Music in 2017

[riffraff]

18 minutes ago, GLASSJAW said:

i absoluvely LOVE most of the Radiohead album - but there are a few songs that don't really pop out to me at all, which really drags it down because of its overall length. the worst offense is probably the three-song run The Numbers, Present Tense, and Tinker Tailor. none of these songs really resonate with me, and they combine for like 16 minutes. considering two or three of my favourite albums of the year only clock in at 30 minutes, its a pretty weird contrast: the "weak" songs on those albums breeze by in like 2 minutes, whereas these weak radiohead ones drag for 5+. 

 

although Present Tense has something like 6 million listens on Spotify - I imagine I'm just not hearing something that everyone else seems to enjoy.

 

 

Youre being honest.  I'm sure many RH fans accept lesser tracks because Radiohead.

[Beluga Whale]

15 minutes ago, GLASSJAW said:

i absoluvely LOVE most of the Radiohead album - but there are a few songs that don't really pop out to me at all, which really drags it down because of its overall length. the worst offense is probably the three-song run The Numbers, Present Tense, and Tinker Tailor. none of these songs really resonate with me, and they combine for like 16 minutes. considering two or three of my favourite albums of the year only clock in at 30 minutes, its a pretty weird contrast: the "weak" songs on those albums breeze by in like 2 minutes, whereas these weak radiohead ones drag for 5+. 

 

although Present Tense has something like 6 million listens on Spotify - I imagine I'm just not hearing something that everyone else seems to enjoy.

 

Yeah it drops off a bit before True Love Waits but I still really like Present Tense. I especially like the background echoey vocals near the end in that one.

I'd agree on Tinker though; it's probably my least favourite song on the album.

[GLASSJAW]

my top 20:

 

1. whitney - light upon the lake

epitome of a relaxing-yet-melancholic summer album. i love this, and i imagine i'll listen to it each summer for quite some time

 

2. preoccupations - self titled

opposite of above: this is total anxiety music lmao. my fav post-punk album in years - and that's saying a lot, as post-punk is probably my fav niche genre

 

3. hamilton leithsauser & rostam - i had a dream you were mine

super good survey of rock music. reminds me of Girls in this way. you can hear Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash all being referenced at times. 

 

4. david bowie - blackstar

everything's been said, i think

 

5. parquet courts - human performance

took me a while to get into this, but now i love it. this band is steady and consistently great. brilliant lyricists

 

6. radiohead - moon shaped pool

few weak tracks, but the good ones are amazing

 

7. twin peaks - down in heaven

i love the rolling stones, and i love indie rock. combine them, this is what you get

 

8. kevin morby - singing saw

my favourite "political" or protest album of the year, by far

 

9. tribe called quest - we got it from here

hip hop done right: a blend of the old with something new and fresh

 

10. woods - city sun eater

just good folk rock. very jam-y, but i love it

 

11. joyce manor - cody

my favourite of the emo revival scene, by far

 

12. omni - deluxe

wonderful debut. sounds like a mix of 70s proto punk and contemporary underproduced indie rock

 

13. japanese breakfast - psychopomp

some super catchy, nice songs in here

 

14. diiv - is the is are

if only this album were 25 minutes shorter, it would be way higher on this list

 

15. kanye west - life of pablo

too bloated, too inconsistent. but the high points are very, very high

 

16. bat for lashes - the bride

i think i'm the only person on the planet who loves this. it's quiet, super sadpants, but i still love it and almost everything this woman does

 

17. yuck - stranger things

totally underrated.

 

18. half japanese - perfect

absurd album full of over-the-top positive platitudes. terrible lyrics. but for some reason i've listened to this a billion times. 

 

19. teen suicide - big joyous celebration

way too long, inconsistent. but good style. listened to this an awful lot when it was first released

 

20. dinosaur jr - glimpse of what yr not

nothing ground breaking. same old good material from same old dino jr

 

[Beluga Whale]

32 minutes ago, GLASSJAW said:

my top 20:

 

1. whitney - light upon the lake

epitome of a relaxing-yet-melancholic summer album. i love this, and i imagine i'll listen to it each summer for quite some time

 

2. preoccupations - self titled

opposite of above: this is total anxiety music lmao. my fav post-punk album in years - and that's saying a lot, as post-punk is probably my fav niche genre

 

3. hamilton leithsauser & rostam - i had a dream you were mine

super good survey of rock music. reminds me of Girls in this way. you can hear Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Johnny Cash all being referenced at times. 

 

4. david bowie - blackstar

everything's been said, i think

 

5. parquet courts - human performance

took me a while to get into this, but now i love it. this band is steady and consistently great. brilliant lyricists

 

6. radiohead - moon shaped pool

few weak tracks, but the good ones are amazing

 

7. twin peaks - down in heaven

i love the rolling stones, and i love indie rock. combine them, this is what you get

 

8. kevin morby - singing saw

my favourite "political" or protest album of the year, by far

 

9. tribe called quest - we got it from here

hip hop done right: a blend of the old with something new and fresh

 

10. woods - city sun eater

just good folk rock. very jam-y, but i love it

 

11. joyce manor - cody

my favourite of the emo revival scene, by far

 

12. omni - deluxe

wonderful debut. sounds like a mix of 70s proto punk and contemporary underproduced indie rock

 

13. japanese breakfast - psychopomp

some super catchy, nice songs in here

 

14. diiv - is the is are

if only this album were 25 minutes shorter, it would be way higher on this list

 

15. kanye west - life of pablo

too bloated, too inconsistent. but the high points are very, very high

 

16. bat for lashes - the bride

i think i'm the only person on the planet who loves this. it's quiet, super sadpants, but i still love it and almost everything this woman does

 

17. yuck - stranger things

totally underrated.

 

18. half japanese - perfect

absurd album full of over-the-top positive platitudes. terrible lyrics. but for some reason i've listened to this a billion times. 

 

19. teen suicide - big joyous celebration

way too long, inconsistent. but good style. listened to this an awful lot when it was first released

 

20. dinosaur jr - glimpse of what yr not

nothing ground breaking. same old good material from same old dino jr

 

Nice list. Mine will be fairly similar but I'm not finished yet. I'm still making my way through Bat for lashes and Diiv but I know I like most of both those albums.

 

Also I finally got into psychopomp this week. Very good album.

 

 

[GLASSJAW]

1 minute ago, Beluga Whale said:

 

Nice list. Mine will be fairly similar but I'm not finished yet. I'm still making my way through Bat for lashes and Diiv but I know I like most of both those albums.

 

Also I finally got into psychopomp this week. Very good album.

 

 

i definitely have to be in the mood for Bat For Lashes, but i still think its way under-appreciated

 

DIIV is great at times, but just way too long. i think it sorta trails towards the end, considering he is a pretty one dimensional musician. i still love his style, but not for 63 minutes

[D-Money]

13 hours ago, Beluga Whale said:

Yeah it drops off a bit before True Love Waits but I still really like Present Tense. I especially like the background echoey vocals near the end in that one.

I'd agree on Tinker though; it's probably my least favourite song on the album.

 

Yeah, I like Present Tense as well. Even Tinker has its moments - but meanders a bit too much.

 

Spotify just released some previously-released Radiohead singles I never heard - Supercollider/The Butcher, and Harry Patch (In Memory Of). They're all great, but man...Harry Patch is simply gorgeous - a song I can't believe I went 7 years without hearing.

[Beluga Whale]

19 hours ago, GLASSJAW said:

i definitely have to be in the mood for Bat For Lashes, but i still think its way under-appreciated

 

DIIV is great at times, but just way too long. i think it sorta trails towards the end, considering he is a pretty one dimensional musician. i still love his style, but not for 63 minutes

I finished listening and yeah other than a few good songs that album do much for me. I can't handle too much continuous shoegaze to begin with and that album has too many bland or similar sounding songs to justify that run-time. They could've probably cut it down to 40 minutes and it would've been a lot better.

 

 

Also, this list is definitely the best I've seen so far: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/11/the-50-best-albums-of-2016.html

[otherwise]

This new Childish Gambino is just soooo nice.

 

Can't wait til next week 4 your eyez only. the released tracks are really good.

[Lateralus91]

On 29.11.2016 at 8:42 PM, riffraff said:

So I came across this band while reading a review of the latest Metallica album.

 

this is their latest release:

 

just over 70 mins long.  I haven't read through all the lyrics start to finish but apparently it's a sort of concept album telling a sci fi story about an astronaut.  Sounded interesting, combined with the suggestion of prog and thrash metal elements, so I made the purchase even though I haven't heard of the band to date.

 

i don't think there are many metal fans in here but this album puts some very talented musicianship and imagination on display - very dynamic.  By no means is this some cookie cutter, mindless heavy metal....listened to it straight through twice.

 

 

 

Yeah, Vektor is pretty far up there for me as well. The riffs on that album are something else.

 

Listened to Beyonce's Lemonade lately. I usually don't listen to a lot of that stuff. Didn't get me hooked. But she's more creative than some other artists in that genre, I'll give her that. Album is overrated though in my opinion. Childish Gambino was more to my liking.

 

Loved Bowie's Blackstar. Gives me the shivers every time I listen to it. Opeth is always a highlight for me, so that got a lot of rotation as well. Gojira, Moonsorrow were good as well. New Metallica was alright. Would've been better without the second CD except Spit Out The Bone. One of the best tunes since the Black Album.

[riffraff]

Vektor will now be a band I purchase what they have produced.  Typically, black metal/melodedeath/death metal vocal style is not my favourite although I do listen to those genres of metal: witchery, children of bodom and whatnot.  I prefer more of the growl metal core/hardcore vocal styles like meshuggah, the haunted or even more rock style vocals like High on Fire.  But the progressive and dynamic elements in Vektors music takes a lot of the focus away from the vocal meaning there is a lot going on to delve into.

 

you mentioned Gojira.  I have their latest release . There are some great moments in it for me and then also some nearly cringe moments too.  Some of the lyrics and vocal structures fail imo.  But then sometimes they are great.  What I do like, I really like.

 

david Bowie can do no wrong for me.  I have over 10 G of music on my phone and 130 David Bowie songs take up the space. I have been a fan for may years.  I'd go so far to say........,man crush.  My only one.

 

i heard one if the Metallica songs in the radio and was pleased to hear so much of the old stuff in it. I'll sound like an old man, but for me, it ended at black album which I didn't even reall like.  And justice for all, while a good album is terribly produced.  So basically, kill em all, ride the lightning, and master of puppets are my go tos.  I prefer slayer really anyway.  The drumming just puts them so far ahead.

[Lateralus91]

Vocals on Vektor threw my off at first as well. Took some time getting used to. I'm also more into those growling stuff usually.

 

Gojira had better albums in the past, absolutely.

 

Metallica have a NWoBHM vibe going on a lot in the new album, especially on the first disc. Second is more Load & Reload-era stuff. Kirk's solos are also a bit of a letdown. Mostly his typical wah wah blues scale rundowns. Yawn.

With me it's the other way around with Metallica and Slayer. Can't get into the newer Slayer stuff somehow.

[Beluga Whale]

Finished listening to the new Gambino. Nice funky album and I love the ambition to try something like this. 

[Beluga Whale]

Wolf Parade is making a new album. YES!

 

[tbone909]

Kinda surprised they didn't include Anderson Paak's other project NxWorries Yes Lawd ! with Knxwledge.

Been listening to this from start to finish since it came out in Oct.

 

[D-Money]

On ‎2016‎-‎12‎-‎03 at 7:54 PM, Beluga Whale said:

Wolf Parade is making a new album. YES!

 

 

I love the Apologies to the Queen Mary and At Mount Zoomer. Found EXPO 86 disappointing by comparison - it sounded like the leads were mentally checked out, not collaborating, and throwing together one last record ASAP.

 

Here's hoping they can somehow recapture the magic they had on the first 2 albums. But the 4-song EP they released earlier in the year wasn't anything special though...

[GLASSJAW]

ariel pink has a new album coming out soon too. 2017 gonna be something else

[Beluga Whale]

OK here's my list for 2016. Great year overall. Preoccupations and The Party are two really underrated Canadian albums that more people should be listening to imo.

My Woman was easily my AOTY. I love her voice so much and she takes this album to some amazing places. 

Wildflower ending up being higher on this than I expected but I listened to it far more than anything else below it and enjoyed it way too much to not put it number 2. 

 

1.    Angel Olsen – MY WOMAN 
2.    The Avalanches – Wildflower
3.    Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
4.    A Tribe Called Quest – We Got This From Here…Thank you 4 your service
5.    Whitney – Light Upon the Light
6.    Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition
7.    Parquet Courts – Human Performance
8.    Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial
9.    Bon Iver - 22, a Million
10.  Preoccupations – s/t
11.  David Bowie – Blackstar
12.  Mitski – Puberty 2
13.  Frank Ocean – Blonde
14.  Glass Animals – How to Be a Human Being
15.  Anderson .Paak – Malibu
16.  Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree
17.  Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam – I Had a Dream That You Were Mine
18.  Kanye West – TLOP
19.  Deakin – Sleep Cycles
20.  Andy Shauf – The Party
21.  Solange – Seat at the Table
22.  Frankie Cosmos – Next Thing
23.  TV Girl – Who Really Cares
24.  Shura – Nothing’s Real
25.  Japanese Breakfast – Psychopomp
 

 

Favourite songs (in no order and I'm probably missing a few):

Angel Olsen - Sister/Woman

Animal Collective - Golden Gal

The Avalanches - Because I'm Me

Radiohead - True Love Waits & Burn the Witch

Kanye West - Ultra Light Beam

Whitney - No Woman

Parquet Courts - Human Performance

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - I Need You

Danny Borwn - Ain't It Funny

Preoccupations - Fever & Memory

Drug Dealer & Weyes Blood - Suddenly

David Bowie - Blackstar

Car Seat Headrest - Fill in the Blank

Bon Iver - 29 Strafford

ATCQ - We the People & Dis Generation

Deakin - Golden Cords

 

[GLASSJAW]

i still havent given that Avalanches album a listen after not being crazy about the singles. i wasnt as big on their debut as so many others were, but i should give it a try. never heard that Andy Shauf one either. 

 

gave Car Seat Headrest another 70-minute try last night. i don't get why that dude's music doesn't resonate as much with me as it should. i do REALLY like Teens of Style, but Teens of Denial just loses me after about 30 minutes. 

 

good call on the drugdealer track though, that's a cool one. kinda forgot about that album

[Beluga Whale]

59 minutes ago, GLASSJAW said:

i still havent given that Avalanches album a listen after not being crazy about the singles. i wasnt as big on their debut as so many others were, but i should give it a try. never heard that Andy Shauf one either. 

 

gave Car Seat Headrest another 70-minute try last night. i don't get why that dude's music doesn't resonate as much with me as it should. i do REALLY like Teens of Style, but Teens of Denial just loses me after about 30 minutes. 

 

good call on the drugdealer track though, that's a cool one. kinda forgot about that album

I think you still might like it despite what you thought of the singles because most of the album flows together really well (especially the last half) and it's kind of something you have to listen to all at once.

 

Andy Shauf is a really good indie folk/pop musician but pretty under-the-radar at this point. Check out the song The Magician if you want a good idea of what he's about. 

 

Lol I forget just how long Teens of Denial is because I never listen to it all at once. I still love it but I definitely see why people wouldn't. I was even pretty surprised by how highly praised it became considering Will's singing style. 

 

Yeah I haven't returned to that Drugdealer album much aside from the two songs with Weyes Blood but I love both of those. 

[Svengali]

On 2016-11-29 at 9:16 PM, GLASSJAW said:

my top 20