The [New] Music Thread

[Skimba]

Me too.

Ditto

[James]

Punk is no longer rebellion. If you want to upset your parents these days you have to listen to The Wrong Treatment.

[jvcc]

Yes, well, as I said I don't want to rebel, so I guess there's no need for me to listen to it.

Does anyone have suggestions for Rolling Stones songs I should be familiar with? I'm trying to go backwards in musical history and listen to the bands that influenced the bands or singers I currently like. I like "Paint it Black" but not "Satisfaction," if that helps.

[MysticalDescent]

Punk is no longer rebellion. If you want to upset your parents these days you have to listen to The Wrong Treatment.

I have upset a great many people by listening to The Wrong Treatment. For example, at my old College, some Sixth Formers were very upset when 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Somewhere Else' played over the enormous, exceptionally loud speaker that a guy I know had brought in because it was the last day before Christmas.

[EvilJekyll]

Does anyone have suggestions for Rolling Stones songs I should be familiar with?

Not particularly. I never really was able to get into them even after listening to most of their work (which much of their later stuff is terrible.) They had popular songs, like "Brown Sugar," "Gimme Shelter," and "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Which may be worth knowing, since Gimme Shelter is covered pretty often. You may not like the Stone's version of Satisfaction, but Blue Cheer's version kicks some ass.

[jvcc]

Hm, I only really like "You Can't Always Get What You Want" out of those three. I suppose that they'll have to be one of those bands whose significance I recognize without personally enjoying their music. Sort of like my attitude towards Elvis.

That's a pretty good cover. I was not sorry for having listened to it.

[chrismachine]

Not a big fan of them either but Miss You is a great song.

[ntw3001]

Simon Little, Zoe Keating. Continuing the trend of music-I-have-heard-because-of-the-Divine-Comedy. Not so much Zoe Keating; the link came up when I was making purchases from Simon Little. So there is an extra degree of separation.

[badplantmommy]

As for the Stones, I really love "Gimme Shelter." "Sympathy for the Devil" is another one you probably should know. That one wasn't one of my faves, but it is one of their definitive songs. A couple of songs of theirs that I really like are kind of more recent: "Waiting on a Friend" is one, and the other one I think is called "Can Almost Hear You Sigh" (but it's something about not believing someone's gone or something like that). They are a band that I'm not a huge fan of, don't really want to meet Mick Jagger, but I love some of their songs.

And I listened to the punk rock in my youth too. One of my favorite groups was the Clash. I also loved X.

[James]

I have upset a great many people by listening to The Wrong Treatment. For example, at my old College, some Sixth Formers were very upset when 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Somewhere Else' played over the enormous, exceptionally loud speaker that a guy I know had brought in because it was the last day before Christmas.

That's bloody excellent.

For those after a different slice of wonky Christmas music, Aidan John Moffat has put out a digital festive thing. It's pretty good. Track two sounds quite Wrong.

[Dusk]

Punk is no longer rebellion. If you want to upset your parents these days you have to listen to The Wrong Treatment.

Shame they never RELEASE ANYTHING!

Sympathy For The Devil. Yes.

[quetzalcoatlus]

Other "Satisfaction" covers that are kind of rad: Otis Redding, Devo, PJ Harvey and Bjork.

[Dusk]

PJ Harvey and Bjork.

Oh wow thanks for that.
Hey this was linked.. which is always a good time.
We should have a music video thread. Probably.

[ntw3001]

PJ Harvey and Bjork

This combination makes me think of this.

[quetzalcoatlus]

PJ Harvey and Bjork

This combination makes me think of this.

This was fairly amusing. Although I did not know PJ Harvey and Vincent Gallo were an item until I looked it up. Also, I am only familiar with what he sounds like because I saw Buffalo 66 once, but I think their Vincent isn't remotely New-York-accented enough - when I saw that movie I kept expecting him to start talking about how much he loves lighthouses and seahorses.

[quetzalcoatlus]

I saw The Mighty Mighty Bosstones just a little before New Years. It was a lot of fun, and they still have that guy whose whole job onstage is to do silly dances the whole show. Next weekend shall be Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven again. Going on my experience last time I expect there to be tons of songs played right after each other and little to no stage patter in the CVB set, and a lot more talk (albeit in the form of some pretty entertaining stories) during the Cracker set. Both bands are fronted by the same guy, and I guess if you're playing two full sets with different bands right after each other you'd want a few breaks during the second one. I was happy last time because I like both bands about equally, but I can see people who are just Cracker fans being disappointed by the talk/rock ratio.

I finally got the new Black Keys album. It's pretty good, guys.

As a birthday present I got a bunch of local band's cds. I enjoyed them all, but the main new "discovery" I got from this are a band called Emergency Music - I'd call them an "indie pop" band, at times they make me think of Sloan. They've got a couple of pay-what-you-want albums on bandcamp if you wanna check that out.

[chrismachine]

I will have to check that out for sure... Also the Black Keys album; can't wait.

[PonderThis]

So I was reading up on old music and stuff and ran across a reference to Jethro Tull's "Living in the Past" being in 5/4 time. I'm thinking to myself, No way! 5/4 time is such an odd rhythm that it really stands out -- like in Holst's "Mars" (from The Planets). It's the 5/4 time that really adds to the sinister feel of the thing.

And yet, there it is. I'll be durned. How the hell did I never notice that before?

[EvilJekyll]

This will again be lengthy. Samples will link to youtube mostly.
Key:
Green=Good --> Black=Average --> Red=Not Good

2011 Albums part 2:

311 - Universal Pulse (Sample via Youtube)
This just doesn't really work on so many levels.
1. 8 songs = ~29 minutes
2. 40 year olds writing songs in the vein of frat rock anthems.
3. ???
4. Profit? No.

Battles - Gloss Drop (Sample via Youtube)
Very different from their previous albums, as one of the members dropped out of the band after the first albums. So there's that. It's less math-rock oriented and more out in left-field rock/experimental, but at the same time somewhere between the two. I find there's not much that makes me want to listen again though.

Beats Antique - Elektraphone (Sample via Youtube)
Very standard Beats here. Nothing pops out, but there's nothing to annoy you either.

The Black Keys - El Camino (Sample via Youtube)
On first listen, I actually didn't like the album very much. I felt they played it way too safe. Listening again though there are some songs that really rock. I did enjoy the album after the first time, but it is played too safe, and there's nothing too exciting after the first half.

Buckethead - Empty Space (Sample via Youtube)
Buckethead puts out like 8 albums per year now. Hard to say that there's going to be much different between the albums during the year, but he's does a good job recently of keeping them themed and fitting the songs together on the albums.

Buckethead - It's Alive (Sample via Youtube)
See above. Buckethead seems more intent on allowing his bass parts to show through this year as well.

Crystal Antlers - Two Way Mirror (Sample via Youtube)
Not as good as their previous efforts. Needs more direction and focus, but not bad.

DJ Shadow - The Less You Know, the Better (Sample via Youtube)
Not as good as I hoped, but still rather good. There are many enjoyable songs, and the rest are average. This seems more like a getting back in the groove album than his strongest efforts, but it's eclectic and does its job.

Enter the Haggis - Whitelake (Sample via Youtube)
I was disappointed by this, but there's nothing really wrong with it. My expectations were just higher than the mark this hit. It's very straightforward light pop. There's a lack of the "Irish" instruments that I liked from the previous albums and not much low end.

MC Frontalot - Solved (Sample via Youtube)
It's a rather well put together album. He's still got witty lyrics, but the downside to the album is that it's more geared toward the standardised hip hop chorus style. It's still got plenty of funny, and he's rapping better than ever, but there's slightly less content in some of the songs. It is a rather listenable album though.

Grouper - AIA (Sample via Youtube)
I never quite know what to expect from Grouper, other than ambient. This was ambient, and a two parter at that. Soothing music, whispered vocals and all well combined make this rather good.

Hecq - Avenger (Sample via Youtube)
Very much in the vein of Skrillex dubstep, but more well done. I'd really prefer more melodic music from Hecq, as he's done well with combining the two in the past, this is very rhythmic.

Kraddy - Anthems of the Hero (Sample via Youtube)
This one caught me by surprise. Kraddy is a member of The Glitch Mob, and his earlier stuff is decent. Here he's crafted well placed beats and melodies into primarily anthemic songs. There are times when dialog from the recording sessions is left in, which actually usually adds to the songs. There are a couple of songs that interestingly remind me a bit at points of The Mars Volta. It's also interesting to see what individuals of a group can accomplish on their own, and here, it seems he could do fairly well just solo. That's not to say The Glitch Mob should disband or anything as they work well as a group too.

Psychic Ills - Hazed Dream (Sample via Youtube)
Very mellow lazy day neopsychedelia. Wish it was a bit more interesting and varied.

Primus - Green Naugahyde (Sample via Youtube)
Primus album. Yes! Well it's well done. My main problems are the production, (too clean, no grit as in previous albums) and the lyrics are not very clever (Obama's pecker.)

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Live in France (Sample via Youtube)
Fairly straightforward live recordings that are a good listen. As a plus there are songs that have not been released yet as well.

Russian Circles - Empros (Sample via Youtube)
A solid effort from Russian Circles. My main complaint with it though is that the dynamics aren't crafted as well as previous albums, and it's rather straightforward.

Six Organs of Admittance - Asleep on the Flood Plain (Sample via Youtube)
Unlike their other efforts, this is a very relaxed and light album, that still features wonderful acoustic guitar work. Vocals are softly spoken and soothing.

Slidecamp - Slidecamp (Sample via Youtube)
A rather good album that is the side project of one of the members of The Glitch Mob (Boreta.) It feels like a mix of electronica and post-rock, but never really feels wholly like either.

Sublime with Rome - Yours Truly (Sample via Youtube)
A good effort, but way too laden with effects, though well used. It never really reaches the full groove of the original sublime, but there are some decent songs.

U.S. Christmas - The Valley Path (Sample via Youtube)
Stumbled onto this and it keeps drawing me back in. A driving rock psychedelia journey that lasts 39 minutes.

Wooden Shjips - West (Sample via Youtube.)
Fairly standard neopsych.

E.P.s and such:
Bassnectar - Color Storm Remixtape (Sample via Youtube)
A 35 min long mix tape by Bassnectar. Would be nicer if it had been split into tracks.

The Black Angels - Phosgene Nightmare (Sample via Youtube, I was at that show, which I got tossed around in a mosh pit 10 feet from the stage most of the night. )
Feels like bonus material from Phosphene Dream. Not bad, but nothing too exciting.

Black Moth Super Rainbow / Holy fork / Shugo Tokumaru - Vicious Circles, Vol. 1 (Sample via Youtube)
These three take turns remixing the other two's songs. I really like the concept, and it's well done. There should have been more though.

Broken Bells - Meyrin Fields (Sample via Youtube)
Pretty good broken bells tracks that seem like they would only really work on the EP.

Cheapshot - zOMG!! (Sample via Youtube)
Dubstep meets chiptune. Yes.

The Glitch Mob - More Voltage (Sample via Official Website)
A one hour mixtape by The Glitch Mob.

The Glitch Mob - We Can Make the World Stop (Sample via Youtube)
Pretty decent tracks. Nothing important other than the title track.

Moby - iTunes Festival: London 2011(Sample via Youtube)
Moby bootleg via iTunes. Pretty good live Moby.

Mogwai - Earth Division (Sample via Youtube)
Excellent use of an EP. A slightly more organic and different side of Mogwai.

Mogwai - iTunes Festival: London 2011 (Sample via Youtube)
Bootleg tracks via iTunes. Stick to the live albums. As well as these tracks are performed, the mixing is better on the "real" live albums.

Phantogram - Nightlife (Sample via Youtube)
Good tracks that remind me of why I like Phantogram.

[James]

Mogwai - iTunes Festival: London 2011 (Sample via Youtube)
Bootleg tracks via iTunes. Stick to the live albums as well as these tracks are performed, the mixing is better on the "real" live albums.

Yeah, I can't say I was too impressed with the iTunes concert. On the plus side, that means I wasn't too disappointed to miss out on actually being there.

Government Commissions and Special Moves, on the other hand, are excellent.


Hey, look at me, still only talking about Mogwai! I haven't really had any new musical developments since Tokee, who I believe I posted about a while back. Recently I've been listening to a bit of Beethoven, but that's hardly revelatory. I also got a Penguin Café Orchestra album as well as a Nathan Fake one. The latter's original version of You Are Here (Fortdax's remix of which has been made famous as the Newswipe theme tune) has grown on me somewhat – I used to think it paled in comparison to the aforementioned remix, but I now see them as equally serving different roles. And Stars of the Lid are still figuring pretty significantly in what little music-listening I do, as they have for the past few years.

Thank you for listening, non-existent interested audience.


I'll endeavour to check out some of the stuff on your list, EJ.

[quetzalcoatlus]

A friend gave me a bunch of music he thought I would like. Here is what I think of what I have gotten to:

Betty Wright and The Roots - Betty Wright: The Movie. I am not really familiar with Betty Wright, but I do know some of The Roots music. She is apparently a soul singer who's been around since the late 60's, and The Roots are a hip-hop group who play their own instruments; they back her up in a way that's nicely contemporary sounding while still having enough nods to 70's soul and funk to fit her singing style perfectly. My only real complaint is that there are a couple of guest spots from rappers (Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne) that don't seem terribly necessary. Favorite track: In The Middle Of The Game (Don't Change The Play)

Big Freedia - various songs. Bounce music, which is a style of hip-hop popular in New Orleans. I don't know if I'm gonna be listening to a lot of this, though I can see where it'd be fun to hear played really loud at a party or in a club. Favorite track: Azz Everywhere

The New Dumb - If You're Hearing This, We Didn't Make It, Let's Get Lucky, and You're Welcome, plus a few non-album songs. Melodic punk/indie - Sorta like Les Savvy Fav or early At The Drive-In gone poppy and occasionally slightly silly. And when I say "slightly silly" I mean "they have a whole song about how they were murdered by vultures and the last thing they did was write this song, when such a thing is blatantly untrue". Favorite Track: Renaissance Men. No youtube preview for you, but you can stream or legally download their albums for free.

The Slackers - Better Late Than Never and Red Light. Late 90's ska, though much more based in traditional ska flavor than most "third wave" stuff. I enjoy that there are also a few soul and swing influences to spice things up. Favorite track: Sarah

Various Artists - Music for Dancefloors: The Cream of the Chappell Sessions and Music for Dancefloors: The Cream of the KPM Music Green Label Sessions. Seventies production music! These are actually a really fun listen. it's almost all instrumental, and the primary genres are basically jazz-funk and exotica, but there are also brief stops made at dub city, spacefunkville, and crazy town. Overall, if you want to feel like you're living in a 70's exploitation movie or cop show, these albums are for you. Favorite track: Indianapolis 2

[sum yun gai]

So I was reading up on old music and stuff and ran across a reference to Jethro Tull's "Living in the Past" being in 5/4 time. I'm thinking to myself, No way! 5/4 time is such an odd rhythm that it really stands out -- like in Holst's "Mars" (from The Planets). It's the 5/4 time that really adds to the sinister feel of the thing.

And yet, there it is. I'll be durned. How the hell did I never notice that before?

the pink floyd song "money" is in 7/4 time but supposedly they made the saxophonist play 4/4 over the top of it. that's when you know you're dealing with a professional sax player i suppose

[Dusk]

What a horrible couple of years for music.
FEH

Am I one of those old todgers who complains about how things aren't as good as they were back in his day?
Probably. But I'm still right.
Popular music makes me want to wretch at the moment. I'm really angry about it because I want something great to listen to and there is practically nothing I can stomach.
/rant

[EvilJekyll]

I think I've stated this before, but I pretty strictly listen to my ipod in the car. If not that then wmfu. I just can't deal with dive top40 stations playing the same songs, most of which are garbage. Honestly all you gave to do ithes listen for one hour of one of any of them every three months and you get all the pop music since last time you listened.

[Dusk]

At the gym today the played four current songs in a row that were basically remixes/covers of old songs with a bit of bad rapping sprinkled throughout. TERRIBLE.
And I was a captive audience because I'm not comfortable with headphones while working out etc..
I saw this today.