current favorite albums

[Obiwanshinobi]

Mark Hollis by Mark Hollis. Only superficially like the two last Talk Talk albums and, well, beautiful.

[mesh control]

Bathory - S/T
Can - Monster Movie
Future Sounds of London - Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman
Squarepusher - My Red Hot Car
Opus III - Mind Fruit
Cocteau Twins - Garlands
Miles - Bitches Brew

shit's all over the place.

[chum]

Two masterpieces I discovered recently, I highly recommend both:



Gail Laughton - Harps of the Ancient Temples



Jüppala Kääpiö - Sporing Promenade

[beatsgo]

Most of SOUNDSHOCK 2: FM FUNK TERRROR!! My god I never heard FM synthesis being used to their utmost potential. Going to check out the first SOUNDSHOCK

[Jon]

Tragedy - Darker Days Ahead

[CMoon]

Can - Monster Movie

If you can, you should hear Delay 1968 as well. Its rougher and rawer than Monster Movie; melodically its sparser too, putting all emphasis on the rhythm of Malcolm's lyrics and Jaki's primal drumming.

Miles - Bitches Brew

So easy to make a dozen recommendations here because Davis just shits out good albums (hell, it would be easier to make a list of albums by Davis you shouldn't hear), but Live Evil has become over the years my favorite from this period. In A Silent Way (the album directly before BB) is so chilled out and masterful that the thought of never hearing it makes grown men weep.

Started hitting the Fela Kuti again starting with one of the first albums I ever heard from the man, Original Sufferhead. Summer feels like a great time to wade through his catalog (yeah, I bought the box set that's like 50 albums...)

[Hagane]

I'm listening nothing but Symphony X's The Iconoclast lately. I like the direction they've taken lately, the second CD is nearly flawless.

[mesh control]

Tragedy - Darker Days Ahead

Is that the new LP?
I can't find it anywhere in stores...


THIS and assorted Depeche Mode 12"

[Jon]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TRAGEDY-Darker- ... 27c6dc3834

I bought it from this guy.

[sjewkestheloon]

Miles - Bitches Brew

So easy to make a dozen recommendations here because Davis just shits out good albums (hell, it would be easier to make a list of albums by Davis you shouldn't hear), but Live Evil has become over the years my favorite from this period. In A Silent Way (the album directly before BB) is so chilled out and masterful that the thought of never hearing it makes grown men weep.

Started hitting the Fela Kuti again starting with one of the first albums I ever heard from the man, Original Sufferhead. Summer feels like a great time to wade through his catalog (yeah, I bought the box set that's like 50 albums...)

In general I scorn the idea of music as a mood thing but if I ever feel annoyed and want to calm down, I just pop In A Silent Way on. The opening tones on the rhodes just wash that shit away. It sounds so damn open.

Also, that bassline.

[Mero]

Some 80's compilation that I got recently. It's got Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride on it, a tune I hadn't heard since the early 80's when I was about 5 (the tune's from '83 according to the inlay card). Plus other stuff I hadn't heard for years like Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited

[Marc]

Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania. Now considering that I think that the Pumpkins have been in a long, steady decline from their (classic) first album onwards, I have no idea why I even picked this up. It is fucking awesome. Even Corgan's voice seems less annoying.

[Ed Oscuro]

DJ Shadow -> Jeremy Storch

[MX7]

Yellow Magic Orchestra - S/T

Fuck me, this album is crazy ahead of its time. Fascinating to see where so much Japanese pop in particular gets its sound from. Also found it on LP for a scant fiver. FUCK THE WORLD.

Vomir - Musique Indifference 

LP and CD set. One side 45, one side 33, same crushing wall of noise on all three sides. Pretentious as hell, but it's fun coming up with new ways to listen to it. Simultaneously listening to the CD and LP is pretty fucking awesome, but I think I prefer listening to the 33 side at 45 for a slightly higher frequency wall. Also, I am now officially Nathan Barly. Just off to slit my wrists. Peace and fucking. 

Associates - Sulk

Cool 80s post punk/synth pop, recommended by my mum, believe it or not. Histrionic vocals, funky basslines and a big slab of unfettered melancholy make this really stick out from other 80s post punk types. Think The Smiths, Talking Heads and Xiu Xiu. Another bargain bin record store steal...

YAPOOS/Togawa Jun - Everything

Fast becoming my favourite band and my favourite solo artist. I rant about them enough; suffice to say, in everything she is involved with, Togawa expertly appropriates the essential paradigms of pop music and twists into something that's frequently uncomfortable, but always gloriously compelling. 

Madonna - Like a Virgin

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME HOW GOOD THIS IS? Perfect pop, with a heavy emphasis on synth. Not as good as early Kylie, but what is? Got record for a quid cus it was missing a sleeve, so drew a new one. I prefer my edition.

[shmuppyLove]

Not an album strictly speaking, but I loves me my Deeper Shades of House podcast.

http://deepershades.net

I only found it last year, by that point Lars already had over 300 episodes in the books, so it's been a real trip going back in the archives and listening to older shows.

He's totally on the same wavelength as me though -- that perfect blend of soul and dance and electronic is always so amazing to listen to, no matter where I am (but usually in the car with the roof and all the windows down )

HERE'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT
http://youtu.be/GspWQ5sFBlE

Oh also Darko Corazzo has the most insane mixing skills. Check out his compilations on youtube, I'm especially digging Midnight Existence 009
http://youtu.be/0pcF8B6rCHU

[mesh control]

Madonna - Like a Virgin

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME HOW GOOD THIS IS? Perfect pop, with a heavy emphasis on synth. Not as good as early Kylie, but what is? Got record for a quid cus it was missing a sleeve, so drew a new one. I prefer my edition.

oh shit, another dark path of my curiosity is now about to unfold.

I downloaded about 6gbs of 90's college rock and some other stuff that I'm wading through atm

Highlights include:
James Dean Driving Experience - EVERYTHING
Henry's Dress - EP
Superchunk - EVERYTHING
Jawbreaker - not sure why i never listened to this in highschool. I'm regressing now v_v
Polvo - Exploded Drawing
Dmitri Shostakovich - a bunch of random stuff that I enjoy.

Another mind vomit post

[Marc]

Jawbreaker, fuck yeah. Check out 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, the track Condition Oakland. Fucking perfection.

[Jon]

Jawbreaker, fuck yeah. Check out 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, the track Condition Oakland. Fucking perfection.

+1
Almost all of their albums are great (Dear You being the exception) but I always thought 24 Hour Revenge Therapy was the best.

[CMoon]

Dmitri Shostakovich - a bunch of random stuff that I enjoy.

What'chu listening to by my old pal Sho-stak-o-bitch? The opening to this 11th symphony is haunting and weird and got used regularly in the soundtrack to Cosmos. His 5th is the classic and was the soundtrack accompanying the version of Battleship Potemkin I saw. Special mention to his String Quartets which seemed to be the only manner the stakmeister could record anything more experimental. Also of note is his 24 preludes and fugues which is directly inspired by Bach's Well Tempered Clavier, but infused with early 20th century ideas (hell, I almost hear a little Monk here, which is totally INSANE!) Super forward looking and beautiful (though probably boring too.)

[mesh control]

Just quartets # 1, 2, and 8.

I really like the Jazz Suite Waltz or whatever.

Classical music scares the shit out of me. I don't know where to begin to look and my resources are scarce.

+1 Almost all of their albums are great (Dear You being the exception) but I always thought 24 Hour Revenge Therapy was the best.

Haven't quite understood the Dear You hate. The production is shiny, but the songs are still great.

[CMoon]

Classical music scares the shit out of me. I don't know where to begin to look and my resources are scarce.

It IS scary! Another bottomless hole. Its helpful to find which periods you like. Learn a bit of the vocabulary to recognize which styles/configurations you are into. The worst part is that any given piece of music may have many performances/interpretations. Heaven forbid you enjoy Bach (as I do) since your stuck with huge numbers of multiple versions of any performance and have to make a hard choice somewhere. In a few cases, I own multiple versions because I think each version offers something worthwhile. If you get into solo/duets/trios it becomes helpful to find particular musicians/performers you really dig.

Ultimately, Classical is probably the hardest genre to get into deeply for the reasons mentioned above (even harder than jazz.) Unless you're just looking to support a particularly new performance, I strongly recommend just downloading whole libraries of music by composers you are interested in--perhaps this sounds unethical, but so many of the recordings I have of classical music were recorded over 50 years ago. No one is getting fucking royalties and the music industry only lives on as a zombie parasite. I realize this is a separate issue, but IMO any piece of music (or art as far as I'm concerned) recorded prior to 1960 should IMO be public domain at this point--and that is an ENORMOUS amount of what is actually available.

[xbl0x180]

Madonna - Like a Virgin

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME HOW GOOD THIS IS? Perfect pop, with a heavy emphasis on synth. Not as good as early Kylie, but what is? Got record for a quid cus it was missing a sleeve, so drew a new one. I prefer my edition.

I dig her early look with the heavy make-up. Her performances were unlike anything I had seen on teevee (or anywhere). She had a knack of getting producers, writers, and composers who knew what the f*** they were doing - Niles Rodgers, Shep Pettibone, and even Lenny Kravitz. This is ten times better than early Kylie

[xbl0x180]

Early Lio is killin' it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsqLi9LfiwM


Good compilation of her Pop songs, right here, although I'd suggest tracking down the extended versions and remixes. These things were almost on the level of 80s Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and The Pet Shop Boys alternate versions of their album hits.

[shmuppyLove]

Ok an actual album this time.



I still can't get enough of it, moreso than any of their previous albums (which are also extremely good). The entire album just blows my mind every time I listen, which I usually do from start to finish.

I never go to concerts, but I was extremely fortunate to see Gorillaz in Toronto last year (for free!), and I would go see them tomorrow if they came again.

Empire Ants live on Letterman:
http://youtu.be/2x6bWw2J0po

[MX7]

Early Lio is killin' it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsqLi9LfiwM


These things were almost on the level of 80s Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and The Pet Shop Boys alternate versions of their album hits.

Sounds brilliant! Checking this out ASAP.

I adore Depeche Mode's 1st album at the moment. Photographic may well be the best synth pop track ever written. I need to listen to more Pet Shop Boys. I really like their first album.

Ausgang Verboten - Entertainment - Some of the coldest cold-wave I've ever heard. Bleak, like early Kraftwerk done on a gameboy. HIGHLY recommended for cold-wave/synth-wave/minimal types.

[xbl0x180]

Early Lio is killin' it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsqLi9LfiwM


These things were almost on the level of 80s Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and The Pet Shop Boys alternate versions of their album hits.

Sounds brilliant! Checking this out ASAP.

I adore Depeche Mode's 1st album at the moment. Photographic may well be the best synth pop track ever written. I need to listen to more Pet Shop Boys. I really like their first album.

Ausgang Verboten - Entertainment - Some of the coldest cold-wave I've ever heard. Bleak, like early Kraftwerk done on a gameboy. HIGHLY recommended for cold-wave/synth-wave/minimal types.

Same deal as early Madonna. Lio's production was handled by peeps who knew how to make catchy h00ks. In this case, it was the guy from Telex. On a subsequent album, I think it was the Mael brothers from Sparks. In other words, they had renown New Wavers and SynthPop dudes handle the early singles

As far as Cold Wave goes, I can't find a popular solid album. It's usually some raer or hard-to-find 45 that got lost in time.


Check out Kym Amps's creepy loner electro single:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siEwkl1GIlY


And Greg Vandike's dancy, discotheque tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xekmw2VRfU

[Klatrymadon]

Napoleon Skullfukk - He Came With Rats (Excellent trad DM for heroes.)
Ulver - Wars Of The Roses
Cheap Dinosaurs - s/t
Aura Noir - Out To Die
Conan - Monnos
Squarepusher - Ufabulum
Abigail - Intercourse & Lust
Aosoth - III

Mesh Control, have you heard Sigh's cover of Under The Runes? I tend to prefer early Bathory to anything after Blood Fire Death (in fact, I tend to lose interest entirely at that point), but this is acebest.

[Marc]

Holy shit. Not only did I not know that Sparks still put records out, I also didn't know they were pretty amazing.

[mesh control]

Mesh Control, have you heard Sigh's cover of Under The Runes? I tend to prefer early Bathory to anything after Blood Fire Death (in fact, I tend to lose interest entirely at that point), but this is acebest.

WTH, This is weird. haha. It's like 2000's pop or something. ohgod.

I normally just listen to the goathead album and Under The Sign of the Black Mark and never ventured past either.

snip

snip

Enjoying all of these links. Keep 'em coming.


Currently making a "Sun Ra's Rabbit Hole" comic. lolz. I need to reteach myself to draw hands though.
Magic City is ace. My brother walked in and asked what that noise was, and once he realized that it was a record he asked: "You don't really like that, do you?"

Speaking of rabbit holes: I've been surfing rateyourmusic again and found some stuff. Most notably: http://youtu.be/s2r_dL50BOM

I'm now beginning to feel the wake of Megaupload's shut down.

[CMoon]

Don't remember if you've heard Sun Ra's Cosmic tones for mental therapy, but most of the album is up on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmgFdPksIvc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf4sE59nbZA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwKmEsTmX2o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwPD-Fi-y6A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Lkp7Go-po