What are you currently listening to?

[vol.2]

Last night I went to see Chicago's Bitchin' Bajas. They are probably my favorite contemporary Drag City band.

Usually selling out slightly larger venues, they opted to play Baltimore at the Red Room, which is a relatively small performance space in the back of a bookstore called Normal's. I think it was basically because they were invited to play with a local musician named Al Schatz, who came from Chicago. Him and April Camlin made up a band called WUME, which moved from Chicago in their early days (2009ish) and became an important part of the Baltimore Warehouse scene that also produced Beach House and Dan Deacon. Here's a good 'um from WUME if youse interested: https://soundcloud.com/wume/wume-contro ... al_sharing

Bitchin Bajas absolutely ruled. I was hype to catch them after the release of their Sun Ra cover album last year called Switched On Ra (obviously a nod to the Switched on Bach Moog record from the 60s).

[Udderdude]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk5-ifA_lkM

[BurlyHeart]

Spoiler

https://twitter.com/bsmrocks/status/160 ... UYeoUtmxRA

Good news for Jetplane Landing fans. Not a vinyl enthusiast myself, but they're back on bandcamp too

[TransatlanticFoe]

Oh very nice indeed! I managed to track down the previous, JP-only, vinyl release a few years back - it's pretty tired, so good to get an upgrade. Bit of luck they'll do the others next...

[Stevens]

Whoa. I found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS690Ll ... oralesRain

It's a soundboard recording of Maiden's 2006 tour, the one where they played A Matter of Life and Death in its entirety. The sound quality is really good and even better with minimal tweaks. Here is the set list:

Intro
Different World
These Colours Don't Run
Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
The Pilgrim
The Longest Day
Out Of The Shadows
The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
For The Greater Good Of God
Lord Of Light
The Legacy
Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden
2 Minutes to Midnight
The Evil That Men Do
Hallowed Be Thy Name

If I can get this downloaded it would most certainly be my preferred way to listen to AMOLAD. The whole thing is excellent but I'll say The Pilgrim and The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg sound next level. For the Greater Good of God is INCREDIBLE.

If you like Maiden (you should) and have never listened to AMOLAD (the FUCK?) this is your next stop.

[vol.2]

Whoa. I found this:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=53249&start=1980

Sounds awesome. Your link is messed up tho.

[Stevens]

Thanks for the assist! Fixed!

[Air Master Burst]

Happy Holidays, motherfuckers!

[BurlyHeart]

The Jesus Lizard - Goat

https://youtu.be/GhHwuPNA-j4

I just bought a used bass after many many years, and was looking for some bass players to find a tone I like. Someone recommended this album to me. I had heard of The Jesus Lizard, but never heard them.

Holy motherballs, what an absolute beast of an album. And yes. that pounding bass is as good as anything I've ever heard.

[OmegaFlareX]

The Jesus Lizard - Goat

Yeah, that's an Albini Album™. Might explain the beefy raw sound. One of my favorite bands, Failure, has mentioned in interviews and whatnot that Goat was one of two albums that led them to record their debut LP at Albini's studio (the other was Breeders' Pod). Failure was not a good fit for the Albini method, unfortunately, but a few tracks came out ok (Something, Kindred). I finally listened to Goat earlier this year and it was... very much not my thing. Funny how that works sometimes.

Speaking of, if you want to hear some kick-ass bass, definitely check out Failure's Magnified and Fantastic Planet. Comfort, too, I guess (the Albini Album™). Most of their songs use the bass guitar as kind of a "lead" instrument (not sure how to describe it). In their early demos, they also used a fretless, which has a super-weird, but super-cool sound.

[BIL]

Albini can be a dick, but holy fuck, his sound is harder than a mortuary technician.

THE BACKBONE OF THIS COUNTRY IS THE INDEPENDENT TRUCK
BACKBONE! BACKBONE! BACKBONE! BACKBOOONE!
HOLDIN MY HAND WHILE I PISS IN HER FACE

[BurlyHeart]

Speaking of, if you want to hear some kick-ass bass, definitely check out Failure's Magnified and Fantastic Planet. Comfort, too, I guess (the Albini Album™). Most of their songs use the bass guitar as kind of a "lead" instrument (not sure how to describe it). In their early demos, they also used a fretless, which has a super-weird, but super-cool sound.

Thanks for the rec. I had seen Failure mentioned too in regards to bass tone, and I'll definitely check them out. From reading up on them, I already like their Spotify stance.

For getting that bass tone, all signs point to a Tronographic Rusty Box pedal. It mimics a Traynor Solid State amp used by Albini in recordings. Out of my price range sadly, but maybe next Christmas. I can make do with what I got for now

[Marc]

On a Dismemberment Plan trip at the minute. Emergency & I remains an all-time fave, Change isn't far behind.

[caincan]

Spiritbox only twice mentioned ? their "Circle with me" is so profund & powerful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0WzT0OJ-E0

why this japan Band never got more ? , Majoran Catch love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKMoe1bJSic

and i can listen so many times this mashup : Marina primadonna with Carpenter brut spirit,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs4qeSz5mOY

[OmegaFlareX]

Thanks for the rec. I had seen Failure mentioned too in regards to bass tone, and I'll definitely check them out. From reading up on them, I already like their Spotify stance.

For getting that bass tone, all signs point to a Tronographic Rusty Box pedal. It mimics a Traynor Solid State amp used by Albini in recordings. Out of my price range sadly, but maybe next Christmas. I can make do with what I got for now

I forgot to mention one of the songs I use to test low-frequency response in headphones - Souvlaki Space Station by Slowdive. Heliotropic by Failure as well. Monstrous deep ends, both of them.

[BurlyHeart]

Thanks for the rec. I had seen Failure mentioned too in regards to bass tone, and I'll definitely check them out. From reading up on them, I already like their Spotify stance.

For getting that bass tone, all signs point to a Tronographic Rusty Box pedal. It mimics a Traynor Solid State amp used by Albini in recordings. Out of my price range sadly, but maybe next Christmas. I can make do with what I got for now

I forgot to mention one of the songs I use to test low-frequency response in headphones - Souvlaki Space Station by Slowdive. Heliotropic by Failure as well. Monstrous deep ends, both of them.

Thanks. I'll be sure to look them up.

For fans of Albini's work in the studio, I found this interesting list: https://www.treblezine.com/20-essential ... ve-albini/

[BIL]

Stumbled over a cool fan edit of Barney Sumner and Jonny Marr side project Electronic's "Dark Angel." Have to say I prefer this to the studio cut; it's bouncier and more tightly-riffed without sacrificing its atmosphere, and best of all, promotes Denise Johnson's gorgeous vocals from coda to duet; super catchy overall! Actually improves the song's narrative, with both singers playing off one another, rather than filing in separately.

Great song either way. Fuckin Barney, man. Even his goofiest lyrics only add to his improbable swagger; a geeky club superstar with a deceptively inimitable, irreplaceable voice. That insouciant "You don't want me but, I don't care" as the beat drops is smooth. (bit unfortunate out of context; he's merely saying he's content to bust a hardon and jerk off! )

What can I do I'll never be the same another day without you will drive me insane You what?! Fuck off! Oh ok then

For fans of Albini's work in the studio, I found this interesting list: https://www.treblezine.com/20-essential ... ve-albini/

Nice. Lots of favourites in there, and new stuff to try out.

[BurlyHeart]

Checking out all the year end lists to see what I missed and one name that keeps coming up is Soul Glo's Diaspora Problems.

It is freaking amazing. Screaming hardcore goodness.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/so ... -problems/

https://soulglophl.bandcamp.com/album/diaspora-problems

[BIL]

CHRISTMAS IN JAIL

[BurlyHeart]

Rough tier list of all the new-to-me music I've listened to at length during 2022. I'm fairly generous with the ratings.

S
The Jesus Lizard - GOAT
mclusky -do dallas (Remastered) <this is kinda cheating, but I freaking love this album and the remastered version is technically new-to-me>
Nation of Ulysses - Plays Pretty for Baby
Unwound - New Plastic Ideas
Big Black - Atomizer
Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime & Bullet Train Single
Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
Coriky - Coriky
Jetplane Landing - Zero for Conduct; Once Like a Spark; Don't Try
Kerbdog - On the Turn

A
Fugazi - End Hits
Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You; Fake Train
Cable - Down-Lift the Up-Trodden
mclusky - Geteway Band (live album)
home is where - I became birds
Jetplane Landing - Backlash Cop

B
Cable - Sublingual
Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
Biffy Clyro - Blackened Sky

[Stevens]

Random's Bad Joke EP.

Shit is the best 15 minutes of chiptunes I've heard in the 20 or so years I've been listening. Been going back to this one for years.

[lilmanjs]

Been listening to Louis Cole - Quality Over Opinion a bunch again lately. Man just does so much so well on his albums. Somehow this is even better than Time!

[vol.2]

My favorite electronic musician from Baltimore, Moss of Aura, played a show on NYE this month. It was fantastic, equal to if not better than his album "Wading" that is often cited as his best work.

He's put a board recording of the show up on his Soundcloud. I can't recommend this enough as it's the best representation of what he does live I've ever heard. He often does a lot of improvisation on keyboards and with various synths, and I feel that is somewhat lost in the studio recordings. It's also got a really amazing vintage tracker music feel to a lot of the set, melding it with more contemporary Vapor Wave tropes and his own particular version of synthetic Caribbean music

[rapoon]

kick ass set. thanks for posting it, vol.2

[vol.2]

kick ass set. thanks for posting it, vol.2

yeah! i'm happy that someone here gets it. if you have any recent rec's i would be interested

[Udderdude]

Time to go back to basics. Back to 1968. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I94dh41XmzU

[vol.2]

Time to go back to basics. Back to 1968. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I94dh41XmzU

I've never listened to solo Chick Corea that old; it's great, a lot more unconventional that I would expect from the king of schmaltzy fusion. But I guess a lot musicians changed their directions in a more pop-direction after they got heavily involved in Scientology; The Incredible String Band comes to mind.

[guigui]

I know I'm regressing toward my early 2000's youth, but Evanescence on steroid can not get better than Courtney on Spiritbox. Guaranteed goosebumps at the end :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMnfkW9UZc4

[caincan]

yep with Courtney, the new generation is there ! but it's shame only a bunch of addicts noticed them at the Hellfest festival this year, did you figure that was their first gig in France ? .. even if it was 11.am on scene..

[guigui]

I was not even aware they came to France, too old to attend to those gigs now :/ 11a.m. is not the best time, but here they were, so good for them.
Not sure if Jinjer made it to France recently too ? Vortex is also a must :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiaOSGZTwtY