Silent Shout
Knife Party - 100% No Modern Talking
Knife Party - Haunted House
Knife Party - Rage Valley
Koji Kondo - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Original Soundtrack
Koji Kondo - The Legend of Zelda: Original Sound Track
Koji Kondo - Zelda no Densetsu ~Kaze no Takuto~ Original Sound Tracks
The Kooks - Inside In/Inside Out
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
Laura Escudé - Pororoca
Leandra - Metamorphine
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Lena - Stardust
Lescop - Lescop
Lester Flat & Earl Scruggs - Foggy Mountain Banjo
Lil B - I'm Gay (I'm Happy)
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
Lindsey Stirling - Lindsey Stirling
Linkin Park - Living Things
Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
Little Boots - Hands
Little Dragon - Ritual Union
The Lonely Forest - Arrows
Longing for Orpheus - Othersong
Lorde - The Love Club EP
The Lumineers - The Lumineers
Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1
Lynyrd Skynyrd - (Pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping
M.I.A. - Kala
M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Macintosh Plus - Floral Shoppe
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Heist
Madi Diaz - Plastic Moon
The Mamas & the Papas - If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
Maps & Atlases - You and Me and the Mountain
Marilyn Manson - Born Villain
Marina & The Diamonds - Electra Heart (Deluxe Edition)
Maroon 5 - Overexposed
Mat Kearney - Young Love
Matt & Kim - Grand
Matt & Kim - Lightning
Melody Gardot - The Absence
Merzbow - Takahe Collage
Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve
Metric - Fantasies
Michael McDonald - If That's What it Takes
Miike Snow - Happy to You
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
Mindless Self Indulgence - If
Moby - Play
Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica
Mogwai - Mogwai Young Team
Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' with Disaster
Monica Lionheart - Indian Summer
The Mothers of Invention - Uncle Meat
Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life
Mumford & Sons - Babel
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Muse - The 2nd Law
Muse - Origin of Symmetry
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
The National - Boxer
Ne-Yo - Year of the Gentleman
Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
The Network - Money Money 2020
Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Never Shout Never - Time Travel
Nic Jones - Penguin Eggs
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
Nortt - Ligfærd
Nox Arcana - The Dark Tower
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook - Night Song
The Offspring - Smash
Omnitica - Xenosphere
Oomph! - Monster
Orbital - In Sides
Otherwise - True Love Never Dies
Otis Redding - The Dock of the Bay
Owl City - The Midsummer Station
Owl City - Shooting Star
Owl City - Ultraviolet
P!nk - I'm Not Dead
P!nk - M!ssundaztood
P!nk - The Truth About Love
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Panic! at the Disco - Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!
Paramore - Paramore
Paramore - Riot!
Passion Pit - Manners
Patti Smith - Horses
Paul Banks - Banks
Paul Leonard-Morgan - Dredd (Original Film Soundtrack)
Paul McCartney - Ram
Paul Oakenfold - We Are Planet Perfecto Volume 1
Pentatonix - PTX, Vol. 1
Pet Shop Boys - Discography: The Complete Singles Collection
Pet Shop Boys - Elysium
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Pinhead Gunpowder - Goodbye Ellston Avenue
Pinhead Gunpowder - Pinhead Gunpowder
Pink Floyd - Animals
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Pixies - Doolittle
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
PJ Harvey - Rid of Me
Plan B - Ill Manors
Plastic Flowers - Natural Conspiracy
Polvo - In Prism
Ponderosa - Pool Party
POP ETC - POP ETC
Porcelain Raft - Strange Weekend
Port Blue - Arctic
Porter Robinson - Spitfire
Portishead - Third
The Presidents of the United States of America - The Presidents of the United States of America
Preteen Zenith - Rubble Guts & BB Eye
Pretty Lights - Passing by Behind Your Eyes
Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Professor Elemental - The Indifference Engine
Prozak - Tales from the Sick
Public Image Ltd. - First Issue
Purity Ring - Shrines
Queen - A Night at the Opera
Rachel's - Systems/Layers
Radiohead - The Bends
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Radiohead - Kid A
Radiohead - OK Computer
Raphael Saadiq - Instant Vintage
Rasputina - Oh Perilous World
Rebecca Ferguson - Heaven
Regina Spektor - Far
Regina Spektor - Songs
Relient K - Five Score and Seven Years Ago
Relient K - Mmhmm
The Residents - Commercial Album
Richard Durand - In Search of Sunrise 8: South Africa
Robyn - Robyn
Ronan Keating - Fires
Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour '74
Rudimentary Peni - Cacophony
Running Wild - Port Royal
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Ryan Farish - Bloom
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Chasm
S. Carey - All We Grow
Saint Germain - Tourist
Saint Saviour - Suukei
Saint Saviour - Union
Santigold - Santogold
Sara Bareilles - Once Upon Another Time
SBTRKT - SBTRKT
Seattle Skyline - Needle Bay
Serj Tankian - Harakiri
Set Fire to Flames - Sings Reign Rebuilder
Seth Lakeman - Freedom Fields
Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Sia - Best Of...
Silbermond - Himmel Auf
The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band - Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward
Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
Silversun Pickups - Neck of the Woods
Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
Sinéad O'Connor - The Lion and the Cobra
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kaleidoscope
Skream - Outside the Box
Sky Ferreira - Ghost
Slowdive - Souvlaki
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Sparks - Kimono My House
Sparks - No. 1 in Heaven
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline
Steve Vai - Sex & Religion
Steven McDonald - Jeepers Creepers Jumbo
The Strokes - Is This It
Sum 41 - Screaming Bloody Murder
Summertime's End - Light and Colour
Summoning - Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame
Sun Ra - Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy/Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow
Super Mash Bros - Mile(y) High Club
Supertramp - Breakfast in America
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Swans - The Seer
Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind
Swans - To Be Kind
System of a Down - Mezmerize
T.I. - King
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Taylor Momsen - Light Me Up
Taylor Swift - Red
Tech N9ne - Everready
Technicolor Fabrics - Run... the Sun Is Burning All Your Hopes
Tegan and Sara - The Con
Telefon Tel Aviv - Fahrenheit Fair Enough
The Temper Trap - Conditions
Theophany - Time's End: Majora's Mask Remixed
These New Puritans - Field of Reeds
Three Days Grace - Transit of Venus
Tiësto - Just Be
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
Tornvakt - Tornvakt
Traveling Wilburys - Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Twin Shadow - Forget
Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon
Ulver - Perdition City
Usher - Looking 4 Myself
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Van der Graaf Generator - A Grounding in Numbers
Van Dyke Parks - Song Cycle
Various Artists - Borderlands 2 (Original Soundtrack)
Various Artists - Hotline Miami - Official Soundtrack
Various Artists - The Hunger Games (Songs from District 12 and Beyond)
Various Artists - Multi-Dimensional: Sonic Adventure 2 Original Sound Track
Various Artists - The Music of Grand Theft Auto V (Volume 1)
Various Artists - Tongue Tied
Vintersorg - The Focusing Blur
Vitamin String Quartet - Strung Out on Panic! at the Disco: A String Quartet Tribute
Volcano Choir - Unmap
Waka Flocka Flame - Flockaveli
Walk the Moon - Anna Sun
Walk the Moon - Tightrope EP
Walk the Moon - Walk the Moon
The Walkmen - Lisbon
Wavves - King of the Beach
The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Mandatory Fun
While Heaven Wept - Vast Oceans Lachrymose
White Denim - D
The White Stripes - Elephant
Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love
The Who - Tommy
will.i.am - #willpower
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Willis Earl Beal - Principles of a Protagonist
Windsor Airlift - Flight
Windsor Airlift - Hotels
Wintersun - Time I
Wintersun - Wintersun
Within Temptation - The Silent Force
The World/Inferno Friendship Society - Red-Eyed Soul
Wu-Tang Clan - Legendary Weapons
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
Yo La Tengo - Painful
Young Dreams - Between Places
Young the Giant - Young the Giant
Youngblood Hawke - Youngblood Hawke
Yppah - Eighty One
Zelda Reorchestrated - Majora's Mask
Zelda Reorchestrated - Ocarina of Time
Zelda Reorchestrated - Twilight Princess
Zelda Reorchestrated - The Wind Waker
Zomboy - The Dead Symphonic
Zomboy - Game Time

This is mostly for me so if I need to I can just check up here quick and remind myself, also so I can mark them off as I listen to them. This is everything I've got on my queue right now that I could remember, from this forum, others, and from friends.

Also, just to be clear, it'd be nice if you could recommend albums rather than songs. I like to sit and listen to a whole offering by an artist rather than just a single track, so I can get a good feel for them overall. Sometimes just one song isn't enough to acquaint you with the artist, so it's nice to settle in. If I just get recommended a song I'll generally just find out what album it's from and check that, though, so either way is fine.

List of the order in which my FES recommendations go:

The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site
John Butler - Tin Shed Tales
The Beatles - The Beatles
The Cult - Love
The Cult - Sonic Temple
Wintersun - Time I
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour '74
Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!!
The Network - Money Money 2020
Pinhead Gunpowder - Goodbye Ellston Avenue
Pinhead Gunpowder - Pinhead Gunpowder
Buckethead - Colma
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Lil B - I'm Gay (I'm Happy)
Polvo - In Prism
King Crimson - The Power to Believe
Datach'i - wearealwayswellthankyou
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
Com Truise - In Decay
Genghis Tron - Dead Mountain Mouth
Mindless Self Indulgence - If
Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve
Lena - Stardust
Maps & Atlases - You and Me and the Mountain
Otis Redding - The Dock of the Bay
Pixies - Doolittle
Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian
Bowling for Soup - The Great Burrito Extortion Case
Sum 41 - Screaming Bloody Murder
The Residents - Commercial Album
Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Coil- Love's Secret Domain
The National - Boxer
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Rudimentary Peni - Cacophony
Patti Smith - Horses
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Sing Along Songs for the Damned & Delirious
Nortt - Ligfærd
Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans
The Fall of Every Season - From Below
Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
Radiohead - The Bends
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 02, 2013, 12:25:47 AM
Will update this with strikethroughs for what I've listened to later. Don't particularly feel like it right now. :P

All thanks to Parsifal for saving these and using his computer wizardry to bold them all for me!
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: markjo on December 02, 2013, 04:58:58 AM
Alan Parsons Project - I Robot
Blue Oyster Cult - Imaginos
Eric Johnson - Ah Via Musicom
Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien
Joe Satriani - Flying in a Blue Dream
Soul Asylum - Grave Dancer's Union
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Beethoven's Last Night
Weird Al Yankovic - Running With Scissors
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: DuckDodgers on December 02, 2013, 05:27:59 AM
Young the Giant - Young the Giant
Bear's Den - Agape
Half Moon Run - Dark Eyes
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 02, 2013, 04:11:17 PM
I suspect that Supes is already quite familiar with Weird Al's discography.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Crudblud on December 02, 2013, 06:03:47 PM
Oh, that markjo's at it again!
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 02, 2013, 07:18:53 PM
And I had said some stuff about the White Album on the old FES before the Great Purge, which I shall reiterate here.  It is quality dadrock.  The Beatles were pretty much all going their separate ways creatively by that point, and it definitely shows, but the variety is interesting.  A couple of highlights off the top of my head - "Helter Skelter" is so gloriously silly that it sounds like a parody of heavy metal that came out long before its time, and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is one of the Beatles' best songs, boosted by a fine performance from Clapton on lead guitar.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Foxbox on December 02, 2013, 08:28:56 PM
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
Regina Spektor - Far
Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch
Bad Religion - No Control
The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me
System of a Down - Steal This Album!
System of a Down - Toxicity
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 04, 2013, 08:07:35 AM
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes: This turned out to be a pretty great album. It took me four or five songs before I really got into it, but once it picked up it picked up quite well.  Definitely a very folksy album, just not really in the way I was expecting. Regardless, the lead singer is an amazing vocalist and some of the best songs were the ones that allowed him to showcase his talents, but I found that the darker the songs got the better they got. My favourite track is, without question, “He Doesn’t Know Why”, which I just fell in love with on first listen. The two runners-up would be “Quiet Houses” and “Heard Them Stirring”, the latter of which has no actual lyrics and shows how dark and gorgeous their instrumentals can be.

All-in-all a great album.

Pink Floyd - Animals: Yes. This is much, much more what I was hoping for from Pink Floyd. I am happy to say that I quite loved this album, its concept, its execution and everything. While it was a little ham-fisted, I felt that worked really well for the album. It didn’t really need subtlety because of how forthright the anger and overall reprehension and exhaustion with society was. I thought that it worked brilliantly. And, as much as it seems like it shouldn’t work, I love the whole story being sandwiched between two short love songs that are affected by the whole narrative. My favourites are still the triptych of animal tracks in the middle, particularly “Pigs (Three Different Ones)”, though not by a whole lot. Assuming this is just a step up from Dark Side’s weirdness and the others on the list will be more out-there, I’m kind of excited. :]

The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow: This was way, way different than I was expecting. I expected some generic indie pop stuff. Instead I got wonderfully complex and weird music, varying from gorgeous slow songs to incredibly fast-paced rapid-fire lyrics. Some of the songs’ lyrics are hard to quantify, but most of them feel heavy and kinda resonate, while some are more straightforward. One thing that these guys have going for them is that they’re quite verbose and it’s great; I learned a few new words from them, which is a first for music, I think… But yeah, my two favourite tracks, “Fighting in a Sack” and “Pink Bullets”, are basically opposites. The former is incredibly upbeat and fast and weird, the latter is slower and more charmingly pretty. Really, any track here is a stand-out, but those two stand above the stand-outs in my eyes. Really, just an awesome album and I recommend it. :]
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on December 04, 2013, 11:24:07 AM
Damn, everybody's shitting on Saddam's taste on Pink Floyd.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 10, 2013, 10:09:24 AM
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile: I've been wanting to listen to them for a long time, and Foxy and I were chatting for many hours the other day and he was awesome and lsitened to Arcade Fire's Funeral at my suggestion and loved it, so I decided I'd return the favour and listen to this since he suggested it. :] While there were a couple songs I didn’t like a lot, the vast majority of this album is amazing. I’m a huge fan of industrial stuff from what I’ve heard and this only reinforces that. The band has an awesome way of using distortion and general dissonance to create an amazing atmosphere, and Trent Reznor reminds me of Marilyn Manson a bit in that his voice just oozes pain, the way he can use it to embody the terrible emotions he feels. My favourite part of the music, though, is easily the sounds of the music itself. How harsh and grinding some of it is, but how it can also be so light and sadly beautiful with little more than dark synth pulses and little flecks of piano. Overall it is a seriously awesome album that ranges from ambient to loud, distorted guitar bursting your ear drums. And it is wonderful. My favourites of the 23 tracks were probably, in no particular order, “Starfuckers, Inc.”, “Underneath It All”, “Where Is Everybody?”, “The Big Come Down” and “The Mark Has Been Made”.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 10, 2013, 03:13:37 PM
My recommendation of Hendrix is also on the list.  I was surprised that nobody commented on that.  Nothing about "overrated" or "pointless guitar wankery" or anything like that.  Where's the bawing?  This is the guy who regularly tops those "greatest guitarists" lists put out by dadrock publications!  Not Zappa, and not whichever obscure European "post-rock" guitarist happens to be your favorite, but Hendrix!  Comment, dammit!
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on December 10, 2013, 03:16:40 PM
Please don't associate NIN with industrial
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 10, 2013, 03:31:54 PM
Please don't associate NIN with industrial

Isn't it industrial? ???
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on December 10, 2013, 03:33:07 PM
Please don't associate NIN with industrial

Isn't it industrial? ???

It's "industrial rock". Basically alt rock with some background noises that try to sound a little harsh, and has effectively nothing to do with industrial.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on December 10, 2013, 03:34:40 PM
honk honk
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 10, 2013, 03:35:15 PM
What's the difference, then?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on December 10, 2013, 03:36:11 PM
What's the difference, then?

has effectively nothing to do with industrial.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 10, 2013, 03:43:50 PM
That didn't answer the question.  You need to defend your snobbery.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on December 10, 2013, 03:43:58 PM
What's the difference, then?
Industrial doesn't have any rock in it.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on December 10, 2013, 03:51:56 PM
That didn't answer the question.  You need to defend your snobbery.

Well, what do you want? It's like asking what the difference between heavy metal and pop-rock is, they're just two different genres of music.

In general, industrial has much less of the "rock" and much more of the "abrasive musique concrete sounds". Industrial rock, industrial metal, electro-industrial and such are commonly understood as being subgenres of post-industrial, not industrial.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Crudblud on December 10, 2013, 03:54:19 PM
That didn't answer the question.  You need to defend your snobbery.
NIN doesn't really have anything to do with the industrial scene, and not much than a passing resemblance, if any, to the music of groups like Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Foetus etc.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 13, 2013, 03:42:54 AM
That didn't answer the question.  You need to defend your snobbery.

Well, what do you want? It's like asking what the difference between heavy metal and pop-rock is, they're just two different genres of music.

In general, industrial has much less of the "rock" and much more of the "abrasive musique concrete sounds". Industrial rock, industrial metal, electro-industrial and such are commonly understood as being subgenres of post-industrial, not industrial.

I was hoping for a rant about how NIN/industrial rock totally sucks and is a disgrace to the industrial genre.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on December 13, 2013, 03:45:51 AM
That didn't answer the question.  You need to defend your snobbery.

Well, what do you want? It's like asking what the difference between heavy metal and pop-rock is, they're just two different genres of music.

In general, industrial has much less of the "rock" and much more of the "abrasive musique concrete sounds". Industrial rock, industrial metal, electro-industrial and such are commonly understood as being subgenres of post-industrial, not industrial.

I was hoping for a rant about how NIN/industrial rock totally sucks and is a disgrace to the industrial genre.

That would have been too obvious.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 14, 2013, 11:52:35 AM
Regina Spektor - Far: I actually really, really like this album. There’s something about her voice and lyrics—every lyric that she sings sounds so mysterious, and she seems so assured and confident that the mystery runs deeper. There’s something about the way that her songs veer from jauntily bouncing about to a light sprinkling of piano melodies layered under a moody, foggy, mysterious crooning that adds another dimension of intrigue to her music. It makes me want to listen through more and more to further decipher it. I love her falsetto, as well, and just the way she uses her voice in general is impressive. She doesn’t try to show off or go “hay guise luk im bootifull singer”, she simply uses it to complement the music, and if that means pulling off vocal acrobatics at occasional points then so be it. Anyway, yeah, this was really awesome! :D My favourites were “Machine” and “Two Birds”, no question—the formers’s like Marina & the Diamonds mixed with Ellie Goulding mixed with some sort of noise music, while the latter is a much more musically-upbeat track that juxtaposes with rather sad lyrics. “Blue Lips” would follow, since I really just like all the metaphor and imagery, while “Man of a Thousand Faces” is probably the most representative of the mysterious “what is this about and why is it so haunting?” aspect of her music and I love it for that. No idea what it’s talking about, but I love it.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: xasop on December 14, 2013, 12:05:00 PM
I recommended this on IRC before, but it didn't get added. Frank Zappa - Them or Us.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 18, 2013, 10:09:50 PM
My recommendation of Hendrix is also on the list.  I was surprised that nobody commented on that.  Nothing about "overrated" or "pointless guitar wankery" or anything like that.  Where's the bawing?  This is the guy who regularly tops those "greatest guitarists" lists put out by dadrock publications!  Not Zappa, and not whichever obscure European "post-rock" guitarist happens to be your favorite, but Hendrix!  Comment, dammit!

I repeat my request.  Is anyone else here a Hendrix fan?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: DuckDodgers on December 18, 2013, 10:20:14 PM
I'm a Hendrix fan.  He was a fantastic musician and was actually stationed where I live now back when he was in the military.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on December 19, 2013, 03:57:27 AM
I love Hendrix.  As guitar players go he's up there with Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, Jeff Beck and Skrillex in my esteem.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 19, 2013, 04:36:32 AM
Skrillex is in a class of his own.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on December 19, 2013, 04:38:26 AM
Skrillex is in a class of his own.

That he definitely is.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: xasop on December 19, 2013, 07:39:19 AM
I repeat my request.  Is anyone else here a Hendrix fan?

Yes. (http://ftp.steven-mcdonald.id.au/purplehaze.mp3)
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 19, 2013, 06:04:35 PM
I repeat my request.  Is anyone else here a Hendrix fan?

Yes. (http://ftp.steven-mcdonald.id.au/purplehaze.mp3)

I see.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 20, 2013, 03:11:48 PM
I like when I say I'll get around to more stuff soon for real and then don't.

Grooverider - Mysteries of Funk: Sooo…though I specifically asked for the genre, I was pretty disappointed with this. I dunno, aside from a handful of songs I didn’t really like it, to be honest. :[ It’s just my opinion, obviously, but a lot of the songs felt overlong and repetitive, and just not really all that great. The songs I did like were the ones that were a little weirder and more variant, since I dunno, a lot of the tracks sounded far too alike for me. The track I liked the most was “Where’s Jack the Ripper”, and the two follow-ups would be “Imagination (Part 3)” and “560°”. Everything else was kinda…meh. Sorry. :[
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: GeneralD on December 22, 2013, 07:15:30 PM
Death Grips - The Money Store or Government Plates
Rhye - Woman
Mouse on the Keys - Sezession
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 26, 2013, 11:24:09 PM
Radiohead - OK Computer: This was leagues better than I expected. I’m not 100% sure what to say about it…while I’m not much of a cynic myself, I can definitely relate to many of the more pessimistic and cynical lyrics throughout the album even if I don’t fully agree with them. I feel the songs as more how one feels in the moment, not so much overall world-view, which makes it much more personal to me. One specific feeling I can relate to is “Karma Police”, in which (as I interpreted) the singer is judging all these people, rubbing ‘karma’ in their faces, only to pull back at the end and realize that he’s being just as bad by judging them. I have a problem with saying, doing, or feeling things in the moment that I regret later, particularly in arguments. My favourite though is, hands-down, “Climbing Up the Walls”. I just love the latent paranoia and unease littered throughout ever glint and glimmer of the scattered instrumentals, the innocent-yet-crippling worries many people feel, unfounded anxieties and such. I love that. And just in terms of sheer prettiness, “Exit Music (For a Film)” is quite the work of art.

So yeah, my favourite is easily “Climbing Up the Walls”, followed by “Exit Music (For a Film)” and “Karma Police”. From there I have some scattered third-tier favourites and a couple songs I didn’t like as much just by sheer virtue of not being as amazing as the rest, but there was no song I thought wasn’t wonderful.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Foxbox on December 26, 2013, 11:32:09 PM
Radiohead - OK Computer: This was leagues better than I expected. I’m not 100% sure what to say about it…while I’m not much of a cynic myself, I can definitely relate to many of the more pessimistic and cynical lyrics throughout the album even if I don’t fully agree with them. I feel the songs as more how one feels in the moment, not so much overall world-view, which makes it much more personal to me. One specific feeling I can relate to is “Karma Police”, in which (as I interpreted) the singer is judging all these people, rubbing ‘karma’ in their faces, only to pull back at the end and realize that he’s being just as bad by judging them. I have a problem with saying, doing, or feeling things in the moment that I regret later, particularly in arguments. My favourite though is, hands-down, “Climbing Up the Walls”. I just love the latent paranoia and unease littered throughout ever glint and glimmer of the scattered instrumentals, the innocent-yet-crippling worries many people feel, unfounded anxieties and such. I love that. And just in terms of sheer prettiness, “Exit Music (For a Film)” is quite the work of art.

So yeah, my favourite is easily “Climbing Up the Walls”, followed by “Exit Music (For a Film)” and “Karma Police”. From there I have some scattered third-tier favourites and a couple songs I didn’t like as much just by sheer virtue of not being as amazing as the rest, but there was no song I thought wasn’t wonderful.

Yay, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! :D Those songs happen to be my favorites from the album as well, though I just love the whole album so much. Climbing Up the Walls has grown on me more recently to become my very favorite tied with Karma Police.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 26, 2013, 11:47:25 PM
One specific feeling I can relate to is “Karma Police”, in which (as I interpreted) the singer is judging all these people, rubbing ‘karma’ in their faces, only to pull back at the end and realize that he’s being just as bad by judging them.

Incorrect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_Police#Composition_and_lyrics
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 27, 2013, 04:10:45 AM
I'm not really sure that invalidates my interpretation. He never even brought up the ending.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on December 28, 2013, 01:52:56 AM
And here's a reminder:
I'm a sucker for 80s new wave stuff and need more of it.
Forever Young by Alphaville and Meanwhile by Celebrate the Nun. Add.
Hunting High and Low by A-Ha is another classic you might enjoy, unless you're sick of Take On Me.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 28, 2013, 04:42:59 AM
I'm not really sure that invalidates my interpretation. He never even brought up the ending.

Incorrect and irrelevant.  Hang your head in shame.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 06, 2014, 05:28:19 AM
Moar dadrock.  The Rolling Stones are pretty much the ultimate in dadrock, so I guess I'd recommend Let it Bleed.  Also, I see you've got The Who's Tommy on your list, but didn't you also have Quadrophenia there?  Why is it gone?  What is this insolence?  They're both good albums, anyway.  Would it bump them up in priority if I officially recommended them?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 11, 2014, 07:28:18 PM
reply snupes
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on January 17, 2014, 03:35:57 AM
Sorry to everyone for taking so long. I've really, really not been well. I've been at one of my lowest points, certain things are going to shit pretty quickly and I've been way busier than I'd like and am not coping too well with it all. I'm not promising any dates for anything but next week should be a nice break for me...hopefully.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 17, 2014, 04:08:52 AM
Tell us about it.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on January 17, 2014, 05:04:56 AM
I can't believe how long ago it feels like we made some of those recommendations.  And we just keep throwing more at you.  Like these:

Billy Joel, Piano Man.  I'm not kidding, it's one of my all-time favorites.

Phish, Rift.  I owned this album back in the day.  I've never seen Phish live so I don't think I can count myself as a true fan (like the Dead, a huge part of the culture surrounding Phish is their live shows), but I do love this album.  I recently rediscovered it on Youtube and I honestly had forgotten how awesome it was.

The Postal Service, Give Up.  Knowing what I do about your tastes you might have already come across this one, but just in case you haven't... prepare to have your mind blown.

Also, I thought I recommended MGMT's Congratulations on the old site and I don't see it on the list.  Get it on there.

Korn's not on there anymore either but I'll let you off the hook for that one.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on January 19, 2014, 08:06:08 AM
Tell us about it.

Forgive my Aspieness, but is that genuine interest or Sadaaming?


The Postal Service, Give Up.  Knowing what I do about your tastes you might have already come across this one, but just in case you haven't... prepare to have your mind blown.

Oh boy, don't worry, I've loved this album for years. Discovered them very shortly after Owl City and they are magnificent...but now you've made me want to listen to the album again, so listening I am. <3 "Nothing Better" is one of my all-time favourite songs. I just love Dntel's instrumentals and Ben's oddly polite mannerisms and soft vocals. It's so amazing and such a weird contrast.


Korn's not on there anymore either but I'll let you off the hook for that one.

Oh don't you worry, it'll be on there again. I stick to my word.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: fappenhosen on January 19, 2014, 05:50:56 PM
Moar dadrock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-MAxe72z4

relevanting
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 19, 2014, 07:08:27 PM
Tell us about it.

Forgive my Aspieness, but is that genuine interest or Sadaaming?

My interest is sincere.  I wouldn't make fun of you when you're feeling that down.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on January 19, 2014, 07:16:39 PM
Tell us about it.

Forgive my Aspieness, but is that genuine interest or Sadaaming?

My interest is sincere.  I wouldn't make fun of you when you're feeling that down.

That's a good one, sadaam.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on January 19, 2014, 08:16:40 PM
I'll throw out George Watsky's Cardboard Castles. It's some quality white-person hip-hop.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on January 20, 2014, 05:38:13 AM
quality
hip-hop.
lol
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 26, 2014, 07:04:27 PM
snuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupes

Stop ignoring this thread!
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on January 27, 2014, 02:40:15 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNJNCazmNnI


His voice is hilarious
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Rama Set on January 27, 2014, 03:22:37 PM
Banana hammock...
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on January 27, 2014, 09:17:23 PM
If you like folk-y music, can I recommend Show of Hands? I've been listening to them recently and am liking what I hear.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on January 29, 2014, 08:09:17 PM
Sorry about how (much) long(er than usual) this is taking. Like I said, a bunch of crap going on. The worst of which is finding out my mom might have cancer again. We won't know anything for sure 'til Friday, but it's not looking great and she's had different kinds twice before, so I'm kind of freaking out about it. That said, away from sad and onto albums.


Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues: So I am saddened to find that this is no longer a concept album about a transgender prostitute like it was originally going to be. There are hints of it throughout the album, and the best songs are the ones that seem like they were from that cut. That said, the album is really good, albeit a bit of a minor disappointment ‘cause I had pretty high expectations and thought it was going to have that story. It’s still a good album despite that, just not as good as it could’ve been. It also seems like something was weird about the mixing/production, everything seems to be way too much to the left. Anyway, the best song was “Dead Friend”, which was a morbid kind of sweet, followed by “Paralytic States”, which was clearly meant to be one of the last songs off the concept album. If only the rest were like those… ;o;

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless: Okay, so I went in a bit excited and a bit skeptical (as most great things tend to be overhyped), but wow. That was fucking amazing. This is one of those albums I would classify as an experience, because it’s just…really amazing. I can see why this album is a legend. I’m pretty sure this is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard in my life. I probably listened to it way too loud and hopefully I don’t go deaf, but it would be well-worth it if I did. The atmospheric distortion of the guitars is impeccably done, the way sounds are layered and mixed so masterfully to just create this amazing aural paradise of noise and distortion and just a noisy ambiance. If ever an album’s sound was custom-tailored to suit my tastes, this is it. I love noise music, I love distortion and harsh sounds, I love weird stuff and I love dreamy music…and weirdly this can be described with all those adjectives at the same time. This is really an awe-inspiring work of art and I am really excited to have experienced it. Srsly, I can’t wait to listen again. My favourites were “To Here Knows When”, which was the point at which I realized how breathtakingly enchanting the album is, and the closing song “Sleep”. Seriously, I don’t care who you are or what you like: listen to this album.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on January 29, 2014, 10:35:30 PM
Seriously, I don’t care who you are or what you like: listen to this album.

You don't get to tell people that!  >:(
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 07, 2014, 06:29:11 PM
And now it's time for a special Saddam review:

Arcade Fire - Reflektor: This was weird, but good.  I didn't really pay attention to the lyrics, because I had a feeling that whatever they were singing about would just go over my head, but I liked their voices, and the music too.  I preferred the more upbeat songs like "Flashbulb Eyes," and "Normal Person" - the slower ones weren't bad or anything, but I guess they're just not my thing.  Anyway, there we go, yay for Canadian indie rock.

Now it's time for Tommy, Snupes.  DON'T TRY TO AVOID IT.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Particle Person on February 08, 2014, 12:22:19 AM
And now it's time for a special Saddam review:

Arcade Fire - Reflektor: This was weird, but good.  I didn't really pay attention to the lyrics, because I had a feeling that whatever they were singing about would just go over my head, but I liked their voices, and the music too.  I preferred the more upbeat songs like "Flashbulb Eyes," and "Normal Person" - the slower ones weren't bad or anything, but I guess they're just not my thing.  Anyway, there we go, yay for Canadian indie rock.

Now it's time for Tommy, Snupes.  DON'T TRY TO AVOID IT.

Are we in the Sadam's Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!) thread?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 08, 2014, 03:03:22 AM
Snupes and I had a special arrangement.  I'm going to be vague because it makes me seem more mysterious and important than I really am.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Tintagel on February 08, 2014, 04:22:06 AM
Snupes:  Echoing our earlier IRC convo, I heartily recommend Peter Gabriel 3 (melt).  I also highly recommend Peter Gabriel 2 (scracth), and they're both rather short so if you have time for both, do both.  Melt is my favorite, though.

Fun fact:  Peter Gabriel was the original front man for Genesis, and when he left the band to pursue a solo career.  Former Genesis bandmate Phil Collins plays drums on several tracks on Peter Gabriel 3 - an album which uses no cymbals, and no hi-hats.  On the Gabriel song "Intruder" (track one on Peter Gabriel 3), he played some of the drum track with the engineer's "reverse talkback" mic activated, and the result was so striking that they kept it, and Collins repeated the effect for the distinctive drum groove of "In the Air Tonight" during his own solo career.

Arguably the darkest of all Gabriel's albums, it also contains two of my all time favorite PG songs.  "Games Without Frontiers," and "Biko."

Full album on youtube, but I'm sure you can find a higher quality one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-4LtuAZrNc

And as a bonus, a simply phenomenal rendition of "Biko" from 2011.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDaLEGb_mo8
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 19, 2014, 03:14:59 PM
snupes

review albums
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on February 22, 2014, 03:27:41 AM
Gonna try to get to reviewing some things tonight, but it's my birthday so I'm getting a few things I wanna hear outta the way first


Avicii - True: As someone who doesn’t like Avicii much because he’s a generic dance DJ, this was…a surprisingly good album. It took dance into a bunch of weird directions, fusing it with folk, jazz, swing, downtempo melodies and generally just messing around with it. Some of these resulted in really boring songs, and most were, for the most part, just “pretty good”, but there were a few outstanding tracks. Namely the jazz-swing-house fusion “Shame on Me”, and the more downtempo, gorgeously haunting “Hope There’s Someone”. I was pleasantly surprised by this album.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 26, 2014, 03:56:02 AM
SNOOPS!
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on February 26, 2014, 04:33:10 AM
I know, I know. :[ I am a working girl now, I have so little time to do things. I worked 12 hours today and my everything is sore. ;o; But I promise the next album I listen to will be Tommy.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 26, 2014, 04:49:21 AM
I am a working girl now

That's interesting.  I never would have thought it of you.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Crudblud on February 26, 2014, 07:28:47 AM
I know, I know. :[ I am a working girl now, I have so little time to do things. I worked 12 hours today and my everything is sore. ;o; But I promise the next album I listen to will be Tommy Urgynes.

I approve. And I sympathise, work ruins everything.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on March 08, 2014, 10:34:27 PM
RIP this thread.  :(
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 08, 2014, 10:44:56 PM
I see you've listened to MBV's Loveless.
That's a great album. You should also try My Bloody Valentine's "Isn't Anything", Lush's "Spooky" or "Split", Swervedriver's "Raise", and Cocteau Twins' "Heaven or Las Vegas". All these albums are similar to MBV's Loveless, each being influenced by that album or vice versa.

Also, every album by The Smiths is a must listen, imo.

I could name several other great albums, but I don't want to overwhelm. If you're interested let me know.

I used to do a similar thing, reviewing albums and whatnot. A lot of that can be found here: http://flyingairplane.blogspot.com
Along with links to download all the music I reviewed.

Oh, and also, here's my Last.fm if you want to add me: http://www.last.fm/user/v_for_violence

Fun fact:  Peter Gabriel was the original front man for Genesis, and when he left the band to pursue a solo career.  Former Genesis bandmate Phil Collins plays drums on several tracks on Peter Gabriel 3 - an album which uses no cymbals, and no hi-hats.  On the Gabriel song "Intruder" (track one on Peter Gabriel 3), he played some of the drum track with the engineer's "reverse talkback" mic activated, and the result was so striking that they kept it, and Collins repeated the effect for the distinctive drum groove of "In the Air Tonight" during his own solo career.

I, too, love Peter Gabriel. Also, Peter Gabriel-Era Genesis is the only Genesis worth listening to, imo.

My favorite PG-Era Genesis song is "The Musical Box". Such an intricate and beautiful song.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on March 09, 2014, 12:26:03 AM
Genesis was too arty when Peter Gabriel was with them.  Him splitting from the group ended up being a great thing for both of them.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 09, 2014, 12:27:18 AM
Genesis was too arty when Peter Gabriel was with them.  Him splitting from the group ended up being a great thing for both of them.

I agree with you completely. But when it comes to personal preference, there's no debate.

Great or not, I'm still not a fan of Phil Collins and what he turned Genesis into after Peter Gabriel left. Sure, it got them more fans, but popularity isn't everything.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 09, 2014, 12:31:06 AM
Collins's voice grates on me.  He's a fine drummer, but an annoying singer.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on March 09, 2014, 12:37:27 AM
Genesis was too arty when Peter Gabriel was with them.  Him splitting from the group ended up being a great thing for both of them.

I agree with you completely. But when it comes to personal preference, there's no debate.

Great or not, I'm still not a fan of Phil Collins and what he turned Genesis into after Peter Gabriel left. Sure, it got them more fans, but popularity isn't everything.

I do understand.  They became typical 80s pop (maybe the prototypical 80s pop group, in fact) with Phil Collins up front.  It was generally good pop in my opinion.  But it wasn't close to what their original fans would have identified with.

My own opinion is that they sounded pretentious with Peter Gabriel fronting them.  Like they were screaming "Look at this great art we're making!"  And of course no solo Peter Gabriel would mean no "Solsbury Hill", no "Biko", no "Red Rain"... I wouldn't want to live in such a world.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 09, 2014, 12:54:01 AM
Genesis was too arty when Peter Gabriel was with them.  Him splitting from the group ended up being a great thing for both of them.

I agree with you completely. But when it comes to personal preference, there's no debate.

Great or not, I'm still not a fan of Phil Collins and what he turned Genesis into after Peter Gabriel left. Sure, it got them more fans, but popularity isn't everything.

I do understand.  They became typical 80s pop (maybe the prototypical 80s pop group, in fact) with Phil Collins up front.  It was generally good pop in my opinion.  But it wasn't close to what their original fans would have identified with.

My own opinion is that they sounded pretentious with Peter Gabriel fronting them.  Like they were screaming "Look at this great art we're making!"  And of course no solo Peter Gabriel would mean no "Solsbury Hill", no "Biko", no "Red Rain"... I wouldn't want to live in such a world.

I can see how Peter Gabriel-Era Genesis could be perceived as pretentious. You're obviously trying to make a statement when you shave the middle of your head and make a reverse mohawk... if that's not pretentious then I don't know what is.

I will admit that I like "That's All", and some of the other poppy Genesis songs... but nothing compares to "Supper's Ready" or, like I mentioned previously, "The Musical Box"... with or without the shaved head.  :P

Can we at least agree that solo Peter Gabriel is leagues ahead of solo Phil Collins? I mean... "Easy Lover"... c'mon...
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on March 09, 2014, 09:33:49 PM
Can we at least agree that solo Peter Gabriel is leagues ahead of solo Phil Collins? I mean... "Easy Lover"... c'mon...

Oh yeah, there's no contest.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 10, 2014, 01:57:38 AM
Snupes, post some reviews.  Save us from all this boring pontificating!
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 10, 2014, 02:54:35 AM
But...ah what the hell, I'll listen to Tommy right now.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 10, 2014, 05:15:57 AM
Since I listened to Gee, I Like Your Pancreas forever ago and forgot to put a review of it here, here's one, along with Tommy


Frank Zappa & "Weird Al" Yankovic - Gee, I Like Your Pancreas: Sadly I lost the file where I had my thoughts for each song written down, so I'll write down what I remember, but I liked this. I liked pretty much all the Weird Al songs since I used to be an Al fanatic, and the Frank Zappa songs I liked most were "Dumb All Over", "Big Swifty" and "T'Mershi Duween". I was pleasantly surprised to find some Touhou in there, specifically "The Centennial Festival for Magical Girls" and I liked that one a lot. I thought some of the transitions (my favourite was "Heavy Duty Judy" to "Melanie", though "Broken Hearts Are for Assholes" to "Trigger Happy" was great too) were fantastic, though a few fell short and I don't remember which...but yeah. It was good and you should listen

The Who - Tommy: So…sadly I didn’t really like this. I didn’t think many of the songs were all that special, I’m not terribly fond of the lyrics for the most part and I dunno, it was all just kinda forgettable. :[ For such a bizarre story, I wish they’d been a little more interesting with the music. If all of it got as aurally interesting “Tommy’s Holiday Camp”, it would’ve been a lot more thrilling a listen. My favourites were “Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)”, “Cousin Kevin”, “Pinball Wizard” and “Underture”, the first and last being the best of the bunch. So yeah, it was kind of a letdown, I’m sad to say. :[ There were moments of shining in the middle of some songs, but I’m not really a fan of most of the singing style, most of the lyrics and much of the music. It’s just a bit too plain. But maybe I’m crazy or too tired, but yeah. But but but
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: xasop on March 10, 2014, 06:19:58 AM
Frank Zappa songs I liked most were "Dumb All Over"

In that case, I formally recommend You Are What You Is.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 10, 2014, 06:39:03 AM
In that case, I formally recommend You Are What You Is.

Will do in many years' time, capitan.

Also thought it'd be worth noting I just listened to Aphex Twin's Windowlicker single, which contained three songs and is the first time I've ever heard him. My mind is mildly blown. Will be checking out more eventually.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on March 10, 2014, 06:47:56 AM
capitan
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 10, 2014, 11:11:17 AM
The Who - Tommy: So…sadly I didn’t really like this. I didn’t think many of the songs were all that special, I’m not terribly fond of the lyrics for the most part and I dunno, it was all just kinda forgettable. :[ For such a bizarre story, I wish they’d been a little more interesting with the music. If all of it got as aurally interesting “Tommy’s Holiday Camp”, it would’ve been a lot more thrilling a listen. My favourites were “Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)”, “Cousin Kevin”, “Pinball Wizard” and “Underture”, the first and last being the best of the bunch. So yeah, it was kind of a letdown, I’m sad to say. :[ There were moments of shining in the middle of some songs, but I’m not really a fan of most of the singing style, most of the lyrics and much of the music. It’s just a bit too plain. But maybe I’m crazy or too tired, but yeah. But but but

On the notion of slapping Snupes
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on March 10, 2014, 11:19:56 AM
On the notion of dad rock.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 10, 2014, 07:30:55 PM
But srsly, I understand your criticisms of Tommy.  It's definitely something of a mess, there's a lot of filler, and it isn't really remembered as being a great album overall so much as an album that gave us some good songs.  It wouldn't have been my first choice for a Who album to recommend, but that was the only one on your list, presumably meaning you had quick access to it.  If you can ever listen to it, a much better album - their best, really - is Who's Next.  Eight songs, and every one a classic.

Also, no guarantees that you'll like it, but you might want to check out the 1975 film version of Tommy.  It cuts a lot of the weaker stuff out of the album, adds to the better songs, and presents the story in a much more comprehensible way.  It starred Roger Daltrey and had a number of famous musicians in the supporting cast, like Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Elton John, and Tina Turner.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: xasop on March 11, 2014, 08:54:31 AM
If you can ever listen to it, a much better album - their best, really - is Who's Next.  Eight songs, and every one a classic.

Alternatively, you can get everything that's good on Who's Next by listening to the first minute.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Crudblud on March 11, 2014, 10:12:34 AM
The Who is a singles band. Should've just gotten a greatest hits compilation.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 11, 2014, 01:12:48 PM
If you can ever listen to it, a much better album - their best, really - is Who's Next.  Eight songs, and every one a classic.

Alternatively, you can get everything that's good on Who's Next by listening to the first minute.

All of the album is good.

The Who is a singles band. Should've just gotten a greatest hits compilation.

That was true for much of their career, but I don't think Snupes was looking for greatest hits compilations when she asked for albums.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 26, 2014, 10:50:00 PM
"Killer Queen" is about a prostitute.  Not many people seem to realize that, but it's true.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Tintagel on March 27, 2014, 03:25:48 AM
The Who is a singles band. Should've just gotten a greatest hits compilation.
That's just not true.   It may be true for Who's Next but Tommy and Quadrophenia function as cohesive albums, not just as collections of songs, in my opinion.   I personally prefer Quadrophenia to Tommy.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 27, 2014, 07:25:17 PM
The Who is a singles band. Should've just gotten a greatest hits compilation.
That's just not true.   It may be true for Who's Next but Tommy and Quadrophenia function as cohesive albums, not just as collections of songs, in my opinion.   I personally prefer Quadrophenia to Tommy.

Collections of songs, as in - dare I say it - conventional albums?  I'm sorry, but have you suddenly revealed yourself as some kind of elitist hipster who looks down her nose at non-concept album music?  If so, then I frown at you.  If not, then I apologize for the accusatory tone of the last couple of lines.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Tintagel on March 27, 2014, 09:02:23 PM
The Who is a singles band. Should've just gotten a greatest hits compilation.
That's just not true.   It may be true for Who's Next but Tommy and Quadrophenia function as cohesive albums, not just as collections of songs, in my opinion.   I personally prefer Quadrophenia to Tommy.

Collections of songs, as in - dare I say it - conventional albums?  I'm sorry, but have you suddenly revealed yourself as some kind of elitist hipster who looks down her nose at non-concept album music?  If so, then I frown at you.  If not, then I apologize for the accusatory tone of the last couple of lines.
Certainly not.  But Tommy and Quadrophenia are, in fact, concept albums, which would seem to contradict the assertion that the Who are a "singles" band.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Crudblud on March 28, 2014, 11:01:02 PM
Traditionally the album, as in the song cycle, is a collection of diverse songs with related themes. In this sense, any "genuine" album is a concept album to some extent, it's just that in popular music the convention was to have albums be collections of singular songs simply because the single was the mainstay of Tin Pan Alley, which the modern pop industry grew out of.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on April 14, 2014, 02:35:27 PM
hey guys look another album that wasn't on the list


Com Truise - Wave 1: This is a pretty great EP. I wish all the tracks were as mindblowingly wonderful as the last one, “Wave 1”, which is the one that lead me to listen to this. That said, there's still some really good ambient electronic/glitchy stuff in here. The quality of all the other songs are pretty consistent though, so I don't really have any favourites other than that.

Various Artists - Tongue Tied: A compilation by Parsifal, of course. I liked it a whole lot. The best track for me is pretty easily the opening track, “One of These Doctors”, a mix of Pink Floyd's “One of These Days” and the Doctor Who theme, composed (mostly) by Ron Grainer and performed by Delia Derbyshire. It is wonderful. Most of the songs are well-mixed with one another, though certain songs feel I changed radio stations for a moment. Mainly “Tongue Tied” and “Pokémon Theme Song”. Both start out as per usual, then there's a rather sudden switch to a Zappa solo before going back to the other track, and it's kind of jarring. It works better in the latter than the former, I think, because in that case it's really jarring. Other than that, it's a rather solid compilation and it is good. :] If nothing else, it's worth a listen just to hear the wonderful noise track "Munchen" by Merzbow segue into the Pokémon theme.

Orbital - In Sides: I liked this a whole lot more than Grooverider. I forget what exactly I asked for that led to this album's recommendation, but I'm glad I did because it was really cool. It was some sort of weird, ambient electronica in the most wonderful of ways. None of the songs really ever felt too long, either, despite many of them being around ten minutes. My favourites are the upbeat “P.E.T.R.O.L.”, the downbeat, ambient “The Box (Part 2)”, and “Adnan's”, which seemed to find a perfect place somewhere between those. It was really pleasant.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on April 23, 2014, 11:54:52 AM
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Fruit: I loved the first three songs, then it got a little less amazing, then good for a moment, then the rest of the album kinda dragged a little. The songs were interesting musically, but after that point it was all kinda generic stuff lyrically and not as sonically fascinating. The best one by far, for me, is “Push the Envelope”. I love its rhyme scheme and I adore the slow but heavy synth pulse in the background, and the song never slows down or loses its stride. The first two, “Lady Jesus” and “The Sun Ain't Shining No More” are my other two favourites, the first for how it sounds and the latter more for its lyrics. The rest (aside from “Crazy”, which is very good) are okay, and the final track “Bad Fever” is disappointing because the opening and closing of it show so much promise, with the weird screechiness of them that could've easily made for my favourite song on the album if it weren't just at those points. But ah well. I'm glad to have heard it for the songs I did love, at least. :]

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯ A♯ ∞: This album is insanely wonderful. The first track, “The Dead Flag Blues” was really pretty and I figured that'd be about how the album was, but once “East Hastings” came around my mind was basically blown. Pretty opening, insane crescendo and gorgeous closing. It might be my favourite Godspeed You! track. That said, the final song, “Providence”, is absolutely magnificent as well and gives it a run for its money. The only downside is the several minutes of silence near the end (I don't really like when tracks do that), but the awesomeness after it possibly makes up for it. I think I like this album more than Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven.

Frank Zappa - Italian Debris: Put together by Parsifal, obviously. This was very good as a compilation, but I get the feeling more and more that I'm just not very big on Zappa. I think he's really talented and all, but I dunno, a lot of what he does doesn't inspire a lot in me and I don't really love it. For one thing, I don't like Frank's voice. But yeah, as a compilation this is really well-done but I suppose I'm not quite a Zappateer. “Sharleena” and “King Kong” were the only two I really liked a lot, and I'm sure the audio quality had a bit to do with it all.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Kanye_West on April 23, 2014, 05:15:18 PM
Yo, what would you suggest to someone who listens to a lot of Kanye West?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on April 23, 2014, 05:36:47 PM
Yo, what would you suggest to someone who listens to a lot of Kanye West?

Kendrick Lamar
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on April 23, 2014, 05:41:03 PM
Yo, what would you suggest to someone who listens to a lot of Kanye West?

I wouldn't ask for music recommendations from anyone who has Flyleaf on their "must listen to" list.

Just saying.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Kanye_West on April 23, 2014, 05:57:44 PM
Yo, what would you suggest to someone who listens to a lot of Kanye West?

Oh, he my nigga'! Correct answer is "More Ye", though.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Tintagel on April 23, 2014, 08:59:20 PM
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on April 23, 2014, 08:59:45 PM
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field

I support this.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on April 23, 2014, 10:43:10 PM
Yo, what would you suggest to someone who listens to a lot of Kanye West?

I wouldn't ask for music recommendations from anyone who has Flyleaf on their "must listen to" list.

Just saying.

Do you understand how this thread works
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on April 23, 2014, 11:35:29 PM
Is that a question?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on April 23, 2014, 11:51:38 PM
Yes. I rarely add anything to the list, it's 95% suggestions. I've never heard Flyleaf before, someone told me to listen to them so it was put on the list.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: xasop on April 24, 2014, 04:12:57 AM
Frank Zappa - Italian Debris

Don't forget Italian Debris II. I actually prefer it to the first one; it flows better, has better selections and is better produced.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: fappenhosen on April 24, 2014, 07:23:40 PM
Sorry I do not listen to non-free music.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on April 25, 2014, 06:41:01 PM
A note for Snupes that I listened to those albums we talked about.  Well, I've finished one, and I'm halfway through the other, so get started with The Clash nao.  I command it.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on April 25, 2014, 08:38:04 PM
A note for Snupes that I listened to those albums we talked about.  Well, I've finished one, and I'm halfway through the other, so get started with The Clash nao.  I command it.
Well?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on April 28, 2014, 09:04:35 AM
A note for Snupes that I listened to those albums we talked about.  Well, I've finished one, and I'm halfway through the other, so get started with The Clash nao.  I command it.
Well?
Come on. I want to know what you thought about Kveldssanger.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on April 28, 2014, 04:09:47 PM
It was all right.  I kind of wish it had been more of a conventional song structure, because it had some nice acoustic melodies, but they all just seemed to abruptly stop after a minute or so and then just start again, except with chanting or something.  I guess this neofolk stuff isn't really for me.  I preferred Tago Mago, or at least the first part of it.  About halfway through, it started going all noise music-y, which kind of grated on me.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on April 28, 2014, 04:37:31 PM
I see.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on April 30, 2014, 03:31:25 AM
The Clash - The Clash: Well, I'll start this off by saying that I've been looking forward to this, and as soon as the album started I...was...really disappointed. “Janie Jones” was okay, but it was pretty boring...then it went to “Remote Control” and it...was...well, still just pretty good. I was sad to find the album missing that spark that I love in punk music, and sad to be disappointed by another older album. Then “I'm So Bored with the U.S.A.” happened and from then on the album was fucking wonderful, to say the least. There were parts that were less awesome, but I can safely say that, from that point on, I was pretty enthralled, especially the more they experimented and manipulated the harsher elements of punk, sometimes mixing it with other genres.”What's My Name?” was the first “oh wow” moment, I think. “Police & Thieves”, however, almost blew my mind. It would easily be my favourite, but I'll admit I was disappointed to find out it wasn't even their song. Granted, it's their unique interpretation of it, but I think it was more impressive thinking it was born solely of their own artistry. It's still amazing and possibly my favourite song on the album, but now much more of a toss-up. My favourite songs are, in no real order, “What's My Name?” (which was great), “London's Burning” (which is delightfully punk and awesome), “Career Opportunities” (which is both great musically and lyrically relevant still), “Police & Thieves” (the guitar-work of which tickles my eardrums in a happy way) and “Garageland” (which is surprisingly pretty and probably the perfect closer to the album). As I mentioned in IRC as I listened, I really like how The Clash know to keep their songs only as long as necessary, rather than extending them with more choruses and bridges and choruses and such. I wish less artists were scared to only have their songs be a minute and a half or two minutes, 'cause too many songs suffer from this problem and could be much improved by being trimmed like hell. These songs are just exactly as long as they need to be, and benefit wonderfully from it. So yes, this was awesome and I will be listening more. Your best recommendation yet, Saddam. :P
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on April 30, 2014, 03:35:17 AM
The Clash - The Clash: Well, I'll start this off by saying that I've been looking forward to this, and as soon as the album started I...was...really disappointed. “Janie Jones” was okay, but it was pretty boring...then it went to “Remote Control” and it...was...well, still just pretty good. I was sad to find the album missing that spark that I love in punk music, and sad to be disappointed by another older album. Then “I'm So Bored with the U.S.A.” happened and from then on the album was fucking wonderful, to say the least. There were parts that were less awesome, but I can safely say that, from that point on, I was pretty enthralled, especially the more they experimented and manipulated the harsher elements of punk, sometimes mixing it with other genres.”What's My Name?” was the first “oh wow” moment, I think. “Police & Thieves”, however, almost blew my mind. It would easily be my favourite, but I'll admit I was disappointed to find out it wasn't even their song. Granted, it's their unique interpretation of it, but I think it was more impressive thinking it was born solely of their own artistry. It's still amazing and possibly my favourite song on the album, but now much more of a toss-up. My favourite songs are, in no real order, “What's My Name?” (which was great), “London's Burning” (which is delightfully punk and awesome), “Career Opportunities” (which is both great musically and lyrically relevant still), “Police & Thieves” (the guitar-work of which tickles my eardrums in a happy way) and “Garageland” (which is surprisingly pretty and probably the perfect closer to the album). As I mentioned in IRC as I listened, I really like how The Clash know to keep their songs only as long as necessary, rather than extending them with more choruses and bridges and choruses and such. I wish less artists were scared to only have their songs be a minute and a half or two minutes, 'cause too many songs suffer from this problem and could be much improved by being trimmed like hell. These songs are just exactly as long as they need to be, and benefit wonderfully from it. So yes, this was awesome and I will be listening more. Your best recommendation yet, Saddam. :P

It's not really that good.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on April 30, 2014, 05:22:04 AM
I'm surprised you didn't like "Janie Jones".  It's my favorite song on the album.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on April 30, 2014, 05:34:25 AM
It's not really that good.

Well, I guess it's no surprise that an album you don't think is that great turns out to be something wonderful. I should start listening to more albums you think are just good and less that you actually recommend. :]
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on April 30, 2014, 02:01:07 PM
That was a joke.  You were supposed to get all mad and yell "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOU JERK!"  But seriously, I'm glad you liked it so much!  If you are going to listen to them more, though, make sure you avoid their final album, Cut the Crap.  It's basically their equivalent of Creedence's Mardi Gras, a miserable end to a fine band.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: xasop on April 30, 2014, 03:02:25 PM
It's basically their equivalent of Creedence's Mardi Gras, a miserable end to a fine band.

Or Pink Floyd's The Division Bell.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Onix on April 30, 2014, 03:03:36 PM
I guess I'll bite:

Elliott Smith - Self-titled or Either/Or

Heatmiser - Mic City Sons

Taking Back Sunday - Where You Want To Be

Brand New - Deja Entendu

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin'

Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid M.A.A.D. City

Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron

A$AP Ferg - Trap Lord

Earl Sweatshirt - Doris

Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels

Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on April 30, 2014, 03:47:31 PM
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
You're not even trying at this point, are you?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on May 01, 2014, 02:13:49 AM
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
You're not even trying at this point, are you?

To be fair, that is an incredible album. Doesn't make the troll any better, but
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Onix on May 01, 2014, 01:40:16 PM
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
You're not even trying at this point, are you?

To be fair, that is an incredible album. Doesn't make the troll any better, but

You guys are fucking ridiculous. I can't even legitimately respond to a thread without being called a troll? What the fuck is wrong with you?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on May 01, 2014, 02:07:25 PM
My mistake. I legitimately meant to use the word "alt", don't know why I said troll.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 02, 2014, 07:00:49 PM
My mistake. I legitimately meant to use the word "alt", don't know why I said troll.

No, you were right the first time.



Also, it's a shame you don't have any XTC on that list. Have you listened to their music?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on May 02, 2014, 07:16:05 PM
Yo, what would you suggest to someone who listens to a lot of Kanye West?

I wouldn't ask for music recommendations from anyone who has Flyleaf on their "must listen to" list.

Just saying.

lol u dumb
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 02, 2014, 07:17:46 PM
derrr
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on May 07, 2014, 03:10:51 AM
The Clash - London Calling: So, the album started with “London Calling”, which...is easily one of my favourite songs by The Clash already and when I heard it. That song alone gave me pretty high expectations, the way it sounds like a dirge foretelling the inevitable fall of London. It's absolutely fantastic. From that to “Brand New Cadillac”...I dunno. The song's not bad, but not anything real special. From there it kinda goes downhill...good on them for experimenting, and I'm not gonna bash them for doing so as I actively promote experimenting from artists, but I don't particularly like it here. Things look up a bit once “Lost in the Supermarket” comes around, which is a wonderfully sad, lonely song, and “Clampdown” is nice for the lack of a chorus and being a bit better. I will say, the album peaks again for a little while, “The Guns of Brixton” comes around and feels a whole lot more punk in attitude despite being so reggae, “Wrong 'Em Boyo” follows and is surprisingly fun, different and jazzy, “Death or Glory” is wonderful in spite of its clear dadrockness and then “Koka Kola” becomes one of my favourites for the oddness of hearing cocaine advertised with soft drink slogans. “The Card Cheat” is cheesy but good, and then the album takes a huge dip after that with the weird, awkwardly sexual love song that is “Lover's Rock”. From there it never really picks up and ends with the dadrockiest song I've heard from them, “Train in Vain”, which—to be fair—is pretty good.

So, all-in-all, I didn't enjoy this album as much as their first. It was good, not terrible, and had some of their better songs, but as a whole it just was more of a drag to sit through. The biggest culprit was how padded their songs became, with so much repetition of the chorus, punctuating verses with it and then often having it repeat multiple times near the end. Basically, this album was much more dadrock and kind of cliché and typical. Again, that's not to say it's bad, just kinda disappointing.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 07, 2014, 05:30:18 AM
Sandinista is way more unique, but London Calling is great. I really like the song Koka Kola, even though its about a minute long... And of course Train in Vain is a classic Clash song.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on May 07, 2014, 08:14:40 AM
I really like the song Koka Kola, even though its about a minute long...
That's part of why I like it. Too many of the songs on the album are longer than they need to be. Part of what I loved about the first album was how concise the tracks were, short and to the point rather than dragging them out with incessant choruses.


The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band - Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward: I dunno what I expected from the album, but this was probably far more gorgeous than it. The first two songs were very pretty but didn't completely enamour me, but once “Built Then Burnt (Hurrah! Hurrah!)” came around, it became pretty masterfully beautiful. The album conveys so much, evoking a plethora of emotions (often within a single song) and just overall being a glorious work of art. My favourite is “C'monCOMEON(Loose an Endless Longing)”, which has a huge range of tempos and is the one that pulled at me the most in general. Second would be “Take These Hands and Throw Them in the River”, which is incredibly intense and actually made me feel a little anxious as my heart fluttered at the same time from how great it was. The closer, “The Triumph of Our Tired Eyes.”, is almost as good. It's just really, really beautiful. I highly recommend this to everyone and everyone.

Set Fire to Flames - Sings Reign Rebuilder: I didn't like this album nearly as much as Born into Trouble, but it was very nice still. My favourite tracks were the odder ones, namely “There is No Dance in Frequency and Balance” and “Côte d'Abrahams Roomtone/"What's Going On?..." (From Lips of Lying Dying Wonder Body #3)”, but the rest of it was really good too. Yet still, nothing struck me quite as much as the prior album did, but it was still a great listen. I did thoroughly enjoy some of the crackling, odd ambience. I don't really have a whole lot more to say.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on May 07, 2014, 12:52:02 PM
post-rock
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Onix on May 07, 2014, 01:37:44 PM
Seriously...

(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/311QZP9AKAL.jpg)
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Foxbox on May 07, 2014, 04:56:12 PM
I really like the song Koka Kola, even though its about a minute long...
That's part of why I like it. Too many of the songs on the album are longer than they need to be. Part of what I loved about the first album was how concise the tracks were, short and to the point rather than dragging them out with incessant choruses.


The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band - Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward: I dunno what I expected from the album, but this was probably far more gorgeous than it. The first two songs were very pretty but didn't completely enamour me, but once “Built Then Burnt (Hurrah! Hurrah!)” came around, it became pretty masterfully beautiful. The album conveys so much, evoking a plethora of emotions (often within a single song) and just overall being a glorious work of art. My favourite is “C'monCOMEON(Loose an Endless Longing)”, which has a huge range of tempos and is the one that pulled at me the most in general. Second would be “Take These Hands and Throw Them in the River”, which is incredibly intense and actually made me feel a little anxious as my heart fluttered at the same time from how great it was. The closer, “The Triumph of Our Tired Eyes.”, is almost as good. It's just really, really beautiful. I highly recommend this to everyone and everyone.

Set Fire to Flames - Sings Reign Rebuilder: I didn't like this album nearly as much as Born into Trouble, but it was very nice still. My favourite tracks were the odder ones, namely “There is No Dance in Frequency and Balance” and “Côte d'Abrahams Roomtone/"What's Going On?..." (From Lips of Lying Dying Wonder Body #3)”, but the rest of it was really good too. Yet still, nothing struck me quite as much as the prior album did, but it was still a great listen. I did thoroughly enjoy some of the crackling, odd ambience. I don't really have a whole lot more to say.

Horses in the Sky next
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on May 08, 2014, 07:00:44 AM
^ Will do sooner rather than later, most likely. I've been getting back into listening to recommendations again recently, albeit not in the list's order...like I said before, I may start foregoing the order overall just to facilitate my actual getting around to it. I was out of the groove for a bit, but I've gotten that spark of getting excited about new music back again. :]


Dntel - Life Is Full of Possibilities: I've been wanting to listen to this for a couple of years now (it was one of the first albums I put on my list) and just now got around to it. Honestly, I was kinda disappointed. It was very good, but I think I built it up way too much in my own mind and had too much time to project what I thought it would sound like onto it. Dntel is one half of The Postal Service (the music production half), so I was hoping for some of that to show through but it really didn't. So on its own, it was a nice glitchy experimental electronica album. My favourite song was “(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan”, which featured Ben Gibbard (the vocals half of The Postal Service) and is the song that made their duo happen. It was really nice and sounded like a heavier version of their later collaborations. Other than that were “Why I'm So Unhappy”, which reminded me of Frou Frou, “Fireworks”, which  was a wonderfully glitchy dance track, and “Last Songs”, which was just a really pretty finish.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on May 14, 2014, 07:31:19 PM
Kite Riders - Thump: Was definitely not expecting to be so into this EP when I decided to listen; I just wanted something to listen to while I played this game. Loved it, a lot. The best track is “Thump”, which is clever and fun, and the two second-best are “Split an Atom” (which is just cool rock fun stuff) and “Final Destination” (which is break-up ballad awesome vocal stuff). I got it off some random site where indie artists can upload free examples of their work, so I am now hipster.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on May 26, 2014, 04:01:03 AM
We talked about this in IRC, but just to make it official: Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick.  It's a single track that's about forty-four minutes long, so be prepared for that, but it's definitely worth a listen.  It's basically a parody of big sprawling concept albums that bands like Genesis and Rush would make, the ones with elaborate instrumentation and long-winded lyrics that try to tell epic, deep stories.  This album is basically all of that turned up to eleven.  It's creative, bombastic, over-the-top, technically impressive, and even funny at times.  It's utterly ingenious, and yet it's one of the dumbest pieces of music I've ever heard.  It's the kind of album that Blanko and I both like.  What else can I say, it's Thick as a Brick.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: xasop on May 26, 2014, 01:53:08 PM
It's a single track that's about forty-four minutes long

Given that the original release medium was a vinyl LP, I call bullshit.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on May 26, 2014, 02:57:32 PM
It's a single track that's about forty-four minutes long

Given that the original release medium was a vinyl LP, I call bullshit.

Well, side A segues right into side B, so it's more like one song split into two tracks.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on May 26, 2014, 03:29:25 PM
Parsifal'd.

Oh, and I also recommend Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run.  Springsteen became a lot more "conventional" after his first three albums, settling into a very familiar verse-chorus format, so I think you'll almost certainly prefer the early ones.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on June 05, 2014, 02:07:46 AM
lol

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-03/stairway-to-heaven-lawsuit-demands-jimmy-pages-casette-tapes

A handful of Led Zeppelin's songs were certainly ripoffs, but "Stairway to Heaven" was not one of them.  About two to three seconds of the chord progression on the acoustic guitar sound alike, as you'll notice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFHLO_2_THg
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on June 05, 2014, 02:15:29 AM
Parsifal'd.

Oh, and I also recommend Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run.  Springsteen became a lot more "conventional" after his first three albums, settling into a very familiar verse-chorus format, so I think you'll almost certainly prefer the early ones.

Springsteen is crap.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on June 05, 2014, 03:19:17 AM
Springsteen is great.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: xasop on June 05, 2014, 03:29:54 AM
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-06-03/stairway-to-heaven-lawsuit-demands-jimmy-pages-casette-tapes

A handful of Led Zeppelin's songs were certainly ripoffs, but "Stairway to Heaven" was not one of them.  About two to three seconds of the chord progression on the acoustic guitar sound alike, as you'll notice:

I never understood why people get up in arms about musicians "ripping off" other material. No artist is without external influence, and some of the best music out there was created by putting together established ideas in new ways (take most of Weird Al's discography, for instance).

What makes a song great isn't that its composers came up with it from scratch. If that were so, there would never have been any great songs, except perhaps the first time Homo erectus found they could tap sticks together to create a rhythm. Rather, great songs are made by people with the ability to take what's already there and rearrange it in a way that nobody else ever thought about.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Foxbox on June 06, 2014, 11:24:44 PM
Swans - To Be Kind
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Eddy Baby on June 06, 2014, 11:45:53 PM
I never understood why people get up in arms about musicians "ripping off" other material. No artist is without external influence, and some of the best music out there was created by putting together established ideas in new ways (take most of Weird Al's discography, for instance).

What makes a song great isn't that its composers came up with it from scratch. If that were so, there would never have been any great songs, except perhaps the first time Homo erectus found they could tap sticks together to create a rhythm. Rather, great songs are made by people with the ability to take what's already there and rearrange it in a way that nobody else ever thought about.

The words of truth


Pisses me off when people get upset about that, like, if I write a riff in a song that sucks, nobody's allowed to use my idea and make an awesome song out of it?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on June 19, 2014, 03:07:19 AM
Well, now that I have beautiful Sennheisers, it's music time again...


Leandra - Metamorphine: I loved this album to death years ago and suddenly stopped listening for a good while, until I recently listened to “Lie to Me” again and remembered how much I loved it. So I decided I wouldn’t listen again until I could afford to buy it and had good headphones to appreciate it with, and that time has now come. It is marvelous and beautiful and omg. I love this album so much. Nearly every song is wondrous, but the best one is definitely “Lie to Me”, and my other favourites are “Coloured”, “Angeldaemon”, “Lullaby” and “Inverted Mirrors of Decay”. Just a magnificent album.

The Beach Boys - The Smile Sessions: I’m not sure where this falls in respect to the expectations I had for it (which were extremely high since it’s kind of a legendary album), but it’s definitely really good and I think I like it more than Pet Sounds, which I loved. These guys harmonize like no other, and some of the more experimental stuff on here is wonderful. I’m really sad we’ll never hear the original mix of “The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow)”, which Brian Wilson was convinced had pyrokinetic abilities and was terrified and driven over the edge by and eventually destroyed. I really really wanted to hear it, and it’s sad to see that (based on the descriptions of the original) the version on this album was substantially toned down and lightened. But anyway, all the songs are really wonderful, my favourite being “Love to Say Dada”, followed by “Wonderful”, “Surf’s Up”, “I wanna Be Around/Workshop” and “The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow)”. What a wonderful and extremely pretty album
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on June 24, 2014, 10:33:45 PM
Warning, potential trigger words ahead:

18:11   Saddam   Parsifal: I have heard that song before
18:11   Saddam   It isn't very good
18:11   Parsifal   >mfw sadaam
18:11   Saddam   And I'm sorry to say this, but it seems to be a thing for Zappa:
18:11   Crudblud   Foxbox: Yes, there is also a starfish called Bawmmmmm
18:12   beardo   Saddam: Saddam
18:12   beardo   lore
18:12   Saddam   Many of his songs don't really have anything going for them beyond their outrageous lyrics
18:12   Foxbox   ok
18:12   Crudblud   Saddam is a dumbass dick
18:12   Parsifal   Saddam: Have you only been listening to the few that get radio airtime or something?
18:12   Saddam   Not even particularly good lyrics, just creepy ones
18:12   Saddam   No
18:12   Foxbox   I don't believe sadaam
18:12   Saddam   The only one I ever heard on the radio was "Dancin' Fool"
18:12   Crudblud   No one should
18:12   Foxbox   Mr. Singles Only
18:12   Snupes   To be honest, I'm still not a huge Zappa fan. I'm more interested in his later stuff that was a bit more out there, because honestly I don't find him particularly funny.
18:12   Parsifal   Most of his best works are instrumental, so I have no idea where you're getting that impression from
18:13   Saddam   I actually quite liked that one
18:13   Snupes   Or not necessarily his later stuff
18:13   Saddam   I agree with you that he's at his best instrumentally
18:13   Snupes   But yeah, his instrumental stuff. Or more musically-interesting ones.
18:13   Parsifal   Snupes: There's plenty of that stuff on Guitar
18:13   Snupes   oic
18:13   Saddam   I'm just saying that his more conventional songs are basically just "lewd lyrics here, hey aren't I super-edgy and controversial"
18:13   Crudblud   It depends, I mean, in general I agree his lyrical works tend to be throwaway amusements
18:14   Crudblud   But I think there's plenty of stuff that's also good satire
18:15   Parsifal   Saddam should listen to You Are What You Is
18:15   Snupes   There is no such thing s good satire.
18:15   Parsifal   It has some very good lyrics, most of which aren't lewd
18:15   Crudblud   Not to mention, even in his worst songs, there's usually something interesting going on in terms of the instrumentation
18:15   Parsifal   The track "Mudd Club" also includes my all-time favourite Zappa lyric
18:15   Foxbox   The Love Club
18:15   Snupes   What lyrics is that?
18:15   Crudblud   Gun Club
18:15   Snupes   Foxbox: That is a magnificent song
18:15   Crudblud   What am potatoes?
18:15   Foxbox   Snupes: I like it
18:16   Parsifal   Snupes: Lyric, singular, and it is this, which is said all in one breath:
18:16   Crudblud   Saddam: Have you listened to Läther?
18:16   Snupes   That is a weird lyric
18:17   Foxbox   It is
18:17   Parsifal   And all the rest of whom for which to whensonever of partially indeterminate biochemical degradation seek the path to the sudsy yellow nozzle of their foaming, nocturnal, parametric, digital, whole-wheat, inter-faith, geothermal, terpsichorean ejectamenta
18:17   beardo   Talk about something else.
18:17      *** beardo was kicked by Parsifal (Parsifal)
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on June 28, 2014, 09:06:35 AM
Regina Spektor - Songs: I’ve been seriously looking forward to this because I absolutely love what I’ve heard of Regina Spektor…but…to be honest, I didn’t like this album a whole lot. I mean, overall it was good, but there were really only a few songs I really liked more than ‘pretty good’. Some like “Consequence of Sounds” are interesting in theory (she kinda rapped it) but don’t work out (her voice is way too thin and her flow is not very good), or like “Aching to Pupate” where she went a cappella but overall I didn’t enjoy the song very much. “Lounge” was weird. Most of the tracks were like that, where I either didn’t really like them or just thought they were better than “okay”. The tracks I did like, however, were great. My favourite right now is the final track, “Ne me quitte pas”, which is really catchy and fun and simple but still really nice. “Lulliby” is gorgeous, “Oedipus” is bizarre but wonderful and “Prisoners” is vulnerable and beautiful. Everything else other than “Samson” (which I found quite good) I probably won’t really listen to again, to be honest. I’m glad I heard it for those songs I do like a lot, but the album was kinda a letdown.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on June 30, 2014, 02:17:43 AM
Owl City - Ultraviolet: The first of apparently many EPs Adam is gonna release under Owl City this year, it has me kind of hopeful. The first single to come from it was the first track, “Beautiful Times (feat. Lindsey Stirling” which is…ugh. It’s not absolutely horrible and the start of it even had me hopeful, then the heavy drums kick in and it becomes just…not very good. Lindsey makes it even more generic with her mediocre violin-playing. She was unnecessary. The second track, “Up All Night”, I was pleasantly surprised to find out I liked. It’s silly and has a fantastical story, but out of his newer tracks the past few years it’s probably one of my favourite “new” sounds. “This Isn’t the End” is easily my favourite from the EP. It’s cheesy and hamfisted but it’s such quintessential Owl City optimism and dreaminess and his vague way with words that drew me in in the first place, so it’s very welcome. The final track is “Wolf Bite”, which is very pop-EDM and would be fantastic if it was half its length, because it gets kind of repetitive by the end. But for the first half, it’s wonderful. So basically, pretty happy with this, hopefully the EPs will get better.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 02, 2014, 12:14:35 PM
Various Artists - The Music of Grand Theft Auto V (Volume 1): This was a pretty astoundingly great collection of music, even on its own. All of it was pretty different and alternative for its genre, in particular some very interesting rap and electronic tracks. My absolute favourite was “Stonecutters” by Flying Lotus, which was just amazing. Tied for second are two wonderful synth-full tracks, “Old Love/New Love” by Twin Shadow and “Change of Coast” by Neon Indian. A$AP Rocky raps over an awesome beat in “R. Calì”, and Marion Band$ has amazing flow in “Hold Up (feat. Nipsey Hustle)”. Those are my highlights, but really there isn’t a track on here that isn’t good. This is the first of three CDs (this one, volume 1, is original songs created for the game’s radio station, volume 2 is the game’s actual soundtrack, volume 3 is more radio music) and I don’t expect to be getting around to those two any time soon, but one day hopefully. For now, this is enough new wonderful music.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 02, 2014, 04:47:05 PM
Various Artists - The Music of Grand Theft Auto V (Volume 1): This was a pretty astoundingly great collection of music, even on its own. All of it was pretty different and alternative for its genre, in particular some very interesting rap and electronic tracks. My absolute favourite was “Stonecutters” by Flying Lotus, which was just amazing. Tied for second are two wonderful synth-full tracks, “Old Love/New Love” by Twin Shadow and “Change of Coast” by Neon Indian. A$AP Rocky raps over an awesome beat in “R. Calì”, and Marion Band$ has amazing flow in “Hold Up (feat. Nipsey Hustle)”. Those are my highlights, but really there isn’t a track on here that isn’t good. This is the first of three CDs (this one, volume 1, is original songs created for the game’s radio station, volume 2 is the game’s actual soundtrack, volume 3 is more radio music) and I don’t expect to be getting around to those two any time soon, but one day hopefully. For now, this is enough new wonderful music.

Chinatown Wars has a better soundtrack.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 18, 2014, 07:34:50 PM
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Mandatory Fun: Definitely one of Al’s strongest albums, and I’ll be damned if the best ones on this weren’t laugh-out-loud hilarious. As per usual, the originals are generally funnier than the parodies, but in a nice change of events the best song on this album is actually a parody. “Word Crimes”, a parody of the date-rape song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, is amazingly wonderful and a masterpiece. It might be tied with the album’s closer, the nine-minute long Cat Stevens style parody “Jackson Park Express”. Any time Al makes a long song, you know it’s going to be a masterpiece. It’s brilliant, funny, weird and creepy. Perfection. The other highlights are “Mission Statement”, a Crosby, Stills & Nash style parody about corporate synergy; “Sports Song”, a generic sports chant; “Handy”, a parody of “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea, sheerly because of how spot-on it is as a parody; and “My Own Eyes”, a style parody of The Foo Fighters that’s just straight-up bizarre. Also the polka medley is called “NOW That’s What I Call Polka!” which amuses me. TL;DR: Love this album.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on July 19, 2014, 02:42:31 PM
Have you seen the video for the Pharrell parody "Tacky"?  It has a lot of funny people in it.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 24, 2014, 02:59:04 AM
Have you seen the video for the Pharrell parody "Tacky"?  It has a lot of funny people in it.

Me not being up to date on anything related to Weird Al? Don't be silly. :P


Sparks - Kimono My House: Oh my lord. I expected I would probably like this album, but I didn’t think I would absolutely love it as much as I did. At first it was “ah, this is nice”, then how much I liked their style of writing—eccentric, sort of bizarre, verbose and often funny—started to grow and dawn on me. By “Here in Heaven” (which is a dark song about a pair of lovers who agreed to commit suicide together, in which the girl didn’t go through with it, and the song is a lament of despair and mild annoyance from the boy’s perspective), I couldn’t get enough of their odd musical style. The singer’s meandering falsetto, the peculiar instrumentation and aural placement of sounds and instruments, all of it was impeccable to me. Then “Talent Is an Asset” came around and for God’s sake it’s just a weird song about a young Albert Einstein being bullied or something but it’s magnificent. However, it was the final song, “Equator”, that really had me in awe and is what really solidified how much I love the album. It sounds like some demented broadway melody, but it marches on with their trademark weird lyrics, and at the end it drags on with strange, distorted horns and repeated lyrics and I just could not get enough. The three tracks I mentioned are my favourites, but the whole thing is worth a listen for sure. I love the writing, I love the music, I love the singing. It’s all wonderful. I definitely need to listen to more Sparks.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 24, 2014, 02:59:58 AM
Kimono My House... Ah. I forgot about that album. I have to listen to it now.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on July 24, 2014, 03:38:35 AM
Me not being up to date on anything related to Weird Al? Don't be silly. :P

Weird Al Yankovic - Running With Scissors

lol@markjo
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 24, 2014, 11:23:38 AM
Kimono My House... Ah. I forgot about that album. I have to listen to it now.

This is what made me want to check them out, a style parody of them Weird Al did years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIxDF1nT4YE

Having now heard them, I think I can say he nailed them pretty well with this. It even sounds like an exaggerated version of lyrics they might write.

Also:


Sparks - No. 1 in Heaven: A hell of a departure from Kimono My House, this one sees Sparks collaborating with Giorgo Moroder to make a disco/synthpop album. And my damn is it amazing. I think I prefer their synth/rock style, but this album is overall superior. Every song is wonderful and electronically-experimental and just great. My favourite is either “My Other Voice” for its electronic experimentation, “Academy Award Performance” for the sound and wonderfully sarcastic lyrics, or the closing track, “The Number One Song in Heaven”, which is just heavenly. I am glad to have discovered Sparks.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 24, 2014, 07:14:42 PM
Kimono My House... Ah. I forgot about that album. I have to listen to it now.

This is what made me want to check them out, a style parody of them Weird Al did years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIxDF1nT4YE

Having now heard them, I think I can say he nailed them pretty well with this. It even sounds like an exaggerated version of lyrics they might write.

Also:


Sparks - No. 1 in Heaven: A hell of a departure from Kimono My House, this one sees Sparks collaborating with Giorgo Moroder to make a disco/synthpop album. And my damn is it amazing. I think I prefer their synth/rock style, but this album is overall superior. Every song is wonderful and electronically-experimental and just great. My favourite is either “My Other Voice” for its electronic experimentation, “Academy Award Performance” for the sound and wonderfully sarcastic lyrics, or the closing track, “The Number One Song in Heaven”, which is just heavenly. I am glad to have discovered Sparks.

No thanks.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 24, 2014, 10:01:16 PM
Kimono My House... Ah. I forgot about that album. I have to listen to it now.

This is what made me want to check them out, a style parody of them Weird Al did years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIxDF1nT4YE

Having now heard them, I think I can say he nailed them pretty well with this. It even sounds like an exaggerated version of lyrics they might write.

Also:


Sparks - No. 1 in Heaven: A hell of a departure from Kimono My House, this one sees Sparks collaborating with Giorgo Moroder to make a disco/synthpop album. And my damn is it amazing. I think I prefer their synth/rock style, but this album is overall superior. Every song is wonderful and electronically-experimental and just great. My favourite is either “My Other Voice” for its electronic experimentation, “Academy Award Performance” for the sound and wonderfully sarcastic lyrics, or the closing track, “The Number One Song in Heaven”, which is just heavenly. I am glad to have discovered Sparks.

No thanks.
ok
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 24, 2014, 11:19:56 PM
I got into Sparks after I read an interview in which Morrissey said "Kimono My House is the best album of the year". He was probably right for '74. It's crazy how old that album is, especially considering the style of music. Way ahead of their time, almost. Its funny because years later they wrote a song called "Lighten Up, Morrissey".
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 25, 2014, 01:53:07 AM
I agree. I was blown away when I realized the album was from 1974
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 25, 2014, 09:05:46 PM
I recommend you listen to two albums by Felt, an 80s indie-pop band (although that label doesn't really fit them properly). The albums are: The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories & Forever Breathes the Lonely Word.

Listen to them and let me know what you think. They are two of my favorite albums. I think you will apperciate the intricate classical guitars and out-of-this-world organ riffs. Just try to overlook the lead's weird Bob Dylan-esque singing voice.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 27, 2014, 04:25:49 AM
Frank Zappa - Guitar: Easily the best of Zappa’s guitar albums that I’ve heard. His craftsmanship is truly remarkable and when you just stop and sort of listen and realize that this is all being played live on guitar, it’s seriously insane. I have a feeling that I’d appreciate his work a lot more if I’d played guitar myself and could really comprehend how good he is at it, because even an amateur like myself can tell how wondrous it is. Parsifal and I listened to the album together so I learnt some tidbits and such. There were no tracks I didn’t like. My favourite ones (I think) were “That Ol’ G Minor Thing”, “Sunrise Redeemer”,  “For Duane”, “Canadian Customs” and “It Ain’t Necessarily the Saint James Infirmary”. I sort of jotted them down and some other stuff as we listened, so I think that’s right. I actually happened to really like his slower work, like “Swans? What Swans?” and “Watermelon in Easter Hay”, and just hearing him sort of pick away at it without all that frenetic energy. And it might be the fact that the mixing on this is apparently wonderful according to Parsifal, but the album just sounds great. It’s really clear and everything’s in its right place and just great. So yeah, this was a wonderful work and I am happy I listened. I thought I was going to have to listen to one disc at a time, but enjoyed it enough that I just said we could listen right through both.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 28, 2014, 08:48:41 PM
Van Dyke Parks - Song Cycle: I’m not sure what I think of this…I’ll have to give it another listen or two. It was definitely interesting and not quite like anything I’ve heard before, which is immediately enticing to me, but I, at the same time, both really liked it and wasn’t so sure about it. The opening song, “Vine Street”, definitely fell into the latter category. The next, “Palm Street”, the former. It went like that for much of the album—many songs straddling the line in-between—and because of it I’m not sure what I think of the album as a whole. It’s definitely well-done as a piece (or pieces) of music, and there are some I loved as a whole (“Donovan’s Colours” is amazing, “The Attic” and both instances of “Laurel Canyon Blvd.”, and, to an extent, “By the People”). I’m not gonna get into the lyrics ‘cause I did not quite understand them because I’m dum, though there were some great times where he had some really neat rhyme schemes. So yeah, I don’t know what to say about this album. I think I liked it, overall. Maybe I’ll do an update when I eventually listen again.

Swans - To Be Kind: So while I liked it overall, this is probably my least favourite Swans album that I’ve heard. It’s amazingly repetitive. Maybe I’m remembering the others wrong and they’re equally so, or maybe it’s just now starting to get old for me, but I’m not liking it. The first several songs were wonderful (“Screen Shot”, “Just a Little Boy (for Chester Burnett)” and “A Little God in My Hands”) but from then on it was kind of boring. Again, I still liked them overall, but it many of the songs grew tiring over the course of their runtime (“Bring the Sun / Toussaint L’Ouverture” is a good example, as is “She Loves Us!”). So yeah.

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run: The opening was wonderful, then it started to get “meh”. I loved the lyricism and energy of the first track, but it seemed to lose that in favour of becoming more generic and “working class rock”. However, thankfully, a few more songs in it picked up again. Bruce’s voice is very, very unique and interesting. “Backstreets” was wonderful and there was a line, where he mourns “at night sometimes it seemed you could hear the whole damn city crying” where it hit its apex and I got the chills. On “Born to Run” his writing shone again and I loved his emotion, and while I still have no idea what “Meeting Across the River” was about for sure, I know it was illegal and life-defining, but that was one where his emotion alone sold it. All those mentioned are some of my favourites, but my absolute favourite is the closing song, “Jungleland”. It is the perfect closer to the album and, extended instrumental aside, every bit of it is wonderful. The energetic start, the fantastical romanticization and expressionist optimism, boiling over and eventually giving way to a caved in sort of defeat, the facing of bleak reality and loss of hope. Then finally finishing with one last burst of energy, as if it’s all not quite over yet. I could have really written a review about that song alone, I just loved it. The album as a whole was great, but that song was the pinnacle of the experience. I love it.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on July 29, 2014, 01:33:21 PM
I approve.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on July 31, 2014, 02:04:58 AM
"Jungleland" is one of my all-time favorite songs.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 31, 2014, 08:58:28 PM
Talking Heads - Remain in Light: So this album was good at the start, but from “Once in a Lifetime” onward it was brilliant. I loved the music itself, the production (which was apparently in conjunction with Brian Eno, which helps), and in that latter part of the album I loved the lyrics as well. My favourites were “Once in a Lifetime” and “Listening Wind”, a song that probably would’ve gotten them taken out by the CIA if they made it nowadays. Regardless, the latter was definitely my favourite musically; it was basically performed aural sex on my ears (ok that was gross and weird but I wanted the pun and to show how good it was). I’m not really sure what more to say, I didn’t write too much in-depth on each track because Blanko, Crudblud and I were all listening together, but I loved the album.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on July 31, 2014, 10:32:27 PM
Blanko likes Talking Heads?  But they're all eighties and mainstream and not post-rock.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on August 01, 2014, 01:56:01 AM
Well, speaking of post-rock, I feel compelled to recommend the most amazing album I've heard in a while: We Were Always Loyal to Lost Causes by The Dandelion War.  The fact that you have almost certainly never heard of these guys is one of the great tragedies of the new millennium.  They are brilliant.  The lead singer usually (but not always) uses a falsetto, and for that reason I've seen them compared to Sigur Ros and My Morning Jacket, but I would seriously recommend not letting that deter you because his use of the falsetto is not nearly as annoying as that of Sigur Ros (I'm not familiar enough with My Morning Jacket to make the comparison, but from based on what I have heard by them the comparison with them is much more apt than that with Sigur Ros).  The title of the album might be familiar to you if you've read Ulysses; I didn't realize that it came from that until I reread Ulysses a couple months ago, and knowing that shed some light for me as to what they were going for with the album's only entirely instrumental track, "Bloom".  For me, the standout tracks are "Drifters", "1848", "The Devil's Black Wool", and the epic closer "Stone Castles", but really every song is a gem.

I've been hesitant to recommend anything new lately because you will probably never get around to hearing it if you continue with this the way you have; there's just too much you haven't listened to yet.

Please make this album a priority.  I know that's a lot to ask and that the request will probably fall on deaf ears, but I'm kind of tired of being the only person I know who's ever heard of these guys.  I just really believe based on your tastes that you will really dig this one.  The album is available for free to listen to in its entirety on Youtube so I'd recommend trying it out there.

I so rarely gush about music; that fact alone should make you realize how high the esteem I have for this one is.  Listen to it.

Also, please add Congratulations by MGMT.  I recommended that one a long time ago and it's not on the list.  :(
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on August 01, 2014, 03:47:10 AM
Blanko likes Talking Heads?  But they're all eighties and mainstream and not post-rock.

It is, however, post-funk, so close enough.


Well, speaking of post-rock, I feel compelled to recommend the most amazing album I've heard in a while: We Were Always Loyal to Lost Causes by The Dandelion War.  The fact that you have almost certainly never heard of these guys is one of the great tragedies of the new millennium.  They are brilliant.  The lead singer usually (but not always) uses a falsetto, and for that reason I've seen them compared to Sigur Ros and My Morning Jacket, but I would seriously recommend not letting that deter you because his use of the falsetto is not nearly as annoying as that of Sigur Ros (I'm not familiar enough with My Morning Jacket to make the comparison, but from based on what I have heard by them the comparison with them is much more apt than that with Sigur Ros).  The title of the album might be familiar to you if you've read Ulysses; I didn't realize that it came from that until I reread Ulysses a couple months ago, and knowing that shed some light for me as to what they were going for with the album's only entirely instrumental track, "Bloom".  For me, the standout tracks are "Drifters", "1848", "The Devil's Black Wool", and the epic closer "Stone Castles", but really every song is a gem.

I've been hesitant to recommend anything new lately because you will probably never get around to hearing it if you continue with this the way you have; there's just too much you haven't listened to yet.

Please make this album a priority.  I know that's a lot to ask and that the request will probably fall on deaf ears, but I'm kind of tired of being the only person I know who's ever heard of these guys.  I just really believe based on your tastes that you will really dig this one.  The album is available for free to listen to in its entirety on Youtube so I'd recommend trying it out there.

I so rarely gush about music; that fact alone should make you realize how high the esteem I have for this one is.  Listen to it.

Also, please add Congratulations by MGMT.  I recommended that one a long time ago and it's not on the list.  :(

I will for sure listen soon. I like Sigur Rós so you don't need to worry about that deterring me. :P And I know my list is so fucked-up. There's way too much and I underestimated how slowly I'd progress. I've been listening out of order a lot lately and I'm starting to think that's the way it's going to go, where I'll mainly be listening based on how interested I am. I'll still definitely try to fit in ones I'm not interested in, since otherwise I wouldn't be stepping out of my comfort zone (which was the whole point of this thread), but yeah, I'd rather go out of order and get new things than not listen to new things at all.

And I will never listen on YouTube but I will find it :]
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on August 01, 2014, 08:29:45 AM
I will for sure listen soon. I like Sigur Rós so you don't need to worry about that deterring me. :P

Yeah, I realize now how presumptious that was.  Obviously a lot of people like them or else they wouldn't be as popular as they are (I know, Captain Obvious), but I could never get around that falsetto.  He sounds like an elf to me, and the fact that he might as well be singing in an elf language really doesn't help, but maybe that's part of their attraction for some people.  I know that some of the music, minus the singing, is truly awesome.  And I don't usually have a problem with sometimes annoying singing (ie Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Dan Deacon when he does that weird chipmunk thing) but I guess... I don't know, I draw the line at elves.

Quote
And I know my list is so fucked-up. There's way too much and I underestimated how slowly I'd progress. I've been listening out of order a lot lately and I'm starting to think that's the way it's going to go, where I'll mainly be listening based on how interested I am. I'll still definitely try to fit in ones I'm not interested in, since otherwise I wouldn't be stepping out of my comfort zone (which was the whole point of this thread), but yeah, I'd rather go out of order and get new things than not listen to new things at all.

That makes sense.  I did notice when I was looking back at the list that you've veered from the script somewhat.  I think it's pretty impressive that you've stuck with this for as long as you have, even if it has been somewhat intermittent.

Quote
And I will never listen on YouTube but I will find it :]

lol, it was just a suggestion to hear it for free.  I heard my first Dandelion War song on a free Deep Elm Records compilation on Amazon called Postrockology.  It was "Drifters" and it remains my favorite song by them, and as a bonus most of the compilation is actually pretty good.  But I know you'd rather listen to the whole thing and in this case that's fully justified as one of the things I love about the album as a whole is the way it hangs together.  I bought a digital copy of the album from Amazon.  If you are the type to torrent your music instead go for it.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on August 03, 2014, 11:47:40 AM
lol, it was just a suggestion to hear it for free.  I heard my first Dandelion War song on a free Deep Elm Records compilation on Amazon called Postrockology.  It was "Drifters" and it remains my favorite song by them, and as a bonus most of the compilation is actually pretty good.  But I know you'd rather listen to the whole thing and in this case that's fully justified as one of the things I love about the album as a whole is the way it hangs together.  I bought a digital copy of the album from Amazon.  If you are the type to torrent your music instead go for it.

Apparently they have a "name your price" thing going on their Bandcamp page, so I bought it there. :]


So this next listen's a bit interesting. Basically, Weird Al does a "polka medley" on each album where he takes a bunch of popular songs and condenses them into a few minutes of polka, and it's wonderful. A while back I decided I was going to go through and make a playlist of every song on every polka medley in order. I just finished listening to the first playlist, for "Polkas on 45", which ended up being 1 hour 14 minutes long. I wasn't really sure how I would review it, since it's basically a time capsule of songs from the mid-60s to mid-80s, so I guess I'll just do it song-by-song with short reviews for each. Keep in mind that, although these are classics, I really ignored music until the past few years so I honest-to-God have not heard the vast majority of them until this listen.

Polkas on 45

Devo - Jocko Homo: I loved this song and have decided I really need to listen to that album. It's weird and cool and stuff
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water: This song was pretty boring. I remember it being famous for its guitar riff, but that riff is not really worthy of such fame
Berlin - Sex (I'm A...): This song is pretty sonically interesting but, more importantly, is 80s synth stuff so I am inherently biased towards it.
The Beatles - Hey Jude: I can verify, Saddam, that I honestly have never consciously heard this song before. It was nice, though, up until 95% of it was "naaaaa na na nanana naaa".
The Doors - L.A. Woman: I liked this more and more as it went on, it got more interesting towards the middle.
Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: This was a very passive listen, but I actually liked it quite a bit. It's nothing I would actively listen to, but I would like to have this song on in the background while I do other stuff.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Hey Joe: Boring.
Talking Heads - Burning Down the House: This is a great track, though I was spoiled by "Remain in Light" so it's not quite as good.
Foreigner - Hot Blooded: This one sounds familiar, I've probably heard it at work. It's okay.
The Police - Every Breath You Take: I'm already quite familiar with this song and like it; I didn't so much at first, but it's grown on me.
The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go?: Back when Saddam first showed me this song I thought it was dumb, but for some reason on this listen I really, really liked it quite a bit. I don't know what's changed since then, other than me actually hearing a few of The Clash's albums, but I like this song now.
Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash: This is okay.
The Who - My Generation: It may be a novelty, but the stuttering in this song actually caught me off-guard and I actually like the song. It's not amazing, but it is good.

So overall, a mix-'n-match of good, okay and boring. Finding all the songs and putting this polka together took me hours...and there are ten more to go, so...oh boy...
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Crudblud on August 03, 2014, 12:02:47 PM
The Police - Every Breath You Take: I'm already quite familiar with this song and like it; I didn't so much at first, but it's grown on me.
I really like Synchronicity, the album that song is from.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on August 03, 2014, 01:55:19 PM
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water: This song was pretty boring. I remember it being famous for its guitar riff, but that riff is not really worthy of such fame

no you're boring

Quote
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Hey Joe: Boring.

no you're boring

Quote
Foreigner - Hot Blooded: This one sounds familiar, I've probably heard it at work. It's okay.

no you're okay

Quote
Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash: This is okay.

no you're okay
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Foxbox on August 03, 2014, 06:18:04 PM
The Police - Every Breath You Take: I'm already quite familiar with this song and like it; I didn't so much at first, but it's grown on me.
I really like Synchronicity, the album that song is from.

It is a good one. I should revisit The Police soon.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on August 05, 2014, 08:15:24 PM
Do As Infinity - Deep Forest: So I had to get this album because for months now I’ve been in love with the song “深い森” (Fukai Mori); it’s a childhood song of mine I recently rediscovered. I was shopping on Amazon for an SD card for my phone when I thought to check for this album and saw that there were a couple left for importing from Japan, so I decided to grab it on a whim. It came yesterday, I just listened now, and it is wonderful. It started out kind of generic and alright, but got better and better as it went along. The aforementioned childhood track is still my favourite because emotions, but “構造改革” (Kōzō Kaikaku) is pretty weird and wonderful, “冒険者たち” (Bōkenshatachi) was really great, and “遠雷” (Enrai) was gorgeous. I’m really glad I got this. :]
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Eddy Baby on August 06, 2014, 01:31:03 PM
The Police - Every Breath You Take: I'm already quite familiar with this song and like it; I didn't so much at first, but it's grown on me.
I really like Synchronicity, the album that song is from.

It is a good one. I should revisit The Police soon.

U should comit a crime then hehehe
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Lord Wilmore on August 07, 2014, 06:00:24 PM
Beach House - Bloom


It is where I keep my big feelings.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on August 29, 2014, 08:57:01 AM
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space: This is a really wonderful album. It’s very pretty and quite awesome at some points, but for the most part it’s its own kind of mellow and chillaxed. My favourite songs on this are the ones that build slowly rather than abruptly shift, and the ones that focus on love because I really love the sorta abstract way he writes about it. There were some songs I didn’t really like (“Stay with Me”, also “Electricity” to an extent), but most of them I thoroughly enjoyed. My favourite is easily the opening and title track, “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space”, which is a very dreamy, out-there love song. Second is the closing track, “Cop Shoot Cop…” which is 17 minutes long and wonderful. Aside from those, “The Individual”, “Broken Heart” and “No God Only Religion” are magnificent and the rest are very good. I am glad to have listen.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 29, 2014, 06:51:35 PM
What's the point of recommending albums if you never listen to the recommendations?
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on August 29, 2014, 09:28:51 PM
Meant to post this a few hours after Spiritualized, but I had to rush to work right after the album finished

Merzbow - Takahe Collage: Damn fine listen. The first track, “Takahe Collage”, is standard Merzbow (with some really weird sounds at the start); the second track, “Tendeko”, is absolutely wonderful and—in its last several minutes—absolutely fucking wonderful; the third and final, “Grand Owl Habitat”, is the second-best of the three but almost reaches my screech limit at certain points. I am glad I listen.

What's the point of recommending albums if you never listen to the recommendations?

What's the point of fuck you
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 29, 2014, 09:52:01 PM
Fine, continue listening to shitty space rock for all I care.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on August 29, 2014, 10:18:41 PM
Okay
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on August 29, 2014, 10:38:59 PM
space rock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJh9OLlXenM

Rock of space.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Foxbox on August 29, 2014, 10:42:30 PM
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space is a fantastic album. I am happy that you liked it, Snupes. And like usual, out favorites are pretty much the same! :D
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 29, 2014, 10:51:00 PM
space rock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJh9OLlXenM

Rock of space.

Still their best album.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on August 30, 2014, 04:39:43 AM
Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill: Okay, so I always thought of the Beastie Boys as a throwaway silly white rap act. I cannot overstate how much of a shock it was, then, that this album was actually seriously fucking awesome. They are silly, but in a very on-purpose way rather than the corny “80s white people rap” I thought it was. A lot of the stuff is very satirical and making fun of rap and music and pop culture and it’s great; they’re a very self-aware group and the way they use it to be silly and fun while still having genuinely great rhymes and fucking wonderful beats is just marvelous. I said on IRC that it seems like they’re the Beach Boys of hip hop, and I stand by that after having finished. Their vocal interplay is impeccable, the way they drop in and out and switch rappers in the middle of a rhyme or a word or back each other up just seals the deal. This album is amazing. My favourites are “She’s Crafty” (first track to make me laugh out loud), “Girls” (which is absolutely fucking ridiculous) and “Time to Get Ill” (which is just really awesome and a great ending). Those are my favourites for sure, but the rest are really damn awesome too. The only song I didn’t really care much for was “Slow Ride” because of the sample. But yeah, fucking awesome, so thanks to Foxbox for recommending I grab it since it was $5 on Amazon.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 04, 2014, 06:23:54 AM
The Dandelion Wars - We Were Always Loyal to Lost Causes: Well, I can’t honestly say I loved it, but this was really good. I guess my only problem is that it kind of feels like post-rock lite after I’ve listened to a bunch of stuff like Swans and Their Silver Mt. Zion Cherry-Picking Dwarves & Post-Ampersand Band or whatever. I prefer the ones that switch it up a little more (“The Devil’s Black Wool” is my favourite) or the ones that are just really pretty (“Bloom”, “Strange Ghosts”), and overall it was a really good listen, but aside from the few I pointed out there nothing really stood out as a track. So yeah. I really enjoyed it as a listen, but I can’t say I found it amazing.

The Glitch Mob - Love Death Immortality: Well, that disappointingly didn’t live up to how much of an amazing album Drink the Sea was. This was mostly standard “electronic verse repeated a few times with drops” fare, and the ones that strayed from that formula weren’t particularly novel or very interesting themselves. It’s an enjoyable listen, but there was nothing amazing, whereas the former album was (IMO) amazing. The one track I loved here was “Skullclub”, just for how intense and fun it was. Second-best would probably be “Beauty of the Unhidden Heart (feat. Sister Crayon)”, which was just really pretty. A few tracks showed a lot of promise, but never really went anywhere with it. Ah well.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 08, 2014, 05:47:39 AM
Buddy Holly - Buddy Holly: This was pretty hit-and-miss, as the songs were either really fun or pretty dull. For the most part I liked them, yet still some of them felt like half-assed tracks that didn’t really have much to offer. I will say, though, I love how short most of them are. The best is easily “Ready Teddy” which, despite extremely dated lingo, is very fun and is the rock ‘n roll I was kinda hoping for. “Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues” is extremely simple and short, but I love it perhaps for that; “Listen to Me” is painfully cheesy but has a great melody; “I’m Gonna Love You Too” is pretty repetitive but I like. Other than “(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care”, I’m not much a fan of the rest, but it wasn’t bad.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 17, 2014, 12:54:51 PM
Panic! at the Disco - Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!: So this was disappointing. :] It’ll probably grow on me over time, though, since every Panic! album I’ve listened to I didn’t like too much at first then grew to love over time. It’s just that usually their albums are really varied, whereas this is sort of standard alt. rock fare at times. It’s also not as bizarre as I was hoping it would be, given the title, since how weird “A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out” was was a big part of why it grew on me despite being a badly-made album. Anyway, yeah. I appreciate the electronicness since they always try a new style on each album. My favourite song is easily “Girl That You Love” thanks to the weird vocals and new wave sound, second is “The End of All Things” which is slow and pretty and not something they’d done before, followed by “Girls/Girls/Boys” which I thought I’d hate because the video looked like some sexy, sulky song while it’s actually really upbeat with fantastic vocals. So wheeeee new panic
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 19, 2014, 03:46:28 AM
So, I've decided I'm going to try to listen to at least one album a day, with a specific focus on mainly listening to stuff that's on my damn list already. That said, this first listen is important because it's one of the first albums I ever put on any sort of "must-listen-to" list, a while before this list was even an actual thing. With that out of the way...


The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High: I liked the first song, but as it was playing I knew that this album was either going to be really enjoyable or very, very mediocre and samey. I’ve heard enough power pop/pop punk groups to know that those are really the only two avenues they go with me. Unfortunately, this was the latter of the two. Basically all of the songs sound more or less the same, follow the same format and are about sex with various circumstance changes. It wasn’t all bad—“Crowded Room” starts out great and becomes pretty good, and “About a Girl” is pleasantly power pop—but for the most part it was just dull.

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You: I always thought Lily Allen was kind of generic, vapid pop, but boy was I wrong. This album was absolutely wonderful. I wasn’t too sure about it at first, but when you have a prude like me smirking at a song entirely about sex (“Not Fair”), you’re doing something right. “22” is a really sweet, sad track, and “Back to the Start” is nice, but I really fell in love with the album at “Never Gonna Happen”. The music is so odd (accordion synthpop??) and bizarre and amazing that I could not resist it. Having the song “Fuck You” as a follow-up (which had me giggling the the cheerful “fuck you very, very much!”s permeating the track) sealed the deal.

Those two are easily my favourites, but “Who’d Have Known” deserves a mention for being a genuinely sweet love song rather than a cliché piece of work like most love songs are. “Him” is a neat track as well, for pondering God without being pretentious, dismissive or overly-silly. Just plain pondering some mundane things about Him and having a bit of fun.

So yeah, I was very, very, very pleasantly surprised by this album. I’m definitely going to have to check out more of her stuff. She reminds me a lot of Regina Spektor, and a bit of Marina and the Diamonds, but with a much more electronic edge and a bit more sass. I love it.

Panda Bear - Person Pitch: I don’t like Panda Bear’s singing, at least when it’s at the forefront like in the opening track, but when it’s more of a background thing or so vague that you can barely even tell it’s singing, I love the effect it has on the music. Not to mention the fact that the music itself is wonderful; electronic, psychedelic experimentation and samples galore. The first two songs were just alright, but from then on it was quite wondrous. There’s no shortage of creativity on this album, that’s for sure. It also helped once I stopped trying to pay attention to the lyrics, because I honestly found them kind of cringe-worthy. Very good album and definitely recommend. My favourite track is easily “Search for Delicious”, which is strange and fantastic, followed by the atrociously-punctuated “Bro’s”.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 20, 2014, 06:46:07 PM
Blur - Parklife: This was a really good album! Not quite as good as I expected, but its best moments lived up to expectations. The rest was good, just not as good as I’d hoped. It’s a good album and I don’t really have much more to say. My favourite tracks were “Girls & Boys”, “London Loves” and “Lot 105”.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 20, 2014, 07:01:40 PM
Blur - Parklife: This was a really good album! Not quite as good as I expected, but its best moments lived up to expectations. The rest was good, just not as good as I’d hoped. It’s a good album and I don’t really have much more to say. My favourite tracks were “Girls & Boys”, “London Loves” and “Lot 105”.

I love Blur. My favorites off that album are: "Badhead", "Trouble in the Message Centre", and "Clover Over Dover" (this one probably being my favorite). I have problems with the singles on this album, especially "Girls & Boys". There's just something about that song that bothers me. It feels like a shameless money-grab song. Other than that, Parklife is a bit overrated in my opinion. It's very hit or miss. Modern Life is Rubbish is much much better.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 22, 2014, 12:49:55 AM
I loved "Girls & Boys". It's just really well-produced and musically interesting, I think, more so than most of the other songs.


Darren Hayes - The Tension and the Spark: So I’ve actually heard this album before (it’s the album that got me into Darren Hayes in the first place), but it’s been so long that I didn’t really remember any of the songs (except for two or three). And Christ, it’s even better than I remember. It started out good, got better, then got amazing. Whether it’s sexy (“I Like the Way”), catchy and amazingly-produced (“Pop!ular”), sad (“Unlovable”), gorgeous (“Feel”), or absolute perfection (“Ego”), everything about it was top notch. His voice is easily my favourite from any musical artist. His falsetto is a national treasure and I would absolutely trade voices with him even if it meant having a guy voice. I love it that much. I’m absolutely going to be listening to all these songs more. What a perfect
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Particle Person on September 22, 2014, 12:53:06 AM
giwrls oo loik boys oo loik giwrls oo loik boys oo awre giwrls oo loik boys oo are giwrls oo dig bois loik thew're giwrls
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 22, 2014, 12:58:09 AM
What a perfect
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Particle Person on September 22, 2014, 01:21:57 AM
Are you familiar with Blind Pilot, Snupes? I suggested the album Three Rounds and a Sound a long time ago, but I think it was buried in the millions of shit dadrock suggestions people were giving at the time. Oh nevermind, it is on the list. Surrounded by shitrock: dad's greatest hits, I bet.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 22, 2014, 05:27:27 PM
Are you familiar with Blind Pilot, Snupes? I suggested the album Three Rounds and a Sound a long time ago, but I think it was buried in the millions of shit dadrock suggestions people were giving at the time. Oh nevermind, it is on the list. Surrounded by shitrock: dad's greatest hits, I bet.

Surprisingly it's actually immediately surrounded by relatively recent stuff. Then dadrock, of course, around that


Blind Pilot - 3 Rounds and a Sound: My biggest complaint with this album is that it all sort of blends together, so I can’t really recall many of the songs specifically, but it was a very good listen. It’s a very folky thing and it’s very, very pretty. I can tell you my two favourite songs were “Oviedo” and “3 Rounds and a Sound”, which were bother pretty beautiful and well-written. The writing on the album is superb, even if a large markjority of the time I’m not sure what the song is actually about. It’s just lyrically interesting regardless. So yes, very many good. I'm a sucker for this kind of music.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Particle Person on September 22, 2014, 06:30:29 PM
I'm a sucker for this kind of music.

I knew it! Blind Pilot is great for curling up with your ten cats on a rainy day and having a long think about your emotions.

I agree that the songs blend together. Well, except for Bitter End which is unique in that it's the only track on the album I don't like.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 22, 2014, 07:15:11 PM
I recommend Nickelback's Here and Now. Great album.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on September 22, 2014, 08:07:35 PM
I recommend Nickelback's Here and Now. Great album.
0/10
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 22, 2014, 08:16:43 PM
Didn't think I'd ever write this much about Queen.


Queen - A Night at the Opera: This is the first time I’ve actually heard a Queen album. Gotta say, within the first few songs it was pretty good but not really amazing. It was pretty much what I expected from 70s hard/prog rock. Then “’39” played and holy *hell*. That song was amazing. I could write an entire review on it alone. As someone considering going to school for physics because of how much I love it, a whole song about space travel and faster-than-light travel and its implications written beautifully by someone who is clearly a talented writer…wow. Turns out it was written and sung by Brian May. So much newfound respect for him.

That was followed by “Sweet Lady”, which…after an amazingly-written tale about space travel…lines like “you call me ‘sweet’ like I’m some kind of cheese waiting on the shelf” do not quite cut it anymore.

Then “Seaside Rendezvous” happens and it’s so, so marvelous and fabulous and just wonderful. I love tunes and melodies like this. Freddie Mercury wrote it, so I was glad to find that he can do much more than the standard heavy prog-rock the group is known for.

Then the Brian May-written “The Prophet’s Song” happened, and gafjdk. I knew May was apparently a talented guitarist, but I didn’t have so much respect for him until now. That song is amazing and epic and wondrous.

Once again to Freddie’s credit, “Love of My Life” is insanely gorgeous. It’s so simple, but so so beautiful. But then Brian May happens (and sings) again on “Good Company” and it’s fantastic yet again. Then “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which is wonderful but I’ve heard it so much on the radio and TV and what have you that I’m pretty tired of it as a song, or at least numbed to it.

So yeah. Call this blasphemy, but I actually sort of wish Queen had been fronted by Brian May instead. He’s an amazingly gifted writer and songsmith. As a writer myself, it’s so exciting when I hear songs like his that are written so damn masterfully. All in all, I was way more into this than I ever expected, or at least half of it.


EDIT: Okay, listening to "'39" again and legitimately crying. I love this song.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 23, 2014, 10:18:23 PM
Public Image Ltd. - First Issue: So damn. This was not at all what I expected from this album, but I loved nearly every second of it. I can absolutely see why people call Public Image Ltd. arguably the first post-rock band, because damn. I’m not sure that label completely fits them, but I can see how it could be considered part of the origin of the genre because some of the songs certainly exemplify its traits (particularly the wonderful 9-minute long opener, “Theme”). That track is one of my favourites. Another is “Public Image”, which is exactly what I wanted from the Sex Pistols. They disappointed me because they had the punk spirit but not much musical talent. This track, however, is an amazing song with burning punk anger behind it and it’s fantastic. That song is exactly what I want from punk music. That’s why I love the genre. The final track, “Fodderstompf”, is absolutely bizarre and I love it for that. I don’t really know how to explain it as a song. Go listen to it. It’s wonderfully weird. The tracks in-between those three are all good as well, but those three to me form sort of a perfect musical triptych and are really what I’ve taken away from it. It is great. Totally recommend to anyone who likes punk or experimentation.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 23, 2014, 10:52:31 PM
Public Image Ltd. - First Issue: So damn. This was not at all what I expected from this album, but I loved nearly every second of it. I can absolutely see why people call Public Image Ltd. arguably the first post-rock band, because damn. I’m not sure that label completely fits them, but I can see how it could be considered part of the origin of the genre because some of the songs certainly exemplify its traits (particularly the wonderful 9-minute long opener, “Theme”). That track is one of my favourites. Another is “Public Image”, which is exactly what I wanted from the Sex Pistols. They disappointed me because they had the punk spirit but not much musical talent. This track, however, is an amazing song with burning punk anger behind it and it’s fantastic. That song is exactly what I want from punk music. That’s why I love the genre. The final track, “Fodderstompf”, is absolutely bizarre and I love it for that. I don’t really know how to explain it as a song. Go listen to it. It’s wonderfully weird. The tracks in-between those three are all good as well, but those three to me form sort of a perfect musical triptych and are really what I’ve taken away from it. It is great. Totally recommend to anyone who likes punk or experimentation.

Post-punk.

If you like that you'll like Metal Box & The Flowers of Romance too. I have both of them on vinyl. Yeah. I'm cool.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 24, 2014, 06:32:36 PM
I plan to listen to them.


Wintersun - Wintersun: I thought this album was alright. Far too much ugh growling for my taste, but the music was good most of the time and when there was singing instead I liked it. I’m too tired to say a lot about it, but yeah, it was a purdy gud ablum. 7/10 might recommend. Favourites were “Starchild” and “Beautiful Death”.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 28, 2014, 11:20:04 PM
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced: So. This was good. There were great songs (“May This Be Love”, “I Don’t Live Today”), there were good songs (“Love or Confusion”, “The Wind Cries Mary”), and there were songs I thought were terrible (“Manic Depression”, “Hey Joe”) or just meh (“Foxy Lady”, “Fire”). Then there’s “Are You Experienced?”, the closing track, and easily the most wonderful track. It’s seemingly about doing LSD (which, given Hendrix, is probably right) and it shows.  It’s got weird backward guitar(?), feedback and strange sounds over vague lyrics about whether or not the listener has done drugs, but the music is absolutely wonderful.

To skip around a bit now, “May This Be Love” had wonderful, relaxing drums and gentle guitar licks that just made me feel really relaxed, and “I Don’t Live Today” was pretty good until halfway through hit and it became great psychedelic rock. “The Wind Cries Mary” I liked pretty much mainly for the lyrics. “Hey Joe” was just incredibly boring by Hendrix standards, and “Foxy Lady” is just notable because his little “a-heh”s after every other line started driving me insane. But yeah, the two greats and “Are You Experienced?” are my favourites, especially the latter, and this was a pretty good album. I wish all of it was willing to go a little more off the wall like the closer, because it’s a shame that someone so influenced by the “freedom” experienced from LSD and that kind of drug was so adherent to standard musical structure, particularly the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-guitar solo-chorus of the era and genre.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 29, 2014, 07:47:50 PM
Gorillaz - Demon Days: No Gorillaz fan I know had really ever been able to give me a straight answer on whether it’s mostly rap like “Feel Good Inc.” or mostly Damon Albarn singing, tending to lead toward the former, so I sort of avoided them because I can’t stand the rap portions of that song. Well, figured I’d finally get around to it, and, what do you know, only a few songs have rapping on them. I wasn’t blown away by the album, I do feel like a lot of musical creativity and potential was sort of squandered, but it’s a really good, solid album nonetheless. “O Green World” was the first sign of “oh wow” for me, and “Dirty Harry” was the first potential “oh wow” that was ruined by average rap in it. The only song I thought had solid rapping was “All Alone”, which actually benefited from it while still being interesting musically.

Those out of the way, I also liked the odd jazziness of “Every Planet We Reach Is Dead”, the prettiness of “El Mañana”, the funness of “Dare” and the nice, light, pleasant darkness of “Don’t Get Lost in Heaven”. All that being said, I absolutely freaking love “White Light”. It is, hands-down, my favourite track. It’s weird, interesting and absolutely wonderful. It is just…I don’t know, it’s just the closest to amazing they get for me. It’s seriously, well, amazing.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on September 30, 2014, 09:59:24 PM
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing.....: Though not quite as mind-blowing as its reviews made it out to be, this is still a really frickin’ great album. It’s arguably instrumental hip hop, trip hop or plunderphonics (music made completely from samples of other sources, often twisted and remixed to an unrecognizable extent) depending on which song you’re listening to and who you ask, but DJ Shadow gives a master class in producing here. Even when I wasn’t totally into a song, I couldn’t help but sit there and admire how finely crafted every single song was. This had a hell of a lot of work put into it and it shows. It’s a work of art to be beheld, that’s for sure. It’s hard to address any song on its own because it’s really all something that should be enjoyed from start to finish, but my favourites were “Stem/Long Stem / Transmission 2” and “Mutual Slump”, the latter of which sampled Björk so no wonder.

I don’t have a whole lot to say, but if you ever have time to just have music on in the background for about an hour, maybe while you do other stuff, I highly recommend you at least just put this on and enjoy it, even if you don’t really stop to appreciate it too closely. It’s just a really, really wonderful slice of art that, even if I didn’t fall in love with it, I respect deeply.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 01, 2014, 05:12:38 PM
Plastic Flowers - Natural Conspiracy: Very pretty EP. Dreamy dream pop/shoegaze stuff that doesn’t stand out a lot but is certainly a pleasure to listen to. The only two that really stood out to me were the two final tracks, “Fake Leaves” and “White Walls Painted Black”.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Rama Set on October 01, 2014, 05:48:03 PM
The Raveonettes - Pe'Ahi: If you like the Stone Roses then this album rocks.  If not, then you are screwed.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on October 01, 2014, 06:17:31 PM
The Raveonettes - Pe'Ahi: If you like the Stone Roses then this album rocks.  If not, then you are screwed.

Lust Lust Lust is really good too.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 02, 2014, 09:29:38 PM
Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You: I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this album, but it ended up being pretty amazing. Neko Case is clearly a very talented lyricist and I love just about each word of her songs, even when I’m not entirely sure what they’re about. She knows when to let her lyrics be flowery and when to be very blunt, when to be precise and when to be vague. Not to mention she has a very, very nice voice and the instrumentation to her songs is always great. There wasn’t a single song on here I didn’t enjoy considerably. I do have favourites (“Nearly Midnight, Honolulu” and “Where Did I Leave That Fire”), but only because they’re a notch better than the others.

This is probably the closest I’ve gotten to liking country, since this music could honestly be labeled either alternative rock or alternative country depending on who you ask, but it’s great it either way. Absolutely recommend it.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 06, 2014, 09:45:46 PM
Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn: Started out pretty good, the first few songs were very nice but didn’t really catch my attention a whole lot. “Matilda Mother”, however, drew me in and made me pay a little more attention though, because it’s a wonderful mix of gorgeous and weird. “Pow R. Toc H.” was awesome, “Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk”s stutteriness was great. “Insterstellar Overdrive” is almost ten minutes long but is a hell of a ride, in a good way. “The Gnome” was eh, “Chapter 24” was very pretty, “Scarecrow” was weir, catchy and nice. Then “Bike”…that might be my favourite Floyd song. I listened to a stereo mix, I don’t know if it’s much different but wow, the weird all-over-the-place mixing of the vocals is absolutely disorienting in the most amazing of ways. I love how it abruptly cuts to the beginning of a verse just as the chorus starts it on a climax, and the cacophonous ending just making you feel like you’re in some bizarre, off-the-wall cartoon. It’s fitting this closes the one album Syd got to helm, with how eccentric he apparently was. And a wonderful ending it was.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 08, 2014, 01:22:39 AM
Two new Owl City songs!! I will listen and then finish this post.


You're Not Alone (feat. Britt Nicole): This is okay. Better than some of the stuff he's been releasing recently. It's very generically pop though, specifically Christian pop, and is just not something I expect to listen to a lot. Britt Nicole adds nothing to the song and all the musical progressions are predictable and the lyrics are all "God man you're so great". Disappoint.

Tokyo (feat. SEKAI NO OWARI): Definitely the most musically interesting song he's released in a year or so. The lyrics are almost abstract and I had a little glimmer of hope in my heart when I was first hearing them, but once I realized that after the chorus it's basically the first verse, pre-chorus and chorus repeated for the rest of the song. I wish he wasn't so focused on being musically on-point nowadays, everything's too refined. I miss when his stuff was a bit more reckless, all over the place and he didn't always bother having his vocals be perfectly in time with the music/beat or having a regular rhythm. Not gonna listen to this too much either.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 09, 2014, 03:16:30 AM
Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour: I don’t really like the first few and last songs on this album—they’re good, but kind of typical R&B/pop—but the middle is pretty damn amazing. In particular, I love “I’m Not the Only One” for its beautiful, sad lyrics; I love “I’ve Told You Now” for the bit of anger he lets through vocally and how he’s showing more of that side; and I love “Like I Can” for expanding how he’s willing to use his voice in different ways, when most of the album is all sang quite similarly. “Money on My Mind” is actually quite interestingly good, and a bit of a subversion of what I thought it would be, and “Lay Me Down” actually gets quite excellent near the end, but yeah.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on October 09, 2014, 03:05:56 PM
listen to wax fang.

You obviously don't know how this thread works.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on October 09, 2014, 05:19:02 PM
Why do you keep making the same post and then deleting it, Vongeo?
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Particle Person on October 09, 2014, 05:40:31 PM
Probably so that a "new" post will show up repeatedly, to maximize attention and annoyance.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: spoon on October 09, 2014, 11:52:47 PM
Don't listen to wax fang.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Blanko on October 10, 2014, 06:54:43 PM
dear vongeo

pls stop

thx
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on October 10, 2014, 08:26:26 PM
listen to wax fang
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 11, 2014, 11:00:44 AM
Fax Wang is my fabourite
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 11, 2014, 07:04:54 PM
Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets: This was pretty damn good, not sure if I liked it more or less than The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Probably a bit less, but I dunno. “Set the Controls” was gorgeously atmospheric. “Corporal Clegg” was awesome with decent lyrics. “See-Saw” was pretty. The two tracks I really loved were “A Saucerful of Secrets”, which was amazing and all over the place and just wonderful, and “Jugband Blues”, which was sort of Syd’s farewell and was just great. I love the build-up to a length of loud sounds nixed by an abrupt cut near the end, followed by a serene final verse. Makes me really sad that Syd left and faded into obscurity so early on.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 12, 2014, 10:33:30 PM
Giorgio Moroder - From Here to Eternity: As a synth fanatic I was told this album was a necessary listen for me, and I’m pretty glad I took it up. The massive abuse of vocoder was actually pretty great, and Giorgio Moroder is a pretty damn great producer if nothing else. The synth was wonderful, the strange vocal effects and weird sounds were wonderful, and the songs were catchy and great. I like. My favourites were "Lost Angeles" for the wavering synth, horse-cops and distorted vocals and "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" for the fact that it sounds like a K.K. Slider tune.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on October 12, 2014, 10:48:23 PM
I haven't listened to that one in a long time. I remember people recommending it to me because I like synth too, and it was pretty impressive for its time.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Vongeo on October 13, 2014, 12:34:00 AM
listen to wax fang-majestic. pls
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 13, 2014, 08:49:43 AM
^ Is Majestic an album?


Charli XCX - True Romance: Last.fm has been recommending Charli XCX to me for years, and since I liked her in Icona Pop’s “I Love it” and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy”, I figured I’d finally give her album a listen. The verdict is…I don’t know. The album is equal parts great and amazingly generic. It swings back and forth between those two extremes with a finesse I have never seen before. “Nuclear Seasons” is very interesting musically with ‘eh’ lyricism, then “You (Ha Ha Ha)” comes in and is absolutely wonderful, followed immediately by the greatly generic “Take My Hand”, and it goes on that way for a while. Anyway, I find the best songs on this are the ones where she sings incredibly bluntly about love. On “Set Me Free” she equates love with such violent imagery that I’ve never seen before and it’s magnificent in a sort of painful way. It’s not a happy song, but it’s great. “Black Roses”, possibly my favourite (tied with “You (Ha Ha Ha)”), is another one that’s heavy on imagery for the better. It’s a very, very hopeless song and is beautiful because of it. The only other really noteworthy song is the closer, “Lock You Up”, which is incredibly poppy but I find it to actually be a great ending. It’s a very genuine song about the fickleness of love, how being wonderfully in love today doesn’t guarantee that the love will last, no matter how real it is, and the desire to be able to just lock it up exactly how it is and keep it that way forever. But yeah, anyway, the album is very 50/50 and I don’t know whether or not to recommend it because it’s so all-over-the-place. When it’s good it’s really good, but when it’s generic it’s really generic. Just listen to tracks 1, 2, 4, 10 and 13 and you’ll be good to go.

White Lung - It's the Evil: So damn. I’m a big fan of punk music, but I don’t as much like the pop punk that’s been branded as ‘punk’ for a long time now. I’m fascinated by the Sex Pistols and love The Clash’s earlier work, and after hearing that this band was the first band in a long time to do “real” punk I had to check them out. And, man, I think that’s a pretty fair assessment. They definitely have the attitude and the sound to pull it off, not giving a damn (probably even enjoying) if things are harsh and grating, alternating between shouting, singing and screaming as necessary and always keeping emotions running high. I don’t know how to pick favourites, I literally loved every single song on this album. I love that it forgoes choruses in favour of 1-3 minutes of pure punk rush. Choruses are terrible. Anyway, the two I loved the most would probably be “Psychoholic” and “Like Dad”, at least in the moment.

White Lung - Deep Fantasy: This one didn’t have as many moments I loved as “It’s the Evil”, but it was much more consistent. Because of that I really can’t pick favourites, I liked all of the songs basically the same.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Vongeo on October 13, 2014, 10:31:41 PM
I think there is a creepy baby on it.

Edit: It's called la la land.

But I think I'd rather recommend king of the kingdom of man

Edit: No la la land is better.
Edit: due to the nature of the connotation of your genitalia you'd probably  like mirror mirror best.

Edit: You may find the guys voice annoying at first 
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Shane on October 14, 2014, 04:06:05 AM
My recommendation was almost 2 years ago, the Atmosphere one.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 14, 2014, 06:46:31 PM
The xx - xx: This was a whole lot more minimalist than I expected, but it’s definitely a very pretty album. It was very hushed and each song sets a pretty specific tone and manages to set itself apart from the others fairly well, in my opinion. Romy and Oliver make a very good duo, and you can tell how close their friendship is just through the way they trade lyrics and work off of one another in the songs, it’s really just interesting to observe. But anyway, I can’t say I *loved* the album but I definitely enjoyed it a lot. The songs I did love, though, were “Basic Space”, “Infinity” and “Stars”. It’s worth noting, as well, that I was very fond of their lyrics and will probably be listening more for that, too.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!: Man, this was all over the place. Not quality-wise—it was very consistently very good—but in terms of sound. “Synthpunk” is generally a good descriptor, but it also manages to be really fun and really gorgeous. “Soft Shock” is vaguely reminiscent of The Postal Service, mostly just the background noises and overall sounds, how sort of quaint and bloopy they are. “Runaway” is great, and my fav fav is “Little Shadows”, which is just insanely gorgeous and I have a weird obsession with shadows and the idea of shadows, particularly as imagery and in music. But yeah, this was a pretty damn wonderful album and I highly recommend to anyone who is a human.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 16, 2014, 06:40:53 PM
Public Image Ltd. - Metal Box: I think I like this more than First Issue, but there weren’t any songs on this I loved as much as “Fodderstompf”, which is still my favourite Public Image Ltd. song by far. I can definitely see how this could be considered post-rock’s progenitor, it has many of the same qualities, though more punk-y and in smaller doses (which I’m kind of grateful for, since post-rock albums go on for infinity+ hours). It was really great. My favourite songs on it were “Socialist” and “Radio 4”, followed by “Chant”, “Memories”, “Careering”, and “Bad Baby”.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on October 27, 2014, 07:13:21 PM
want moar reviews
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on October 28, 2014, 10:40:29 PM
listen to mouse rat
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 05, 2014, 05:04:04 AM
Listened to this weeks ago and forgot to post:


Thin Lizard Dawn - Thin Lizard Dawn: I was actually really impressed with this. A lot of the songs are extremely catch while also being genuinely really good songs, and the instrument work and production is pretty fantastic. It’s hard to describe their sounds since their songs are pretty all-over-the-place, but it is, at the very least, alternative rock. I’m not very wordy today so forgive the lack of description and the succinctness of this review, but it was really good. Some songs I wasn’t as fond of (“Weed” and “Say What You Want”, for example) because they’re pretty straightforward while most of the album has set the precedent of being rather unpredictable and willing to switch it up in the middle of a song, but anyway. “Killing Charlie” is my second-favourite track, followed by “Happy/Loonies”, “Anesthesia” and “Power Intro” all tied for third. My favourite, however, is the closer, “Heavily Addicted”. It’s essentially a short song followed by 17-ish minutes of silence followed by what are basically five or so unrelated, almost experimental songs. And all of them are wonderful. I’d love to have them individually but, alas, it looks as if they’re meant to be in one track. Anyway, it was very gud.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 20, 2014, 01:03:29 AM
Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien: The verdict is in, and…well. I had good expectations of this album because I’ve been a pretty hardcore My Chemical Romance fan, and I like Gerard. I was really upset about their break-up and figured this was the closest we would get to new MCR, though that it wouldn’t live up to their albums. And, well…never thought I’d say this, but…if MCR breaking up gave us this album…I can actually accept the break-up. The album is really, really, really freaking good. Like, I actually like it a lot more than “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge” and “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys”. “The Black Parade” is still one of my all-time favourites, but I actually enjoyed this more than most of MCR’s work. That’s a beautiful thing. Wikipedia classifies the album as “alternative rock, brit-pop & post-punk”, and post-punk is the most applicable of the three. It’s borderline noise-rock or noise-pop and I love it. There’s so much going on, so many little flourishes and screeches, emotion and pure noise, layers and distortion and just overpowering sound. “The Bureau” was a good start, and the ending of “Millions” deserves a song of its own, but “Juarez” is where it gets really cranked up to 11.

Lyrically this is all less bleak than MCR’s work often is, but it’s just as dark, if not darker. “Get the Gang Together”, for example, deals with old friends dying, fading away, leading new lives (one undergoing a gender transition, even) and things like that. Others deal with love, life, etc. There’s hints of MCR throughout, but overall this is very, very much Gerard Way. If you’re listening just for more MCR, I probably wouldn’t bother too much. That said, it does continue the My Chemical Romance tradition of ending albums on an optimistic note, with an anthem worthy of “Famous Last Words” or “Vampire Money”. Personally I would have ended with “Millions”, because that finish would have left a wonderful taste in my mouth, but…ah well. Anyway, my point is this album is absolutely wonderful and actually (IMO) better than most of what My Chemical Romance did. And that’s saying something, because I love them to death. My point is, Gerard’s got a hell of a career ahead of him, and I can’t imagine a better start than this. Count me in.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on November 20, 2014, 01:10:08 AM
I hate MCR, but this album interests me. Seems like most of my favorite genres rolled into one. I'm still a bit hesitant though. No pun.

I like the David Bowie-esque album cover.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 01, 2014, 09:32:30 PM
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother: This was…interesting, to say the least. In a good way, but not a particularly amazing way in my opinion. “Atom Heart Mother” and “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast” were interesting to listen to, but aren’t really tracks I feel any desire to listen to again. That’s not to say they were a bad experience—they were quite good—but mostly as a sort of curiosity. “If” was really pleasant and “Summer ‘68” was very nice as well (not as much so lyrically, but who cares), and surprisingly I preferred those two to the two big tracks. I definitely preferred The Piper at the Gates of Dawn to this album, though, and probably A Saucerful of Secrets as well. So yeah.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 02, 2014, 08:48:51 PM
I've been listening to Hesitant Alien today. I'm liking it so far, but I think it's going to be one of those albums that I'll have to listen to a few times before I get the full experience. It's much more mature than his work with MCR, which I appreciate.

Speaking of Pink Floyd, I think the first track on Hesitant Alien uses the same dial tone phone noise used on Pink Floyd's The Wall.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 04, 2014, 11:06:33 AM
^ It is ver good


Pink Floyd - Meddle: I definitely prefer this to Atom Heart Mother, but I don’t like it as much as either of their first two albums. I really think Syd is my favourite member of the band, without him the music just isn’t as appealing to me for whatever reason. It might be more technical and the band members may be far improved, but it’s just not as different and idiosyncratic as before. It sounds like a whole lot of prog. rock now. Granted, “One of These Days” is an amazing track and one of my favourite Floyd tracks, and “Echoes” is really good as well, but everything between ranged from “eh” to “that was pretty good”. “A Pillow of Winds” and “San Tropez” are the two “that was pretty good” tracks, and they were, well, pretty good. This was mostly worth it for having the original version of “One of These Days”, rather than a recording by a certain forum-goer, “One of These Doctors”.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 07, 2014, 10:28:40 AM
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today: This did not have a promising start, but a few songs in I found myself acclimating to Ariel’s unique blend of lo-fi aural textures and lack of any real attempts at any normal type of singing. I’m listening to this partly out of curiosity, but mostly to get some context for my eventual listen of his latest solo release, “pom pom”, which has piqued and maintained my curiosity for quite a while now. It’s a good album, that’s for sure. Great? I don’t know. It could be, but it feels like, through the middle, it hits a point and sound and more or less stays there. The tracks are all consistently good, but none very stand-out in the frame of reference of the entire album. Some have sections that do (“L’estat (Acc. to the Widow’s Maid)” becomes glorious near the end, for example), but as a whole it’s sort of a blur. Until the last few tracks, at least. “Reminiscences” isn’t much better than the rest before it (which, I want to clarify once more, is still praise), but it signals the start of change, even if it only lasts a few songs. Second-to-last is “Menopause Man”, which I figured would be the highlight as it’s eventually chaotic and much more varied than the tracks before it, but the final track, “Revolution’s a Lie”, is just amazing and great and I like it very much and it’s good. Hopefully the next album is even better, because I feel like this really had potential to blow me away that it didn’t quite reach. ver gud band gud abum 7.74/10.001
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 07, 2014, 12:41:10 PM
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes: Well, that was much more of a ride than the last album. On the plus side, many of the songs were far, far better than anything on Before Today. On the downside, several were far worse than anything on Before Today. It hit higher highs and lower lows, much more variant in quality. I’ll take it, though, because we get amazing songs like “Is This the Best Spot?”, “Mature Themes” and the gorgeous “Nostradamus & Me”. We also get (comparatively) shitty tracks like “Driftwood” and “Baby (feat. Dam-Funk)”, but it’s a tradeoff I’ll take. The group’s musical ability has clearly improved as has the breadth of their scope in general, what sorts of sounds and music they want to tackle, and it’s at least a great experience track-to-track seeing what they’re going to do and how they’re going to do it. So while this doesn’t really leave an overall as-good impression as the album prior, when it’s good it’s so good that I’d take it over the other any day. His lyrics vary so much between interesting (“Mature Themes”, “Early Birds of Babylon”), so stupid they’re amusing (“Schnitzel Boogie”, “Symphony of the Nymph”), and stream-of-consciousness retardation (“Driftwood”), and I can’t tell if I like it or not. Next up, pom pom
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 09, 2014, 08:25:01 PM
Ariel Pink - pom pom: Well, it’s not quite what I was expecting from being called “avant-garde”, but it was certainly an experience. In fact, I’d say it’s probably the best album I’ve heard in quite a while, I seriously loved it. It was bizarre in places, absurd in others, and rather pleasant at times, even. I wish it was all as experimental as parts of the opening track, “Plastic Raincoats in the Pig Parade”, or as bizarre as the middle of “Dinosaur Carebears”, but nonetheless I lurv. “Four Shadows” is grimdark shitlord stuff in the best way, abstract enough that I have no idea what he’s talking about but foreboding enough for it to still have an eerie atmosphere. “Not Enough Violence” was all over the place and pretty strange, but not nearly as straight-up ridiculous as “Nude Beach a G-Go”.

Then there’s ones that I for some reason find hilarious, namely “Jell-o” and “Sexual Athletics”. “Black Ballerina” had a lot of promise in its nonsense rhymes-for-the-sake-of-rhyming verses, and I wish he’d kept up an entire song of that. I actually love that he seems to often just write whatever’s on the top of his head, not always caring too much about what he’s singing about as long as it sounds good or interesting. Finally, it finishes with “Dayzed Inn Daydreams”, which is a redux of a song from an earlier release, but much better and surprisingly pretty. I can see why this album’s pretty divisive, though, and I was the only one of the ppl I listened with that actually enjoyed it. And enjoy it quite considerably I did. I think this is one of the rare times I wholeheartedly agree with a Pitchfork review; they even said he's "the stylistic next-of-kin to Frank Zappa: satirical, divisive, and more interested in terraforming genres than neatly deconstructing them", which is actually more or less something that came to my mind as I was listening. In particular, songs like "Negativ Ed" and "Nude Beach a G-Go" brought Zappa to the forefront of my mind, and they happen to be the same songs Pitchfork listed for the same comparison. I'm glad I wasn't alone in that thought. There were some pretty boring songs as well ("Goth Bomb", "Picture Me Gone"), but I loved the rest so much that I don’t even care. I think I’ll probably listen again soon.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Crudblud on December 14, 2014, 02:12:25 PM
Listen to Farrah Abraham's My Teenage Dream Ended, it's unintentionally hilarious and oddly fascinating in ways I think you'll appreciate.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 17, 2014, 01:42:37 PM
^ I shall try to tonight


Taylor Swift - 1989: Now this was *very* hit and miss. I bought it on a whim a couple weeks ago because I saw it and realized I’d never really heard much of Taylor Swift before, while hearing some good things about the album. Finally decided to listen, and at least I can say that—based on this album—she’s better than I expected. Though I also know that this album’s supposed to be a bit of a change for her, so. A lot of the tracks are standard pop, at least enjoyably so, but several are great deviations that are wonderful songs on their own. In particular, the Jack Antonoff-produced “Out of the Woods” is seriously really great. Not exactly new territory lyric-wise, but the production is great and so is Taylor’s singing. Actually, that’s one thing I took away from this; she is a really excellent singer. The next song is “This Love”, which is just…seriously beautiful. If she moved on completely to this style, I would buy all of her albums from that point onward. Her delivery on the word “dead” in the chorus alone gave me chills. Finally, the closing track “Clean”, produced by Imogen Heap, is the highlight of it all. This would go right with “This Love” in that new style. It’s a whole song basically comparing relationships to drug addiction and it’s so weirdly great, so downtempo and pretty for such a bleak subject. The only other honourable mention is “Wildest Dreams”, really. Most of what’s left is still pretty fun pop, so I didn’t mind sitting through it; there’s really only a handful of songs I didn’t enjoy at least a bit. The opening track is the worst, it’s all uphill from there.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 17, 2014, 05:43:56 PM
Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen.  Try to give it a listen. It was released as Two Wheels Good in the US for reasons. I'm interested in what you'd think of this album. I think it's brilliant. It's a jazzy pop album, and it has a very unique feel to it. I think you'd enjoy it.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 21, 2014, 03:46:55 AM
Farrah Abraham - My Teenage Dream Ended: What the hell. I don’t even know what to think. This was so bad, but it was really, really interesting. There seemed to be so little understanding of how music functions as a whole, just random meshes of standard sounds and failed attempts at electronic “drops” and crescendos, and because of that it was just infinitely more attention-grabbing than if this were actually made by decent producers. How bad is it that I actually enjoyed a good portion of the tracks for how bizarre they were? It’s like a Frankenstein’s monster of pop music. I can’t even say what I enjoyed or hated because I can’t tell where the “ironic” enjoyment ends and the genuinely-interested enjoyment begins. What a fucking album.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Shane on December 21, 2014, 06:16:20 AM
The Room of music?
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Shane on December 21, 2014, 06:17:45 AM
What an album, Mark
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on January 03, 2015, 11:02:27 PM
Walk the Moon - Talking Is Hard: With this album, I think Walk the Moon establishes themselves as one of my favourite bands. They are amazing. They manage to balance rock, pop, interesting music and lyrics while actually making good music, rather than failing at juggling them all near-flawlessly. Overall this is way better than their debut, Walk the Moon, but I just can’t help but be disappointed that they didn’t have anything as amazing as “Iscariot”. That’s a high bar to set for me, because I love the literal shit out of that song, but oh well. It’s still a really grat album. To be honest, there probably were songs that were just as good, but today has been major shit from start and even more so to finish, and I think that tainted my listening, so I may revise this another day when I relisten. So for now, my favourites are “Up 2 U” and “Spend Your $$$”, vaguely-ironically the two with the shittiest titles. They’re not a huge leap over the other songs, all of which are almost just as amazing (save for the last two), but noticeably enough.

so yea gud muzik pls moar
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on January 11, 2015, 07:30:31 PM
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother: This was…interesting, to say the least. In a good way, but not a particularly amazing way in my opinion. “Atom Heart Mother” and “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast” were interesting to listen to, but aren’t really tracks I feel any desire to listen to again. That’s not to say they were a bad experience—they were quite good—but mostly as a sort of curiosity. “If” was really pleasant and “Summer ‘68” was very nice as well (not as much so lyrically, but who cares), and surprisingly I preferred those two to the two big tracks. I definitely preferred The Piper at the Gates of Dawn to this album, though, and probably A Saucerful of Secrets as well. So yeah.

I know I'm late to comment on this but oh well.  I happen to really like the title work but not to the degree I do a lot of other Pink Floyd stuff.  "Summer '68" on the other hand is one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs and their most underrated imo.  I like "If" too but "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is just a bit too out there for my tastes.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on January 12, 2015, 02:50:51 AM
Porter Robinson - Worlds: This was much more amazing than I expected from what I heard about it. I expected fun electro-dance songs, not…this. Not a heavy dream pop (sort-of-)concept album. A gorgeous tale of a world (or multiple worlds?) that has overcome and succumb to many tragedies, that has eventually become deserted and lifeless, inhabited by a single machine, conscious all alone on its planet. I felt like I had a glimpse to a far-away part of the universe, as if this world was real and I was actually witnessing the final moments of any sort of consciousness inhabiting it. It was happy. It was sad. It was a bittersweet adventure.

Now, obviously, I just have a way overactive imagination and I’m not sure the album’s affected anyone else as much as it affected me. In reality, I’m probably having an emotional high, an overzealous respite from the harshness of real life, over a mediocre album, but man. This inspired all sorts of feelings inside of me that I haven’t felt in a long time. An actual creative burst, a desire to create and explore, and to feel. The emotions it’s roused probably won’t last past sleep-time, after which I’ll descend back into numb depression, but I feel incredibly moved by this work just feeling these again. Dream pop used to always be my safe haven—I’d retreat into Owl City, The Sound of Arrows, Frou Frou, Azure Ray…—and this made me remember what it was like to get away from reality for an hour and think I’m happy and safe again.

Sorry for the therapy session, I didn’t intend for this when I started writing this, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the bizarre way this album has briefly made me feel like I’m alive again. It’s just a gorgeous album; mostly gone are the harsh “complextro” sounds that Porter Robinson is known for. Instead they give way to dreamy melodies and veils of hazy storytelling that says so much while saying so little. I don’t want to belittle any songs, all but “Polygon Dust” are fantastic (and even that one is still good), but my favourites are “Sad Machine” (with vocals by Avanna), “Fellow Feeling” and the gorgeous closer “Goodbye to a World” that actually made me cry for the end of a journey I didn’t actually have.

I bought this album off of Amazon two days ago on a random impulse brought on by the album cover and despite the overall consensus I’d briefly glimpsed, and I’m glad I did. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to relive this experience as fully as I just did, but if I can then I’m overjoyed to have my safe haven again. If not, well, I’m more than grateful for the brief return I got. I forgot what it was like to really feel.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on February 19, 2015, 01:15:05 AM
KONGOS - Lunatic: Half of this album is very strong, the other half is fairly weak. It’s interesting hearing what weird indie rock is like in South Africa (the album’s genre is listed as “Kwaito”, hell if I know if that’s accurate or not), and it’s pretty damn intense in a great way sometimes. Namely “Come with Me Now”, which is my favourite. They can do pretty as well, though, as “As We Are” proves. Good stuff.

Lights - Little Machines: Doesn’t quite reach the high bar that Siberia set for me, but it’s nice to hear Lights back at her synthpop form. Her foray into heavier electronic stuff was far better than I expected, but even if I am slightly let down at how safe this album is, it’s still really nice to have seeing as Owl City is deciding not to be good anymore. Synthy Lights can sort of fill that void, especially in songs like “Portal”. My favourite here is “Muscle Memory”, which is really sad but lovely. Tied for second are “Portal”, “How We Do It” and the purely lovely “Don’t Go Home Without Me”, which gave me a flutter in my heart I haven’t felt in a long time, not since first hearing Fun.’s “The Gambler”

Angels & Airwaves: I haven’t listened to Love, Part One and Love, Part Two in their entirety in quite a while, so I’m not sure how to compare this to them, but it feels like an anomaly from what I know of AVA. What I know of them is grand, overdramatic space rock chock-full of epic themes and way over-aggrandized tales of love, spirituality and being kind of nervous and stuff. It was great. This album, however, is far more grounded. It’s still a bit out-there, but it feels less inspired in parts. The Love series made me feel like Tom DeLonge genuinely believed his music was some incredible message that had to be sung to the world. This seems more like a typical album with more typical singing.

That said, there is some real good here. “Tunnels” and its one-tone pounding drum throughout the song was a pretty great reimagining of their music, and “Kiss with a Spell” marks the first time I can think of that I’ve really liked a chorus more than a song itself. The real highlight for me, though, is the closing track, “Anomaly”. It’s got a small hint of the space rock/electronic vibe they have, but it’s way more stripped down and bare. Not about vast themes, just a simple written story about being nervous about falling in love. I like it a lot.

Imagine Dragons - Smoke + Mirrors: At the start I was worried, but damn this was a solid album. Not quite as musically varied as Night Visions, where basically every song was an experiment, but really, really good nonetheless. It’s a little more consistent, but definitely has its weird moments (the slow, deepness of “Gold” and the heaviness of “I’m So Sorry”). I don’t understand why this band gets such bad reviews, I was sorta shocked when I saw the scores they got on Metacritic. I don’t particularly care, it just baffles me. Oh well. I’ll keep on enjoying them. My favourites were “Gold”, “I’m So Sorry”, “Hopeless Opus” and the magnificent closing track “The Fall”. They seem to be really good at closing albums. The bonus tracks weren’t amazing. The only ones really worth the listen are “Second Chances” and “Warriors”. While the latter is a bit tainted for me by being written for and about a League of Legends championship, taken on its own it’s a pretty damn good song.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on February 21, 2015, 09:03:52 AM
Lorde - Pure Heroine: Three songs in and I already knew this album was what I’d worried it would be, given what I’d heard of Lorde and heard from her: pretentious, not as “forward” or “progressive” as it thinks it is, and lyrically immature. Then “Buzzcut Season” onward happened and wow, this is a fantastic album. Lorde and her attitude and pretension still annoy me, but I can put that aside to appreciate a really good record. It grates a bit when she thinks she’s making profound statements with a bit of sass (“I’m kinda over getting told to throw my hands up in the air…so there”), but the music is wonderful, really pretty and her vocals are marvelous. Plus a lot of the lyrics are good (I'm particularly fond of "We live in cities you'll never see on the screen/Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things"), it's just the undercurrent of "I'm so above everyone" that bothers me. She can use harmonies gorgeously, but she’s also got a voice that can be used very forebodingly (see: the opening of “Team”). Everything from “Buzzcut Season” onward is great, but my two top favourites are “Team” and “A World Alone”. My main disappointment with this album is that, despite actually being very musically interesting and showing how tired Lorde is with pop conventions…it’s still a pop album, just a little less conventional than normal. The choruses are still intact and it never strays too far from being radio-friendly. It’s weird in a way that people can still get stuck in there heads and not be too weirded-out by. So there.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 03, 2015, 11:28:22 AM
Childish Gambino - Because the Internet: Better than I expected it to be, but mainly for the wonderful beats and less so for Gambino’s generally predictable flow. There’s really fantastic stuff, like “I. The Party”, “II. No Exit”, “II. Zealots of Stockholm” and “IV. Sweatpants”, but generally it’s not anything amazingly special. It also marks, with its closing song, the first time I think an edit made to be a “ha ha” at pirates’ expense has actually improved a work.

Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar: Not as good as I’d hoped. Mechanical Animals was much better, this seemed a bit too try-hard in terms of edginess. Still really good musically, but not very varied and was great in bursts. Favourites = “The Beautiful People”, “Cryptorchid”, “Little Horn”, “Man That You Fear” and “Empty Sounds of Hate” (also known as “Track 99” because it’s the 99th track on the album).
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 08, 2015, 10:45:15 AM
Nintendo - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U | A Smashing Soundtrack: Got a pleasant surprise when this showed up, I forgot they were coming for anyone who bought Smash for both consoles! Needless to say, I loved it, so I won't go into too much more detail than that. Great opening music. Rio Hamamoto does a damn fine job of remixing one of my all-time favourite pieces of music, “Gerudo Valley”, which I was worried about anyone touching. Koji Kondo’s “Super Mario Bros. Medley” is glorious. Masafumi Takada’s arrangement of the ending theme to Yoshi’s story is wonderfully cheerful and full of “Yoshi!”s. And Manabu Namiki’s medley of Duck Hunt music was a hugely pleasant surprise as well, as is Yuzo Koshiro’s delightfully bleepy and chimey rendition of the Pac-Man theme. Good stuff.

Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs: Man, I really don't feel like writing shit anymore for some reason. This is really good, but I have to admit that it was kind of disappointing. I was hoping for more really out-there stuff like his work with Floyd. Ah well. My favourites were “Love You”, “Here I Go”, “Feel”, “If It’s In You” and “Late Night”.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 09, 2015, 08:47:21 AM
Enter Shikari - The Mindsweep: Much like their other albums, half good and half “AGHWRAAAH POLITICS POLITICS YOU MOTHEHFUCKIN’ SCUUUUM HEALTHCARE HEALCARE weeeeee are alllllll one peoples~ SO FUCK YOU IN YOUR FUCKIN’ POLITICIAN FACE” while everyone throws their instruments at a wall until Rou Reynolds stops screaming. Needless to say, those aren’t my favourite parts. The other half of the time, however, when Enter Shikari are actually imaginative and original with their music, is a wondrous thing to behold. It just sucks that they can’t keep it going in a single song without resorting to coked-up Parkinson’s electronic metal. My favourites here are half of “Anaesthetist”, most of “Never Let Go of the Microscope”, and all of “Torn Apart” and “Interlude” together. If ever there was a case against Metacritic, this album's current 89/100 score would be it for me.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on March 09, 2015, 09:59:48 AM
Getting to anything good soon?
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 09, 2015, 10:31:16 AM
Getting to anything good soon?

Nope


Björk - Vulnicura: It’s been a while since I’ve heard a new Björk album (Biophilia was my last, I think), and it feels damn good. The first half is really good, as expected, but I think the second half is where it really shines. The intense bit in the first third of “Black Lake” made my heart tighten like a song hasn’t done in a long time, “Notget” and “Atom Dance”, which features Antony, were a wonderful combination and the comparatively-complex finale that is “Quicksand” finished the album off in a great way. Dunno if it’s as great as her prior work, but it’s definitely one of my favourite things from her.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on March 09, 2015, 10:33:39 AM
Getting to anything good soon?
Nope
>:(
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 09, 2015, 11:56:30 AM
Getting to anything good soon?
Nope
>:(
;]


Björk - Medúlla: Holy fuck. I decided to listen to this on a whim when I saw that it’s almost completely a cappella (with a few exceptions, obviously: the synth on “Who Is It”, the piano on “Ancestors” and a gong on “Pleasure is All Mine”). I thought it’d just be really neat, but I will say right now that this is my favourite Björk album. It’s absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous, and the only song I wasn’t completely entranced by was “Show Me Forgiveness”. The vocals are sometimes processed and/or sampled, but the effect remains the same; it’s a weird, bizarre, absolutely-Björk album, just founded almost completely on the human voice. The effect is staggering, and I often found myself just completely stopping whatever I was doing so I could focus completely on the music. It’s difficult to pick favourites on a work like this, but I can say with some certainty that I enjoyed “Triumph of a Heart” the most, but some other amazing ones were “Ancestors”, which made me feel claustrophobic, “Oceania”, “Mouth’s Cradle” and “Desired Constellation”. Would recommend.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 09, 2015, 05:03:56 PM
Are you ever going to take recommendations from other people?

If so, please give Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen a listen. It's an album that I'd consider 10/10. I'd love to hear your take on it.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 10, 2015, 03:18:04 PM
Are you ever going to take recommendations from other people?

If so, please give Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen a listen. It's an album that I'd consider 10/10. I'd love to hear your take on it.

I will try to actually listen to it soon, I promise. Possibly tonight


シャムキャッツ (Siamese Cats) - TAKE CARE: One of three Japanese albums (well, an EP in this case) I picked up from the Japanese iTunes store since I had ¥5000 to spend. I decided to grab a few albums I've wanted to hear but couldn't find torrents of. This one was nothing complicated, but a very pleasant listen nonetheless. The singer(S?) have(/has?) as very nice falsetto and I like their light instrumentation. My favourites of the five are “GIRL AT THE BUS STOP” and “CHOKE”, which, despite their all-caps and creepy titles, are very light, pleasant tracks.

ザ・なつやすみバンド (The Natsuyasumi Band) - Parade: Started out good, but the second half is wonderful. It’s mostly instrumental stuff with some singing, a lot of pleasant piano and some other weird instrumentation I can’t place, as well as drums and the occasional influx of guitar. My cat did a front-flip into the door. Half of the album isn’t really special, but the greater parts of it are very gorgeous and pretty and I like them. The best two are “Rhapsody” and “Nami”, followed by “Eureka”—which is almost Mario-esque—, “Kazemachi Line” and “Fanfare”. Good stuff.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on March 11, 2015, 02:03:16 AM
Don't know if you're familiar with this one but The Fratellis' Costello Music is really good.  I recently rediscovered it (I heard "Whistle For the Choir" on an old episode of Community a couple weeks ago and it reminded me that I loved that album and spurred me to buy it) and I can't stop listening to it.

Also please review Congratulations by MGMT.  I've asked repeatedly and it still hasn't made your list.  Oracular Spectacular by the same group is also really good.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 16, 2015, 03:44:20 PM
^ Will do. Probably. I don't know at this point. Also I don't even update the list anymore honestly


スーパーカー - HIGHVISION: This is, hands-down, the best album I have heard in quite a while. Every single song is a gorgeous, amazing tour through beautiful soundscapes and fluctuations of genre, and every single one held my attention from beginning to end. I love this album. I don’t know what to call it. It’s some mix of alternative rock, electronic music and post-rock. They clearly don’t really care about genre and just played with whatever sounds and styles appealed to them, and I love it for that. I think it reminds me of old Adam Young’s work in a tangential way, in the light, soothing singing, the heavy attention to detail and large amount of things going on at once and below the surface, the arrangements and the slight dreaminess of it all, as well as the wonderful drumming that reminds me a lot of Port Blue. All that being said, it doesn’t actually sound much like his work. Anyway, yes, amazing album. My favourite song is “NIJIIRO DARKNESS”, but that aside I can’t really pick favourites, it’s all just great.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 18, 2015, 01:51:46 AM
AWOLNATION - Run: Ever since AWOLNATION’s debut album, Megalithic Symphony, captivated me a few years back, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the follow-up because there wasn’t quite anybody else like them in music that I knew of. The music had pop melodies and occasionally silly nursery-rhyme lyrics and rhythm, but was so unabashedly electronic and raw that it was great. Some of the songs sounded like what your grandparents would think of if you told them pop/rock was made on computers nowadays. Heavy, thin bass and percussions, even some of the more melodic songs accentuated with heavy, simple clacks and thuds. I loved it. I was hoping the follow-up would be an even more refined, less hit-and-miss album. One of those came true. It’s definitely less hit-and-miss, it’s much more consistent, but it doesn’t have a ton in common with its predecessor. It’s much more grounded in “real” instrumentation, most of what you hear is played by actual people in a recording studio, rather than made and processed on a computer by one dude.

Make no mistake, it’s a very good album and Aaron Bruno is clearly just as inspired to create, but it’s not as unique as the music that came before it. Megalithic Symphony was whatever Bruno wanted it to be; according to him, he doesn’t think in terms of genre, just makes whatever he feels like making, and that showed on the album. The songs were everywhere, just very varied, differing drastically in sound within seconds and from track-to-track and that’s what I loved. On Run, however, it’s pretty consistent in sound and tone. It’s not necessarily bad, just a bit of a disappointment, considering that it sort of strayed from what made me love AWOLNATION in the first place.

All that aside, this is a really good album. From the opening intensity of its title track to the weird electro-faux-reggae of “Jailbreak” to the lighter, more soothing finish of “Drinking Lightning”, there wasn’t a song on here I didn’t like. My favourite tracks are “Run”, “Jailbreak”, “I Am” (which is gorgeous), “Windows”, “Like People, Like Plastic” and “Drinking Lightning”.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Vongeo on April 24, 2015, 10:22:24 PM
Why haven't you listened to the weakerthans yet
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on May 14, 2015, 02:29:10 AM
hey took two months but finally new stuff


방탄소년단 - 2 Kool 4 Skool: Nothing amazing, but this is a pretty fun EP thing. I’ve never heard Korean rap much before, so it’s neat mainly for that aspect. I probably wouldn’t like it as much if it were an American album.

MisterWives - Our Own House: This was surprisingly good. Not just a standard, generic pop album, it’s actually really good pop in spite of the fact of how catchy and fun it is. It even discusses some really nice themes in a light, sad or pretty manner, all while still being fun and not bleakgrimmison. I could use more music like this in my life. Like Walk the Moon. Gewd stiffs
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on June 12, 2015, 08:06:06 AM
林強 - Millennium Mambo: Unless there’s one I’m not thinking of, this is easily the best film soundtrack I have ever heard. With the exception of the non-Giong tracks, everything is perfect and I love it. “A Pure Person”, “Fly to the Sky” and “Lighting Road” nearly moved me to tears. Not even collectively, but each one. That’s how much I love them. ughuu
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Jura-Glenlivet on June 13, 2015, 08:43:50 AM

Try "Full Circle" Holger czukay Jah wobble jaki liebezeit.

Hypnotic!
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on June 29, 2015, 08:11:15 AM
Darren Hayes - This Delicate Thing We've Made: Haven’t heard this album in a long time. I remember it being too weird for me at the time, as it was at a point in time when I had a very conventional taste in music, but this time around it was really wonderful. The more regular songs were gorgeous, and the really weird songs were delightfully weird. I lurv. "Waking the Monster" and "How to Build a Time Machine" are delightfully and unabashedly ridiculous plots. "Neverland" is a dark, catchy song about spousal abuse and a small child plotting his father's murder. "Me, Myself and (I)" is crazy falsetto and dancey. A new highlight I'd passed on the first time through is "Setting Sun", which I am now in love with. Also "Bombs Up in My Face" is still fucking weird. qweaut wu tuea

Blake Lewis - Heartbreak on Vinyl: I was curious to see if my feelings on this album had changed at all, seeing as the last time I’d heard it in full was somewhere between 4-6 years ago. At the time there were a few tracks I loved, then the rest I mostly didn’t care for. “Heartbreak on Vinyl” was a beloved track for me and I kept listening to it, but even so, the last time I heard that song was a year or two ago. The others were “Sad Song” (which was nice), “Left My Baby for You” (which I liked a good amount), and “Love or Torture (Please Don’t Stop)” (which I actually think I like more this time around).

So yeah, many years later and my opinion is much the same as it was before. I wish I’d never stopped listening to “Heartbreak on Vinyl”, because that is still an amazing, weirdly beautiful song. I’m glad to have it back in my life.

Nate Ruess - Grand Romantic: “AhHa” has had me so incredibly excited for this album. The sound of it was so out there and weird that I just couldn’t wait to get more music like it, especially with Nate’s massive voice and penchant for making things bizarre yet catchy. Unfortunately, that is not what I got.

Instead I got a pretty standard pop balladry album. That’s a little unfair, to be honest; it’s a very good album, Nate does ballads far better than any other pop artist I know and he always keeps the music interesting. It’s just a let-down. From his work in The Format up to his work in fun., I’ve come to expect him to push his creative boundaries and make music that’s not necessarily “weird”, but far from standard. I guess this is my fault for taking “AhHa” as some sort of album mission statement, but the notion flares up now and then throughout the album

“AhHa” is the second track (after the short little intro), but basically the first track of the album, and right away it smacks of Nate’s oddball tendencies. It literally opens with him groaning/yelling/sarcastically laughing “ahhaa haa ha”, until that becomes part of the background music and he smashes in with a pounding drumbeat and him forcibly throwing the song’s words at your ears. The song fades to a light little reprise of a fun. song while some E.E. Cummings lyrics are recited in the background, before suddenly bursting back in even louder than before. I don’t know how Nate’s vocal chords still function. All that being said, my favourite part of the song is the false ending. A pretty, introspective outro that sets up the rest of the album, fading out with a “la di da…” when, suddenly, he cracks a whip and his guttural “ahhaa haa ha”s come back Jumpin’ Jeff Farmer style (that is, full-force). It’s the highlight of the album for me. Which is why I’m sad it opens the album, as the rest couldn’t live up to it.

“Nothing Without Love” is pretty, and much better than I thought it was when I first heard it, but is more or less a simple ballad. After that is “Take It Back”, which has crunchy guitar courtesy of Jeff Tweedy. Which is the best part of the song. The rest is alright.

Then “You Light My Fire” gave me some hope that the album was gonna be a mix of ballads and more experimental stuff. It’s no “AhHa”, but it’s wonderful. It’s a seeming mix of Nate’s catchy indie style of The Format and his baroque oddities from fun. in a great, great way. It’s followed up by “What This World Is Coming To (feat. Beck)”, which is okay.

Then comes “Great Big Storm”, which is my second-favourite song on this album. It’s not really strange, but it’s so bombastic and sporadically-delivered that it’s a thrill, because that’s what I think Nate’s the best at.

“Moment” is a pretty ballad saved only by the fact that the lyrics are fantastically sad. The same can mostly be said for “It Only Gets Much Worse”, except that’s also saved by Nate’s magnificent vocals and seemingly limitless voice. I think Nate Ruess is my spirit animal, because he seems to write what I think and feel. It’s weird that listening to such a pessimist sing is so damn heartening.

“Grand Romantic”, the title track, is pretty good. It’s simple, but nicely-done. Just disappointed that the tease at something bigger didn’t pay off. “Harsh Light” is pretty good. Finally, “Brightside” is actually an excellent song, I just can’t help but be disappointed that the album didn’t close on something bigger. It’s got little flecks of oddity and some fabulous, interesting background music and effects, but, damn it, I was hoping for another “AhHa” or “Great Big Storm” to close the album off. Something as epically huge as only Nate can do. Alas, I’ll have to live with it and either hope that his next album contains a few more tracks like that or hope that fun. decides to get together and make a new album soon.

All-in-all, good album. Honestly a very good album, I just felt kinda let-down.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 06, 2015, 07:20:00 AM
holy shit i'm updating?

First post-homelessness post!


Andrew Jackson Jihad - People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World: It started out pretty good with “Rejoice”, but from there it went to really good to great by the end. The only two really weak songs on this album are “Bells & Whistles” and “Randy’s House”, everything else is excellent. I love Scott’s ability to see both the best and worst of humanity, to be able to dwell on the pessimistic and optimistic and still come out the latter. The worst of humanity is in “A Song Dedicated to the Memory of Stormy the Rabbit” and “People II: The Reckoning”. The best of it is in songs like “People”. Those three are my favourites on the album by far for navigating these concepts so simply, but so harshly and so well. Also not just great for this album, but a great trilogy of songs in general. Aside from those, I also love “Brave As a Noun” because it is literally me.

Another thing I like is that this keeps in the punk fashion of White Lung and early The Clash, where they know songs shouldn’t overstay their welcome, each song being just as long as it needs to be and not being chock full of choruses. Because of that, this album is 11 songs long and only 25 minutes, since most of the songs on it barely exceed two minutes. I do recommend this to anyone who likes punk and folk, since this is a pretty genuine mixture of the best of both.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Vongeo on October 08, 2015, 03:25:28 AM
But is blake lewis better than lewis black
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 08, 2015, 04:14:48 AM
yep


Primus - Tales from the Punchbowl: Well, wow. Normally I’m not a huge fan of metal. That isn’t to say there isn’t metal I like or love, but most of it kind of blends together to me, relying on the same conventions and not really clawing out of the bounds it’s crafted for itself. So it’s nice to see that there’s metal out there that pushes away from genre conventions, or at least takes them and re-molds them. This is sort of my idealized metal. It’s great music to get your blood pumping, but unique and complex enough that it isn’t bland and boring. Which is the kind of music my brother is literally listening to right now and it’s terrible.

Really, this whole album is great. The weakest song on it is “Over the Electric Grapevine”, and it’s only the weakest in that it’s a good song rather than a great one. I love how the heaviness of the album is punctuated with shorter, lighter tracks like “Space Farm” and “De Anza Jig” that give you a bit of a breather.  My favourite song is “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver”, because it’s half “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and half heavy metal. I’m gonna need to check out the rest of these guys’ discography, because I could use some more of this in my life.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Crudblud on October 08, 2015, 08:21:16 AM
yep


Primus - Tales from the Punchbowl: Well, wow. Normally I’m not a huge fan of metal. That isn’t to say there isn’t metal I like or love, but most of it kind of blends together to me, relying on the same conventions and not really clawing out of the bounds it’s crafted for itself. So it’s nice to see that there’s metal out there that pushes away from genre conventions, or at least takes them and re-molds them. This is sort of my idealized metal. It’s great music to get your blood pumping, but unique and complex enough that it isn’t bland and boring. Which is the kind of music my brother is literally listening to right now and it’s terrible.

Really, this whole album is great. The weakest song on it is “Over the Electric Grapevine”, and it’s only the weakest in that it’s a good song rather than a great one. I love how the heaviness of the album is punctuated with shorter, lighter tracks like “Space Farm” and “De Anza Jig” that give you a bit of a breather.  My favourite song is “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver”, because it’s half “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and half heavy metal. I’m gonna need to check out the rest of these guys’ discography, because I could use some more of this in my life.

Tales from the Punchbowl is the last good Primus album tbh, and even among their good stuff (first five albums, incl. one live album) I always found it kind of middling. That said, it does have some great tracks that are near enough on par with the best on Pork Soda (arguably their best work) and Sailing the Seas of Cheese, and I like how none of those albums, while they're all very clearly Primus, really sounds too much alike the others. After that their releases became infrequent and the band line-up changed pretty regularly, usually the drummer, and now they just sound like all of Les Claypool's other bands. So, while the completionist in you may want to venture as far afield as Antipop, the conscientious and experienced Primus listener in me wants to save your ears from (really really really really really really really really really really) not good things.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 16, 2015, 08:28:28 PM
I'll definitely take that into consideration. For some reason I thought Tales from the Punchbowl was their first album. So I'll probably listen an album or so past it just to see how terrible it gets. I appreciate the warning, though. :P


Chelsea Wolfe - Ἀποκάλυψις: A gorgeous, haunting album that would work as the soundtrack to a particularly creepy movie à la PT, one that doesn’t rely and jump scares and uses ambiance instead. It has elements of drone music in it, in that much of it relies on repetition and a consistent sound for each track. Sometimes this can lead to less interesting tracks like “Tracks (Tall Bodies)”, but lends itself very well to the amazing “Movie Screen”, or the wonderful beat of “Moses”.

My favourites here are the aforementioned “Move Screen”, along with “Pale on Pale” and the beautiful, beautiful instrumental closer “To the Forest, Towards the Sea”.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 18, 2015, 12:13:36 AM
Gin Wigmore - Holy Smoke: Both better and worse than I expected. I prepared myself for a middle-of-the-road album with no stand-out tracks, and instead got a middle-of-the-road album that varies between really good and pretty bad. Well, “bad” is a strong term. “Generic” and “boring” are more applicable.

Specifically, the album started on a high note with "Oh My", which was a great track to show off the attitude and character that made me want to check out Gin’s music in the first place. Unforunately, the next couple of songs immediately settled me in for what most of the album experience was going to be. Bland, slow (which is fine if you’re good at slow songs—Gin Wigmore is not), and able to be described as, at best, “alright”.

There were some hints of greatness, in spirited tracks like "Don’t Stop" with its clever rhymes, and Wigmore proving she can do lighter tracks if she really tries with "I Do", which showcases little more than her vocals and a ukulele. Unfortunately, most tracks are more like "New Revolution", "Too Late for Lovers", or "Golden Ship", all of which I can hardly recall with how little of an impression they left.

"Mr. Freakshow"’s verses were great, but the second truly great song on the album is "One Last Look". It’s a more stripped down throwback to the opening track, both in terms of character and quality.

Unfortunately, the album closes with "Dying Day", which is the only track on the album I’d actually call “bad”. It’s so standard and uninspired, and it sticks to one of my most despised musical misconceptions, which is that you have to end an album with something slow and “moving”. A fine idea if you can do it, though still cliché, but as I mentioned before, Gin cannot do it. Plenty of great artists manage to end albums on a high-energy note, such as "No Cars Go", which Arcade Fire and I both consider to be the real ending to their album Neon Bible (as well as one of my favourite album endings of all-time), with "My Body Is a Cage" being more of a bonus track.

So, in short, this is a middling album with a few songs more worth checking out on their own. You’d be better off doing that.


The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed: I didn’t really have any expectations for this album, so I can’t say whether it was better than I expected or not, but it certainly was a treat for the most part. I wouldn’t call it amazing or anything, but (with two or three exceptions) it was pretty great.

Merry Clayton absolutely makes “Gimme Shelter”, her raw emotion was incredible. Unrelated, “Let It Bleed” was really really gross. Like, seriously ew. Good song, tho

“Love in Vain”, “Country Honk” and “You Got the Silver” were all meh. Just wanted to get that out of the way quick.

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is a great closer for the album; Gin Wigmore could’ve taken a lesson from the Spinning Rocks. High energy fun with a sense of finality. “Monkey Man” and “Live with Me” were both fun.

But, most importantly, “Midnight Rambler” was amazing and seriously amazing. Like, I didn’t know I could enjoy harmonica so much until I heard that song. The beat, rhythm and pacing vary so wildly, and Jagger’s lyrical delivery is pretty great. The song comes off as more of a musical story than a dadrock tune.

So ye he he the album was good. Not quite amazing, but very good.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on October 26, 2015, 12:18:21 AM
Frank Zappa - You Are What You Is: Despite a slow start, this is possibly (one of) my favourite Zappa album(s). While it’s not quite as experimental as much of the other work I’ve heard from him, it’s certainly the most accessible.

It’s worth noting right away that I’m still not a fan of the general sophomoric humour Zappa tends to apply to his music, particularly the habit of just talking about sex in odd ways. That being said, it’s worth it for the music itself, which is (obviously) what Zappa excels at. This album isn’t quite as experimental as…well, really any of the other works by him I’ve listened to. It’s also, however, probably (at least one of) the most fun.

It’s very bouncy and rocky, even on songs that, lyrically, seem like they should be anything but. In particular, “Suicide Chump”. That’s not a negative whatsoever; if anything, it’s the opposite. He also offers some great critiques on religion and religious culture, with “The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing”, “Dumb All Over” (which could even be a scathing poem) and “Heavenly Bank Account” (which reminds me of my sister, since she’s donated to televangelists). Perhaps I’m biased since, being in a very conservative area, it’s a culture I’m very aware of, very negatively affected by and very critical towards.

My favourite song here is either “Society Pages” or “You Are What You Is”, which pokes fun at people in the 70s – early 80s who tried so hard to be and inhabit the other race (which still holds pretty true today, honestly) to a painful extent. Not quite Rachel Dolezal — more like Paul Wall or “wiggers” (does anyone even say that anymore?).

All things considered, this is one of my favourite Zappa albums. I want to say favourite, but it’s been so long since I’ve heard his other works that I kind of think I’d enjoy them more nowadays since I’m into weirder, more experimental stuff. It was easily the least daunting, though.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 01, 2015, 10:51:25 PM
Melanie Martinez - Cry Baby: A surprisingly great concept album, which was the last thing I actually expected from this. I was expecting fun, light, interesting pop. I got a fun, dark and twisted story. I expected candy, bubblegum and clouds and hearts. I got all that, with an extra dose of vodka, rape, kidnapping and murder. A pretty great outcome, all things considered.

“Dollhouse” was where the dark fun began, using the idea of the seemingly perfect, squeaky clean life of a set of dolls to show that nothing is as it seems. A theme continued through the album, with “Tag, You’re It” using the children’s game as a metaphor for rape, and “Mrs. Potato Head” for a surprisingly great and fitting allegory for plastic surgery (and also has some fantastic wordplay).

Melody-wise the album’s unique as well, using twisted versions of nursery rhymes and carnival music (done best on “Carousel”, easily my favourite tune on the album) or being quite literally bubbly on tracks like “Soap”.

The album very much has a story, with the titular character (Cry Baby) starting out as what her name implies, going through, uh, quite a bit, and ending up in “Mad Hatter” as…well…I guess it all really speaks for itself.

All that’s not to say the album doesn’t have its low points. There are some songs that, while I enjoyed, didn’t really resonate with me or pull me in, like “Pacify Her”, “Training Wheels” or “Milk and Cookies”. I like them thematically and they tie in well with the story, but just didn’t connect with me musically.

Overall, though, very good album. Definitely gonna be listening to this more.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 02, 2015, 10:57:48 PM
テンテンコ - Piece of Dream: That was very, very different than I expected from her Good bye, Good girl. single. That had the titular single being poppy and fun, with a B-side that was odd ambient gorgeousness. This is pure experimental noise, and calling it “J-pop” is completely inaccurate. From start to finish, it seems to take more inspiration from Merzbow than BiS, the J-pop group Tentenko hails from. She clearly has a penchant for beautiful melodies, but completely forgoes it here in favour of stuttering sounds and rhythms that feel purposefully off.

It’s a very weird piece of work that I thoroughly enjoyed, though nothing matched the beautiful perfection that is “Hot pants”. My two favourites here are the bizarre “ポケモン” (which is “Pokémon”) and the ambient noise of “i wash my head”.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 09, 2015, 03:18:05 AM
Various Artists - Moog: The soundtrack for the movie “Moog”. I expected to enjoy this album, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it this much. Damn. Every song was very enjoyable, but the ones that stood out stood out wonderfully. Stereolab piqued my interest early on with “Variation One”, which was marvelous and means I definitely need to check out more of their stuff now. Jean-Jacques Perry & Luke Vibert show how gorgeous a Moog can be with “You Moog Me”, as does Meat Beat Manifesto in “Unavailable Memory”. Pete Devriese’s “You Have Been Selected” is like noise Moog and Baiyon’s “Mixed Waste 4.2” is similar, which is a something I have a soft spot for.

The second disc is a collection of songs that feature Moog that weren’t made for the movie. The highlights for me are easy. New Order’s “New Monday” was a surprise joy, and the album closes with “Close to the Edge” by Yes, which is a sprawling 18-minute long track that’s fantastic from start to finish. The best song on the entire album, however, is They Might Be Giants’ “Baroque Hoedown”. This song is perfect and I am going to find more of their stuff now because damn.

So yeah, very good album.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: beardo on November 09, 2015, 06:45:16 AM
Are you still going by the FES recommendations list?
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 09, 2015, 09:43:18 AM
tbh not really, though I'm gonna try to start revisiting it soon. It got a bit out of hand and way too large and backed-up to the point where I lost interest, and it's nigh impossible to get myself to listen to things I'm not interested in (it's hard enough to get myself to listen to things I am interested in).

So, we'll see.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 11, 2015, 11:46:13 PM
ゆるめるモ! - New Escape Underground: First time I’ve heard J-pop that’s also labeled as krautrock. Sadly, I don’t know enough about krautrock to say how correct that label is, but it’s certainly somewhat different than most J-pop albums I’ve heard (definitely the first one I’ve listened to with a 10+ minute long track). Actually, EP might be more fitting for this release as it’s actually four songs and then their instrumentals. The songs are a more pleasant listen as most of the instrumentals aren’t really interesting enough on their own (from what I understand, they do this in Japan for karaoke purposes). The 10-minute long song, “SWEET ESCAPE”, is easily my favourite. It’s rather simple and repetitive, but it’s trance-like enough (in the literal sense, not the musical genre) that I don’t mind at all. The instrumental is the same way. The first two tracks are pretty fun, but the only other one I really like is “花のドイリー”, which has horns and shit. It’s nice.

Richard Wright - Broken China: While not mindblowing, this is a very nice album. It hits home in some songs in particular when it very well describes the feeling of depression (“Woman of Custom”, “Reaching for the Rail”), and even ones I can’t as well relate to (“Along the Shoreline”, “Breakthrough”) are nice to listen to.  Gilmour’s lyrics are pretty great (much better than most of Floyd’s post-Barrett stuff) and his singing is very pleasant.

So…yeah. It’s a very easy-listening album that I’ll probably put on more often from now on.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 13, 2015, 08:22:23 AM
Frank Turner - Sleep Is for the Week: Wow, uh. I decided to check out Frank’s discography on a whim because, over the years, I’ve fallen in love with his song “Recovery”. It was a free single on iTunes once and slowly grew on me over time, to the point that it’s usually stuck in my head nowadays and my nephew and I sing it at each other nonstop every weekend.

That out of the way, I didn’t expect to be so impressed already. Damn.

Frank impressed me from the get-go with his penchant for lyricism, but it shines through even more when you get to experience his full story over the course of an album. His lyrics are vivid and emotions run high as he relives events from song to song.

The album begins with Frank realizing that his lifestyle is troublesome, but concluding that he’d rather live a short, troubled life but have stories to tell. “Romantic Fatigue” talks about how he picked up guitar and songwriting to pick up girls, but while it worked at first it became empty rather quickly. That by the time he’d written dozens of songs for girls, he was just swapping out names to re-use them. “So when I get out my guitar tonight to do what I do / Remember, I probably didn’t write this song for you.” “A Decent Cup of Tea” sees him moving on, pining for a female friend who details to him her string of failed relationships while he’s too scared to tell her he wants to be the one that works.

He starts to realize things about himself with “Father’s Day”; the former half of the song has him deconstructing his father’s actions, and how he’s not the man he claims to be. The latter half has him come to terms with the fact that all those actions and double standards apply just as much to himself.

Next comes one of my favourites on the album, “Worse Things Happen at Sea”. It’s a simple track. A passive-aggressive song about taking a break-up well on the surface but breaking up underneath. The cracks begin to show more from verse to verse, until he’s completely broken down by the end. I love it and the amount of emotion he gets through.

Emotions flow for a bit longer until “Back in the Day”, where he switches to a nostalgic look at the punk scene he grew up in. The lifestyle, the ideals, the anarchy. Leading into “Once We Were Anarchists”, my other favourite here. A sober, mature look at those lifestyles with rose-tinted glasses removed. How his ideals have faded and he’s tired of fighting to save the world, become jaded instead and realizes his desires have moved elsewhere, deciding he actually can’t change society.

The album dips for a couple tracks with the pretty good “Wisdom Teeth” and disappointingly typical “The Ladies of London” (which features fellow folk punk Londonite, Jamie Lenman) because it’s exactly what the title implies. Attractive ladies and partying.

Finally, for the last two songs Frank slows down to see the forest rather than the trees and take a wider look at his life. “Must Try Harder” finds him wondering what he could have been had he accepted his upper-class roots and gone with his expected lifestyle instead. Then closes things off with “The Ballad of Me and My Friends” to summarize the entire album’s theme and embrace what his life has become, for better or for worse.
I know, I’ve hardly said a single thing about the music so far. The sound of the album is fairly consistent, with heavy folk guitar set to punk riffs and drums, Frank Turner freewheeling about between screaming and singing, every chord exactly in line with the theme of each song. There’s no boundaries being pushed or anything unexpected, but the music is impressive and fun as hell regardless.

If this is one of the worst of his works, then I’m excited as hell to hear the rest.

Frank Turner - Love Ire & Song: Unlike Sleep Is for the Week, this isn’t a cohesitive story. However, as a whole, it’s much better. Frank’s songwriting skills are as sharp as ever. Whether he’s detailing the life of a minor musician content with being a minor musician (“I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous”, not growing up in a world that demands growing up (“Photosynthesis”) or singing songs about growing tired of protesting in a genre all about protesting (“Love Ire & Song”), he’s better than ever.

Musically it’s much of the same, so there’s not a ton to say about that. My favourites here are the latter two of those, along with “Long Live the Queen”, which is a song about one of his friends dying and telling him that he’s gonna have to live for both of them now. It’s a tearjerker for sure.

If it weren’t for the final three songs being rather boring, this’d be a near-perfect album for me.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 15, 2015, 07:10:46 AM
Snupes' list is getting a revamp. Hi! I wish I could stick all the text to the right of the image. Would be a neat format.


(http://i.imgur.com/F0FYdSF.png)

Artist: カネコアヤノ (Ayano Kaneko)
Title: 恋する惑星 (Koisuru Wakusei / Chungking Express)
Genre: Folk rock
Release: 2015

I can’t wait until I finally know Japanese, because I wanna be able to understand this music as I listen. It sounds absolutely adorable. It’s like some kind of folk rock, with a bit of a pop edge. Sometimes switching around mid-song (銀河に乗って jumps from folk pop to heavy rock from time to time). The rock tracks are generally just alright, but the folk is where Ayano shines. Her voice is gentle, melodic and fun. She’d make a great J-pop artist, but I’m glad she decided to go this route instead because just her intonations are stuck in my head right now.

My favourite track is “恋文-OUTDOOR Ver.-“, with the oddball clicks and clacks of “ホームシックナイトホームシックブルース” being a close second.


(http://i.imgur.com/sIZYrRY.png)

Artist: 西野 カナ (Kana Nishino)
Title: Secret Collection 〜GREEN〜
Genre: J-pop
Release: 2015

This was a pretty standard J-pop album, but at the same time Kana plays around with various genres. “GIRLS GIRLS” (my favourite song) plays around with a sort of hip hop swagger, and “Thinking of You” could hold its own with some of America’s best R&B artists in their own genre.

That being said, if you know the standard sound of J-pop, this is more or less it. It’s good J-pop, don’t get me wrong, but J-pop nonetheless. Most of the stuff is upbeat and catchy, with a few slower tracks between that stay closely to genre conventions.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Vongeo on November 15, 2015, 06:39:45 PM
Fuckin weeb
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 16, 2015, 03:56:28 AM
neat


(http://i.imgur.com/GwuEcJD.png)

Artist: Kraftwerk
Title: Trans Europa Express
Genre: Electronic
Release: March 1977

Of all the things I expected Kraftwerk’s music to be, I did not expect it to be gorgeous. Europa Endlos is incredibly beautiful in its own weird way, and Spiegelsaal (my favourite) is long, dark and haunting (a word I overuse to death). Those three tracks and Schaufensterpuppen—in other words, the first side of the album—are an amazing trio that alone make a near perfect body of work.

The second half isn’t quite as good, but is great nonetheless. “Metall auf Metall” is metallic screeching made into ambient music with an ear-piercing crescendo, and “Franz Schubert” + “Endlos Endlos” is a light, pretty combination that wouldn’t be at all out of place on a Port Blue album.

In other words, I like. Going to be checking out a lot more Kraftwerk.


(http://i.imgur.com/gF1v077.png)

Artist: Kraftwerk
Title: Die Mensch-Maschine
Genre: Electronic
Release: May 19, 1978

This is a whole different beast than Trans Europa Express. If that album made beautiful ambience with minimal noise, this album goes right for the opposite, cramming in little sound effects and dissonance to grab you by the ear and yank your face right next to the music.
“Die Roboter” shows them going for a much heavier, more robotic (wow who could have guessed) sound. Using much more staccato computer noises and processing their vocals through like ten layers of vocoders, it becomes much less of a background listen and a more demanding form of music. It’s great in its own way.

“Spacelab” and “Metropolis” are nice, if not as memorable. “Spacelab” more or less sounds exactly like its name would make you think it does; a semi-psychedelic wandering through wavering synths and empty space.

“Neonlicht” is my second favourite on the album, as it sounds like a much happier, bouncier version of “Franz Schubert”, and carries itself very well because of that. The closing song “Die Mensch-Maschine” is similar in being almost ambient in tone with the prior album, but using vocoder vocals and heavier electronics to differentiate itself.

I don’t think I like this as much as Trans Europa Express, but it’s good nonetheless. Definitely gonna look out for more of these guys’ work.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Jura-Glenlivet on November 16, 2015, 10:46:53 PM

So now listen to Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble & Jaki Liebezeit (Full Circle) Like I damn well told you to.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 18, 2015, 06:28:04 AM
^ i will maybe get around to it one day in the future


(http://i.imgur.com/zYAibIN.png)

Artist: Deerhoof
Title: Reveille
Genre: Art rock
Release: June 4, 2002

I’ve a feeling this isn’t gonna be my favourite Deerhoof album, but it was certainly good. I didn’t like how cacophonous some of the songs were, less because of the cluster and more because some just sounded like a mess of sounds and instruments sort of being played. However, most of the album was really good. “Punch Buggy Valves” and “The Trumpeter Swan” are probably my two favourites, but the last three songs are the most consistent section of the album IMO. So ye m8 gj Dh gj
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 21, 2015, 11:35:36 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/b2lx1y6.png)

Artist: Stereolab
Title: Peng!
Genre: Post-rock
Release: 1992

Not an amazing album, but some of the songs on here certainly are. Right upfront, I’ll say that “K-Stars” is my favourite song and is absolutely gorgeous. It’s been a long time since I’ve really listened to much dream pop, but now I’m unsure why I ever stopped with how much I love it. It’s just such an ethereal, airy sound I can’t get enough of. For similar reasons, I adore the closer, “Surrealchemist”. It’s more of a droning track, but it drones on so delicately that I could probably very well fall asleep to it despite the fact that it’s not (necessarily) a light song.

The rest of the album was pleasant enough, if not quite gripping. Songs like “Stomach Worm” and “Orgiastic” are the best ones, where they have a good amount of drive and energy, sort of a toned-down version of the post-rock I’ve heard before.

That being said, I am looking forward to checking out some of their stuff following this album. From what I can see, they only get more well-received, and if they evolve from this that can only mean good things.
Title: Re: Supes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: lolwut? on November 21, 2015, 04:16:01 PM
Please don't associate NIN with industrial

Please don't associate NIN with anything that even closely resembles music. Fuck them
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 25, 2015, 10:29:32 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/Kv3qJ3z.png)

Artist: テンテンコ (Tentenko)
Title: テンテンコの生命大躍進 (Tentenko no Seimei dai Yakushin / Tentenko's Great Leap Forward of Life)
Genre: Electronic
Release: October 31, 2015

Not as poppy as “Good bye, Good girl” and not as experimental as “Piece of Dream”, this album lies somewhere inbetween. “Minimalist” is certainly a good way to describe it; there’s very little instrumentation other than Tentenko’s synth underlying every song with a rather consistent tone and rhythm, only the music on top of it changing a bit from track to track. Every other song is a part of a recurring, building theme called “ハルキゲニア” (Hallucigenia), with each being numbered (ハルキゲニア 1, ハルキゲニア 2, etc.) and tying each song together. Those tracks are almost the same, except for slight variations and the fact that each builds upon the last in small ways, with the first starting out with a very simple synth melody and clicking beats, and by the sixth it’s crackling until it finally distorts, almost explodes and fizzles out.

The even numbered tracks are all more unique, but also not really anything to write home about. “木の下” (Konoshita) is the only one that I really liked, simply because it’s soothing and super purdy, two things that Tentenko does very well.

So yes. I liked it, but there’s no real standouts other than that.


(http://i.imgur.com/xDfeXo1.png)

Artist: セプテンバーミー (September Me)
Title: Godspeed you!
Genre: Indie rock? Synth rock?
Release: November 18, 2015

I pretty much grabbed this at random and I’m pretty glad I did. It’s a short, five-track EP, but each track is unique and great enough that it feels like much more than that. I’m not sure whether to call this rock, alternative rock, synth rock or what; it’s a delightful mixture of various sounds and genres.

My favourites are “トケナイヨル、マジラナイヨル “ (Tokenaiyoru, Majiranaiyoru) and “僕らのイノセンス” (Bokura no inosensu). The former is a synth-filled rollercoaster while the latter is full of unconventional guitar rhythms and staccato instrumentation (a guilty pleasure of mine).
8/10 would listen again.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on November 28, 2015, 07:02:20 PM
FLASHBACK/UPDATE

Grimes - Visions: Well, that was a let-down. I'd been all excited and waiting to get around to this because it was supposedly dark ambient/dreampop stuff. It was indeed, but most of it sounded like it was done by an amateur. Which it probably was, but it doesn't excuse the fact that a lot of the music sounded like basic default tools off of MixCraft or something. That said, not the whole album was bad, just 6 out of 13...which was a lot more than I expected. Some of the best, though, were more atmospheric ones like Circumambient, Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus), and Skin.


(http://i.imgur.com/e9YXQPr.png)

Artist: Grimes
Title: Visions
Genre: Synthpop / dream pop
Release: January 31, 2012

While this did end up being much, much better than I remembered (my taste was even worse back then, so I’m not shocked), I have to admit it wasn’t as great as I’d come to hope. To be honest, I completely forgot I hated it so much because, over the years, I only listened to “Circumambient”, “Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus)” and “Skin”, so over time it became embellished as a great album as the stuff I didn’t like faded from memory. I do stand by a few of my original assessments—a lot of the album really does sound amateurish and iffy, but for the most part it’s still a solid album. Most of it I’d describe as somewhere between “good” and “okay”, but when it’s really good it’s just that.

My favourite song this time around is actually “Be a Body (侘寂)”, which has a fascinating energy to it that feels far beyond this album’s scope. Another pleasant surprise is “Visiting Statue”, which honestly sounds fairly boring but catches my attention for some reason.

So, all that said, I like it better this time around. Still no masterpiece and several tracks are forgettable—“Symphonia IX (My Wait is U)” was incredibly dull—but it’s overall a good listen.


(http://i.imgur.com/WgbaeEf.png)

Artist: Grimes
Title: Art Angels
Genre: Art pop / synthpop
Release: November 6, 2015

Certainly a step up from Visions. This is full of a much more refined sound, one that doesn’t sound like it was made solely using Garage Band, and it’s a great fusion of both Grimes’ experimental and pop tendencies. Most of the album has a very light, fun feel to it, and is actually considerably more upbeat than Visions.

My favourite is either the wonderfully fast-paced-to-floaty-chimes of “Venus Fly (feat. Janelle Monáe”, which features heavy echo-y drumbeats (a weakness of mine), or “Kill V. Maim”, which is delightfully heavy and I love Grimes’ attitude and screaming in it. “REALiTi” would be up there too if it weren’t so long and repetitive. It overstays its welcome.

Those aside, “Pin” is pretty gorgeous, and a good sign of just how much Grimes loves her clapclap beats. The only real pitfalls on the album for me are “California”, which is just typical and meh, and “Flesh without Blood”, which didn’t really stand out in any way to me.

Wrap-up: Much better than Visions, mostly great with a few boring songs, “Venus Fly” and “Kill V. Maim” are gr8, “Pin” is beauty.


(http://i.imgur.com/tbKNezT.png)

Artist: 水曜日のカンパネラ (Suiyoubi no Campanella)
Title: ジパング (Zipangu)
Genre: Hip hop / pop / electronic? / experimental??
Release: November 11, 2015

Wow, uh, this isn’t at all what I expected. I wish I felt more like writing right now, because there's a ton I want to say about this.

The album was described as “electro” with female vocals, and, well, no. It’s an odd mix of pop, hip hop, and, uhh, I’m not sure what the third element is. Suiyoubi incorporates an experimental ethos into her work, infusing a hip hop feel with breakbeat, bizarre dashes of chopped-up piano and windchimes, whatever she feels like at the moment.

It’d be misleading to call the album experimental, since most of it is most accurately interesting hip pop, but it’s a wondrous listen regardless. There’s nary a song on here I didn’t love, and the worst one I could call, at worst, “really good”. The best could be called “exquisite” or “stunning”, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a ton coming from me. Even so, “西玉夫” is the best song I’ve heard in a good while, and at least the only song I’ve heard this month that I’d give a 10/10.

Other favourites are the short and schizophrenic “ツイッギー”, the disorientingly-breakbeat(?) “ウランちゃん”, and the near-perfect closer, “マッチ売りの少女”. I’m gonna be listening to this album a lot, and definitely need to check out more of her work.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 09, 2015, 11:52:54 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/70PcJZb.png)

Artist: The Radio Dept.
Title: Clinging to a Scheme
Genre: Dream pop
Release: April 19, 2010

I have to admit upfront that I found this album actively searching for dream pop music, so my enjoyment of it is rather skewed. I’ve a feeling that had I found it on its own, I would like it more, but as a dream pop album it’s not as dream poppy as I would have hoped. That said, I’ll try to judge it on its own merits.

For the most part, the album is rather relaxing and nice. Dull at some points, but never unbearably so. Songs like “Heaven’s on Fire” and “Four Months in Shade” just sort of…exist. There’s not much to them and they’re nothing new or remotely interesting. Then there are songs like “Memory Loss” that make me sad for what the album could have been. It’s a marvelous song, completely fitting the dream pop aesthetic, droning on while meandering slightly here and there but with a consistent layer of clicking and drums to keep it on track.

“A Token of Gratitude” is probably the only other track that really stood out to me, but “Never Follow Suit” and “David” are rather good as well. The rest of the album is passable, but nothing worth getting excited over.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 18, 2015, 04:47:08 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/ke7x9ax.png)

Artist: カネコアヤノ (Ayano Kaneko)
Title: 来世はアイドル (Raise wa Aidoru / Hereafter Idol)
Genre: J-pop
Release: May 14, 2014

While I certainly preferred 恋する惑星 (Chungking Express), this was still gud. A bit more rock and J-pop, which is what I didn’t like as much, since I love Ayano’s folk voice. My favourites are “カウボーイ” and “イメージのうた”.


(http://i.imgur.com/jfbSgSM.png)

Artist: 水曜日のカンパネラ (Suiyoubi no Campanella)
Title: 私を鬼ヶ島に連れてって (Watashi wo Onigashima ni Tsuretette)
Genre: Hip hop / electronic
Release: October 29, 2014

A pretty good album. Not as amazing as ジパング, but good nonetheless. Most of it’s pretty standard J-pop plus rap, but there are a few tracks that exceed that and are great, like “桃太郎”, which masquerades as a regular rap song before suddenly becoming blippy bloopy weirdness. Even better, though, is “チャイコフスキー(Interlude-ラモス-)”, which began normally and decided halfway through it was going to get weird, dissolving into odd beats and an expertly-spoken backwards section, until it suddenly goes whole-hog and Koumai starts rapping backwards. Impressive as hell, to say the least.

Anyway, yeah. Good album.


(http://i.imgur.com/PjzJUGK.png)

Artist: 王菲 (Faye Wong)
Title: 迷人小姐 (Mi Ren Xiao Xe / Miss Charming)
Genre: Cantopop
Release: 1986

The beginning (aside from the first track) was pretty boring, but about halfway through the album got decent for a few songs and then went back to boring. So meh. This is from before Faye was famous, so it’s not surprising how standard and underwhelming it is, but still. Most of it is either boring ballads or standard Cantopop. Wahar.

That said, “心墻” and “下次相逢” are both pretty fun, and the highlight for me is “請你別説”, which sounds like the theme to some transformation sequence in a mech anime.

I don’t recommend this at all, unless you really want to sit through fourteen songs for three good tracks.


(http://i.imgur.com/tBUyOmQ.png)

Artist: 王菲 (Faye Wong)
Title: You're the Only One
Genre: Cantopop
Release: December, 1990

This is much better than the last album, and much, much more refined. While plenty of it is still just eh (see; the entire first half), it’s at least well-done ballads rather than boring ones. At about the halfway point, with “多得他”, the album started to improve. It was a ballad, but a gorgeous one, and the rest of album kept up in that regard. The last two tracks are my favourites, and the final, “不裝飾”, is my favourite favourite. It’s slightly more rock than the rest of them, and it’s fun in general.

I guess I’d recommend this album if you like ballads, but otherwise it’s nothing you need in your library.


(http://i.imgur.com/JtG9cTr.png)

Artist: 王菲 (Faye Wong)
Title: 迷 (Mi / Mystery)
Genre: Mandopop
Release: April, 1994

Well, that was leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessors. It’s still mainly focused on balladry, but they’re gorgeous now. From start to finish there were only two songs I wasn’t a fan of (“軟弱” and “我願意 (弦樂版”), but everything else was beautiful. Faye’s not only clearly found her voice here (which is, itself, beautiful), but the style and sounds that suit her best. That’s exemplified most clearly in “沈醉” which, for whatever reason, brought me to tears. Just…beautiful. The entire album (minus two) is just so afjdksl. My second favourite, “執迷不悔”, is basically a traditional pop ballad but I love it regardless.

Actually, if it makes any sense, the cover pretty well displays how the album felt to me. Chilly, ethereal and beautiful.

I’m really excited to see where she goes from here. I’ve got one more album from her on my list, which is supposed to be (one of) her best, so if it’s better than this I’ll be thrilled.


(http://i.imgur.com/yA6isvV.png)

Artist: 王菲 (Faye Wong)
Title: 浮躁 (Fu Zai / Restless)
Genre: Dream pop / C-pop
Release: July, 1996

Wow, damn, when people called this Wong’s most artistic work, they weren’t kidding. I don’t know the full backstory—I think she was released from her label and went off to do her own things—and the result is a very varied dream pop album that just floats around beautifully in a strange state of musical coherence. The songs sort of blend together, and tend to weave together without being completely separate tracks. Some are wordless, some focus on distorted, funky guitars, some are nothing but starry synths and one, “浮躁”, features a lot of vocals but no words at all. I love it. This is a very, very easy album to listen to and I think I’m going to do so a lot. “分裂” is an airy, ethereal wonder; this is the exact kind of dream pop I love. “不安” is centered around a distorted, bouncing guitar; it’s short, but sweet. My other two favourites are “墮落” and “末日”, just to toss that out there.

But, yes, I love this album. I’m gonna be revisiting a lot, I think. I highly recommend this.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on December 22, 2015, 12:32:39 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/t08iz8R.png)

Artist: Boudewijn de Groot
Title: Hoe sterk is de eenzame fietser
Genre: Folk / Nederpop
Release: September 10, 1973

While the whole album was pretty good, side A was by far the best part. “Terug van weggeweest” was really nice, and I especially loved the rock twinge added to it halfway through, as well as the jarring stop because I’m a sucker for dumb things. The highlight of side B is also the opener, “Jimmy”, which kicks into gear also halfway through. The best song on the album though is easily “Onderweg”, which is gorgeous. So simplistic but masterfully done. Not a sound added that doesn’t feel necessary, and the light strums and tings lend themselves to an absolutely stunning ambiance. My state of mind today likely lent itself a good amount to it, but I started crying halfway through because it’s beautiful and I love it.

But yeah, good album.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Roundy on January 04, 2016, 08:18:45 AM
Listen to The Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on February 28, 2016, 08:17:34 AM
Holy shit. I probably have a couple dozen albums to add since my internet's been out since my last post, but I may as well, uh, start catching up while I have this brief window of internet and time... The details here will probably be fairly sparse, since for many of these I haven't listened to them in 1-2 months. Some will have more than a "first impression" feel since I've had time to come to love them. OH well!!!


(http://i.imgur.com/JqNSwdF.png)

Artist: Boudewijn de Groot
Title: Picknick
Genre: Psychedelic rock
Release: January 22, 1968

While there was nothing as good as “Onderweg” on here, as a whole I liked it considerably more than Hoe sterk is de eenzame fietser. It was much more, uhh, late 60s. It sounds like a mishmash of Floyd and The Beatles with a healthy dose of The World/Inferno Friendship Society at points, particularly in the opening track.

The highlight of the album, for me, is “Cinderella”, which starts out as a sing-songy almost children’s song before abruptly veering into weird territory.


(http://i.imgur.com/gsJbR2a.png)

Artist: Gin Wigmore
Title: Gravel & Wine
Genre: Pop / alternative rock
Release: November 7, 2011

Leaps and bounds ahead of Holy Smoke. Still not perfect, but basically everything up to “Singin’ My Soul” is absolutely wonderful. The bonus tracks afterward are fairly boring. Anyway, the album opener, “Black Sheep”, is absolutely bitchin’, for lack of a better term. It’s perfectly suited to Gin’s unique voice, and damn if it doesn’t get me (as) pumped (as I can get). “Kill of the Night” is pretty similar in that sense, but “Devil in Me” is the next best track, elevated by Gin’s magnificent vocals. They’re shown off even better on “Saturday Smile”, the first track I’ve heard by her that I would actually consider beautiful, which shows that she can write slow songs, just took a while to learn how. “Sweet Hell” is the only other track I feel is worth mentioning, just ‘cause it’s damn fun, which is what she excels at. Everything else minus “Happy Ever After” is totally great, and even that track is good.

I’d recommend checking out “Black Sheep”, and if that song’s your style then this album is your style.


(http://i.imgur.com/Omkt0EX.jpg)

Artist: Gin Wigmore
Title: Blood to Bone
Genre: Alternative rock
Release: June 26, 2015

As a whole, this is probably better than Gravel & Wine, but it has less stand-out tracks. The few that are there, though, are wonderful. “This Old Heart” is probably the most beautiful use of Gin’s voice I’ve heard yet, I didn’t even know she could do such high vocals. When she tried on Holy Smoke it tended not to end well. Then there’s “Written in the Water”, which sounds like early Florence + the Machine in the style of Gin Wigmore; if you know me, that’s a hell of a compliment. And, finally, the album closes with “I Will Love You” which is simple, but purty. The only other track worth bringing up is “Black Parade”, which is sort of bombastic but mellow in a delightful way.

This catches me up with all of Wigmore’s albums. I’m glad I checked them out. Even if my mind wasn’t quite blown, there’s some damn good music here that I’m happy to be able to add to my library. :]


(http://i.imgur.com/nJv5D53.png)

Artist: Frank Turner
Title: Poetry of the Deed
Genre: Folk rock
Release: September 7, 2009

Once again, Frank Turner sings directly to my heart. It’s devastating how much I can relate to his music, and inspiring how much he can speak to me because of that. Whether it’s about protecting forgotten liberties (“Sons of Liberty”), being scared that your parents just want you to live the lives they wanted (“Faithful Son”), wanting life to end despite knowing others survive with the very same burdens (“Richard Divine”), or singing about how even the shittiest of lives bring knowledge and experience you couldn’t learn elsewhere (“Journey of the Magi”, though that’s selling the song short; there’s a lot more to it than that).

Of the songs, my favourites are “Richard Divine” and “Journey of the Magi”. The former for its brutal honesty, the latter for its inspiring analogies. Not sure where I’d place this so far of all his albums, but it was mostly pretty darn good.


(http://i.imgur.com/B95ZZIO.jpg)

Artist: Owl City
Title: Mobile Orchestra
Genre: Electropop
Release: July 10, 2015

This is honestly better than I expected, but it didn’t blow past my expectations like I’d sort of hoped. Most of it is just “alright”, and only there’s only one track I really, really liked that I hadn’t already heard. That song is “I Found Love”, which has hints of old Owl City, particularly in the dancing synth piano in the background.


Well, that covers the rest of December. I'll maybe do January tomorrow. Otherwise, we'll see
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on March 02, 2016, 06:03:45 AM
Aaaand here's January:



(http://i.imgur.com/6Hyng3N.jpg)

Artist: Boudewijn de Groot
Title: Waar ik woon en wie ik ben
Genre: Nederpop
Release: September 1975

That was okay. The first two songs were the highlights, with “Waar ik woon”’s minimal beats and random Beatles, and “Calypso”’s purtiness. The only other two songs that really stood out for me were “Moeder” and “Wegen”, the latter of which is really fun. “Of niet soms” would be great if it were less what it is and more what its near-finish guitar solo is.


(http://i.imgur.com/rw671Tv.jpg)

Artist: Rachel's
Title: Systems/Layers
Genre: Post-rock
Release: October 7, 2003

This album wins the award for most drastic change from gorgeous to boring as hell I’ve ever heard. Tracks like “Systems/Layers”, “Reflective Surfaces”, “Water from the Same Source” and “Even/Odd” are incredible. Everything else ranges from alright to insanely dull. I almost quit listening just because I really wanted to listen to something else.


(http://i.imgur.com/mTyrZOM.jpg)

Artist: Laleh
Title: Laleh
Genre: Pop
Release: March 30, 2005

This turned out to be delightfully fun and astoundingly beautiful. Especially beautiful in the second half of the album. The first of it is mostly really fun and just great to listen to. “Invisible (My Song)” is fun, “Bostadsansökan” is fun, “Salvation” is fun, blah blah. Then other songs beautiful like “Interlude” and all of the last four tracks blah blah. Really good album.


(http://i.imgur.com/QstIULE.jpg)

Artist: Laleh
Title: Sjung
Genre: Pop rock
Release: January 25, 2012

Wow, this was immaculate. I really mean that, weirdly. I mean, it wasn’t perfect. I’ve yet to hear an album I would call perfect, and I still wouldn’t put this amongst the few I consider close, but it’s just so…I don’t know. Spotless? For the most part, that is. While the beginning was weak, much of the album just feels impervious, like, there are no flaws I can find. Not that I was looking for them. But the album just felt right, like any other note or sound or instrument would’ve thrown it all out of whack. Lelah’s voice is gorgeous, her singing is ethereal, and the music ranges from fun as hell to beautiful. My favourite is “Ängeln I rummet”, but it’s hard to choose. This is an album I’ll definitely be listening to as a whole very often.


(http://i.imgur.com/xDKJZ1D.jpg)

Artist: Мельнитса (Mel'nitsa)
Title: Master of the Mill
Genre: Folk rock
Release: 2004

Wonderfully folky and heavy at times and also Natalia O’Shea’s voice is really nice and I like it a lot. Good ablubum. My two favourites are easily "Двери Тамерлана" (Dveri Tamerlana / Tamerlane's Doors) and "Богиня Иштар" (Boginya Ishtar / Goddess Ishtar), as they've both grown on me hugely over time and the latter has already become one of my most-listened to tracks because there were many, many days where I'd play it a dozen or so times.


(http://i.imgur.com/iYcQoLs.jpg)

Artist: DVAR
Title: Piirrah
Genre: Experimental / darkwave
Release: 2002

Started to really regret this at the beginning when the second track kicked in along with Norwegian black metal screeching vocals, but they got put to better (and more ridiculous) use in tracks like ”Vo Rah Arrah Iill”. My favourite track, easily, and just retardedly fun. The album’s not really anything special overall, and the vocals do ruin several tracks, but it’s not bad. Favourites are that, “Hissen Raii” and “Iih Rah”. Actually, gotta throw the closer, “Ariil Iaat”, in the mix as well. It’s ambient and increasingly crackly, just the way I like it.


(http://i.imgur.com/yNlX9Uq.jpg)

Artist: Boudewijn de Groot
Title: Boudewijn de Groot
Genre: Folk / Nederpop
Release: 1966

Definitely my least favourite of Boudewijn’s work that I’ve heard. The only two tracks I really cared for were “Er komen andere tijden” and “Welterusten, meneer de president”. Oh, and “Nee, meeuw” for bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing bing boing


(http://i.imgur.com/KQuCYY9.jpg)

Artist: Boudewijn de Groot
Title: Voor de overlevenden
Genre: Folk / Nederpop
Release: November 10, 1966

Solid album. Nothing super special.


(http://i.imgur.com/6hhZiup.jpg)

Artist: ハチスノイト (Hatis Noit)
Title: Illogical Dance
Genre: Electronic / experimental
Release: December 10, 2015

Sounds kind of like a Japanese Björk, in a good way. Nothing mind-blowing, but definitely a beautiful listen. Once I get internet back, I’m gonna look for more of her stuff for sure.


(http://i.imgur.com/eC3u2ti.jpg)

Artist: 신설희 (Shin Seol Hee)
Title: 일상의 잔상 (Ilsang-ui jansang / After Image)
Genre: K-pop / folk
Release: July 23, 2015

I’m not sure if I’d call this folk or not, but it was certainly very pretty. Why are Asian languages so damn pretty? I want to learn all of them. Shin Seol Hee has a gorgeous, light, airy voice that perfectly fits the low-key music she creates. I would certainly like to hear more of her work.


(http://i.imgur.com/9GPUgoO.jpg)

Artist: Мельница (Mel'nitsa)
Title: Ангелофрения (Angelofreniya)
Genre: Rock
Release: February 2012

A much more rock / pop departure from their folk rock sound, and I don’t fully love the change. That said, it’s still pretty good, so I won’t complain too much. My favourite is easily “Неперелетная” (Nepereletnaya), with runners-up being “Дороги” (Dorogi / Roads)and “Баллада о борьбе” (Ballada o Bor'be / Ballad of the Fight).


(http://i.imgur.com/b5w8GGb.jpg)

Artist: Panic! at the Disco
Title: Death of a Bachelor
Genre: Pop / rock
Release: January 15, 2016

This album is, if nothing else, interesting. Brendon clearly wants to be Frank Sinatra, which is part of the album's downfall. Much of it feels more like a Sinatra tribute mixed with electronic rock or hip hop beats, which mars any real creativity. It has its high points ("Emperor's New Clothes" is fantastic, "Golden Days" has a gorgeous chorus), but for the most part it falls flat. This album should have been made under the name "Brendon Urie" rather than Panic!, because it's very much a Urie solo album. For the worse. Of all six of Panic!'s albums, this definitely ranks as my least favourite.


(http://i.imgur.com/QpPCeQz.jpg)

Artist: 佐藤和哉 (Kazuya Satou)
Title: ふうちそう (Fuuchisou)
Genre: Ohayashi (Japanese festival music)
Release: May 25, 2013

Very simple. Very nice. Very beautiful. A light, mellow, 25-minute long album of just classical-sounding Japanese melodies. I can’t say whether or not they’re actually classical Japanese songs or not because lol I wouldn’t know. It’s delightful, though.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on June 08, 2016, 05:13:45 AM
February:


(http://i.imgur.com/VchQuqU.png)

Artist: Boudewijn de Groot
Title: Het eiland in de verte
Genre: Nederpop
Release: 2004

Varied between fun and pretty. I liked it.


(http://i.imgur.com/wGb3ICe.png)

Artist: 泉まくら (Izumi Makura)
Title: 愛ならば知っている (Ainaraba shitte iru / Know if love)
Genre: Indie / hip hop
Release: April 22, 2015

Nice, light, hip hop-oriented Japanese music. I like it. Sometimes the lightness can get kinda dull, but it's a very relaxing experience that I can't fault too much. There's just not a ton outstanding about it.


(http://i.imgur.com/umjPVj3.png)

Artist: mmm (ミーマイモー)
Title: Safe Mode
Genre: Folk
Release: October 26, 2015

I actually literally forgot I was listening to this album as I was listening to it. Just once it stopped I suddenly noticed the absence of sound. It’s not bad, just…forgettable. Pleasant enough listen, I suppose. I mean, I've completely forgotten what it sounded like by this point and I remember nothing about it, but I remember thinking "this is really okay".


(http://i.imgur.com/ExjgDAz.png)

Artist: Cybotron
Title: Enter
Genre: Electro
Release: 1983

Really not sure why I downloaded this forever ago. Wasn’t really worth it. There were a couple of good tracks (mainly “The Line” and “Cosmic Cars”, and “Alleys of Your Mind” is pretty good), but most are just really generic 80s stuff. Not even in a cheesy, wonderful way. It feels like these guys were just hanging out around synths and flies kept landing them so they kept slapping them, then heard the result afterwards and decided to put it out as an album.


(http://i.imgur.com/CwaG5Jj.png)

Artist: Kimonos
Title: Kimonos
Genre: Electronic
Release: November 17, 2010

This turned out to be really good. Not incredible, but a fun listen. Wonderfully abrasive at times, constantly repetitive and overbearing, with a few songs stepping back and giving some breathing room. I’ll take it.


(http://i.imgur.com/sRiRHaR.png)

Artist: De Dijk
Title: De blauwe schuit
Genre: Nederpop
Release: 1994

Not the worst thing I’ve had, but it wasn’t great. Most of the tracks were just alright, but there were a few standouts like “Slechte gewoontes”, “Gaat deze trein nog terug?”, and, my favourite, the wonderful “Amsterdam”. High praise, I know.


(http://i.imgur.com/ef0BmGe.png)

Artist: Psychic TV
Title: Dreams Less Sweet
Genre: Experimental / industrial
Release: 1983

Much less intense than I expected, and rather surprisingly goofy, but not bad at all.


(http://i.imgur.com/nIlmpon.png)

Artist: Xiu Xiu
Title: Fabulous Muscles
Genre: Art rock
Release: February 17, 2004

A wonderful, wonderful album. Arsty enough to sate my pretension and noisy enough to quench my need for abrasiveness in my music. "Crank Heart" and "I Luv the Valley OH!" were easily my favourites.


(http://i.imgur.com/lmas6zf.png)

Artist: Adam Lambert
Title: The Original High
Genre: Synthpop
Release: June 12, 2015

Most of this is pretty generic dance-pop and not particularly thrilling or exciting in almost any way. There are some stand-outs though. First is “Ghost Town”, which I’ve loved for a good while now, but the surprise hit is “Another Lonely Night” which is almost as good. It’ll probably grow on me more. The only other ones I really liked were “After Hours” (which is minimal enough that I had to check if SBTRKT produced it; he didn’t), “The Light” and “Rumors (feat. Tove Lo)”. I wouldn’t really recommend it unless you’re particularly inclined to dance/synthpop.


(http://i.imgur.com/oNIt4EK.png)

Artist: Deerhoof
Title: Apple O'
Genre: Indie rock
Release: March 18, 2003

Not as good as Reveille, but certainly an easier listen. I still prefer Reveille, but I enjoyed this one considerably as well, despite Parsifal’s proclamations of negativity towards its quality.


(http://i.imgur.com/hTpHGTO.png)

Artist: 三柏スイ (Sui Mitsukashi)
Title: 等身大じゃチビのまんま (Tōshindai ja chibi no manma / Something about mama's life-size chibi I don't know???)
Genre: J-pop / j-rock
Release: August 5, 2015

A surprisingly very, very fun album. I like it a lot. Sui has a style that’s very folky while blending with and sharing the energy of rock music. I’ll be checking out more of her stuff…eventually.


(http://i.imgur.com/nc8E1xy.png)

Artist: Honeydew
Title: Time to Tell
Genre: Shoegaze
Release: December 2, 2015

A thoroughly competent but overall disappointing shoegaze album from Japan. When it shines, it shines rather bright (the last 20 or so seconds of “Letter to Home” are amazing and it’s a shame they didn’t extend that level of distortion and unbalance to the rest of the music), but all but two or three songs are dull and forgettable. The two in particular that come to mind are “Sweetest Memory”, which is wonderfully weird, and “Clock is Ticking Slower Today”, which is still pretty plain but has enough mild variety to make it more interesting than the rest of the album. So while it’s all not bad, it’s pretty forgettable.


(http://i.imgur.com/9XaxVT5.png)

Artist: North
Title: Legend of Fushichou
Genre: Indie pop
Release: 2015

The best word for this is, I guess, “interesting”. “Legend of Fushichou” and “Towards the Next Day” open and close the album with chill, pulsing indie pop. Nothing mind-blowing, but good music. The two middle tracks, “Ninja in the Cell” and “Into the Silence”, decide to fuse that indie pop sound with bizarre English rap by a heavily-accented Russian singer, which I actually totally enjoyed.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on June 08, 2016, 05:30:47 AM
March (well, a small part of it; I'll keep expanding day-by-day until I catch up):

(http://i.imgur.com/C4uJVkr.png)

Artist: Буква О (Bukva O / Letter O)
Title: 1
Genre: Post-punk
Release: 1988

This was…interesting. It’s either punk, post-punk or “experimental rock” depending on where you check. I’d say it tends somewhere more towards the middle of the first two. It definitely has some odd aspects, though, in that parts of it consist of little more than shouting or slamming drums to a vague rhythm. It’s not for a lack of talent, though, since most of the songs are very rhythmic and pretty damn great. The main downside is that this isn’t even lo-fi, it’s lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-fi. It sounds like it was recorded on the charred remnants of cassette tapes, which were then submersed in a toilet for twelve days. Which makes it all the more surprising that it’s so enjoyable, particularly the tracks “Ласточка” (which is incredibly simple, but great anyway) and “Крылатая ракета”.


(http://i.imgur.com/C4uJVkr.png)

Artist: Буква О (Bukva O / Letter O)
Title: 2
Genre: Post-punk
Release: 1988

While this is still pretty scattered, it has a much more consistent sense of rhythm while still capitalizing on the nigh-incomprehensible yelling and sometimes goes further with the crazy-man yelling and shouting. That said, it’s also overall much better. The quality is less horrendous and the music is more interesting. The highlight of the album for me is “Мочеиспускательный процесс”, followed by “Пиджак с застёжкой на спине” as well as “Низкопопая старуха” just for how much of a masterclass in unnecessary amounts of r-trilling it is.


(http://i.imgur.com/OTGGyQj.png)

Artist: Контора Кука (Kontora Kuka
Title: РИО (RIO)
Genre: Post-punk
Release: 2015

Apparently this is ”post-punk” which is...I don’t know...accurate insofar as it isn’t punk music. It doesn’t sound like any post-punk I’ve heard, rather being a mishmash of a bunch of genres. It was good, though. My two favourites are “ты узнаешь меня” (Ty uznayesh’ myenya / Do you know me) and ”Еще и заново” (Yeshche i zanovo / Again and again). The latter is a downtempo, seemingly trip-hop, and the former almost sounds like some kind of epic tale, not horribly unlike some of the less grating stuff beardo has shown me.


(http://i.imgur.com/Xr4mJdB.png)

Artist: Herman van Veen
Title: Herman van Veen I
Genre: Nederpop
Release: 1968

That was fucking goofy as shit. Herman is a goofy fuck. That was wonderful.


(http://i.imgur.com/2001OE5.png)

Artist: Марина Девятова (Marina Devyatova)
Title: Не думала, не гадала (Ne dumala, ne gadala / I do not think, I do not guess)
Genre: Pop
Release: 2009

Why was this labeled folk? This was the poppiest shit I’ve ever heard. It was good, though. There were a few fantastic songs, like “Не думала, не гадала” (Ne dumala, ne gadala / I do not think, I do not guess) and “Я – огонь, ты – вода (с В. Девятовым)” (Ya – ogon’, ty – voda [s V. Devyatovym] / I – fire, you – water [with V. Devyatova]), it’s just weird that this would ever, ever be called folk.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 29, 2017, 04:37:35 AM
Both of these are from today. Then, back to your regularly-scheduled programming.


(http://i.imgur.com/XLnKCtI.png)

Artist: Arcade Fire
Title: Everything Now
Genre: Indie rock
Release: July 28, 2017

Wow. With all the abysmal reviews, I was expecting something seriously disappointing from my beloved fire at a place made for gaming with or around others. And, to be honest, for much of the album I could see why it got the reviews it did. Win's writing is rather ham-fisted at point and lacks the nuance of a lot of their earlier work ("Creature Comfort" is painfully on-the-nose), but it also featured some fantastic writing in general as well. Not as subtle as Funeral, no, but good nonetheless. Mostly, I appreciate them continuing their trend of evolving from album to album. This sounds nothing like any of their other work, with a much more modern reimagining of rock. The album sort of lacks cohesiveness, which is another fault, but one I didn't mind all that much 'cause I was so absorbed in the music. Then again, the album also features "Good God Damn", which is by far the worst Arcade Fire song I've ever heard.

Anyway, yeah, I liked this a lot and it only got better as it went on. I understand why critics aren't fans of it, but I'd give it more like an 8/10 than the 6s and 5s many have felt it deserves. It's not an "indie darling" album, no, but it's a solid work of an ever-changing artistry. I guess they can't have Everything Now.


(http://i.imgur.com/Ow87g00.png)

Artist: テンテンコ (Tentenko)
Title: ミッドナイト・パラダイス (Midnight Paradise)
Genre: Experimental
Release: July 7, 2017

I don't know if Tentenko's capable of releasing music I don't like these days. Her whole sound is just perfectly suited for me. I can (and do) just put her entire discography on shuffle and listen to it from start to finish. This was much more chill than I'm used to from her; her weird little electronic dirges wandering in the background while she slowly sings is incredibly soothing.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on July 29, 2017, 05:40:10 AM
March 2016 continued. Most of these I didn't write up a personal review for so my feelings have faded, meaning I don't have a lot to say on them, sadly. The ones with longer reviews are either ones I remember very well because I listen to them still or ones that I left a review for myself to use:


(http://i.imgur.com/F1YpKu8.png)

Artist: Doe Maar
Title: Klaar
Genre: Ska
Release: April, 2000

Not bad at all, especially for a ska album. My favourites were “Aan de bewoners van dit pand”, “Een droom” and “Leven met een zeven”.


(http://i.imgur.com/cGI7yJo.png)

Artist: Boudewijn de Groot
Title: Aeneas nu
Genre: Nederpop
Release: 1969

A nice little nederpop single that was a pleasant enough listen.


(http://i.imgur.com/qftgy7O.png)

Artist: Boudewijn de Groot
Title: Nacht en ontij
Genre: Nederpop / experimenteel
Release: 1968

This was a psychedelic little trip that I definitely enjoyed. My favourite track was the final one, "Heksensabbath 2".


(http://i.imgur.com/CI9bP5y.png)

Artist: Jarboe
Title: Thirteen Masks
Genre: Experimental rock
Release: 1991

This ranges from poundingly awesome to achingly gorgeous. Unfortunately, there’s a third point it reaches at times: kinda boring. Mainly in the middle section of the album. With an exception or two, it drops after “A Man of Hate” and stays fairly “eh” until the wonder that is “I Got a Gun”. In sheer terms of wonderful energy, that and “Red” are amazing, and on the other end of slower beauty are “Of Ancient Memory (The Oblivion Seekers) and “Cries (for Spider)”. Also, I found out halfway through listening that apparently Jarboe is (was?) an important member of Swans. Neat. Explains why some of her shit is so (thankfully) weird.


(http://i.imgur.com/yAOBbWv.png)

Artist: Foxygen
Title: Take the Kids off Broadway
Genre: Psychedelic rock
Release: July 24, 2012

Really not sure how I felt about this. I think it was enjoyable, but it didn’t leave much of an impression.


(http://i.imgur.com/PVQvgGr.png)

Artist: The Raconteurs
Title: Broken Boy Soldiers
Genre: Blues rock
Release: May 15, 2006

This is far better than I expected it to be. I mean, I’m already a fan of Jack White, but teaming up with these guys seemed to be a great idea since not only could they temper his unabashed love for singular riffs (albeit fantastic ones), but they manage to add their own creativity to it and make a psychedelic blues rock album that had nary a disappointing song (alright, it had one, in the form of “Intimate Secretary”. My favourites are easily are the brief, rockin’ “Store Bought Bones” and the more meandering, bluesy reverb that is “Blue Veins”. “Broken Boy Soldier” follows closely, and after that the fact that I’m so weirdly fond of mumbly music means “Call It a Day” is up there as well.


(http://i.imgur.com/zUufPBF.png)

Artist: The Haxan Cloak
Title: Excavation
Genre: Dark ambient
Release: April 16, 2013

A near-perfect dark ambient experience. I say “near-perfect” mainly because both parts of “The Mirror Reflecting” are kind of boring, whereas the rest of the album is marvelous and enchanting. Oh well. The rest of it is totally worth the ride.


(http://i.imgur.com/o6CY91m.png)

Artist: Led Zeppelin
Title: A Picture of a Painting of a Man Carrying a Large Faggot
Genre: Hard rock
Release: November 8, 1971

I’ve learned two things from this. One, Led Zeppelin has some amazing instrumentals. The guitar-work is phenomenal and, in places, utterly badass. Two, I really, really am not a fan of Robert Plant’s singing. I mean, his voice is great on a technical level, I just find his singing incredibly boring. Songs that would’ve been near-perfect (namely “Black Dog” and “When the Levee Breaks”) got dragged down considerably by his singing for me. I would’ve greatly preferred those two songs as instrumentals. The only songs I think really benefited from his singing were “The Battle of Evermore” (which was great) and “Going to California”. Overally, though, pretty good album. Not amazing, but good.


(http://i.imgur.com/hK5ZNsh.png)

Artist: Flying Lotus
Title: You're Dead!
Genre: Experimental music / jazz fusion
Release: October 6, 2014

This veers wildly between many genres, from rock to jazz to hardcore electronica to experimental to ambient, easy listening. I love it. There’s not a single boring moment on this album.


(http://i.imgur.com/fl1heOt.png)

Artist: Miguel
Title: Wildheart
Genre: R&B
Release: June 29, 2015

God…damn. This was the album I was least expecting to enjoy (I’m not a huge R&B fan) and ended up being the album I’ve enjoyed most in a good while. It’s so amazingly beautiful, thanks to Miguel’s awe-inspiring vocals and the insanely well-done production. Not to mention how bizarre some of the production is, especially on the lower-case tracks. All one needs to hear for proof of that is “the valley”, which features a beat that really shouldn’t work as well with R&B as it does. That’s probably my favourite track, but the closer “face the sun (feat. Lenny Kravitz)” is just immaculate as a closing track. Honestly, I can’t name a single song on this that wasn’t absolutely fantastic. And aside from those two, I can’t say which I like more than the others. It’s all just so, so, so damn good. Wow.


(http://i.imgur.com/X7lydfr.png)

Artist: 매직칼리 (MagiKally)
Title: MAGiC
Genre: K-pop
Release: October 13, 2015

Boring at times, marvelous at others. The best examples of its marvelousness are “Ding ding dong”, “Fuzzy”, and the dazzlingly odd “Old fashioned disco”.


(http://i.imgur.com/sg8ea9O.png)

Artist: Third Mind Movement
Title: Чудовище из Красного дворца (Chudovishe iz Krasnogo dvortsa / Monster from the Red Palace)
Genre: Neo-psychedelia
Release: 2015

Long, neat and fairly minimal. Not bad.


(http://i.imgur.com/KUbJE2s.png)

Artist: Мельница (Mel'nitsa)
Title: Алхимия (Alkhimiya / Alchemy)
Genre: Folk rock
Release: October 9, 2015

Damn fine. I’m glad to see Мельница being so consistently good! My favourite track from this is definitely "Война (Voyna / War)", which I honestly wish had closed the album because it's got such an incredible and out of left field ending.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: Snupes on June 15, 2018, 06:37:59 AM
So a few years ago I listened to an album called Madvillainy, by the hip hop duo Madvillainy, consisting of Madlib (producer and occasional rapper) and MF DOOM (rapper and occasional producer). I played it in the background and thought it was pretty good, but didn't really pay much attention and consequently I never ended up listening again. Until as I got deeper into the lyricism and technical side of rap, and MF DOOM's name just kept on coming up until I decided I had to revisit and figure out what he was all about. So listen I did, and his insane rhyme schemes, confidence, interesting flow, and Madlib's fantastic production sucked me in. I was impressed by tri-syllabic rhyme schemes throughout songs, then this fucker goes and casually drops eight-syllable rhymes mid-song and my brain just sort of melted. I listened to Madvillain a dozen or so more times over the next couple weeks before deciding "hey, I'm gonna download MF DOOM's entire discography", including collaborative albums.

So, basically, this is my list of MF DOOM's works (on which he raps, not including his 9 or so instrumental albums).


(http://images.genius.com/c0a80e3098696bdf600f54a76667c069.1000x1000x1.jpg)

Artist: MF DOOM
Title: Operation: Doomsday
Genre: Underground hip hop / jazz rap
Release: April 20, 1999

A great start to the mythology of DOOM, an album where he establishes his supervillain persona and first really flexes his talents as a producer. Much of the production and mixing is a bit rough, but still an interesting mix of 90s hip hop and jazz. The more experimental tracks (like "Tick, Tick...", which has a constantly-shifting tempo) end up being my favorites, but it's overall my least favorite solo album of his. There are fantastic tracks, but most are just passable. He hadn't quite found his footing with complex rhyme schemes and layered story-telling yet, either, though even at that point he still outperformed 99% of rappers.


(https://img.discogs.com/4gq78UxfvFBsr59VbpuScae32ic=/fit-in/600x611/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-214140-1285140189.jpeg.jpg)

Artist: King Geedorah
Title: Take Me to Your Leader
Genre: Underground hip hop
Release: June 17, 2003

The start of DOOM's most prolific period, in which he releases six albums in three years. Also the beginning of his use of aliases; he only has two albums as "MF DOOM", and almost every collaborative album takes on a unique name for itself. "King Geedorah" is the name he uses when he performs with a group he used to be in, the Monster Island Czars (M.I.C.), but this release was essentially him producing a bunch of songs and his group rapping over them. Of the 13 tracks on the album, he performs on only four. While his appearances are few, each one is fantastic, showcasing how much his cadence and writing have solidified in the four years since Doomsday. Most of the tracks are great (minus "Krazy World", which sucks shit); their greatness is mostly thanks to his tight production, not really the decent-but-mostly-forgettable rappers in his crew.


(https://i.imgur.com/jqnWrXh.jpg)

Artist: Viktor Vaughn
Title: Vaudeville Villain
Genre: Underground hip hop
Release: September 16, 2003

On this album, DOOM establishes a new alias: Viktor Vaughn. Viktor is a high-school student with aspirations of being a supervillain of DOOM's caliber. The album is much more narratively focused than much of his work prior. Viktor is more frenzied, frantic, and desperate to prove himself; a departure from the calm, confident cadence DOOM had cemented with the last few albums. It's also where his complex rhyme schemes really start to shine, laying it on heavy with lines like "for a buck, they'd likely dance the Jig or do the Hucklebuck / To Vik it's no big deal, they're just a buncha knuckle-fucks" and "quit your bitchin' or get BLAUW in your babble-box / punishment for drysnitchin', now eat this Travel Fox". The production on the album is still wonderful, but mostly takes a backseat to the narrative and wordplay DOOM wants to focus on. That being said, the closing track, "Change the Beat", puts both aspects on display with beats and cadences that change several times throughout the song, growing in intensity. One of my favourite DOOM albums.


(https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1024330960_10.jpg)

Artist: Madvillain
Title: Madvillainy
Genre: Jazz rap / experimental hip hop
Release: August 3, 2004

Widely considered DOOM's finest release and, by some, one of the greatest hip hop albums ever made. I'm inclined to agree with both of those statements. This is one of those rare albums where every single time I think about listening to a song off it, I want to just listen to the entire album from start to finish. There's no filler. Every single song is finely tuned, expertly produced by Madlib (sometimes with DOOM's assistant, but the album is mostly DOOM rapping while Madlib produces) and masterfully carried by DOOM. A kinda interesting note, too, is that most of the features on the album are actually just alter egos of Madlib and DOOM. It has some of his finest rhymes (Figaro opens with an eight-syllable rhyme) and indisputably his most confident flow. He sounds like a supervillain who has nothing to prove, reveling in his own knowledge that nobody is any match for him. It's the greatest album in terms of the sum of its parts, but it's hardly the peak of his lyrical dexterity, which only improves as time goes on.


(https://i.imgur.com/X6hSPH1.jpg)

Artist: Viktor Vaughn
Title: Venemous Villain
Genre: Underground hip hop
Release: August 3, 2004

This album is generally not very well-received, thought to be one of DOOM's worst offerings, and while I can see the reasoning I personally enjoy it quite a bit. The production isn't as interesting, but it's still solid and it complements the somewhat more frenetic pace of Viktor's rapping. I don't have a ton to say about this album, since most of my reasons for enjoying it slightly more than Vaudeville Villain are just that it's a really fun record, but it is probably one of his weaker ones musically.


(https://i.imgur.com/JiIhF10.png)

Artist: MF DOOM
Title: MM..Food
Genre: Hip hop
Release: November 16, 2004

This album, hoo boy. This is where DOOM seriously got nuts with his rhymes, lacing every single line effortlessly with schemes and alliteration, steering you in one direction and then swerving into another when you least expect it. It's a few other milestones, too. It's his last album under the MF DOOM name, and it's the album where he really establishes his knack for skits made up of samples and music. There's a solid 8-minute section in the middle of the album that's purely skits overlaid on instrumentals, and there are more skits scattered throughout tracks. Of its 50-minute runtime, I'd wager about 15-20 minutes of that is skits. Now, they're not your standard hip hop skits; he doesn't speak on them, they're entirely made up of chopping up and reorganizing samples of TV shows, movies, commercials, and laying them out in such a way that they build on the mythos of MF DOOM, characters speaking of him and gossiping. A sample thread that runs through the album is of a Fantastic Four episode, more or less squaring them as his main enemy for the work. Playing into that, he features a rapper called "Mr. Fantastik" on one of his songs. Mr. Fantastik was actually featured in a song on Take Me to Your Leader as well. He's one of my favorite artists DOOM has worked with because they bounce off of each other so well, which is a shame because nobody knows who the fuck he is. His only appearances ever are on those two DOOM tracks, which leads some people to wonder if he's DOOM with an altered cadence and pitch-shifted vocals, or if he's really just some great rapper that only ever wanted to write two verses. It's terrible.

Anyway, my favorite track is one of the openers, "Beef Rapp", which is basically him mocking the state of modern rap. He tears into rappers walking around shirtless, touting their image over their talent ("yuck, is they rhymers, or strippin' males? / out of work jerks since they shut down Chippendales / they chippin' nails; DOOM, tippin' scales / let alone pre-orders counted off the shippin' sales"). Anyway, it's a fantastic album and likely the second-best right after Madvillainy.


(https://i.imgur.com/ljy6n42.jpg)

Artist: DANGERDOOM
Title: The Mouse and the Mask
Genre: Underground hip hop
Release: October 10, 2005

This album is a really weird one. It's MF DOOM and Danger Mouse—a producer known for very, very sample-heavy music—made almost entirely from music pulled from Adult Swim shows, which DOOM raps over. Dialogue from shows is included, as well as newly-recorded dialogue just for the album, and almost every song strongly references those same shows. It's bizarre, but damn good. It's also, by far, DOOM's most poppy effort. "Benzi Box (feat. CeeLo Green)" could very easily have been on the radio had anybody in the world known about this album. I don't love it, musically. I appreciate how the samples are built and work out, and DOOM's flow and rapping are top-notch, but it's just such a strange, disorganized effort that I find it hard to really get into. Maybe that will change over time, but for now it's one of my least favorites.


(https://i.imgur.com/Zl1veOP.jpg)

Artist: DOOM
Title: Born Like This
Genre: Hip hop
Release: March 24, 2009

DOOM's first album in four years, and his first album with the MF dropped. Where was he? Who the fuck knows. Also, even more sadly, his final solo album. It's weird to talk about DOOM records that aren't as well-received as the rest, since even the worst of his works is still a solid 7/10 critically, but this is one of those that a lot of fans didn't love when it came out, and even though critics like it it's not considered one of his best. Which, to me, it's one of his best. He's back in the producer's seat (co-producer for some tracks) and he's back with a fervor unlike DOOM, his calm cadence often giving way to something more frenzied and energetic. He seems as if he has something to prove after being away so long, to show that he's still "got it", and by God does he do that and then some. The album has a very constant narrative of DOOM's return and the havoc that ensues of it, and it feels sometimes like almost every other word on the entire album rhymes with something else—especially on "That's That", a track bound to make your head spin trying to keep up. I care more about the technical side of rap than most do, which is, I guess, why I'm drawn so powerfully to this record. It's fantastic.


(https://i.imgur.com/4wvBPHM.jpg)

Artist: JJ DOOM
Title: Key to the Kuffs
Genre:Alternative hip hop
Release: August 20, 2012

A decent output that made me wish DOOM would put himself back into the producer's seat. You sort of settle into his style and take it for granted until he's rapping over somebody else's. I haven't mentioned it up until now, but DOOM's cadence is a strange thing. He often oversteps boundaries, to the point it's hard to tell where one bar ends and the next begins. Generally a "bar" in hip hop is four beats, where a rapper sets up a rhyme scheme and continues it on the next. If two bars are "1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4", he'll often end a bar on the second "1" or "2" and then begin the next on "2" or "3". His style is predicated on the unexpected. Most rappers you can read their lyrics, hear a beat, and know how they're going to deliver them. With DOOM, it's always a mystery. That's his foundation, and his own production as well as the production of those who work well with him (Madlib being the best example) are based on that same concept. You don't know where the beat's going to go, you don't know how he's going to ride it, and it makes for a much more engaging listen than any other rapper's work. When he's rapping over pretty generic rap beats, like those made by Jneiro Jarel here, it just feels...wrong. So wrong.


(https://i.imgur.com/OchF8Mm.jpg)

Artist: NehruvianDOOM
Title: NehruvianDOOM
Genre: Hip hop
Release: October 7, 2014

Oh, hey, speaking of DOOM being in the producer seat...

I was disappointed to find out this is pretty much DOOM producing an album for Bishop Nehru, an up-and-coming teenage rapper. DOOM himself only appears on the album's final three tracks. That said, it's exciting to hear anything produced by DOOM, really, and Nehru is a very, very talented kid. I just wasn't as engaged as I'd hoped to be. His rapping was fine, his rhymes were good, the beats were great, but it just didn't really come together until the last song. I didn't realize until listening through this, but DOOM doesn't really do hooks or choruses for the most part. He tends to prefer rap from start to finish, with shorter songs as well. Which is fantastic, because rap hooks are very rarely any good. The last track exemplified this, keeping it concise and powerful. Here's hoping DOOM does more production in the future.


(https://i.imgur.com/4QzkSRp.png)

Artist: CZARFACE & MF DOOM
Title: CZARFACE Meets Metal Face
Genre: Hip hop
Release: March 30, 2018

The final album in our journey and DOOM's first album after his son passed away in 2017 at the age of 14. Many artists would go into a slump after such a tragedy, but it just seemed to inspire DOOM to dig deeper into darker facets of his mind and use them in his music. I wasn't honestly expecting to like this as much as I did, given I hadn't heard much fanfare. But CZARFACE is a more interesting group than I expected, consisting of Wu Tang's Inspectah Deck, producer 7L, and Esoteric, a rapper I generally enjoy listening to. The music is interesting and, though the album lags in the second half, it never gets boring. All three rappers hold their own, trading verses and trying to one-up another over and over. It leads to an entertaining clash of styles and a very unexpected collaboration. Not in my favorites of his work, but I'm glad to add this to my Playlist of DOOM.



Alright, well, that's the end of DOOM's main work. I'm going to go on and dig into EPs and his instrumental series, but I don't think I'll chronicle it here. That was my main adventure, everything else is going to be just unearthing any gems I didn't get to. Sorry if you read all that. Thanks for the patience.
Title: Re: Snupes' Must-Listen-To List (Recommend me albums!)
Post by: honk on June 16, 2018, 03:00:47 AM
sorry who are you