Music, v. 2012

Listening, playing, performing, composing.

Continued from v. 2011.

Date: January 30, 2012

Author: Robert Coontz (Administrator)

Categories: Life, The Universe, Things We like

Comments RSS TrackBack 260 comments

1

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

in January 30th, 2012 @ 12:13

Have any MBers heard of a young folkish-rockish singer-songwriter named Dawn Landes? I heard her last night at a club in Arlington. Lots of energy, a dash of goofiness, obviously enjoying herself. Wikipedia says she was a science nerd in high school, which is an odd selling point for a musician but works for me.

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muselover

in January 31st, 2012 @ 16:26

I wish I could like Mylo Xyloto. I really wish I couldâ€¦

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2.1

SilverLeopard

in February 1st, 2012 @ 16:10

Honestly, I used to wish I did, but not anymore. ~~It’s awful.~~ It’s too much like pop for me.

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2.1.1

Castle

in February 1st, 2012 @ 17:49

Viva la Vida. That is all.

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2.1.1.1

Armada

in February 1st, 2012 @ 18:53

…As in Coldplay?

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Choklit Orange

in February 1st, 2012 @ 19:03

The end of that music video makes me think too much of either one of Voldemort’s death scenes. Otherwise, excellent song.

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muselover

in February 2nd, 2012 @ 15:54

See, I found Viva La Vida to be a bold departure for the band that expanded on their musical style while simultaneously catering to a larger audience. Mylo Xyloto does not do that.

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SilverLeopard

in February 2nd, 2012 @ 17:32

My opinion exactly.

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Castle

in February 10th, 2012 @ 13:27

Despite having listened to very little Coldplay, I know what you mean. Viva la Vida felt different, but this feels…the same. It’s still good, it’s just nothing new. We’ve been here before. But some of it is quite catchy, so I’ve got nothing against it.

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2.1.1.3.2.1

muselover

in February 10th, 2012 @ 17:52

Para, para, paradiseâ€¦

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3

Enceladus

in January 31st, 2012 @ 18:47

My horn teacher is letting me chose what pieces I audition with in the spring! And, like me, he enjoys modern and nontonal music, and has enough confidence in me to let me do most anything!

Wooo!
Of course, this means that I have a huge range to choose from.
Should I go with the Hindemith Sonata, Poulenc Elegie, or the Saint-Saens Morceau de concert? I love them all.

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3.1

Lizzie

in January 31st, 2012 @ 21:47

Where are you auditioning?

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3.1.1

Enceladus

in February 1st, 2012 @ 05:21

New England Conservatory (Is that allowed, GAPAs?)

I already have some experience there, and they have a very strong contemporary composition field, and the conductor who runs one of the auditions really enjoys modern music (Such as Hindemith)

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Selenium the Quafflebird

in February 1st, 2012 @ 08:53

As in you’re auditioning for actually studying full-time there? Aren’t you around my age? You must be amazing at the horn.

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Enceladus

in February 1st, 2012 @ 14:32

No, I wish.
I’m auditioning to be in their high-school age groups. I don’t plan on going to college there.
I’m fairly good- I’m around 4th in my district (one quarter of the state), and I’m in the top high school group at New England Conservatory

Lizzie- In that case, it would most likely be either the Hindemith or a piece my teacher suggested (Franz Strauss concerto no. 1)

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Lizzie

in February 1st, 2012 @ 10:08

Ah, cool. As I remember, though, they were one of the most stingy with financial / merit aid, so be aware of that (I got less than twenty percent of what I got everywhere else from them, although I’ve heard that that varies by studio and I do know people who successfully bargained up)

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3.1.1.3

Lizzie

in February 1st, 2012 @ 10:36

Oh, also if you’re doing this for an audition, I’d go with whichever (1) falls within the audition requirements and (2) is the most standard. You don’t want to do nonstandard works for auditions because if the panel doesn’t know it they are going to have a really hard time ranking you accurately.

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4

Lizzie

in February 1st, 2012 @ 15:00

Would it be okay if I posted links to my recital on soundcloud / sent them to you guys somehow?

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4.1

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

in February 1st, 2012 @ 15:11

If you send us the links by e-mail, we’ll check them out and see what we can do.

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Lizzie

in February 1st, 2012 @ 15:22

is it still gapas [at] musefanpage [dot] com?

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4.1.1.1

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

in February 1st, 2012 @ 15:51

Technically, gapa [singular] at musefanpage dot com. But we’ve set up an alias, so “gapas” should work, too.

If you’re sending large attachments such as scanned images, it’s better to use our Google Mail account, thegapas [at] gmail [dot] com.

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4.1.1.1.1

Lizzie

in February 4th, 2012 @ 16:06

have emailed.

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SilverLeopard

in February 1st, 2012 @ 16:22

The Chamber Choir director finally gave us that music that I was ~~screaming about~~ looking forward to. It’s the King’s Singers arrangement of Hide And Seek and IT”S SO FLAMMY. I’m singing the tenor part (because we have a shortage of guys and there are technically four guy parts) along with five other altos. Which mean I GET TO SING THE MELODY (some of the time). We spent an entire rehearsal on it. The director said that he thought this was going to be the big monster piece that would actually take us the four months to do, but it was not as such–we’re actually doing decently!
‘Tis fun. Chamber Choir is my favorite (non)class

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5.1

Castle

in February 2nd, 2012 @ 12:46

That is pretty awesome.

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5.1.1

SilverLeopard

in February 2nd, 2012 @ 17:41

The choral director at my middle school is probably the best middle school choral director that ever was/is/will be.
Okay, that’s a bit like boasting. But still, he’s a great teacher, good enough to be able to hand us pieces for higher level groups and teach them to us so that we can perform them decently.

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bookgirl_me

in February 2nd, 2012 @ 11:59

Elle me dit. C’est tout.

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Treebird

in February 3rd, 2012 @ 19:24

Does anyone know where I could find sheet music for oylmpic theme songs? Or, preferably, do you know what notes and rhythm make music sound “olympicy”?

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shadowfire

in February 4th, 2012 @ 02:08

My friend and I had this brilliant idea to learn When You’re Evil as a duo: her singing and me on violin. This is one of the best ideas we’ve ever had and I am incredibly excited.

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Enceladus

in February 4th, 2012 @ 07:01

Finale from Ives symphony No. 2 NNGGGG
It’s so wonderful. You can tell that he didn’t have to make money off of his music (For example- the woodwinds are playing straight quintuplets in a 4/4 measure while half the brass are playing off beats to those quintuplets and the other half are playing plain offbeats to the 4/4)
Ba-bada-baba-ba-bada-baba-baBWAP!

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9.1

Lizzie

in February 4th, 2012 @ 16:07

I have a CD of Ives playing Ives. It’s pretty good stuff.

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muselover

in February 4th, 2012 @ 15:08

Using djay to make a Still Alive duet between GLaDOS and Jonathan Coulton.

Life is good.

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bubbles

in February 5th, 2012 @ 20:58

Taught myself how to play “The Dog Days are Over” by Florence + the Machine on ukulele today. Awesomeness! Ukulele makes everything ten times more fun.

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Mikazuki

in February 7th, 2012 @ 15:40

I am now becoming obsessed with Charlie McDonnell and Alex Day and Chameleon Circuit. Don’t mind me. *Fangirl freakout*

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Oobatooba

in February 9th, 2012 @ 17:14

I. Am. Going. To. An. EMILIE AUTUMN CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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13.1

Ducky

in February 9th, 2012 @ 20:20

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH LUCKY!!!!!
Hope you have a great time!

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shadowfire

in February 10th, 2012 @ 18:23

Awesome! Have fun!

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14

Castle

in February 10th, 2012 @ 13:33

So we’ve got these two fairly new albums. El Camino and I’m With You. The first is by the Black Keys.

Here are my feelings on it.

It is excellent. It’s a very accessible album and it makes it easy to start listening to the band’s sound (which is why I’ve gotten into the older albums now as well) and I got almost all the tracks by heart within a few weeks. It makes me very happy. I might be going to see them at some point soon.

The second is by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

And to that I say “Wut?” because I feel like it should have been…more. They need Frusciante back. I am disappoint. It’s not bad, it’s just not good. It’s not even close to Stadium. At all. And it only has one mildly popular single. Even By The Way had three of those, and everyone’s forgotten it.

On another note, I’m going to see the Dropkick Murphys in March! WHEEEEE!

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14.1

Pseudonym

in February 10th, 2012 @ 19:24

“Have fun at the Dropkick Murphys concert! I was going to go to it just because Frank Turner is opening for them, but decided against it.

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14.1.1

Castle

in February 10th, 2012 @ 21:11

Same one! You should go so we can Kokon! Tickets are actually really cheap, especially for this notoriously expensive venue. I got mine at $30/ticket, I think.

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Pseudonym

in February 10th, 2012 @ 21:29

Ehh, I don’t really love the Dropkick Murphys though. I don’t know that much of their music…
I am semi-in love with Frank Turner though, so…
Actually, there a lot of good shows this spring. Grouplove and Young the Giant are doing a concert together, and fun is playing at the same place a couple weeks later.

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Vendaval

in February 10th, 2012 @ 22:06

ME TOO!
Actually I’m still deciding. I’ve seen Frank Turner play twice before (if you have a chance to see him play a punk show as well as a folk show, I highly recommend it) and want to go again, but I’m on the fence about just going to see him opening for the Dropkicks.

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Castle

in March 2nd, 2012 @ 17:32

SS is going to the same concert. She also loves Frank Turner.

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Pseudonym

in March 2nd, 2012 @ 20:26

The reasons I should go see him are starting to outnumber the reasons I shouldn’t go…

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Selcothe Sicaria

in March 2nd, 2012 @ 20:31

OH MY WORD YES
He is absolutely full of yes

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Selcothe Sicaria

in March 2nd, 2012 @ 20:36

And if you are semi-in-love with him, GOOOO. It’ll be awesome. And you can, if you want, meet me and Castle and Justicebird. If that’s a thing you feel like doing/are okay with/things like that.

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Selcothe Sicaria

in March 3rd, 2012 @ 03:06

Bluh, I read further into policies regarding that and stuff and I guess it could be arranged, but it seems like it’d be a lot of effort, with not that much time left to plan and things :/

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14.2

Dodecahedron

in February 16th, 2012 @ 21:41

WHAT DO YOU MEAN “EVERYONE’S FORGOTTEN IT” BY THE WAY IS MY FAVORITE RHCP ALBUM. I MEAN LIKE UNDER THE BRIDGE WAS THE ONLY GOOD SONG ON BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIK MAYBE GIVE IT AWAY BUT THAT IS QUESTIONABLE. BUT BY THE WAY IS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE SONG, AND WHILE THE SONGS DO TEND TO BLEND TOGETHER ASIDE FROM THAT THEY STILL FORM A COHESIVE WHOLE

/unpopular opinions

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14.2.1

Castle

in March 2nd, 2012 @ 17:37

I dunno, I tend to find myself funking out to Sir Psycho Sexy and Apache Rose Peacock. I think Californication and Stadium Arcadium are the best of the Pepper’s calmer, more alternative-rock albums, (on equal footing in my mind – Cali has more riffs and sort of graceful, sweeping guitar work, but Arcadium has seriously catchy tunes and awesome rock beats and WOO) but their funkier stuff is amazing. See their first album.

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Castle

in March 3rd, 2012 @ 14:12

And The Uplift Mofo Party Plan is still one of the best from their funkier days. Not to mention their eponymous debut.

TRUE MEN DON’T

YEAAAH

KILL COYOTES

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Tesseract

in February 11th, 2012 @ 01:11

Has anyone heard the soundtrack to the LOTR musical? My friend just introduced me to it, and it may be due to my frame of mind or the lateness of the hour, but I find parts of it almost indescribably moving. On the whole it’s extremely well-done.

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Zinc

in February 14th, 2012 @ 18:06

Just heard the fanmade Superwholock (tri-crossover between Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock) theme on YT, and recommend it heartily.

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Midnight Fiddler

in February 16th, 2012 @ 18:12

I love it when people call to ask if they can pay me to sit around in 18th century clothes and play music that I enjoy.

My answer is usually yes.

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muselover

in February 19th, 2012 @ 10:14

So, after shelling out $15 for the Game Music Bundle 2, I’ve found several soundtracks that more than justify the purchase. I’ll go down the list:

Machinarium: This is one of my favorite games of all time, so I might be a little biased on this, but this is probably my favorite soundtrack of the bunch. A lot of fun to listen and fall asleep to. Make sure to get the bonus EP too.
Sword and Sworcery: Also a great score, with a lot of interesting instrumentation and well-chosen beats.
To The Moon: Probably the biggest surprise of the set. The soundtrack is beautiful, but what really stands out is Laura Shigihara’s ending piece “Everything’s Alright”. I would have been willing to pay the $10 for that single song.
Preschtale: This isn’t actually a soundtrack, but rather a prog-rock opera inspired by video games. There’s no vocals, but the 40 minutes of pure awesome music are really great.

Now we get to the first Bundle, which you can get by paying an extra $5. (That’s why my total price was 15 dollars.) It’s smaller, but contains several worthwhile soundtracks, such as:

PPPPPP: This is the soundtrack to VVVVVV, another one of my favorite games ever. Its demonstration of what can be done with chiptune music is truly outstanding.
Super Meat Boy: Another fun soundtrack, especially if you’ve played the game. It also ends with the composer doing an “Acapella Rockapella Soundtrack Medley”, which is awesome.
Minecraft – Volume Alpha: No comment.

In short, if you want a ton of great music for a low price, I’d recommend checking this out. It expires tomorrow, though, so you might want to get it while you still have the chance.

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Castle

in March 2nd, 2012 @ 19:00

Okay, guys: I’m making a playlist for my friend’s birthday party tomorrow. I plan to use no more than three CDs, which is about 50 songs (?), and I need help assembling it. I’ve got until about 4am tonight to finish it (bedtime, you see) and I always argue with myself about what to put on it. Here’s what I have so far (also a very good idea of what kind of music he likes).

True Men Don’t Kill Coyotes
Behind The Sun
Dani California
Snow ((Hey Oh))
Stadium Arcadium
By The Way
The Zephyr Song
Can’t Stop
Get On Top
(All of the above are Red Hot Chili Peppers songs)

Houses of the Holy
Ramble On
When the Levee Breaks
Stairway to Heaven
Misty Mountain Hop
(Led Zeppelin)

Turn You Inside Out – R.E.M.
Woodstock – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Ohio – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Running Free – Iron Maiden
Run To The Hills – Iron Maiden
I Fought The Law – The Clash
Layla – Clapton/Derek & The Dominos
Elevation – U2
Pumped Up Kicks – Foster The People
Homecoming – Green Day
Street Fighting Man – The Rolling Stones
Whatsername – Green Day
Holiday/Boulevard Of Broken Dreams – Green Day
Longview – Green Day
Warning – Green Day
Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay – Otis Redding

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19.1

Piggy

in March 2nd, 2012 @ 20:18

“Art of the Dress”, from S1E14 (“Suited for Success”) of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The first one or the reprise, or Eurobeat Brony’s version of it, or PinkiePieSwear’s version of it.

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POSOC

in March 2nd, 2012 @ 20:27

Do you ever have the urge to listen to the soundtrack of a specific movie that doesn’t exist?

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20.1

muselover

in March 2nd, 2012 @ 20:39

Depends. What is it?

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20.2

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

in March 3rd, 2012 @ 07:34

I hum them all the time.

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Cat's Eye

in March 5th, 2012 @ 23:31

*coughHobbitcough*

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Piggy

in March 5th, 2012 @ 20:55

I’ve been on a bit of a Vocaloid binge the last day or two. It’s another one of those things that make me realize that we’re seriously living in the future. I hope I get the chance to go to a Miku concert sometime. “Yeah, last night I went to a show by one of my favorite singers. Her voice is fantastic, the choreography was great, she had a ton of energy, the crowd was loving it. She doesn’t exist, though.”

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21.1

*Cskia

in March 5th, 2012 @ 23:05

Due muchly to Swalot’s recommendations, I’ve been doing something similar lately.

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shadowfire

in March 6th, 2012 @ 14:16

There’s a live concert on the 8th? I think. Someone’s streaming it over the internet and it will be an excellent reward for completing finals.

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Piggy

in March 6th, 2012 @ 21:14

Yeah, Niconico’s streaming it. Tickets are forty bucks, though, and it’s at two in the morning Pacific time.

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Piggy

in March 7th, 2012 @ 09:17

ãƒ‹ã‚³ãƒ‹ã‚³’s currently streaming her 2010 “39’s Giving Day” concert for free, so I’m just watching that instead. Tempted to skip sociology to keep watching it, but I have a weird feeling that today will be one of the few days when we actually need to be in class for a quiz or something. The concert’s great, though. Computer programs are really fast at costume changes. The live chat next to the video is amusing to watch, or what little I can read of it.

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Areohawk

in March 5th, 2012 @ 21:45

Has anyone heard “One Winged Angel” in any if the Final Fantasy r Kingdom Hearts series?

Its terrifying in the game. >.<

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22.1

shadowfire

in March 6th, 2012 @ 02:23

It’s a brilliant piece of music though. Although the effect is reduced if you see all the ways people have mondegreened the lyrics. “Bells, frogs, Bing cherries, Peter Pan, ham and cheese, SEPHIROTH”
There’s an amazing live version floating around on YouTube somewhere. Have you seen it?

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Areohawk

in March 6th, 2012 @ 22:54

Yea, I had to look up how they were actually pronounced to get the nonsense out of my head.
and no I have not seen it, perhaps you could tell me how to find it?

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shadowfire

in March 7th, 2012 @ 01:09

It’s by the Eminence Symphony. And I am kind of a huge sucker for orchestrated video game music.

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Ambystoma Maculatum and Joolb (~)_+)

in March 5th, 2012 @ 22:13

I was just introduced to the “Most Unwanted Music”, a 20-minute-long attempt to create the most annoying piece of music based on an Internet poll of what annoyed people most. Within the first 7 or so minutes, it contains an opera singer rapping about how she wants to be a cowboy, inane lyrics sung by off-key children about various holidays and Wal-Mart, and some ridiculously exaggerated harp glissandos and bagpipes.

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Choklit Orange

in March 5th, 2012 @ 23:09

I searched “most unwanted music” on YouTube and it brought up “Nyan Cat Infinite,” “YOM KIPPUR!!!,” and “Theoden Horsemaster.”

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Ambystoma Maculatum and Joolb (~)_+)

in March 6th, 2012 @ 21:02

On Google, it’s the first result, if you were interested. (Apparently, its official name is “The Most Unwanted Song”) It also has a counterpart, “The Most Wanted Song”. This one succeeds much less well, because a mash-up of all the things people like is apparently every bit as annoying as a mash-up of everything they hate.

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23.2

*Cskia

in March 5th, 2012 @ 23:11

I can’t decide whether this calls for a pie or a squid. *squidpie*

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Choklit Orange

in March 10th, 2012 @ 20:33

I have an urge to record myself playing something on the violin for no particular reason. Can anyone suggest a song that’s not usually played on a solo violin, but that you think would sound good that way?

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Agent Lightning

in March 11th, 2012 @ 09:01

The Old Castle from Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky is really one of my favorite pieces, but it is normally played on alto sax. I have heard it on tenor sax. I think it would be cool to see how it sounds on violin. I hope you have good recording equipment, though, or that it will work better on violin, because I tried to record myself on the sax once using a smartphone and when I played it back it sounded obnoxious and honking. Way to make a girl self conscious about her sound. Anyway, it should work better on the violin, I think. Have fun!

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shadowfire

in March 12th, 2012 @ 10:18

When I am bored and noodling on my violin I like to figure out the melodies to pop songs.

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25

Castle

in March 11th, 2012 @ 00:00

OKAAAY

That was pretty incredible. I just saw Frank Turner and Dropkick Murphys live. I started out with no idea who Frank Turner was and ended with absolute love for him. He was absolutely amazing. He not only played beautiful, well-written, lovely music but he interacted with the crowd SO WELL. He had everyone singing at least twice. It was wonderful. I don’t think he played anything off Sleep Is for the Week, though. He seems like such a nice person and I so thoroughly enjoyed listening to him, both his music and HIM.

And Dropkick Murphys, well…they started out pretty strong. They opened with Foggy Dew, and I have to describe that separately. Frank left, there was a thirty-minute break and I went off and found Justice and Selky and brought them to my seat. We walked back in and everything was dark, and out of nowhere this haunting voice started singing The Foggy Dew, and I was totally mesmerized. I think it was the Sinead O’Connor version. My friend leans over and goes “I know this! In about four seconds it’s going to get amazing.” and it did. Bagpipes and flutes kicked in right then and it ended and merged into a Dropkick song.

The first half of their set was good but not great to me because I didn’t know too much of their really old stuff and that’s mostly what they played. Right in the middle, though, they switched to acoustic and played The Warrior’s Code. They followed that up with a few more that I loved and then played Shipping Up To Boston. Let’s just take a second here to describe that song – it’s like the Celtic punk rock anthem. It’s also BOSTON’S anthem. There were about ten seconds without lights before Shipping Up started, and then there was a cloud of mist and this massive banner unfurled behind the band. It was perfectly synchronized with the song, which I proceeded to scream out as loudly as I could. At that point I couldn’t hear so well, so I yelled louder to hear myself. Justice by this time was looking at me and grinning in what I suspect was amusement. Then they played The State of Massachusetts and Johnny, I Hardly Knew You.

And throughout all of it I was snuggled up with Selky and Justice. It was absolutely lovely. It was simultaneously adorable, mildly romantic and REALLY REALLY LOUD AND FULL OF LOUD PUNK ROCK IRISH DRUNK DUDES. Such a good time. When paired with yesterday, this was indeed the best 48 hours ever.

On top of that, you guys…love. I am in it. I am in so much of it.

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25.1

Selcothe Sicaria

in March 11th, 2012 @ 13:36

I HAVE NO WORDS FOR HOW AMAZING LAST NIGHT WAS. OHHHHH MY GOD.

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25.1.1

Selcothe Sicaria

in March 11th, 2012 @ 14:04

There really aren’t words for things this awesome. I really liked Frank Turner before (and for a few days before the concert I spammed Castle with his music nonstop), but now I REALLY REALLY like him. Excessively so. He’d be my type even if he wasn’t famous, and he’s definitely one of the better musicians to see live. I fangirled so hard the entire time he was up there (I really wish you could have seen that, Castle, it was absolutely hilarious) and since Justice and I had the best seats (the closest you can get to the stage without being on the floor), I got really nice close-up pictures of him, that I may or may not frame and put on my desk. I ended up leaving the show wishing I’d made more of an effort to seek him out and give him a hug. He played Eulogy first. I felt so boss for calling that the night before, because it’s one of THOSE songs, the kind that are just perfect for opening shows with.

The Foggy Dew was fantastic as well, for an opening. When it started playing, I was like “WAIT I KNOW THIS SONG”, although not well enough to sing along, which made me sad.

And Castle, that’s being sung to you the next time I see you. Just letting you know.
(And you’re getting massive amounts of hug as well, but that goes without saying)

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Robert Coontz (Administrator)

in March 11th, 2012 @ 09:16

Castle asked us to post this picture from the concert:

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26.1

Castle

in March 11th, 2012 @ 19:52

Thank you!

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*Cskia

in March 15th, 2012 @ 00:53

The beta version of Lavendar Town’s music.

Oh, god.

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Selcothe Sicaria

in March 17th, 2012 @ 02:03

ONCE MORE TO THE BOOOAAARDS, ONE MORE CURTAIN CAAAAAALL
GIIIIVE THE CROWD EVERYTHING THEY’RE ASKING FOR AND MORE
ALWAYS MAKE ‘EM LAAAUGH, TRY TO MAKE ‘EM CRYYY
ALWAYS TAKE THE STAGE LIKE IT’S THE LAST NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE

I… I dug through all of my Frank Turner and I found that song. It’s called Balthazar, Impresario [best name, btw] and it’s FANTASTIC but SO SAD and it has thoroughly lodged itself in my head and told me very sternly that it’s not leaving. So I felt like I’d share, because Frank Turner is contagious, especially this song. I wonder why nobody’s heard of it… it now ties with Photosynthesis as my favourite song of his. <3

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muselover

in March 17th, 2012 @ 20:15

I love OK Go.

SO.

MUCH.

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30

Enceladus

in March 31st, 2012 @ 17:00

I was going to spend my afternoon listening to modern atonal music but then I accidentally a Kachaturian and now I’m headbanging to Grieg and everything is better forever.

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31

Piggy

in April 7th, 2012 @ 18:06

Apparently I’m going to a show by the Avett Brothers with a friend of mine next week. He got two tickets for his birthday and so he texted me this afternoon asking if I was busy on Thursday. I’d seen some posters for the show around campus and in a couple coffeeshops, but I hadn’t listened to them before. So now I’m listening to the Avett Brothers to get a feel for their music. It’s pretty good.

Strangely, this will be the first show of this type that I’ve been to. Most of my concertgoing has been classical. Of the non-classical shows I’ve gone to, they’ve either been much larger (like Paul McCartney) or much smaller (friends’ bands playing various places). Should be interesting.

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31.1

Castle

in April 7th, 2012 @ 18:10

You saw Paul McCartney? I am envious. Very envious.
I’ve never heard of the Avett Brothers. I think I’ll go google them. Have fun at the concert!

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31.1.1

Selcothe Sicaria

in April 7th, 2012 @ 18:39

YES YES YES GOOGLE THEM THEY ARE QUITE SHINY

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31.2

Selcothe Sicaria

in April 7th, 2012 @ 18:24

OH MY GOD AVETT BROTHERS

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

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32

muselover

in April 8th, 2012 @ 15:49

I just pre-ordered Underwater Sunshine.

Your argument was never even spoken.

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33

Selcothe Sicaria

in April 8th, 2012 @ 22:26

“The Sad Mafioso” is a fantastic song and I can’t stop listening to it. So is Storm.

Both are by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and I’d suggest looking them up if you’re into post-rock and music that most people have probably never heard of.

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34

shadowfire

in April 9th, 2012 @ 09:33

Wow, coloUrs and mayhem is everything I was hoping for.

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35

Piggy

in April 12th, 2012 @ 22:20

I just got back from the Avett Brothers show. We got there fairly early, so we got a spot pretty close to the stage. Quite a few more people showed up than I expected, and the audience and the band both had a lot of energy. Joe Kwon, the cellist, was especially into it–he absolutely shredded his bow on several occasions. The second encore was Seth doing “The Ballad of Love and Hate”, and in the middle of the second stanza, right after the part that goes “Hate reads the letter and throws it away / ‘No one here cares if you go or you stay'”, a guy in the audience screamed out, “I care!” and Seth had to stop playing for ten or fifteen seconds because he was laughing so hard. Both Seth and Scott seemed really grateful to be there–I know all musicians say, “Thanks for letting us play here tonight!” and things like that, but they seemed unusually sincere about it, and I found that interesting.

So anyway, yeah, a very enjoyable show. Great music, good atmosphere (only one or two obnoxiously drunk people), all that.

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35.1

Selcothe Sicaria

in April 13th, 2012 @ 12:12

THAT SONG. I love that song. So much.

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36

Radiant_Darkness

in April 13th, 2012 @ 16:58

Good for you, Piggy! Glad you enjoyed it.

Figured I might as well tell all y’all about one of the shows I went to in my blog absence. I saw Falling In Reverse play with the Black Veil Brides, Aiden, and Drive A while I was in California staying with some family friends. I was a little surprised they let me go but they weren’t really… invested in me I guess so it wasn’t a big surprise. Anyway. Concert.

Aiden is really similar to BVB/FIR in getup, and their sound isn’t anything special but they rocked hard and that’s all anyone can ask for, isn’t it?

Drive A is a newish punk band and I must say I was impressed! They did a great job, I picked up their album after the show was over. Hope they get better known and look forward to seeing them again.

I like the Black Veil Brides music well enough, used to like them more but it’s catchy glam rock and hard not to like in my opinion! But their concerts have hoards of fangirls. Andy Biersack is hot, yes, but it’s a concert, not a modeling session.

I was mainly there for Falling In Reverse. Even though it was technically the BVB tour, I like FIR a lot better. They were amazing, and thankfully the BVB fangirls stayed out of the moshing! Got a few bruises but it was totally worth it.

Yeah! Woo! Go music!

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37

Castle

in April 16th, 2012 @ 16:16

So, um…
Dre and Snoop spent nearly half a million dollars to create a moving, rapping hologram of Tupac and then had it perform his music. Live. Last night. It uses voice samples to flawlessly recreate his voice, so he rapped like himself but in a way he never had before in life.

It’s very haunting and disturbing, watching a 16-years-gone rap legend climb onstage and perform.

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38

Piggy

in April 23rd, 2012 @ 19:30

How about we share some album suggestions? Here’s what I’ve been listening to lately.

CafÃ© Tacuba – Sino – Latin rock, a bit alternative-y at times, probably better if you speak Spanish and can appreciate the lyrics.

Do As Infinity – Time Machine – Japanese rock/pop. It came out almost two months ago, I just found out about this today; Do As Infinity’s one of my favorite bands.

M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – Electronic, but quite a bit of variety. I’d recommend using the highest-quality speakers or headphones you can get your hands on.

Schneider TM – Zoomer – Different sort of electronic, fun to listen to–not as demanding as M83.

The Avett Brothers – Mignonette – Folk/rock/country, something like that. Probably my favorite album of theirs, though I and Love and You and Emotionalism are good too.

Pizzicato Five – Happy End of the World – “A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular”, an upbeat mix of J-pop and shibuya-kei; cheers you up pretty quickly.

Toe – For Long Tomorrow – Sort of math rock/post-rock. Hard to describe, but really fantastic. All of their stuff is great, so I just chose their most recent album.

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38.1

agrrrfishi

in April 23rd, 2012 @ 20:58

I love M83, and that album is great! Here are a few of my favorite albums of late, though most aren’t new.

Sigh No More– Mumford and Sons
Extremely wonderful album by an extremely talented group. It’s folk rock, not my normal style, but their music is so wonderful and the album is the perfect mix of upbeat and slow. My favorite tracks are ‘I Gave You All’, ‘Timshel’ and ‘After the Storm’.

Mylo Xyloto– Coldplay
The album’s step further away from their usual sound, which some people don’t like, bit I’m absolutely obsessed with this entire album and the way everything flows so perfectly together. The feel is a modern, almost techno pop-rock. It’s really great, as is everything by them (in my humble opinion). Favorite tracks are ‘Charlie Brown’, ‘Us Against The World’ and ‘UFO’.

Ever After– Marianas Trench
My friend got my into this band. They’re Canadian and their style is very similar to that of Fall Out Boy and All Time Low, so if you were ever a fan of that type of punk pop-rock music, this band is perfect. The songs make you want to get up and dance, or sit down and cry. Whichever you prefer. My favorite tracks are ‘Stutter’ and ‘Fallout’.

Love Is A Four Letter Word– Jason Mraz
The album is really light, airy, acoustic, and has a summery feel. Classic Jason. It’s really good. My favorite tracks are ’93 Million Miles’ and ‘I Won’t Give Up’.

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38.2

muselover

in April 23rd, 2012 @ 21:46

Eh. I don’t listen to too much new music, so how about some MOVIE SCORES?

The Artist- Ludovic Bource
This won the Oscar for good reason; it’s an emotional rollercoaster of a score, alternating between being loud and brooding and being lighthearted and fun. You should listen to it at least once all the way throughâ€¦then again, if you’ve seen the movie, you’ve heard the score mostly uninterrupted.

The Dark Knight- Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
One of my favorite scores for one of my favorite movies. Zimmer manages to pull off some of the most boldly experimental music cues I’ve ever heard, while Howard seems to be the one reining him in. The main Batman theme is absolutely breathtaking, and makes any situation seem epic. Danny Elfman has got some competition.

Spirited Away- Joe Hisaishi
Another deeply emotional score. Although I consider the latter a better film, this is probably a better score than Princess Mononoke’s. It captures every whimsical aspect of Miyazaki’s world perfectly, and manages to add some fantasy of its own as well.

Up- Michael Giacchino
Married Life. Stuff We Did. *sobs*

Machinarium Soundtrack- TomÃ¡Å¡ (Floex) DvorÃ¡k
Yes, I know this isn’t a movie, but it’s so good that I couldn’t pass it up. I can’t really express how much I love this game, but I can say that one of its best aspects is its soundtrack. Perfectly mixing electronic noise and organic instruments, it’s one of the best scores I’ve ever heard for anything. In the context of the game, it’s brilliant. GO PLAY MACHINARIUM NOW IT’S IN THE HUMBLE BUNDLE SO YOU HAVE NO REASON NOT TO

Soâ€¦yeah. I listen to a lot of scores. I own at least 20 full movie soundtracks. I suppose I’m weird that way.

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38.2.1

Prussia=Awesome

in August 3rd, 2012 @ 13:34

Spirited Away was an awesome movie.

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39

Castle

in April 23rd, 2012 @ 21:01

Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin IV is always excellent, ranging from heavy drums and electric guitar riffs to calm, quiet mandolin behind a duet. Awesome album, never gets old. There’s the famous Black Dog riff, and of course Stairway to Heaven. If you haven’t heard Stairway, it’s one of my favorite songs. It’s overplayed, but for good reason. It’s a great song.

Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Stadium Arcadium is an equally amazing album. It’s 28 songs in one album. The songs are an eclectic mix of funk, rap, rock and alternative, some being one or the other and some being a blend. Snow (Hey Oh) is a song for feeling happy, sad or whatever else you’re feeling. It makes you feel good no matter what mood you’re in. Slow Cheetah is just lovely and calm, and So Much I is a perfect example of how funky they can be while still being accessible.

The compilation album The Best Of Simon & Garfunkel is the best collection of their songs out there. It doesn’t contain every amazing song they ever recorded, but the ones it does contain are absolutely perfect. There’s a song for every mood and then some. If you’ve never heard them, they’re a beautiful acoustic duo. Their voices are perfectly matched and in harmony, and every song is poetic and thoughtful.

Rage Against The Machine’s The Battle Of Los Angeles is heavy, loud and full of energy. If you like heavy metal, this is for you. The guitar riffs range from incredibly simple to incredibly complex, the bass is very steadily pulsing and utilized very well, the drums are intense. The vocals are highly unique, and can only be described as rap, which somehow pairs perfectly with heavy metal. Rage manages it. They’re also very politically charged.

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39.1

Castle

in April 24th, 2012 @ 10:09

Oh, and Jack White’s Blunderbuss just released. Like, today. I’m listening to it right now and I really love it so far.

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40

Lizzie

in April 23rd, 2012 @ 21:45

Lately:
David McCormack and the Polaroids, Candy
Darren Hanlon, Fingertips and Mountaintops
Michel Polnareff, Les Grandes Chansons (mostly only qui a tue grand maman)
Townes Van Zandt, Our Mother the Mountain

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41

Jadestone

in April 23rd, 2012 @ 22:49

my mom just bought me a ticket to Lola for this summer, what

I mean she asked me if I wanted to go yesterday when we were talking on the phone and I just said “oh, I don’t know, I don’t really know who’s playing or what I’m going to be doing around that time so I can’t really make plans yet.”

The sibling must have wanted to go and she probably wants me to go with. Hm. Just looked up the bands online… I recognize exactly one of them by name only, haven’t listened to their music.

Guess this means they expect me to be around for the summer so won’t be too disappointed when I don’t get an internship anywhere at least.

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41.1

Castle

in April 24th, 2012 @ 10:05

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GO I WILL GLADLY TAKE THAT TICKET

THE CHILI PEPPERS ARE PLAYING

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41.1.1

Jadestone

in April 24th, 2012 @ 11:18

Not the day I have a ticket for :/ THEY I would recognize.

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41.2

agrrrfishi

in April 24th, 2012 @ 11:16

WAIT
I’M GOING TO LOLLA
WHAT

Skip the internship and let’s Kokon. <3

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41.2.1

Jadestone

in April 24th, 2012 @ 12:09

WHAT DAY

My ticket is for sunday.

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41.2.1.1

Castle

in April 24th, 2012 @ 13:03

WAAAAAH WHY ARE YOU ALL GOING

RCHP ARE MY FAVORITE BAND BUT IT’S NOT A REALISTIC AMBITION BECAUSE I LIVE VERY FAR AWAY AND COULDN’T AFFORD TICKETS LET ALONE TRANSPORT

I swear, the second I turn 18 I’m packing up my guitar and my computer and coming to live with someone in a more interesting place. Maybe I’ll move to LA and go to the Whisky every night. Because music is awesome and there is none of it here. There’s only one place in the entire state where anyone ever performs, and it’s usually not someone I like.

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41.2.1.1.1

Dodecahedron

in April 24th, 2012 @ 18:53

Or you could just go to college in a reasonably large city. No point in dissociating yourself instantly and completely from everything you’ve grown used to for the past 18 years.

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41.2.1.1.1.1

Castle

in April 24th, 2012 @ 19:37

Oh, yes there is. I’ve grown used to living in the middle of nowhere, in a town with no diversity (seriously, 97% white) and no culture of its own. The biggest construction project the town has ever had was the Dunkin Donuts across the street. I mean, I have friends, but most of my close friends like to go lots of places, so I’m pretty sure they’d come with me

And I mean…California. My mother’s ex-boyfriend lives there, cool guy. I could go live with him.

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41.2.1.2

agrrrfishi

in April 25th, 2012 @ 06:20

I think I’m going Friday. GOSHDARNIT

But you get to see Florence and the Machine, lucky!

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41.2.1.2.1

Jadestone

in April 25th, 2012 @ 07:43

How long will you be in Chicago though? I do kind of live near there.

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41.2.1.2.1.1

agrrrfishi

in April 25th, 2012 @ 08:13

Hopefully the entire weekend. We’re trying to work it out, because my cousin lives there.

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42

Agent Lightning

in April 24th, 2012 @ 20:08

Alligator Alley. I think it’s a grade four piece, written by Michael Daugherty, and huge bassoon feature. Very fun to listen to, very fun to play, unless you’re on trombone.

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43

axa

in April 25th, 2012 @ 01:54

jade – i looked up the lineup and i think you would like sigur rÃ³s if you aren’t familiar with them already. iceland~

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43.1

Jadestone

in April 25th, 2012 @ 12:01

I will have to check them out!

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44

muselover

in April 27th, 2012 @ 10:22

Floex and DVA are caking amazing. Amanita did well to choose them to do their scores.

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45

muselover

in May 2nd, 2012 @ 22:06

SFTDP, although I think I may get a pass of sorts since that last post was nearly a week ago.

I just heard a Dutch cover of Counting Crows’s “Goodnight Elisabeth”. It wasâ€¦strange to hear it that way.

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46

Dodecahedron

in May 6th, 2012 @ 17:45

So clearly the most productive use of my time was not studying for finals but instead using Audacity to hack together Museum of Idiots (They Might Be Giants, The Spine) and Utah (John Linnell, State Songs). (for those of you not aware, John Linnell is a founding member of They Might Be Giants and does vocals on Museum of Idiots. State Songs is a side project he did a little while ago)
I wanted to listen to them both at once
and now I can
so I consider today a success

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47

Piggy

in May 9th, 2012 @ 12:17

I pity the fool who doesn’t own the complete recordings of the LOTR soundtracks. They’re expensive–60 bucks or so apiece–but they’re incredible. And the liner notes too, absolutely fascinating. I can’t wait to hear what Howard Shore does in the upcoming Hobbit movies–hopefully they’ll put out the complete recordings of those as well.

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47.1

muselover

in May 9th, 2012 @ 12:40

*has not heard them*

*looks them up*

holy cake I need these now

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47.1.1

Piggy

in May 9th, 2012 @ 14:02

Aye. I would give a caveat, though: listening to these while playing Minecraft inevitably leads to the building of the ruins of forts and castles with plaques commemorating those who gave their lives defending their homeland.

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48

Midnight Fiddler

in May 9th, 2012 @ 23:41

How did I ever forget how much I love Bonnie Raitt?
Also, the Punch Brothers are wonderful.
And I’ve been listening to (old) country music of late.
And bluegrass. All the bluegrass.
The Duhks. yes.

I need to go buy music so I don’t have to rely on Spotify for my fix, but that means spending money and aaaaaaargh. At least this kind of mostly works for now. As long as I’m CONSTANTLY ONLINE ON MY COMPUTER. Which, y’know, totally is super rough.
Actually, it kind of is. Hard on the eyes. Also, since I share the computer with two other people it cuts in on mindless internetting time, which is probably a really, really good thing.

BUT ANYWAY.
Bonnie Raitt. She is so wonderful.

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48.1

Castle

in May 10th, 2012 @ 11:50

My mother adores Bonnie Raitt, and I’m starting to ~~see~~ hear why.

Old country music? Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash. That’s fairly old.

Ergh, yes. Buying music is so annoying.

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48.1.1

BattleCatra

in May 30th, 2012 @ 11:06

i like country music!

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49

Midnight Fiddler

in May 10th, 2012 @ 12:15

48.1 (Castle)~ Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells, Hank Williams, Dave McCarn, Bill Monroe…
I had a course that talked a lot about bluegrass and early country music, so we listened to a lot of those artists.

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49.1

Lizzie

in May 10th, 2012 @ 13:54

No love for Townes van Zandt?

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50

Pseudonym

in May 21st, 2012 @ 15:12

Apparently Frank Turner is playing a show in Boston in September and it is all ages and the tickets are not ridiculously expensive I cannot even comprehend this ummmmm

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51

Enceladus

in May 29th, 2012 @ 19:01

Still on my Charles Ives fixation- I’ve headed towards some of the weirder stuff- Tone Roads No. 1 and 3, The Gong on the Hook and Ladder or Firemen’s Parade on Main Street, and The Unanswered Question provide… interesting backgrounds.

If you want an experience something like dropping pots and pans on a marching band and then launching it off a cliff, still attempting to play the same music as before, then I highly recommend Charles Ives.

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52

Pseudonym

in May 29th, 2012 @ 21:51

51 – Sounds like the Doctor of Discord might like them.

So there’s this radio station, WFNX, that I love. I found out about most of my favorite bands through it, and it’s really what got me into indie rock and alternative rock. But it just got sold, and two or three months it’s going to turn into something else, maybe a country station or a right wing talk station or who knows what. meh

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53

Agent Hippie

in May 30th, 2012 @ 17:28

I’m starting to appreciate singers like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin more as I am forced to listen to the noises that everyone but I can identify as songs.
*braces herself for the dance on Saturday*
*wonders if she can bring her iPod*

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54

Armada

in May 30th, 2012 @ 18:18

I seriously love the Dresden Dolls… but listening to them for too long makes me feel sort of unhinged. -_- Anyone else have this problem?

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54.1

shadowfire

in May 31st, 2012 @ 01:09

Oh, I wouldn’t classify it as a problem…

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54.2

Jadestone

in June 12th, 2012 @ 21:29

I understand what you mean, haha.

I just love Amanda Palmer. A lot. And Neil Gaiman even more. And the fact that they’re married makes me so happy.

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55

muselover

in June 6th, 2012 @ 22:23

Just booked Counting Crows tickets for August!

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55.1

muselover

in June 6th, 2012 @ 23:32

And they’re in the MIDDLE of the THIRD ROW! I only discovered this a minute ago, but this should be very good.

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56

Agent Hippie

in June 12th, 2012 @ 20:28

Muselover- I am INSANELY jealous of you.

I just downloaded iTunes to my new computer, and so far I have the best of Neil Young and part of the best of Counting Crows on it. I’m going to download some Beatles, Talking Heads, Fray, and David Gray next.

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56.1

Castle

in June 12th, 2012 @ 21:21

May I recommend The Cigarettes, David Bowie and The White Stripes?

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56.1.1

oxlin

in June 12th, 2012 @ 21:25

The White Stripes are great! I have a White Stripes + They Might Be Giants playlist called “Striped Giants”.

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56.1.2

Agent Hippie

in June 12th, 2012 @ 21:50

I’ve heard some David Bowie and a White Stripes song.

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57

ZNZ

in June 12th, 2012 @ 20:52

Has anyone ever listened to Vienna Teng? I’ve been in the delightful process of discovering her music these past few weeks, and she’s really rather wonderful.

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57.1

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

in June 12th, 2012 @ 21:26

She is. So smart. See her in concert if you can.

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58

Jadestone

in June 12th, 2012 @ 23:11

Sooooo anyone here going to Lollapalooza? I’m going whatever day Florence and the Machine is playing, which is the second or 3rd day, I don’t remember which. My mom sort of just bought me a ticket so I’d go along with my sister, but she’s meeting her own friends there so I don’t really know what I’ll be doing.

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59

FantasyFan?!?!

in June 14th, 2012 @ 00:09

I went looking for Vienna Teng songs on ZNZ’s advice. I like, but halfway through I got distracted link-clicking and spent the rest of the time listening to Arthurian songs by Heather Dale.

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59.1

shadowfire

in June 15th, 2012 @ 18:05

Heather Dale is amazing. Mordred’s Lullaby is one of my favorite things ever, because it’s creepy and gorgeous and didgeridoo.

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59.1.1

FantasyFan?!?!

in July 23rd, 2012 @ 20:53

Oh, is that what it is?

I have some experience with didgeridoos. My grandmother has one. I think I like that song 10x more knowing that’s in there.

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59.1.1.1

shadowfire

in July 23rd, 2012 @ 22:47

Yeah, I’m pretty sure the low-pitched thing going wawawawa is a didgeridoo.

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60

muselover

in June 15th, 2012 @ 01:28

So almost all of what I got for my birthday was CDs, which I’m just fine with. Here’s a quick review of each of them:

Sufjan Stevens – Illinois: I can’t really say much about this album that hasn’t already been said, but I can agree with everyone else that it’s one of the most diverse, expansive, and deep albums I’ve ever heard. It’s incredible how much stuff is on here.

The National – Boxer: Basically a whole album of songs like Exile Vilify. Excellent.

David Crowder Band – Church Music: Although I have to agree with most people about the quality of Christian rock, this album is a great antithesis. The mixing is some of the best I’ve heard on any album, period.

C418 – 72 Minutes of Fame: I actually got the signed version of this one, so the CD hasn’t come yet, but Bandcamp bundled an MP3 download with it. It’s basically everything he did in Minecraft multiplied by 72, ultimately making one of my favorite electronic albums.

Alan Silvestri – The Avengers: A lot of people disliked this score, but I thought it was probably the best Avengers score Silvestri possibly could have written. Perhaps another composer could have done it better, but I’m really satisfied with what’s here.

Arcade Fire – Funeral: â€¦wow. The more I listen to this, the more I’m convinced that it may be my favorite album of all time. If you haven’t ever heard it, buy it. By any means necessary.

In short, pretty good haul this year, even though my iPod is now hurting for space. Any of these albums would be a good add to one’s collection, although the last one is easily the best.

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60.1

Dodecahedron

in June 15th, 2012 @ 11:19

I have so many feelings about Illinois
I rarely listen to it — it’s not appropriate music for driving (driving music should be upbeat, or at least not crushingly depressing, it also helps if driving music is loud), or for cuddling, and those are the two main situations when I listen to music
but I love it so much
once I tried to create a trombone quartet arrangement of Chicago, I never finished it though, it has potential I think

I’ll have to look up Arcade Fire, I’ve been meaning to for a while

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60.2

oxlin

in June 15th, 2012 @ 13:36

So you’d recommend the Arcade Fire album? I have had no new music for ages so I’m looking for some new stuff to add. I really like my albums by The Decemberists and Franz Ferdinand but they’re very different.

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60.2.1

Castle

in June 15th, 2012 @ 14:04

If you like those two…let me see.

It’ll Be a Long Time (just the one song, off of The Offspring’s album Smash)
Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (Smashing Pumpkins)
Led Zeppelin III (Led Zeppelin)
Led Zeppelin IV (Led Zeppelin) lots of heavy rock on both, but also a solid amount of folky acoustic.
The King is Dead (The Decemberists) if you don’t already have it.
Brothers (The Black Keys)
By The Way (Red Hot Chili Peppers) some pure funk on this album, but it’s largely soft rock infused with funk.
All Sides (O.A.R.)
On Avery Island (Neutral Milk Hotel)
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel)
Feels (Animal Collective) and pretty much anything else by Animal Collective.

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60.2.1.1

oxlin

in June 15th, 2012 @ 23:33

I like some of the Offspring’s songs (though I don’t own any albums) Have both those Led Zeppelin albums (and the Decemberists) Have some Neutral Milk Hotel too.

Other bands I like: The White Stripes, They Might Be Giants, Simon and Garfunkle, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Apocalyptica,

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60.2.1.1.1

Castle

in June 16th, 2012 @ 09:43

Icky Thump
Elephant

As for Simon & Garfunkel…ahmm….

ALL OF IT

EVERY LAST BIT

IT’S ALL GOOD

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60.2.1.1.1.1

oxlin

in June 16th, 2012 @ 23:02

Well, yes. I was saying I already knew and liked Simon and Garfunkel. Any recommendations for things I might like based on the bands I said I liked?

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60.2.1.1.1.1.1

Castle

in July 3rd, 2012 @ 06:49

Frank Zappa – Apostrophe (‘)
Nirvana – In Utero
Jethro Tull – Aqualung
Audioslave – Audioslave
Stone Temple Pilots – Purple
Red Hot Chili Peppers – By The Way
Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg
Cage The Elephant – Cage The Elephant
CAKE – Comfort Eagle
Beck – Mellow Gold
Queen – most of their hit singles, One Vision
Three Dog Night – Cyan

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61

Piggy

in June 15th, 2012 @ 14:57

The new Tallest Man on Earth album that came out a couple days ago is really good. Less sparsely accompanied than his previous stuff, but not drastically–it’s still very much his style. And it’s only eight bucks on iTunes.

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62

Dodecahedron

in June 16th, 2012 @ 10:19

for Fathers’ Day, I got my father some vinyl albums, because right now I’m in a phase where I like going to record stores and owning records, but the record player is his, and anyway they’re much cheaper than actual CDs
this is what I’m giving him:
TRON soundtrack, with bonus song by Journey
Kansas album with Carry On Wayward Son on it
J. Geils Band album with Centerfold
and soundtrack album to Monty Python and the Holy Grail

also! I went to the library book/media sale yesterday (they hold it once a year in this giant warehouse, there are books everywhere) and found a CD of Flood! It’s in great condition, I just want to hang the album insert on my wall forever. so much love for They Might Be Giants.

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62.1

muselover

in June 16th, 2012 @ 11:39

The only problem with the Monty Python soundtrack is that it doesn’t have the organ music from the endâ€¦

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63

Cerulean Pyros

in June 16th, 2012 @ 19:18

I saw discussion of The White Stripes up above–so, is anyone here familiar with former White Stripes member Jack White’s new album “Blunderbuss”? I am listening to it now, having gotten it in the mail today. (Yay, postal system!)

My assessment: Sweet Gloria, it’s impressive. It shifts between and blends punk rock, jazz, dub-step*, swing, and…others? There’s a lot of the unclarifyingly-named “alternative” and “indie”. I like the sound of White’s voice; and he put in all the right punctuation marks and inflections. The instrumental part is consistently gorgeous. Intelligent, interesting and well thought-out. And, y’know, entertaining.

{Wanders off to rock out.}

*Should dub-step be hyphenated, one word, or two words?

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63.1

Castle

in July 3rd, 2012 @ 06:43

It’s dubstep.
What is Sweet Gloria? Are you sure that’s the track name? It doesn’t seem to be on the album listing or on Spotify.

But yes. I’m a rather large Jack White fan. The Stripes were great, but Jack White has a solid solo career ahead of him.

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63.1.1

Cerulean Pyros

in July 3rd, 2012 @ 08:53

Thanks for the spelling information! Dubstep isn’t standard enough vocabulary for me to have been sure.

Sweet Gloria is an exclamation! As in, “Sweet Gloria, that’s gorgeous cephalopod!” or “Your garage band has been invited to play at Covent Garden? Sweet Gloria.” I suspect I made the term up, but I don’t know.

I agree: I’ve liked what I’ve heard of the Stripes, but I liked Blunderbuss more. I should seek out some of his band Dead Weather….

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64

muselover

in June 28th, 2012 @ 20:27

Nothing’s finalized at all, but we may be possibly hosting a Jeremy Messersmith concert later this year.

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65

Midnight Fiddler

in July 2nd, 2012 @ 15:56

Did anyone else listen to Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer as a kid? Because I did. A lot.
And recently for whatever reason I looked them up and started listening to them again. Their kids music is great, it’s not just kid music, it’s actually music and it’s really thoughtful and great, even though it’s simple. It’s really different listening to it now than it was listening as a little kid. They had an album for parents (and families), one of the songs was “it’s better than that” which was about how great it is to be an adult. One of the lines is “we do things you’re not allowed to do, then we do things you haven’t thought of to…” which is simply the BEST. As a kid it was kind of funny, but the first time I heard that line again recently I just about fell over laughing.
SO GOOD.
Anyway, last night and today I was listening to their CD “Air Guitar” which was one I listened to a lot when I was little, and now I’m listening to their “grown-up” music (not the one mentioned above, though).
It’s so nice to come back to really good artists.

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66

shadowfire

in July 22nd, 2012 @ 13:46

Clare and I went to a Florence + the Machine concert last night.
It was so amazing. I may or may not have started crying at several intervals. And they had an amplified harp which was the coolest-sounding instrument ever. And wow I’m not very coherent, sorry.

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66.1

Castle

in July 22nd, 2012 @ 20:38

THE HARP DISTORTION GOES ALL THE WAY TO 11

Wow, I should try hooking up a violin or something to an amplifier and attaching a fuzzbox pedal or three.

It’s like Metallica. But in a violin.

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66.1.1

Lizzie

in July 22nd, 2012 @ 22:09

It’s been done. Look up Apocalyptica.

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66.1.2

shadowfire

in July 23rd, 2012 @ 01:16

I play amplified violin. (I’m in a jazz band and acoustic instruments are just Not Loud Enough) I currently don’t have a pickup that preserves the sound very well, so it ends up being sort of metallic. It’s interesting.

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66.1.3

Castle

in July 23rd, 2012 @ 10:57

66.1.1 – I’m familiar. They’re pretty fantastic.

66.1.2 – That is pretty awesome.

That concert I went to? Two bands opened for them, and one had an amplified violin player. It was pretty awesome. Terrible speaker system, though.

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66.2

Agent Lightning

in August 25th, 2012 @ 10:05

Violin is the most underrated rock instrument ever. Kansas has a really great violin solo in “Dust in the Wind”. It’s epic and awesome.

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67

Cat's Eye

in August 1st, 2012 @ 00:02

Help, I’ve fallen in love with Pentatonix and I can’t get up.

They’re a young all-a capella group who mostly covers currently popular songs. I just spent the past hour watching all their videos on YouTube, and… holy cake. They are incredible. Not only are their voices absolutely spine-melting, they’re able to vocally replicate the instrumentals of the songs they cover with amazing accuracy. (The man who sings the percussion part is especially impressive. I just watch his lips move and… wow.)

But I think my favorite part is just how earnest they are. So many of the music videos I watch have singers who seem to have smiles plastered onto their faces; these guys are just five friends hanging out in a living room singing. (They do have two quote-unquote official music videos, with editing and costumes and things, but they seem to have just as many videos that are literally them hanging out in a living room singing.) They seem like the people in my A Capella class. I want to hang out with them and drink milkshakes and watch Doctor Who, and also I want them to continually sing at me for the rest of their natural lives. DILEMMAS.

I was pointed their way by Terpsichore, who has the best taste in music out of everyone I know, so I’m pretty sure that other people will also think they are awesome. Seriously. It’s like my ears turned into butterflies and melted down my spine, in the best possible way.

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agrrrfishi

in August 1st, 2012 @ 13:48

YES
YESYES
OH MY HOLY WOW YES

I am obsessed with acapella music, they’re my FAVORITE. In Dog Days, Mitch’s solo…my heart melts.

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Castle

in August 1st, 2012 @ 09:54

Things I have been listening to:

Sea Change – Beck
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
On Avery Island – NMH
Hospice – The Antlers
In the Court of the Crimson King – King Crimson
Sublime – Sublime
Discovery – Daft Punk
Cage The Elephant – Cage The Elephant
Kaya – Bob Marley

Beck’s Sea Change is particularly relaxing.

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69

Dodecahedron

in August 1st, 2012 @ 13:12

For our anniversary, my boyfriend got me cassette tape versions of four They Might Be Giants albums: Lincoln, Apollo 18, John Henry, and Miscellaneous T. It’s basically the perfect gift — now I have all the albums that were released on cassette. All I need now is a portable cassette tape player for school.

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Prussia=Awesome

in August 3rd, 2012 @ 13:42

Am listening to Paramore.

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71

muselover

in August 3rd, 2012 @ 22:49

So I just got back from the Counting Crows show and it was amazing and musical and stuff.

The opening acts each had a member the Crows playing along with them and Adam was just standing in the corner and taking pictures with his cell phone. Then the band actually got onstage and played a rendition of Round Here that I swear went on for 15 minutes, and they just kept at it for the next several hours. For the encore, they had every member of every band that had played so far come on stage and sing You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (old Dylan song, but it was on one of their albums) and they finally closed the whole thing with a fully harmonic version of Hanginaround.

Then we accidentally went out the wrong side of the amphitheater and discovered that our car was about a 20 minute walk away, but it wsa still fun because COUNTING CROWS CONCERT

So yeah that is my musical life at the moment.

Oh yeah, also In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. That’s part of it too.

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Castle

in August 4th, 2012 @ 00:11

TWO HEADED BOOO-OOOY

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muselover

in August 10th, 2012 @ 22:59

WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG YOU WERE THE KING OF JESUS BEAUTIFUL THING WE CAN COOOOOOMELY

â€¦or something like that.

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Agent Lightning

in August 25th, 2012 @ 08:21

I really love our marching band show. It’s ancient-Egypt themed and we’re doing Arabesque by Sam Hazo and two songs from Cirque du Soleil and during band camp I even got to meet the composer. (He walked up to me during one of our sets and gave me some pointers about my horn angle. “You’re a freshman, aren’t you?” he asked me. I guess it was that obvious.)
Anyway the drill is also really cool even though I’m not so good at marching yet. My dot is probably the worst dot a freshman could possibly have because I feel like I am constantly at the ends and fronts of lines and things which makes it easier to mess up, and worse if I do mess up because I cake up the whole section. Ah well.
I feel like this should go on the Music thread. So here it is.

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73

Ducky

in August 25th, 2012 @ 17:02

So, I’m making a mixtape for my best friend’d birthday, but I’m running out of ideas, mostly becasause most of the music I like is stuff that she introduced me to. There’s really no theme to the music that I’m selecting, so anything goes, theme-wise.
She likes Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy ,The Ready Set, and Fun ; however, she isn’t too picky, so any genre will do.
Suggestions, please?

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74

FantasyFan?!?!

in September 1st, 2012 @ 13:07

I have “Yellow Submarine” stuck in my head. I have no idea why. I haven’t listened to it recently, can’t even remember ever listening to it, and I didn’t even know for sure who sang it until I checked a few minutes ago. I just woke up this morning, and my brain was thinking, We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine, yellow submarine.

It’s just weird.

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muselover

in September 3rd, 2012 @ 11:03

So I’m pretty sure I really like deadmau5. Especially his older stuff.

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76

Piggy

in September 6th, 2012 @ 15:31

Everyone here listens to Fleet Foxes, right? (If you don’t you are missing some incredible music.) Anyway: search on Youtube for the piano version of “Blue Ridge Mountains” by James LeRouge. It’s phenomenal.

Also, Yarn Owl is a good band. Similar to Fleet Foxes.

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Midnight Fiddler

in September 7th, 2012 @ 11:16

I have access to a tenor banjo.
Also to a five-string banjo.
(And a bunch of guitars and a handful of brass instruments and keyboards and an alto recorder and god knows ho many hammer dulcimers and other instruments.)
But the tenor banjo is tuned the same as a violin.
I left my fiddle locked up at work last night, so I had my tuner here today and tuned the tenor banjo.
Maybe I should learn how to play it.
Along with figuring out keyboard instruments.
Hm.
Yes.
I mean, if I learn tenor banjo that wouldn’t be too much of a step from fiddle, since same tuning and all, right?
And then from there I could learn how to play a five string banjo maybe?
And that would give me an understanding of maybe what to do with a guitar other than awkwardly hold them and be scared.
Right? That’s how that works? Yeah?

I’m just going to assume that’s a yes, and start using my idle work hours to see what I can find about how to play the tenor banjo.
Maybe.

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77.1

Midnight Fiddler

in September 7th, 2012 @ 11:20

Oh, and I really want to get the school’s cello in working condition again (strings and the soundpost re-situated) so that I can play with it, too.

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77.1.1

Lizzie

in September 22nd, 2012 @ 14:52

You should probably have it brought to an actual luthier for the soundpost – those things are tricky.

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77.2

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

in September 7th, 2012 @ 11:33

It sounds like a good plan to me. A mandolin might be even better.

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77.2.1

Midnight Fiddler

in September 7th, 2012 @ 12:21

banjo > mandolin
Unless Chris Thile is involved, in which case I am dead from the awesome.
But seriously, banjo would be different enough but the same tuning would be convenient. And stuff.

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Agent Lightning

in September 9th, 2012 @ 11:49

Re: Coldplay:
I absolutely love and adore Coldplay and they are the best music group on the face of the planet for me right now. Also the whole baritone section and a few trumpets incessantly plays Viva La Vida day and night and sometimes we all want to punch them but throughout all that it is still an amazing and wonderful song and I love every song ever that they have done that I have heard.
But up till recently I hadn’t listened to much Mylo Xyloto. And so when I heard one of the songs (Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall), the first thing I thought was, Yep, I know what they meant when they said it’s a bit like pop. And then I kept listening and while I know what they meant, saying it was like pop (it had a very party-rock-anthem vibe to it in terms of rythyms) it still felt like Coldplay. It was like if you took all the colors and textures of Coldplay and just shaped it into something else, and I didn’t mind because it was still Coldplay, just with a slightly more pop feel.
I enjoyed it.
So there’s my opinion.

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muselover

in September 21st, 2012 @ 20:15

MUSIC THEMED AVATAR GOOOOOO

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shadowfire

in September 22nd, 2012 @ 01:32

Electro-swing may in fact be the coolest thing ever. Am I weird? Maybe.

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81

Agent Lightning

in September 22nd, 2012 @ 13:43

The Star Trek theme sounds eerily similar to Harlem Nocturne.

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Piggy

in September 30th, 2012 @ 22:01

Today I happened to discover a group by the name of Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three. I’m not sure exactly what to call the genre–Wikipedia suggests “American roots”–but it’s old-fashioned and toe-tapping and sincere and I love it. Look up “La La Blues” on Youtube to get an idea of what it’s about.

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muselover

in October 8th, 2012 @ 19:25

Oh goodness I think I may love Radiohead

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84

Midnight Fiddler

in November 7th, 2012 @ 20:02

If you’ve never heard the song “The Rovin’ Dies Hard” from Battlefield Band you are missing out and you should go listen to it THIS INSTANT.
It’s become my favorite song over the past two days. Seriously. Oh my koko.
“And if ever I’m asked why the Scots are beguiled
I’ll lift up my glass and I’ll smile,
and I’ll tell them that fortune dealt Scotland the wildest of cards,
FOR THE ROVIN’ DIES HARD.”
Basically replace “Scots” and “Scotland” with “Fern” and you have my life. In a nutshell. With bagpipes, etc.
Sometimes you just hear a song and it is so perfect at that moment that you basically want to listen to it forever and it is so good that you kind of want to cry from the feels?
Yeah.

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fireandhemlock1996

in December 5th, 2012 @ 17:00

Oh yeah.
I MADE ALLSTATE! AS A CAKIN’ SOPHOMORE!
Basically, I win life.

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85.1

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

in December 5th, 2012 @ 17:17

You do!

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85.1.1

fireandhemlock1996

in December 5th, 2012 @ 17:32

Thankies, Mr. Coontz!

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85.2

Cat's Meow

in December 5th, 2012 @ 18:59

Wow! Congratulations, Fireh! *celebratory pies*

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85.3

Adeliae

in December 5th, 2012 @ 20:03

Wow, that is amazing! Congratulations!

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85.4

Selenium the Quafflebird

in December 6th, 2012 @ 05:54

Congratulations Fireh!! Entirely deserved I’m sure!

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85.5

Maths Lover â™¥

in December 6th, 2012 @ 16:10

Congratulations! *pies*

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86

Castle

in December 20th, 2012 @ 16:55

Things Castle has been listening to lately:

Jethro Tull
–
Progressive rock is what happens when you turn rock up to 11. It’s built on the bones of rock, but is commonly infused with unusual instruments (for rock, at least), which, in Jethro Tull, are generally instruments such as flutes, organs, and I believe synths in some songs. Prog is also notable for long instrumental interludes and concept albums instead of the typical verse-chorus pop/rock formula, and Jethro Tull does it really really well.

They’ve released a lot of albums but the best known and probably best places to start are Aqualung, which is considered a concept album by fans but not the band, and Thick As A Brick, a 40-minute, one-song epic that they released to give fans the mother of all sarcastic, over-the-top concept albums to end all concept albums.

Flume
–
Flume is like this strange, dreamy, quirky, vocal-y (clips and full tracks, but no samples as far as I can tell) pop-oriented electronic music that I suppose I’d have to classify as…well, electronic pop. He’s very unknown in the US but his first LP just went gold in Australia. He’s still pretty small-time, or at least still very fan oriented, because he maintains a Soundcloud and interacts with fans on his social media pages. Good stuff.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
–
Because who ISN’T listening to them right now. Post rock. Very, very good post rock. They just put out their first record in I think almost a decade.
My descriptions are getting shorter and shorter because I have to go somewhere soon but I highly recommend you all listen to the first track (The Dead Flag Blues) off their first album, F#A#infinity if you want a good taste of what kind of music they make.

Bob Marley
–
do i even need to describe this i don’t think so
I played some at a dance when it came time to slow dance and it somehow worked incredibly well.
All around feel-good music, the end.

Frank Zappa.
Frank Zappa. Oh my goodness Frank Zappa. I’ll have to go into this later.
I also just bought a Captain Beefheart vinyl in NYC. I can’t wait to listen to it.

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muselover

in January 23rd, 2013 @ 17:30

AAAAAAHHHHHHH GODSPEEEEEEEEEEEED

CASTLE

I HAVE A STRONG HUNCH THAT I MAY LOVE YOU

Anyway, yeah, goodness. I own Lift Yr. Skinny Fists on CD, and am considering getting F#A#(can’t remember how to do infinity symbol on Mac). I personally don’t enjoy Allelujah etc. as much as I wish I could, but maybe it requires me being in the right mood.

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Piggy

in January 23rd, 2013 @ 18:58

I feel like doing a little mention of some more music I like to listen to.

Eyedea & Abilities
Right from the start, I’ll admit I’ve only listen to Eyedea & Abilities’ first album, because I’ve heard that their two later albums were quite a bit different. But the first album is a pretty wide range of indie rap, from the typical self-glorification tracks, which themselves are very well done, to some really interesting adaptations of a variety of philosophical schools. Eyedea focuses particularly on Plato’s allegory of the cave, as well as nihilistic themes.

The Oh Hellos
Folk rock from a brother and sister in Texas. The music gets stuck in your head all day, but the lyrics are both deep and well written so you’re happy about it. Some of it’s foot-stomping, some of it’s quiet and introspective; it doesn’t fall into the every-song-sounds-the-same rut that a lot of folk rock groups get stuck in. Their EP and only album are both available name-your-price, no minimum, on their Bandcamp, so you don’t lose anything from checking them out. My only real gripe would be that the production sounds occasionally sloppy and sometimes uninspired, but that doesn’t really detract from my enjoyment of the music.

Perfume
One of my main “junk food” bands. They’re a Japanese girl group that do synthpop, techno, chiptune, variations on those themes. It’s dancey, it’s technicolor, it’s just fun to listen to. I’ve mused before about my music/color maybe-synesthesia-maybe-not associations, and this is one band that REALLY brings that out for me. I think it’s probably the chiptune influence: lots of clean sounds and fast background melodies that jump around a lot–I just can’t listen to it without being bombarded with colors. I love it.

Emancipator
An artist from Portland who does trip-hop/downtempo/chillwave stuff. It has a great “environmental” feel to it, a very clean sound on some tracks and some lo-fi sampling on others. I would recommend headphones over speakers if you want to really get the ambience of the music–it’s the kind of music that you get lost in. His third album’s coming next week and I’m pretty pumped to hear it.

And a few honorable mentions of bands that I’ve enjoyed but haven’t spent much time with yet:
-Samsara Blues Experiment: German hard/psychedelic rock
-Gary Clark, Jr.: rock, soul, blues
-Paul Curreri: folk, blues, singer-songwriter
-Kishi Bashi: indie pop/electronic/rock; listen to “I Am the Antichrist to You”

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88

FantasyFan?!?!

in February 12th, 2013 @ 22:12

Since coming to college I have been listening to way too much Top 40 pop music. I don’t have any particular inclination towards it, but it’s everywhere and then I end up learning the lyrics and recognizing them and kind of mentally singing along with it. I’ve heard this genre compared to junk food before and now I understand than comparison. It’s not particularly amazing, but you just can’t stop.

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muselover

in May 15th, 2013 @ 20:19

IN WHICH MUSELOVER DISCUSSES THE MUSIC HE HAS BEEN LISTENING TO LATELY

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

This album is caking awesome. I don’t know what happened in the last three years, but Vampire Weekend successfully went from being an average indie pop group with two decent albums to a fully mature band who made an amazing one. Listen to it if you have the chance; even if you dislike the band, it’s worthwhile.

My Bloody Valentine – m b v

THEY MADE ANOTHER ALBUM. THEY MADE ANOTHER ALBUM PEOPLE. AND IT’S PRETTY GOOD. Not Loveless good, but almost nothing is Loveless good. They simultaneously build on their old sound and explore completely new ones. Who knows? They might just revolutionize shoegaze yet again.

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

Yay for iTunes advance streaming! Anyway, this album isâ€¦all right. I’m not a major Daft Punk fan, but there’s some good stuff on here, despite the amount of filler. I like both the concept and execution of Giorgio By Moroder, and Touch is also pretty good. I just can’t bring myself to enjoy a lot of the other stuff, especially the lead single Get Lucky. The last two tracks, though, are absolutely incredible. I love anything Panda Bear touches, and Doin’ It Right may be the best possible outcome of his collaborating with Daft Punk. Contact is also great, with an almost Godspeed-esque buildup. But yeah, I’m still mixed on the whole album.

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra – Theatre Is Evil

I don’t always like Amanda Palmer as a person, primarily when it involves poems and paying musicians who play in your band. But this album is one of my favorites of 2012. I had held off on listening to it because I didn’t know you could get it for free, which is what I did. And oh my various goodnesses it is good. It loses steam somewhere around The Bed Song, but everything before that (and plenty of songs after that) is really, really good. I especially like the switchup at 1:55 on Smile.

Certain People I Know – Self-Titled

I enjoy many of the bands on the Count Your Lucky Stars record label, but I’ve also found that many of them sound similar to one another. Lots of punk going on. This band was a nice refresher, with a lead singer who’s not abrasive, and some really good songwriting. I’d recommend it, as it’s free for this week only on the label’s Bandcamp.

Anamanaguchi – Endless Fantasy

Hands down, the best electronic album of the year. I don’t care what anyone says, and if a better one is released, I’m going to pretend it came out in 2014. Because Anamanaguchi deserves to have the best electronic album of the year. There is so much good stuff on here that I can’t even pick out any standout tracks. Well, except maybe Meow. Meow is awesome.

So that’s muselover’s music at the moment. I’ve tried to omit everything that I haven’t started listening to in the past couple of weeks, because otherwise I’d be here all day.

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shadowfire

in May 15th, 2013 @ 22:48

Has anyone else listened to Kaizers Orchestra? They’re a Norwegian rock band and everything I have heard from them so far is pretty consistently great.

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Piggy

in June 23rd, 2013 @ 22:49

Another album roundup sounds fun.

Kings of Convenience – Riot on an Empty Street
Kings of Convenience are my favorite group in a long, long time. They’re an indie folk duo from Norway, and I absolutely adore their music. The best way I can describe them is to say they’re a 21st century Simon and Garfunkel, except slightly disillusioned and less politically minded. I’ve been listening to them for a month or two and I still can’t get over how much I love their music. Unlike some similar groups, they don’t get in a rut of being “serious” or “meaningful” all the time. “I’d Rather Dance with You” is a good example. It may be noted that the title track, “Riot on an Empty Street”, does not actually appear on the album–they weren’t able to record it satisfactorily until their 2009 album “Declaration of Dependence”.

The Tinder Box – These Winds
The Tinder Box is a group of a couple guys from Sioux Falls, South Dakota that play indie folk, Americana kind of stuff. You can tell they haven’t made it big yet because they clearly wrote their own Wikipedia article. Anyway, I’ve been enjoying this album, and I’ve heard that they’re a lot of fun live so one of these days I’ll drive up and see ’em.

The Sound of the Ladies – The City of Gold and Lead
The Sound of the Ladies is actually one guy, Dr. Martin Zaltz Austwick, from England. He makes music when he’s not working as a medical physicist or lecturing on advanced spatial analysis and visualization at University College London. He’s switched fields a few times, I think. Anyway, his music (alt folk?) is really interesting to me. His voice is quite unique. Some days I hate it, some days I adore it. Some of the lyrics can get nerdy (see his previous album, Songs from the Scientific Cabaret), but this album doesn’t venture into that too much. I very much like “The Coldest Western City Outside Anchorage”.

Ã“lafur Arnalds – For Now I Am Winter
I’m not sure how to classify this guy. Wikipedia lists “neo-classical, experimental, electronica, neo-psychedelia, ambient, post-rock”, so I’ll go with that. An Icelandic guy that makes cool music, anyway. Kind of ambient, always melancholic, very intimate in a standing-alone-in-the-wilderness kind of way.

The Cat Empire – Steal the Light
The Cat Empire is an Australian ska band, and this is their most recent album. I can’t remember how I stumbled across it, but it’s been very addictive. It’s fun, it’s catchy, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Good listening.

Maximum the Hormone – Buuikikaesu
A Japanese nu-metal band; definitely not my standard fare. I think I like this band because of the occasional out-of-place pop vocals by the drummer, Nao. Her voice is just so unexpected for a metal band, especially interspersed with Daisuke-han’s harsh vocals and Nao’s own drumming. They’re another band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. That seems to be a theme here.

Ryo Fukui – Scenery
A 1976 album from a rather obscure Japanese jazz pianist. While I sometimes feel that his playing can be a bit tight and unemotive, the track “Early Summer” has such a focused, almost awkward determination that I can’t help but love it.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – It’s A Corporate World
An indie pop duo/band from Detroit, these guys are probably the most sincere hipsters I’ve ever heard. Yes, they’re called Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and they wear Nascar uniforms when they perform, and yes, they make political statements (the title track, for instance), but when you hear their cover of Gil Scott-Heron’s 1977 track “We Almost Lost Detroit”, you realize that their apparent irony is itself ironic. This is an unaffected, heartfelt patriotism not for a country of government and symbols, but of people. Not without doubt, though; they play a kind of do-they-don’t-they game not unlike Das Racist. Anyway, the music’s fun and upbeat and heartfelt and raises some good questions. Their second LP’s supposed to come out later this year, I think.

Anyhow, that’s a little glimpse of my recent listening. Honorable mentions: Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city and the Blues Brothers’ Briefcase Full of Blues. The former is the best storyline I’ve ever heard in any album, and the latter is the Blues Brothers.

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muselover

in June 24th, 2013 @ 19:46

I generally appreciate GKMC more than I enjoy it, but it’s still a solid hip-hop record in any capacity.

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muselover

in June 24th, 2013 @ 20:30

IN WHICH MUSELOVER ATTEMPTS THE GARGANTUAN TASK OF REVIEWING HIS ENTIRE CD COLLECTION

Okay. Let’s do this. Starting with the first 10 alphabetically.

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

An absolute blast of psychedelic pop. This album is just so much fun, and I really need to listen to it more this summer. It falters a bit in the second half, but the last track is one of the best songs ever.

Highlights: In The Flowers, My Girls, Summertime Clothes, Daily Routine, Bluish, Brother Sport

The Antlers – Hospice

Possibly the saddest indie rock record ever. It’s all tailored to make you as sad as possible, but it still has the same effect. The only issue is that pretty much every other song is a masterpiece, so the ones in between don’t quite have the same impact.

Highlights: Kettering, Sylvia, Bear, Two, Wake, Epilogue

Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92

This is the best electronic album ever. It can be background music, dance music, sleep musicâ€¦anything. It’s just so well-composed, and the fact that much of it was made when Richard D. James was a teenager is truly astonishing.

Highlights: Xtal, Ageispolis, Heliosphan, Ptolemy, Actium

Arcade Fire – Arcade Fire EP

Ooh, we’re almost to Funeral. Ahem. Anyway, this EP is pretty interesting if only because it shows how far Arcade Fire had progressed as a band before their debut. As a result, it’s not the most polished record ever, but it’s still pretty good. And it has an early version of No Cars Go, one of their best songs ever.

Highlights: No Cars Go, Vampire/Forest Fire

Arcade Fire – Funeral

HEEHEEHEEHEE. I love this album. It’s probably my favorite of all time. It makes me think of all the best parts of my childhood, and simultaneously helps me look onward to my adulthood. It’s really kind of perfect. If you haven’t listened to it before, do so by any means necessary.

Highlights (if I had to pick any; all these songs are really good!): Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), Wake Up, Rebellion (Lies)

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible

Arcade Fire had a tough task on their hands when they had to make a follow-up to Funeral. How do you top something like that? Answer: you don’t. You make an album that’s completely different tonally, and yet still sounds like the same band. It’s not perfect by any stretch, but it’s certainly necessary. And also very good and enjoyable. This album also contains the definitive version of the aforementioned No Cars Go.

Highlights: Black Mirror, Keep The Car Running, Intervention, (Antichrist Television Blues), No Cars Go

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

I have a lot of Arcade Fire. This is the last one, I promise. The Suburbs was a more Funeral-y album than Neon Bible, but also a slightly less focused and more rock-oriented one. I like the two of them about the same on the whole, and both are well worth having in your collection.

Highlights: Ready To Start, City With No Children, Half Light II (No Celebration), We Used To Wait, Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

BjÃ¶rk – Homogenic

I actually just got this album today, along with the next one on the list. This is my favorite BjÃ¶rk album by far, although Post is also pretty good. The instrumentation is absolutely gorgeous, and her voice is great and UGH I love this album. It transcends the boundaries of electronic music. It’s not necessarily the most accessible album of hers, but it’s certainly the most rewarding. The first half is definitely better than the second, though.

Highlights – Hunter, JÃ³ga, Unravel, Bachelorette, All Is Full Of Love

Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest

I decided to get back into this band in preparation for this album. I listened to Geogaddi and Music Has The Right To Children again, and marginally enjoyed both. But this album is probably their best. It’s entirely cohesive and clean-sounding, with some seriously great tracks. Not quite my favorite of 2013 yet, but it may be upon further listens.

Highlights: Reach For The Dead, Jacquard Causeway, Nothing Is Real, New Seeds, Come To Dust

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

I’ve always wished I could enjoy this album more. That said, I still enjoy it quite a bit. Justin Vernon’s a pretty good singer and a better songwriter, with some interesting uses of double-tracking and acoustics. It just doesn’t quite speak to me emotionally the way I hoped it would. Still very good, though.

Highlights: Flume, Skinny Love, For Emma, Re: Stacks

And that’s 10. I’ll probably do another batch tomorrow.

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Lizzie

in June 24th, 2013 @ 22:26

Kettering makes me cry pretty much every time I listen to it, and yet I still listen to it.

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92.1.1

muselover

in June 25th, 2013 @ 11:15

Have you listened to the whole album? Sylvia and Wake are like Kettering Plus.

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Lizzie

in June 25th, 2013 @ 17:32

Yeah, I have – neither of those do as much for me. Kettering kind of speaks personally to me, though.

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muselover

in June 25th, 2013 @ 22:46

Fair enough. Same way Lonerism does for me, I guess.

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93

muselover

in June 25th, 2013 @ 15:17

M’kay. Part 2 of 6.

Russell Brower – Diablo III Collector’s Edition Soundtrack

So. I got this with the collector’s edition of the game. It’s a pretty good soundtrack. Not as brilliant as the second game’s, but still works well with the game. I don’t really listen to it all that often, but I like having soundtracks to things I like.

Highlights: And The Heavens Shall Tremble, New Tristram, A New Dawn, Leah

C418 – 72 Minutes of Fame

Speaking of soundtracks, here’s an album by the guy who made the Minecraft soundtrack. I got this CD signed (yay!), so it’s cool already, but it’s actually a pretty good album as well. It occasionally crosses over into ambient, but a lot of it is just fun electronic music.

Highlights: Timelapse Kingdom, I Jike My Lob, From The Window, Stillbruch

C418 – One

This album is kinda sorta the soundtrack to the Minecraft documentary. It still works as a standalone electronic album, though. It has a lot of definite themes running through it, but it also makes really nice background music.

Highlights: Cliffside Hinson, Danny Makes Chiptune, The Weirdest Year Of Your Life, I Glove Thy Flob, Post Success Depression

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Oh yes. This is the sort of album that I enjoyed the first time, but it only gets better on repeat listens. If you can get past the lead singer’s voice (which I’ve found becomes endearing), you’ll find one of the best-composed indie rock albums of all time.

Highlights: Let The Cool Goddess Rust Away, Over And Over Again (Lost And Found), Details Of The War, The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth, Is This Love?, Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood

Counting Crows – Recovering The Satellites

If you thought I had too much Arcade Fire in my libraryâ€¦just wait. In fact, considering how similar a lot of these sound, I’m just going to do one-sentence reviews. So: This album, while not quite as good as their debut, is still a really solid rock album.

Highlights: Catapult, Angels of the Silences, Goodnight Elisabeth, Have You Seen Me Lately?, Recovering The Satellites, A Long December

Counting Crows – This Desert Life

More of the same, except less; still pretty good.

Highlights: Hanginaround, Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby, Colorblind

Counting Crows – Hard Candy

Aggressively poppy, probably their worst.

Highlights: Hard Candy, American Girls, Miami, Big Yellow Taxi

Counting Crows – Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings

A halfhearted attempt to go back to their earlier style with some good songs.

Highlights: 1492, Sundays, You Can’t Count On Me, Come Around

Counting Crows – Underwater Sunshine

A surprisingly good simultaneous cover album and comeback album.

Highlights: Untitled (Love Song), Like Teenage Gravity, Four White Stallions, You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Daft Punk – Random Access Memories

I’ve talked about this album on here before, but it’s only getting better with repeated listens. Except when it gets worse. Anyway. The last two tracks are absolutely incredible, so if you’re in a hurry buy those.

Highlights: Give Life Back To Music, Giorgio By Moroder, Beyond, Doin’ It Right, Contact

20 down!

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muselover

in June 28th, 2013 @ 14:41

It’s been a bit. Let’s get to it, then.

David Crowder Band – Church Music

Better-than-average Christian rock. There’s some really interesting production techniques on here, although some songs are definitely better than others. Not nearly as good as their following album, though.

Highlights: Phos Hilaron (Hail Gladdening Light), The Nearness, How He Loves, Birmingham (We Are Safe), Church Music – Dance (!)

David Crowder Band – Give Us Rest or (A Requiem Mass In C [The Happiest of All Keys])

(David Crowder really likes parentheses.) This is probably the best Christian album I’ve ever heard, next to maybe The Prayer Chain’s Mercury. It draws influences from progressive rock, country, pop, and even metal. I’d honestly recommend it to anyone who enjoys music, regardless of your religion.

Highlights: Oh Great God Give Us Rest, Come Find Me, Sequence, After All (Holy), Our Communion

Deadmau5 – For Lack of a Better Name

I swear it was just a phase. This really is not a very good album at all. Two decent opening songs, and then nearly an hour of grating, generic electronica. Strobe is brilliant, though, and makes the whole album slightly worth it.

Highlights: FML, Moar Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff, Strobe

empire! empire! (i was a lonely estate) What It Takes To Move Forward

One of my favorite emo records ever. Lots of complicated guitar fills here, which remind me of math rock bands like This Town Needs Guns. The lyrics tell genuinely emotional stories, and if you can get past the slightly unconventional vocals, there’s a truly great album here.

Highlights: How To Make Love Stay, Keep What You Have Built Up Here, The Next Step To Regaining Control, An Idea Is A Greater Monument Than A Cathedral

Explosions In The Sky – The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place

This album is pretty much the best-case scenario for mainstream post-rock. It’s really beautiful and emotional, and although it isn’t as good as, say, Godspeed, it’s still a worthwhile listen.

Highlights: First Breath After Coma, Memorial, Your Hand In Mine

The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

This actually isn’t the band’s best album, but it’s the only one I own by them. The songwriting is generally good, though the album drags toward the middle. The sonic imaging, though, is some of the best I’ve ever heard.

Highlights: Fight Test, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1, Do You Realize??, All We Have Is Now

Floex – Zorya

My other favorite electronic album ever. There are so many sounds on here that don’t even sound like a human instrument made them. This is the same person who made the soundtrack to the game Machinarium, and it shows. Listen to it if you get a chance.

Highlights: Ursa Major, Forget-me-not, Veronika’s Dream, Nel Blu, Mecholup

Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape

I haven’t listened to this one in a while. It’s pretty good, though. It’s not necessarily a great album, but there’s some good rock on here. I don’t like it nearly as much as anything Dave Grohl did with Nirvana, though.

Highlights: Doll, Monkey Wrench, My Hero, Everlong, Walking After You

Local Band – Debut Album

I can’t really talk about this because it would reveal where I live. Most of the people who made it are friends of mine. It’s pretty decent emo, though, and the production is surprisingly good. If they ever make it big, I’d probably recommend it.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Slow Riot For New ZerÃ¸ Kanada

Ooh. Now we’re getting to the good stuff. This was the first truly great piece of music this band put out, stuffing everything great about the band into under 30 minutes. If you need an introduction to post-rock, this album should suffice. It’s pretty emotionally draining, but utterly worth it.

Highlights: â€¦there are only two tracks, and both are good.

We had to stop halfway through the Godspeed. Ah well.

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Castle

in July 14th, 2013 @ 16:26

So I picked up a pair of floor-standing 30-22kHz speakers at a tag sale, along with a Yamaha receiver. Got a few rolls of copper wire from the barn and wired it all up. Next step is getting a turntable so I can start actually playing a few of the vinyl records I have. I’ve never been super big on vinyl because of the price, but now that I have a job I can afford it, and I actually am really attracted to the sound of vinyl vs digital, digital being what my entire collection of music used to be.

I’ve been going to shows at The Space in Hamden, which is this little underground low-ceiling all-ages venue that usually attracts good enough acts so that the majority of the people there are overage and I therefore don’t feel like I’m in an all-ages venue, which is a nice feeling.

This year I’ve seen Ovlov and Infinity Shred (check out Infinity Shred’s EP 001, it’s awesome) open for Anamanaguchi’s first stop on their album release tour, which was really awesome. It was really last-minute, too. I also saw Old Gray and The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die (both great local emo bands) open for Owen, an acoustic singer/songwriter. Sort of emo, I guess, but very acoustic compared to the openers. Owen is the stage name of Mike Kinsella, who’s also well known for his work with American Football.

In addition to those I saw Jeff Mangum/Julian Koster (one half of Neutral Milk Hotel’s most constant lineup) play in Hartford, which I’m sure I’ve mentioned in other threads. I nearly caught Unknown Mortal Orchestra at The Space but unfortunately missed it.

So with live shows out of the way, I’m going to do what muselover is doing because I have some things I want to say about the albums he’s reviewing and I have some ones he hasn’t done that I’d like to do.

Andrew Jackson Jihad – People That Can Eat People Are The Luckiest People In The World

Punk folk, but not distorted. Acoustic, simply constructed songs with desperate, self-aware, honest messages.
Sometimes darkly funny, sometimes satirizing, often carrying very potent messages. My favorite album by AJJ so far, but one of their earlier albums has better standout tracks.

Standout tracks are Survival Song, People, and People II: The Reckoning, with the last establishing that we’re all terrible people but if we can cover it up and help those less fortunate, it won’t matter in the end.

Black Moth Super Rainbow – Dandelion Gum

I can’t figure out how to label this album. Psychedelic electronica with hints of lo-fi? It’s chock full of looped melodies and distorted vocals, to the point where the voice is essentially a lead synth that words sometimes drift up from. It’s really cool, and it’s something I like to put on when I’m drawing or just wanting to listen to something that has to be disassembled through multiple listens.
It’s often repetitive but never boring. It’s almost soaring.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – F#A#âˆž

Godspeed’s first full-length LP. It’s doomy, it’s gloomy, it’s pulsating and heavy, and it’s pretty much everything I could want from post-rock.
Godspeed has a talent for conveying deep emotion through instrumental music opened or finished with field recordings of people speaking (on god, death, and large barges).
The first track, The Dead Flag Blues, opens with a narrative of apocalypse and despair by an unknown man with a gravelly, drained voice, and leads into a musical painting of a desolated city. It fades out into the sound of a French-Canadian preacher as East Hastings opens. East Hastings builds up over more than ten minutes, slowly rising from a gentle guitar melody into a huge, sprawling march. The guitar part that floats over the entire song resolves beautifully before the track drops out into a muffled radio transmission backed by echoing, cavernous noises. Providence, the last track, is almost half an hour long, and contains too many intricacies to describe, but does a great job of resolving the album.

Infinity Shred – EP 001

An EP from a semi-local band. Their sound contains traces of Godspeed’s black, desperate musical narrative of the apocalypse. The band sells merch consisting of buttons with various logos and slogans, and packages their EP in a thin silver wrapper, containing a small album cover and instructions on how to redeem the code on the plastic card included, which is labeled with the slogan “EARTH MAY NOT BE FOREVER, BUT WE CAN BE”.
Their music is full of Moog and other analog synths, giving the music an almost 80s-like vibe. The synths aren’t used for the same purpose as they were in the 80s, though, and every track is a melodic adventure. It’s a loud, beautiful, spacey soundscape. Their drummer sells their merch, and he’s a short, shirtless black-haired dude with boundless energy and incredible drum work. His drumming was one of the primary things I focused on while watching them play.
Not particularly inventive or pioneering, but certainly worth a listen or three. Not the kind of album you pick songs off of to play your friends, it’s better listened too all at once, much like GY!BE.

Kanye West – Yeezus

Yeezus, West’s latest album, is as raw and as elemental as MBDTF was overblown and stuffed full of layers and layers of instruments and synths and samples.
It can be looked at as a toned down version of Death Grips, and there’s certainly a lot of influence here, but Yeezus is definitely Kanye’s album and has plenty of moments that make the listener think of earlier albums.
It still sounds unfinished and unrefined, and that is due in part to the fact that it is. This album was hastily made, and it shows, but there’s a certain charm to it.
At the same time, I feel a little sad that he didn’t put more time into it, because Kanye is not good at coming up with things quickly. His lyrics in Yeezus are factually incorrect at best and simply dumb at worst.
When Kanye sits down and works on his lyrics for a while, he comes up with really witty stuff, but a lot of that is absent on this album. There’s some funny moments, but mostly it’s an album full of deep, bassy, raw, throaty sounds that ignite sort of a primal feeling in me, especially the samples in the chorus of Guilt Trip.

I like it. If you like Death Grips or experimental hip-hop or are a Kanye fan, you should listen to it. It’s not great, but it’s passable and has some really great tracks, although almost every track has some segment that feels out of place.

More later.

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muselover

in July 19th, 2013 @ 22:35

I wasn’t a big Yeezus fan. I understand why he did what he did with it, but I ended up just not enjoying a lot of songs on there. New Slaves was great, though.

Re: Anamanaguchi: GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. ME NO LIKEY YOU LIVING IN PLACE THAT IS NOT RURAL COLORADO.

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95.1.1

Castle

in July 30th, 2013 @ 20:51

In about two years, when I have turned 18, my friend Alex and I plus two or so of his close friends are moving to Denver to write and record individual projects and/or collaborative albums.

He’s friends with a producer that is a childhood friend of Macklemore, meaning that we can hopefully use that connection to kick down the door to the labels.

A close family friend of his is also on good terms with the majority of the Elephant 6 recording collective (see: Neutral Milk Hotel, of Montreal, The Apples In Stereo) so we’re hopeful about that too.

You can most certainly feel free to come live with us in our dreamy apartment of music, but you’ll have to pitch in money for analog recording equipment…

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95.1.1.1

muselover

in July 31st, 2013 @ 11:58

I may have to legitimately take you up on this offer.

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96

muselover

in July 20th, 2013 @ 16:13

Back! I’m not even sure if anyone’s reading these, but I’m enjoying them!

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven

Love love love LOVE this album. It’s probably my favorite instrumental album ever. The opening movement of the first track is my favorite piece of music of all time (seriously, go listen to it right now) and the rest of it is also brilliant. Easily on my top 5.

Highlights: Storm, Static, Sleep

Her Space Holiday – Her Space Holiday

This is really just sort of happy music. I got the CD for $2 minus shipping and handling, but it’s pretty good for that price. It’s short, and there isn’t a great deal of substance, but it’s definitely enjoyable while it lasts.

Highlights: Anything For Progress, Black Cat Balloons, The Hummingbirds, Death Of A Writer

Justice – Cross

This might be my favorite dance album. It’s anything but subtle, but it’s just so fun all the way through. Even songs that sound terrible on paper, such as the Ke$ha-esque Tthhee Ppaarrttyy, manage to wind up as halfway decent pieces of music. Highly recommended for any fan of EDM.

Highlights: Genesis, Let There Be Light, D.A.N.C.E., Phantom, Waters Of Nazareth

King Crimson – In The Court of the Crimson King

It’s weird thinking about how this album came out in 1969, because it could have easily come out in the past several years. The opening and closing tracks are two of the best prog songs of all time, and the middle tracks are still excellent. Moonchild may be the only weak link, but its experimental nature is still admirable.

Highlights: 21st Century Schizoid Man, I Talk To The Wind, The Court Of The Crimson King

Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News

So this album is pretty good. I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as The Moon And Antarctica, but I don’t own that one for some reason. There are some great tracks on here, and some not-so-great ones, but it’s generally enjoyable throughout.

Highlights: The World At Large, Float On, The Ocean Breathes Salty, Bukowski, The View, One Chance

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. That’s the sound that pervades this album. And it’s somehow the most beautiful thing in the world. This is the album that kickstarted the shoegaze genre, and remains the single best work in said genre. It took a long time for me to like it, but it was well worth it.

Highlights: Only Shallow, To Here Knows When, When You Sleep, I Only Said, Sometimes, Soon

The National – Boxer

Another fantastic album. This is one of those albums where virtually every single song is as good as the last, with the exceptions of two major standouts and one slight letdown. It’s essentially perfect as an album, though, and it’d easily make it into my top 10.

Highlights: Fake Empire, Brainy, Slow Show, Start A War, Apartment Story, Ada, Gospel

The National – Trouble Will Find Me

The National is one of those bands that cannot seem to put out a bad album. This one is no exception. It’s a grower, but every time I’ve listened to it I’ve wanted to put it on again. I’d say that it’s every bit as good as Alligator or High Violet.

Highlights: I Should Live In Salt, Demons, Don’t Swallow The Cap, Heavenfaced, Graceless, I Need My Girl

Neutral Milk Hotel – On Avery Island

So many good albums this update. This is the first album made by the outstanding indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, which at the time was mostly just Jeff Mangum and Rob Schneider. This album isn’t quite as good asâ€¦well, you’ll see in a minute, but it still holds up very well on its own. Except that closing track.

Highlights: Song Against Sex, Where You’ll Find Me Now, Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone, Naomi

Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Remember how I said that Funeral was my favorite album of all time? This one is a very, very close second. If you can get past Jeff Mangum’s somewhat grating voice, you’ll find an astonishingly emotional and heartfelt piece of work. It’s absolutely incredible.

Highlights: King Of Carrot Flowers Part 1, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-Headed Boy, Holland 1945, Oh Comely, Ghost, Two-Headed Boy Part 2

And that’s another 10. We’re more than halfway done!

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muselover

in July 20th, 2013 @ 20:32

Or rather, I’m not even sure if anyone except Castle is reading them.

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96.1.1

Bibliophile

in July 21st, 2013 @ 02:30

I’m reading them. I’m probably going to do my own eventually.

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muselover

in July 23rd, 2013 @ 12:28

After that wonderfulness of an updateâ€¦

of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

This band was recommended to me many times before I actually listened to them. This album is pretty great. It’s divided into two distinct halves, and I definitely prefer the first half, but I think that has more to do with the type of music you like. Listen to it if you get a chance.

Highlights: Suffer For Fashion, Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse, Gronlandic Edit, The Past Is A Grotesque Animal, She’s A Rejector

The Polyphonic Spree – The Beginning Stages Ofâ€¦

The Polyphonic Spree may be the happiest band on Earth. There’s a lot of style and slightly less substance on this album, but it makes wonderful background music all the same. That said, the last track is awful. I would enjoy the album so much more if it ended with Light & Day.

Highlights: It’s The Sun, Days Like This Keep Me Warm, Soldier Girl, Light & Day / Reach For The Sun

The Prayer Chain – Mercury

Absolutely no one has ever heard of this album. Which is sad because it’s simultaneously one of the best Christian albums ever (if not the best) and one of the best shoegaze/post-rock records ever. The production is really remarkable, and the opening and closing tracks are brilliant.

Highlights: Humb, Waterdogs, Sky High, Mercury, Sun Stoned

Radiohead – OK Computer

Ooh. Sweet. This album is totally awesome. For the longest time, I considered it a great but not totally awesome album, but the last time I listened to it something clicked. It’s now one of my favorites of all time.

Highlights: Airbag, Paranoid Android, Subterranean Homesick Alien, Exit Music (For A Film), Let Down, Karma Police, No Surprises, Lucky, The Tourist

Radiohead – Kid A

This album is even BETTER than OK Computer. And it sounds completely different. There’s a lot of electronic stuff on here, but their rock roots are still noticeable. Probably on my top 10 of all time.

Highlights: Everything In Its Right Place, The National Anthem, How To Disappear Completely, Optimistic, Idioteque, Motion Picture Soundtrack

Radiohead – Amnesiac

People generally don’t like this album. I love it. It’s probably my fourth-favorite Radiohead album, which doesn’t sound great, but that puts it above The Bends and Hail To The Thief, both very good albums. Some songs on here are merely average, but when it’s good, it’s very good.

Highlights: Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box, Pyramid Song, I Might Be Wrong, Like Spinning Plates, Life In A Glasshouse

Radiohead – In Rainbows

This is the last Radiohead on here, I promise. In Rainbows is awesome in ways that no other Radiohead album is. For the most part, it’s just fun. It also has its deeper moments, like the songs All I Need and especially Videotape. If you’re looking to get into the band, this is a great starting point.

Highlights: 15 Step, All I Need, Reckoner, House Of Cards, Videotape

Sigur RÃ³s – ÃgÃ¦tis Byrjun

My profile picture! This may be the most purely beautiful album I own. JÃ³nsi’s voice is great, and the instrumentation is breathtaking. The first real song, Svefn-g-englar, is one of the best pieces of music ever. Highly, highly recommended.

Highlights: Svefn-g-englar, StarÃ¡lfur, ViÃ°rar Vel Til LoftÃ¡rÃ¡sa, ÃgÃ¦tis Byrjun

Sigur RÃ³s – ( )

It is really, really difficult talking about an album where everything except the band is untitled. This album took Sigur RÃ³s into slightly darker (and in my opinion, even better) territory. It’s not as accessible as their previous release, but it might be my favorite album the band ever made.

Highlights: Track 1, Track 3, Track 4, Track 6, Track 8

Sigur RÃ³s – Takkâ€¦

Here, Sigur RÃ³s settles into a comfortable groove of happy/interesting songs. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s definitely less deep than their previous two albums. Still, it’s great as an introduction to the band.

Highlights: GlÃ³sÃ³li, HoppÃpolla, SÃ¦glÃ³pur, MilanÃ³, Andvari

The next update will be the last! Also, since I recently purchases two new CDs, it’ll include those as well. And maybe an extra one that I backed on Kickstarter depending on when it shows up.

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bookgirl_me

in July 23rd, 2013 @ 16:13

Does anyone have any recommendations for peppy, happy songs? There’s only so many months that you can listen to “I don’t care, I love it” on loop without going crazy and the rest of my playlist is verging on depressing.

The lyrics don’t need to be all happy-shiny; my only other “happy” song is “I only love you when I’m drunk” by Mika. I have no idea why that sons cheers me up so much given the text but it just does.

0
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98.1

Dodecahedron

in July 23rd, 2013 @ 18:01

I really like hellogoodbye for happy songs, just they are usually about love so beware if you’re having relationship troubles? Would It Kill You is arguably better quality music than Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! (or whatever it’s called).
I am also still in love with the latest They Might Be Giants album, Nanobots, but my fandom is not necessarily for everyone, so take that as you will. I think it’s all available on youtube or soundcloud though….

My personal happy songs include Everytime We Touch by Cascada, and Boom Boom Boom Boom by Vengaboys…. I guess I just have a thing for dance pop? Hey Ya, by Outkast, is also great. Also a certain song by Cee Lo Green that will remain nameless, depending on what kind of happy song you’re looking for.

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98.2

muselover

in July 23rd, 2013 @ 19:20

WOOP WOOP.

Let’s see.

Her Space Holiday – Black Cat Balloons
The Polyphonic Spree – Light & Day / Reach For The Sun
Rogue Wave – Good Morning (The Future)
M83 – Midnight City
Palma Violets – Best Of Friends
Amanda Palmer – Want It Back
LCD Soundsystem – Dance Yrself Clean
Grimes – Oblivion
Fleetwood Mac – Second Hand News
Daft Punk – Digital Love
The Dismemberment Plan – Back And Forth
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood
Anamanaguchi – Meow
Animal Collective – Brother Sport

â€¦there you go! I guess!

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98.3

Castle

in July 30th, 2013 @ 18:58

Happy songs/albums that I default to on a warm summer day:

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
Basically the poppiest, happiest album ever. It’s mostly great except Step and Diane Young are so anthem-y that they wear on you after a while and the last two songs are pretty boring, but otherwise it’s pretty good.

Mrs. Magician – Strange Heaven
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Surf-pop Beach Boys style music, but with a slightly distorted, heavier, compressed edge to it. The lyrics are less about girls driving their dad’s cars and more about negative life situations, but the music is so cheerful that the lyrics actually come across as optimistic. It’s very good.

Kanye West
School Spirit

You can’t listen to that song and not be happy.

Gorillaz – Demon Days
I’m sure you know it, it’s pretty standard fare, but it’s TASTY TASTY TASTY standard fare.
You really can’t listen to this album and not be happy.

Animal Collective
Chocolate Girl

gaaaaah this song is so GOOD
It’s off their first album. Listen to it now. Listen to the whole thing, especially the bits where Avey starts singing “I CAN’T SEEEE YOU” about 6 minutes in.

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98.3.1

muselover

in July 31st, 2013 @ 11:54

Hudson is NOT BORING. Otherwise good suggestions all around.

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98.4

Lizzie

in July 30th, 2013 @ 21:28

Anything else by MIKA; really, probably most power/stadium rock – Queen, Journey, Eurythmics, and also possibly disco – Village People, Bee Gees.

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98.5

Choklit Orange

in August 1st, 2013 @ 10:25

ABBA always cheers me up, at least before the songs get stuck in my head for the next month or so. “Jai Ho,” the version from the movie Slumdog Millionaire, is good! Speaking of Indian-ish movie soundtracks- the songs from Monsoon Wedding are all fun or at least diverting enough (search “monsoon wedding chunari” on YouTube, click on the first result, and watch to the end; it gets really cute).

I find “Shipping up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys very cheering, but that might be just me.

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99

bookgirl_me

in July 30th, 2013 @ 07:46

Thanks!

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100

muselover

in July 31st, 2013 @ 11:55

Final installment until I get more CDs!

Alan Silvestri – The Avengers

Why did I buy this? Because the CD version has more stuff than the digital version. I almost always buy soundtracks on iTunes, but I suppose this was the exception. It’s a pretty decent movie soundtrack, and if you loved the movie and want the soundtrack, I’d definitely recommend getting it on CD. I don’t really listen to it all that much anymore, though.

Highlights: Arrival, Helicarrier, Assault, Assemble, A Promise, The Avengers

Sufjan Stevens – Illinois

Ooh. This album is awesome. Many, many, many great songs. Sufjan Stevens is pretty much a musical genius, and when you realize that he’s playing 75% of the instruments on the album, you will be convinced of this fact too. Seriously. Listen to it. It’ll be one of the best experiences of your life.

Highlights (this is going to take a while): Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland Illinois, Come On! Feel The Illinoise!, Jacksonville, Chicago, Casimir Pulaski Day, The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts, The Seer’s Tower, Out Of Egypt Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind And I Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I Run

Swans – The Seer

â€¦ah. Remember how I hyped up how pleasant that last album was? This one is not pleasant. At all. In fact, I’d say it’s extremely unpleasant. It’s a torturous experience the whole way through, but that’s the point. There’s beauty here too, but you have to get through the excruciating parts to get to it. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard, and certainly not something to listen to casually. It’s good, though.

Highlights: Lunacy, The Seer, Song For A Warrior, Avatar, A Piece Of The Sky

Tame Impala – Lonerism

Hey look, enjoyable music from the same year! This album is fantastic. It’s one of my absolute favorites of all time. It’s like if Animal Collective teamed up with the Beatles or something. And it also happens to describe my romantic life for the past year word-for-word. So yeah. It’s that sort of feels album.

Highlights: Be Above It, Apocalypse Dreams, Music To Walk Home By, Why Won’t They Talk To Me?, Feels Like We Only Go Backwards, Elephant, Sun’s Coming Up

Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City

I’ve talked about this album on here before. It only gets better with repeated listens. I mean, it’s just so well-done, and well-planned, and well-executed. Next to Tomorrow’s Harvest, it might be my favorite album of the year so far. And I don’t see anything on the horizon that might beat it out.

Highlights: Obvious Bicycle, Unbelievers, Diane Young, Hannah Hunt, Worship You, Ya Hey

The xx – xx

Pretty great indie pop. I often say that great rock music is based in imperfection, but here everything sounds perfect. And it’s great. This is good music for sleeping or dancing or enjoying. Listen to it.

Highlights: Intro, VCR, Crystalised, Islands, Heart Skipped A Beat, Shelter, Basic Space

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell

I bought it because it had Maps. The rest of it’s all right, too. The final three tracks are miles better than anything else on the album, but it’s still decent hardcore/punk/whatever you want to call it. Those last three tracks, thoughâ€¦they’re something else.

Highlights: Rich, No No No, Maps, Y Control, Modern Romance

So that’s all the CDs I had when I started this series. HOWEVER! I now have MORE!

BONUS ROUND

LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver

Very, very solid indietronica. It’s derivative, to be sure, but it’s the good kind of derivative, y’know? The album takes a while to hit its stride, but once it does, it’s purely enjoyable throughout. The two best tracks are absolutely amazing.

Highlights: North American Scum, Someone Great, All My Friends, Sound Of Silver, New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down

LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening

Remember how I said the last album was derivative? This is even more derivative. They draw from David Bowie, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, and various other great artists. But since LCD Soundsystem is also a great artist, James Murphy takes all these influences and turns them into something wonderful. The first track is also one of the best songs of all time, and includes the best moment on the album.

Highlights: Dance Yrself Clean, One Touch, I Can Change, Pow Pow, Home

The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs

This is one of the only albums I can sing along with in its original key and octave. One of the many problems with being a bass. Anyway, this is one of my favorite albums ever. Not every song is great (which is to be expected, given its length), but it’s never, ever boring.

Highlights (there are far too many so I’ll just list the ones from disc 1): Absolutely Cuckoo, I Don’t Believe In The Sun, I Don’t Want To Get Over You, I Think I Need A New Heart, The Book Of Love, A Pretty Girl Is Likeâ€¦

Talking Heads – Remain In Light

The best album of the 80s. Hands down. I love Sonic Youth and Violent Femmes, but this album influenced so many of my favorite artists, and holds up so well today. The fact that David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Robert Fripp were involved with this is probably a good sign for anyone debating buying it. Either way, it’s pretty indisputably great.

Highlights: Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On), The Great Curve, Once In A Lifetime, Listening Wind

WHEW! That was pretty crazy. But yeah. That’s all the music I own. Thanks for reading.

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101

Lizzie

in July 31st, 2013 @ 13:26

Tempted to do a “this is all my music” post but I have 1063 albums and I’m pretty sure there’s a lot i haven’t listened to… hmm. I suppose I could do a greatest hits?

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101.1

muselover

in July 31st, 2013 @ 14:31

Well, I technically didn’t do all the music I own, just all the music I have on CD. But a greatest hits sounds fun.

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102

Castle

in September 1st, 2013 @ 20:24

So I just finished listening to a few great things:

alt-J – Dissolve Me (Single)
Electronic pop. Vocal harmonies, thick saw-wave basslines (but not in a dubsteppy kinda way), guitars and synths. Sounds like if Marcus Mumford toned down his “I-am-from-the-country” voice and then partnered up with Avey Tare and Panda Bear (but not Geologist or Deakin), except it’s good.

Beulah – When Your Heartstrings Break
I might have done this before.
It’s Wilco, except a little more upbeat and a little more reminiscent of The Music Tapes. If you like mildly melancholic but also somehow happy pop music go with this. Lots of brass instruments and very punchy choruses.
Beulah is pretty hugely underrated. They fit in really well with a lot of other lo-fi pop artists, although this album is a departure from their usual lo-fi production. Highlights include Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand and If We Can Land A Man On The Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart.

The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico
I put off listening to this album for about three years for some reason.
Bad idea. Bad, bad, bad idea.
This album is beautiful. Lou Reed and German vocalist Nico singing about addiction, difficulty and life over a backdrop of heavy, sometimes droning new-wave (at the time) psychedelic music. Released in 1967 and VASTLY ahead of its time. Sometimes haunting and generally beautiful. My current favorite track is Venus In Furs.

Also Daniel Johnston. Does anyone here listen to Daniel Johnston?
He’s not super popular or anything but one of his songs has well over a million views on YouTube and Kurt Cobain wore one of his album covers on a shirt in the 90s, so he’s not massively obscure.

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103

Piggy

in September 5th, 2013 @ 21:40

For three days now I’ve listened to nothing but Spiritualized’s Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space on repeat. It’s worth a listen, or thirty.

Also, World’s End Girlfriend can do no wrong. That guy makes some really good music.

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103.1

KaiYves

in September 6th, 2013 @ 09:11

It’s very good, I put it on my Yuri’s Night playlist for the past two years.

0
0
103.2

Castle

in September 6th, 2013 @ 11:48

Coincidentally I am also smack in the middle of a Spiritualized binge.
1997 was a pretty awesome year for music.

0
0

103.2.1

muselover

in September 11th, 2013 @ 17:21

But seriously though. Let’s see, Spiritualized, Radiohead, BjÃ¶rk, Godspeedâ€¦I am very happy to be a child of 1997.

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103.2.1.1

Castle

in September 12th, 2013 @ 22:13

Let’s expand on that.

Mogwai
The Apples In Stereo
Do Make Say Think
Acid Mothers Temple
Sigur Ros
John Frusciante
Aphex Twin
of Montreal
Beaulah
Wu-Tang Clan
Ween
Modest Mouse
and Sonic Youth all put out AWESOME albums that year.

so many good albums

0
0

103.2.1.1.1

muselover

in September 15th, 2013 @ 16:18

Oh yeah, that was the same year as Come To Daddy. I was thinking of RDJA, but that was 1996. Totally forgot about Lonesome Crowded West and Von, although I admittedly wasn’t necessarily a fan of the latter.

best year ever

although this year does have new:

Daft Punk
The National
Dismemberment Plan
Vampire Weekend
My Bloody Valentine
Boards of Canada
David Bowie (not the greatest but still)
Sigur RÃ³s
Flaming Lips
of Montreal
Anamanaguchi
Deafheaven
NMH reunion
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire

0
0

103.2.1.1.1.1

Castle

in October 18th, 2013 @ 19:41

DISMEMBERMENT PLAN
hnnngh

also I’m going to see NMH reunited in January in Boston as if seeing Jeff solo wasn’t enough

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103.3

muselover

in September 11th, 2013 @ 17:20

“All I want in life’s a little bit of love to take the pain away.”

Story of my life. Rest of the album’s also excellent, but that songâ€¦

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104

Lizzie

in October 19th, 2013 @ 07:27

A friend introduced me to this music that I’m now obsessed with – it’s a guy called Wax Tailor, and it’s sort of trip-hop stuff. Look up Que Sera.

0
0

104.1

muselover

in October 20th, 2013 @ 17:46

I like Time To Go a lot.

0
0

105

Agent Lightning

in October 20th, 2013 @ 20:17

One of my friends introduced me to Lourde, and I can’t stop listening. Love Club is so catchy!

0
0

105.1

Choklit Orange

in October 20th, 2013 @ 21:03

I’ve just realized that if I hadn’t moved from New Zealand, I’d be going to the same school as Lorde right now. Argh.

0
0

105.1.1

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

in October 21st, 2013 @ 09:21

Who knows? If you had stayed in New Zealand, maybe you’d be Lorde right now.

0
0

105.1.1.1

Choklit Orange

in October 25th, 2013 @ 21:53

Small coastal towns in New Zealand just kinda do that to you.

(Maybe I’ll go as Lorde for Halloween. I can pull off the hair…)

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106

muselover

in October 25th, 2013 @ 20:26

So. New Arcade Fire.

I like it a lot. Which is good, because I think it’ll grow on me with time.

I really, really love Here Comes The Night Time and Afterlife. Normal Person and Joan Of Arc are surprisingly good too. Both of the Greek mythology songs are good, and the opener and closer do exactly what they should.

I’ll probably post more detailed and nitpicky thoughts in a while when I’m less tired.

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107

Castle

in October 27th, 2013 @ 21:08

Lou Reed’s dead.

I’d just finished getting emotionally attached to The Velvet Underground’s first album. I spent a lot of the day on the couch listening to it on repeat.

I think this is the first musician that’s died in recent memory whose music I’ve emotionally bonded to. It was pretty tough. Especially with music as personally revealing as his it’s very easy to see into someone and feel like a friend of theirs even if you’ve never met them.

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107.1

muselover

in October 29th, 2013 @ 16:13

And it doesn’t help that Sunday Morning is now much, much harsher in hindsight.

I hope he rests in peace.

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108

bookgirl_me

in November 16th, 2013 @ 08:19

I think I’m addicted to Amanda Palmer. I can’t stop listening to “Lost” and I don’t know why.

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109

muselover

in November 20th, 2013 @ 22:28

So I’m gonna do that thing with my CDs again. Only new ones, though.

Aphex Twin – Richard D. James Album

A lot weirder than SAW 85-92, and often more abrasive. However, it’s all really, really solid electronic music. It’s best if you listen to SAW before this one, but this might end up becoming your favorite of his.

Highlights: 4, Fingerbib, To Cure A Weakling Child, Girl/Boy Song

Arcade Fire – Reflektor

AAAAAAAAAAHHHH. SO GOOD. I pre-ordered this months in advance, and it didn’t disappoint. At all. It takes all your expectations and flips them onto their heads and it’s wonderful. Listen to it.

Highlights: Reflektor, We Exist, Here Comes The Night Time, Joan Of Arc, It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus), Afterlife, Supersymmetry

Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures

Really excellent post-punk by the band that defined post-punk. The first track is the most upbeat and gives you slightly incorrect expectations for the rest of the album, but it’s a classic no matter how you slice it.

Highlights: Disorder, Day Of The Lords, She’s Lost Control, Interzone

The Microphones – The Glow Pt. 2

Perfect 10/10 album here. Absolutely incredible. Every single song is brilliant. Gah. I love it so caking much.

Highlights: The first four tracks, Map, You’ll Be In The Air, Samurai Sword

The Polyphonic Spree – Yes, It’s True

Backed this on Kickstarter. It’s good. Not fantastic, but probably their best album. Good if you like happy music.

Highlights: You Don’t Know Me, Popular By Design, Carefully Try, What Would You Do?, Battlefield

Steve Reich – Music For 18 Musicians

Phenomenal neoclassical minimalism. Works for pretty much any activity you can think of: studying, relaxing, dancingâ€¦okay, not actually dancing.

Highlights: (technically only has one track)

The Strokes – Is This It

I wrote this album off for the longest time as one of the trademark indie records that wasn’t all that great. I was wrong. This album is so, so fun. And there’s substance in there too and it’s wonderful.

Highlights: The first four tracks, Last Nite, Hard To Explain, New York City Cops (only available on the UK version, which I have)

The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground and Nico

Basically everything Castle said, except the thing about Venus In Furs being the best track. That honor goes to Heroin. I don’t even know how to put how I feel about Heroin into words.

Highlights: Sunday Morning, I’m Waiting For The Man, Venus In Furs, Heroin, There She Goes Again

Walktell – wanderLOVE

Also backed this on Kickstarter. It’s pretty cool, especially when you think of the work put into making it. I don’t listen to it all that much anymore, but whenever I do it’s enjoyable.

Highlights: Purple Pants, Fiji, Galicia, Across The Ocean, Adventure With You

That’s my latest update before I go to London. LOOOONDON CAAAAALLIN’

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110

Piggy

in December 9th, 2013 @ 16:34

I recently got a really good deal on a pair of AKG Q701 headphones, and I picked up a FiiO E11 amp to use with them. They sound phenomenal–a huge step up from my Sony MDR-V6’s. I’m not crazy about how they look (lime green cord isn’t really my style) but they sound fantastic, so who cares? I’ve been listening to pretty much all the music I have to see what everything sounds like in these cans. Right now I’m on We Were Promised Jetpack’s These Four Walls; earlier it was Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain, preceded by the Ballina Whalers’ Haul the Bowline EP. I love the enormous soundstage on these: it’s really easy to just get lost in the music. I’ve actually found it very difficult to read while using these–they sound so great, they tear my attention away from whatever else I’m doing.

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111

Midnight Fiddler

in December 9th, 2013 @ 23:48

I got to see the Carolina Chocolate Drops this weekend, which was absolutely fantastic. Not only are they impeccable musicians, they’re excellent performers. So that was obviously completely fantastic, but what’s also fantastic was the opener, Bombadil who I had never heard of before, but is my new favorite thing. They have really well-written lyrics and are sing-along-able and really relevant to my life right now. I’m really glad that I saw them, because now I have several favorite new songs and I’m excited to get to know all their music better.
It’s such a good feeling when you discover a new band or song or album or what have you and it just connects at that moment. Even if it connects because it manages to accurately sum up how awful you feel, that’s such a magical experience. I’m going through that right now with several of Bombadil’s songs, and it’s really good. I wish I would have found the words to thank them in person (the drummer shook my hand and was super friendly), but I sent them a message saying thanks and that their songs were just what I needed.

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112

muselover

in December 10th, 2013 @ 10:41

When I was in London, I got a chance to go to Rough Trade Records. Awesome store; I’d recommend it if you get a chance to go. I missed three separate concerts, though (Palma Violets, The Dismemberment Plan, and the London Philharmonic playing Gorecki’s 3rd), so that was a bit of a bummer.

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113

Agent Lightning

in December 24th, 2013 @ 13:43

I love the way that music can change your mood so effectively. Example: [S] Cascade.

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114

Piggy

in January 1st, 2014 @ 12:03

Yesterday I learned about the existence of Starcadian. He put out his first album, Sunset Blood, about two months ago. It may be the best thing I’ve ever heard. It’s kind of an 80’s “retro future” synthpop thing, and it sounds like the future that sci-fi promised us. The guy says that the idea behind the album was to make “the original motion picture soundtrack to the best 80â€²s movie never made” and he wants to make a music video for each track, and “when you put them together, it makes that 80â€²s movie.” There’s two videos out so far, for “HE^RT” and “Chinatown”, which were made on budgets of $200 and $400, respectively.

This album is just so fantastic, so well-made. Usually self-produced debut albums aren’t very well mixed, but this album is phenomenal despite the fact that apparently he’s only heard it on his cruddy speakers and not in any decent headphones or monitors. He says that the beats are about 20 percent sampled and 80 percent original, and he’s written/mixed/produced all the music, and written/directed/edited both the videos. He’s been getting some attention, but not as much as I think the music merits.

Other recent listening includes Jazz Spastiks and Flatbush Zombies.

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Enceladus

Lizzie

Enceladus

Selenium the Quafflebird

Enceladus

Lizzie

Lizzie

Lizzie

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

Lizzie

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

Lizzie

SilverLeopard

Castle

SilverLeopard

bookgirl_me

Treebird

shadowfire

Enceladus

Lizzie

muselover

bubbles

Mikazuki

Oobatooba

Ducky

shadowfire

Castle

Pseudonym

Castle

Pseudonym

Vendaval

Castle

Pseudonym

Selcothe Sicaria

Selcothe Sicaria

Selcothe Sicaria

Dodecahedron

Castle

Castle

Tesseract

Zinc

Midnight Fiddler

muselover

Castle

Piggy

POSOC

muselover

Robert Coontz (Administrator)

Cat's Eye

Piggy

*Cskia

shadowfire

Piggy

Piggy

Areohawk

shadowfire

Areohawk

shadowfire

Ambystoma Maculatum and Joolb (~)_+)

Choklit Orange