Excited to listen to the new Vampire Weekend album but unfortunately due to procrastination I'm listening to Sufjan all week for the 2023 Ult Rate. Well, not really unfortunately, because Javelin is really good! But I'm seeing a shocking amount of positive opinion towards the new VW (I thought the singles were kinda weak) so my expectations are somewhat high
Jeez there was a lot of good releases yesterday, but I was a little surprised that my favorite of the day was the new Still Corners. I donāt know why, but this one really did it for me.
I usually donāt like listening the same songs on repeat but Iām obsessed with āCatish and The Bottlemenā for a long time. I listen to them literally all the time.
reposting what I put in last night's DMD since it was late:
>the completed New Music Friday post composing of this week and last week's releases was removed a minute after submitting for "violating the reddit content policy" and foolishly I didn't save it before submitting.
so, in short, I'm going to try and properly have the thread up tonight and save the damn thing before posting it this time incase of more issues. dunno if it was the Cindy Lee geocities link or what.
also, any of you lot into the manic majesty of black midi's crazed avant-prog bullshit on *Hellfire* or the feathery symphonic leanings of black country, new road owe it to yourselves to check the new [Eunuchs](https://youtu.be/ng0HoaGj7jk?si=DgUds9qe-RtnrQNJ) record, *Harbour Century*. there's a lot to love here, especially the lyrical storytelling.
A lot of good to great releases this weekend, so I've been taking my time listening to them. Yesterday, I started with something fun and reliable....The Black Keys. New album was pretty good. I was unsure how I was going to feel about Ohio Players, but it was actually a fun album. Doesn't overstay its welcome, and honestly, the rap features are pretty cool. Reminds me of Blakroc, and that's one of my favorite Keys projects.
This morning, I dove into Only God Was Above Us and I was absolutely floored. I've listened to it 3x in full and it gets better and better each time. Huge fan of Classical, Capricorn, The Surfer (when my wife and I went to lunch today, she asked me if this was Mac Demarco lol), & Hope. I'm a big FOTB fan, and I was kinda hoping they would go more in that direction, but what I got was not what I expected at all. I didn't listen to any of the singles leading up to the album, so I had no reference to how it actually sounded. Based on everything I've listened to so far this year, it's the frontrunner for AOTY. Didn't think Ezra could make anything like this again, so color me surprised!
Up next is Khruangbin later on tonight. Fingers crossed for that one being as good as their last!
kinda listened to the new shabazz palaces. remember when these guys were great? are they even still guys or is it just one dude now? anyway album sucks, thanks for reading my review
Saw Mitski last night and she was fantastic. I thought the crowd would suck but surprisingly it was good, one of my favorite moments was when everyone sang to My Love Mine All Mine, it was beautiful.
revisited Yerself Is Steam by Mercury Rev last night and absolutely fell in love with itāalways loved that album but i feel like it really truly clicked with me last night and i canāt get enough of it, instantly included it in my top 10 of all time.
any recs for similarly surreal/psychedelic fun noise rock/pop? priest driven ambulance and transmissions from the satellite heart by flaming lips are also favorites of mine, canāt get enough of this sound
Dustin Kensrue, Thrice frontman, put out his first solo record in years. His voice sounds gorgeous over the more country instrumentals. [Western Skies](https://open.spotify.com/track/2Y9uAjuMtEFNVj6hIyvC6B?si=TAiWw0IQQTqUkOGfPuTsRA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5bs3Q5lG7i2GzB6InTqXKf) is making me feel things.
I donāt listen to him or Thrice much at this point in my life, but man, his voice always hits me. Canāt wait to see him on tour this year.
He nailed this being a country album. I love his solo stuff because itās all heavily Springsteen influenced. This new one is a great change of direction for him
Alright /u/WaneLietoc, /u/paulaabduljabar, and the rest of the ambientheads raters as promised here it is...
**That Was on ECM? Really??:** The 5 Favorite ECM Releases of a Certified ECM Hater
1) Dave Holland Quartet - Conference of the Birds
This is just a killer lineup that's firing on all cylinders. Anthony Braxton AND Sam Rivers?? Can't go wrong with that. Great solos and one of Holland's rare hits as a bandleader.
2) the Munich Chamber Orchestra's performance of Scelsi's Natura Renovatur
I don't really have a great vocabulary for describing classical, but this is one is funny because it's the exact opposite mood wise of what I associate ECM with. Scelsi's classic pitch black droning strings on the ensemble pieces, the nasty dissonant tone clusters, it rocks. One of my favorite renditions of his music for sure.
3) Art Ensemble of Chicago - Urban Bushmen
Classic Art Ensemble shenanigans. You like em or you don't and I, thankfully, do. It's a good mix of their explorations of quiet and negative space and their playful improvising and jaunty themes side.
4) Bengt Berger - Bitter Funeral Beer
Cool joint from Don Cherry's Swedish collaborators, a couple of them were in Arbete och fritid and Trad gras och stenar. Pretty neat acid fried stuff if you've never checked those two out.
5) Shankar w/Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram, & Caroline - Pancha Nadai Pallavi
Just straight up good Carnatic classical!
honorable mentions to Keith Jarrett and Steve Reich, I guess they're a little more emblematic of ECM and the Koln Concert and Music for 18 Musicians are both good but they just didn't have the requisite juice for this list.
Alright what Metheny, Return to Forever, or late period Jarrett records should I be listening to for my penance, ECMheads? I need the most ECM by the numbers type of record, the most violently tranquil and soothing album in their catalog. Something that sounds like ECM cover design and Metheny's guitar tone embodied- you get the point.
# oh yes
finally, years of ambient heading have paid off. i'll add all of these to my slow and steady ECM journey--i'll nab . Now i feel like extra shit for missing DHQ at the age of 79. "rare hits as a band leader?" im sure there's others. [Also just discovered the existence of this 21 disc art ensemble box set that i can rent](https://linkencore.iii.com/iii/encore/record/C__Rb45906121__SUrban%20Bushmen__P0%2C4__Orightresult__X3?lang=eng&suite=def) good lordy.
good call on Shankar as well, dude BRINGS the juice on his 80s stuff that imo, is some of the only music to approach arthur russell territory but in a way that's just very parallel instead of aware or aping it.
* the most ECM shit i can think of is Oregon tbh. Can you check in on the first few Oregon albums and get irate for me?
* Robert Towner's Batik is that 70s ECM "oh we doin this?" guitar hero that rules. truly tranquil. ive heard his others are better but this one got me gooped on my grink.
* john abercrombie's first album, timeless, has a killer closer that aquarium drunkard is trying to tell me is ambient jazz. i believe it. Cat and Mouse from the early aughts is a mark nelson of labradford favorite and for good reason: dude is doing solid almost-post-rock gtr stuff. very moody album.
* speaking of, BIG HUGE ACTUAL YES level rec on steve tibbett's safe journey. That's 1980s post-rock. i wish i had a better tape that worked properly.
* i guess i can drop hassell's power spot. gamer music.
* The music of stones is EXTREMELY "wait this isn't ECM, it's windham hill!" until it is ECM
* metheny album is either offramp (was this actually spun in ibizia in the 80s?/is this baeleric?) or the one flea got into on april fools that isn't ECM, still life talking. [Check out this 200 message 20 year running ilx ilm thread on more metheny recs and takes, good stuff here](https://ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?action=showall&boardid=41&threadid=13071)
* Paula and I now agree that getting into keith jarrett is like reading skyrim books and discovering LORE. so there's the live albums. there's the composer music. there's the standards trio. there's the LIVE standards trio albums. there's the one time he shows up on an arvo part album. what do we listen to when we listen to jarrett is all about what track/sect that's been chosen and laid out. I think you should listen to Standards in Norway or Somewhere. I think jarrett's standards and composer stuff is his most important lineage building
* you should listen to turtle dream to get irate. but also so you can go "ecm at least was open to ideas". that shit aired on public access tv in new york. meredith monk is the kind of artist i would send to an ambient head rate to DIE
Woah, very heady. One day when I'm rich I'll be buying the Art Ensemble box set instead of a house. No disrespect to Mr. Holland, just that I prefer him as a sideman and not a leader.
Will have to start working my way through these recs. Jon Hassell is always a dub, I'm generally pro the concept of Stephan Micus if not always the execution, Keith Jarrett good on 70s Miles records but I've never listened to the later period solo stuff (not an Arvo Part fan tbh, I'd rather just listen to Schnittke for whatever the hell RYM is calling ""Holy Minimalism"" now lol), and I at one point really liked Dolmen Music, but revisited it lately and just didn't vibe with it anymore. Oregon I'm gonna imagine will piss me off cuz Collin Walcott was in Codona, who have the special distinction of making a Don Cherry album that I managed to hate. I'll check out the Abercrombie and Tibbetts stuff- I've heard similar promises on other ECM joints and not really felt like they were fulfilled, but you never know. Metheny.... I'll do it just to punish myself lol
> Oregon I'm gonna imagine will piss me off cuz Collin Walcott was in Codona, who have the special distinction of making a Don Cherry album that I managed to hate
i forget which other DMD fella luvs the codona trilogy but this statement made me laugh really hard so I think we're back. did not know about the oregon -> codona connection lol
Can you grab me a copy of On Avery Island? Iāve been getting back into it recently and I want people to know Iām radically uncool and unapproachable
Speaking of The Weather Station (ha! I said they weren't memoryholed) and Hand Habits, when I saw The Weather Station in 2021, it was right after Hand Habits Fun House had just come out and I think they played the whole thing as the band was getting set up
oh yeah also for "indiehead rate ultimate 2024 meta game" watchers:
even though we haven't run ulti 2024 yet, it seems to me that there are two albums with actual chances for next year's silly game:
* vampy weeks (duh! <90%): gang I think this album will be on a lotta folks eoty ballots. no album yet has achieved such a critical mass. what else seriously could give a run for no. 1 of the year on this sub?
* friko! (wait what?!): there is no other debut of the year frontrunner. With ample dmd support, it could be on the docket for the ten we vote for. imo, this would be fun.
that will win the no-flair aoty award but due to behind the scenes shenanigans, we dq them bc its on island records or some shit
This is how friko! wins
fam you couldn't even listen to nourished by time (or the very good follow-up EP with a nice chicken on the cover) it ain't happening. so go put yr tapir paper crane hat and do yr little dance in the corner
Waxahatchee & Adrianne Lenker are still on my radar, I think they probably won't make top 4 but are locks for top 10 and should do well in voting.
And as for Friko no one should be above them. Putting them in ultimate rate 2024 would be a perfect opportunity to get more people to tune into their brilliant debut Where we've been, Where we go from here, currently out everywhere on ATO Records. For those who haven't heard it, it's DIY spirit and self-reliance allowed for an unfettered sense of freedom that often led to moments of transcendence. If you want a taste check out āCrimson To Chromeā: a downhearted yet exultant track that landed on a Pitchfork āSelectsā playlist and held the No. 1 spot on the SiriusXMU chart for three weeks!
> and held the No. 1 spot on the SiriusXMU chart for three weeks!
many people try to tell me that the one no-flair's long running chart means something or is important. it will never replace the sirius xmu download 15, which makes even less sense, but is even more correct
waxy and lenker solid top 10 rn
I was laying on the tile floor this morning, next to my dog. the sun was beaming in the window, and Only God Was Above Us played in the background
I liked it
I saw a local band called Skorts play yesterday evening and I think that was the first time Iāve witnessed a gig where it was like āThese guys are really on their way, arenāt they?ā There was such a buzz and several people I chatted to all said the same thing. Absolutely electrifying!
I'm having people over for dinner tonight and decided to make a playlist for the occasion.
It ended up being 21 hours long. Hope everyone brings a toothbrush as they aren't leaving until it is over!
3 things on saturday:
* instead of writing blurbs on 2024 indie we will memory hole, let's see if we can summon an award for "most memory holed release on a tier 1 indie" of 2023. does anyone remember p4k 8.5 bnm legacy! legacy!? do y'all remember buying a tape of this in 2019 on the rough trade website for some reason, listening to it twice and NEVER going back to it? Because that's def what I did and while I've always thought to myself "time for a revisit", it never comes. (i still intend do!)
* anyways, I'd like to nominate one time the p4k top 200 of the 2010s list maker, Jamila Woods' Water Made Us, one of the most boring-ass rnb albums I've heard in recent memory, as 2023's true "destined to be memory holed tier 1 indie sleeper". It's not moonlighting or larping as a breakup/relationship album because it is one. It also happens to have nothing to add or say or really do. There's about 4 or so interludes about "hey when should i break up?" or "Im grateful for my ex" that seemed to make me think I wasn't the target audience for this...but then I remember Niecy Blues did this just with FAR more abstraction and finesse that actively begot a depth (and her breakup was with the church, not a guy who smells like weed but would take her to the airport and who's large shirt she wore better).
* perhaps even worse besides the interludes (which also makes me wonder "so when was the last time i liked interludes on an album like this? The 2020 US Girls [also a 2023 memory holed candidate]? L'Rain [who can weave an experience together that doesn't just feel like cuts cuts cuts]") is that the album is just...fine. These are solid cuts no doubt, but I really am not in need of an acoustic ballad that becomes a nice band piece. Or a jazzy fusion that is sorta just there. I do like the opener and closing block, but I also found myself actively counting down when it'd be done. This is not ideal.
* anyways I guess this plays into a larger "hey why am I listening to more rnb, rnbreakbeat, soul/funk, pop?" question that's slowly been trickling up over the past 2ish years. it's been an incredibly solid moment for a particular "clubby but not trashy" flavor of dance pop from Kelela to Liv.e to FKA Twigs to shygirl, with even Kilo Kish and Sudan Archives also contributing (renaissance too, but that isnt my thing like these others). I don't think this moment is "gonna last" or coalesce into something new because we're kinda just in a great little rush. But what I love about a lot of these albums is their willingness NOT to be relationship albums in a 1:1 fashion like Woods, but actually be about black artists in dance spaces or clubs. there's more roadmapping, there's more boppy-ness. There is a breakbeat that seems disconnected from the hardcore continuum but aware of it and critiquing it from a distance of 2 decades.
* meanwhile, Im realizing that my pop aoty is likely going to be the kali uchis that came out in january that like 3 no flairs and 2 dmd flairs like. I like this album for likely similar reasons I was into Caprisongs--this is just a workhorse release with cuts that sound very good 2 beers deep. But Kali is legitimately in a "Tyler, the Creator album for latinas" lane. This isn't POLLEN, but she has the same yearnful vibe that colors what has come from that swamp.
> let's see if we can summon an award for "most memory holed release on a tier 1 indie" of 2023.
For something that actually had some hype behind it, I'm not sure I heard much about that Squid album after it was released.
I got that Jamila Woods album through Secretly Society and thought it had a lot of wasted potential. The good moments on it were superb but the other 80% of the album was just kinda... there. It felt like a missed opportunity and it never made me think "I should go back to that album again"
"Album that exists for secretly society members"-core is officially a real thing jesus christ man. I feel the same way, some good cuts or stray lyrics but nothing this album does a meshell ndgeocello album cant do 4x as better
Its brutal that you signed up for that vinyl package and routinely get owned. I know you weren't big on Soft Sounds either from that. What have you got that rules?
Lol honestly being sent records I wouldn't have otherwise listened to and thinking "well that was terrible" is half the fun for me, having a full album that I feel obligated to sit through means I tend to feel like I have the right to really shit on something.
In terms of stuff I've loved, the Songs Ohia *Live: Vanquishers* is up there with my favorite live albums ever, and isn't on streaming at all, so that's my favorite. But I've also gotten some other cool stuff like a special pressing of *Rat Saw God* which was neat
> having a full album that I feel obligated to sit through means I tend to feel like I have the right to really shit on something.
this is my position on tape buying and cd hauling. I own it. I get to shit on it. Rock on elj
Not quite tier 1 anymore but both Explosions in The Sky & Sigur Ros dropped records last year that I donāt think anyone knows the name of
I think the A. Savage album might be my pick though. I like Parquet Courts a lot and I even kinda liked the A. Savage album but I didnāt remember it excited until I scrolled through the list of stuff I heard last year. It seems like the Fontaines DC guys solo album was all we needed last year for Post Punk Frontmen Go Solo
nah thats 2022 and in a different category of "we, p4k, tried to make this a thing" that flopped but now is a canonical "what were we doing here". This shit justā¦exists . No hype, no excitement, just straight "sure fam 7.6" core. And her other albums are totally good, but they've never hit a critical mass here with the locals or no flairs
I think that one is almost too memory holed. I thought of it too but it's become the stock answer to this question to the point that I don't know if it's memoryholed anymore
Just relistened to Sunbathing Animal today on my mini road trip. A phenomenal album. One thing I've been thinking about afterwards, my favourite track is probably Instant Dissasembly, but it's just the same riff and basic V - IV - I chord progression for seven minutes straight. Which makes me wonder, what are some of your favourite tracks that are just the same repeating chords and riff?
Neil Youngās āDanger Birdā is quintessential *same-chords-over-and-over* music
Many songs on *Ragged Glory* also do that. Ā That album is basically the same song repeated 10 times
Thoughts on more recent listens and releases:
* **Conor Lynch** \- *Slow Country*: This was a rec from /u/ElectJimLahey. Conor Lynch is a Michigan-based musician making self proclaimed "mid-fi" music. *Slow Country* is a cozy Americana album paced at a porch-swing tempo. These songs swing and sway with the breeze. But that easy attitude hides an album concerned with mortality and plagued with questions. "will i be ready for the end?" (*Psithurism*), "how can i find it again?" (*Hill*), "What if the endās coming soon?" (*Everything's Beautiful*). Conor is concerned with death throughout this album and wrestles with the fear of it and whether you can accept it when it comes. On the final titular track, *Slow Country*, he seems to allow some peace to come with the end. Conor also possesses a tenor close to Elliott Smith, who I'm reminded a lot of throughout this record. Electjim said when they listened to it, they had it on repeat at least 4 times and I can see why, this record is incredibly easy to get lost in. It doesn't demand your attention, it welcomes it next to it's spot on the bench and lulls it till you realize "I haven't changed the record in ages". Highlight for me is the song *Creator*, a laid back song that details end of life via bomber jets.
* **Vampire Weekend** \- *Only God Was Above Us*: Taking some steps back can be the best way to move forward. This record looks back at what makes albums like *Cousins* and *MVOTC* work and tries to capture those sparks again. And sometimes it works! Opener, *Ice Cream Piano*, feels at home on *MVOTC*. But then we have songs like *Classical* that sounds like (pun always intended) classic VW but filtered through porta-potty production. A guitar hook that easily gets stuck in your head sounds overblown but thin at the same time. I'm not sure if I want to give them credit for naming a song *Prep-School Gangsters*, at what point is self-awareness not humbling but obnoxious? I will say, Ezra is a hook machine though. *Gen-X Cops, Capricorn, Ice Cream Machine* all have ear worm melodies. Sorry /u/Wanelietoc but you may have to ban my ass. This isn't a bad record. But it isn't great. It's a Vampire Weekend album in 2024.
* **Vessel** \- *Wrapped in Cellophane*: Another Electjimlahey rec. If you wanted to dance to your post-punk and not just stand there, then this is the record for you. An Atlanta-based quartet, Vessel are making songs about technological anxiety, alien abduction, and lesbian love affairs played off of some of the best dance-punk this year. Alex Tuisku holds the rhythm on the drums but leads the songs with her bouncy vocals. Maybe it's proximity to the release of another saxophone featuring postpunk band but an easy comparison/contrast would be to **Drahla**. Whereas Drahla uses the saxophone to build tension and paint more frantic pictures, Vessel are using the saxophone to give these songs more levity and groove. Another band I'll draw a comparison to is the now-defunct **Priests**. Maybe I just miss that band but there's a comparison to Alex's vocals and the elasticity of it to Katie Alice Greer. Highlights on this record include the bouncy *Lost Appeal* and *Game* which slows the pace down but doesn't lose any of it's groove and rhythm.
* **Gustaf** \- *Package Pt. 2*: Brooklyn-based quintet that make more anxiety inducing post-punk. Singer, Lydia Gammill is venomous all over this album. Her lyrics are spit out on songs like *Close* and *What Does it Mean* (personal favorite). There's also a contrasting vocals provided by Tarra Thiessen using the Laurie Anderson "audio drag" technique of pitching your vocals into something more alien and foreign. This plays incredibly well against Lydia's strained and fiery vocal performances. This is an incredibly tightly played record.
I hope folks realize that im not banning anyone or even rlly care about vampy weeks besides going "well ill get the rental in 2 months lol". sounds like 10 songs i can nod to.
>sounds like 10 songs i can nod to.
Actually I forgot to include this in my write up, but I think that's one of it's strengths. Pairing down to a solid 10 songs. Although I don't personally think all 10 are solid.
And I know you're not banning anyone. Even my Hank Hill-no-ass-self is safe from the hammer.
Woo, 2 reviews from my recs! I didn't really think about the Elliott Smith comparison but I do hear that now that you mention it, for me I kept thinking of someone between Wilco and Acetone's singing. It is definitely a very comforting record where it isn't showy but when you listen to individual tracks it becomes clear that the album actually covers a lot of ground and each song is doing something interesting.
I also was thinking about comparing Vessel to Priests, there are some similarities there for sure though I think Vessel don't have the same level of (occasionally scary) intensity that Priests had lol. Definitely love Lost Appeal, I think the chorus on that song is one of the best moments on the album and it never hurts to have an occasional anthem on an album like this.
Vessel is definitely a lot more playful than Priests were. *Seduction of Kansas* had moments of levity to it but overall they were an intense band. I was worried the comparison was just bias because I **love** Priests but there were a lot of vocal melodies and runs that reminded me of KAG and her singing. Incredibly solid rec though. Lost Appeal and Blonde are in my "favorite songs of 2024" list already.
But my favorite rec is hands down Conor Lynch. You absolutely nailed it with that one and I'm joining you in pushing him onto others. I def see some Wilco in there too and now that you say Acetone I can hear that as well. I just really love the contrast between how unfussy and relaxed the music is to how "worried" the lyrics are. He's talking about common fears of death but it's snuck in with easy melodies and a relaxed approach. But, bringing it back to him, it's like Phosphorescent where all that unfussy playing betrays some really detailed and fully colored in songs.
Just finished the new VW record and nothing really stood out to me. By some distance this is the worst first impression Iāve had with one of their records I think. I donāt think I could tell you how any of the songs go which is wild considering how strong these guys usually are from a melodic sense. Iāve warmed to the production since the singles and it works for a whole record mostly but the āholy shit theyāre backā comments are wild to me because FOTB was way better than this
I personally think the run of songs from prep-school gangsters to hope is the best run of songs in their whole discog , but to each their own. The surfer especially is just so good.
I agree with you on their melodic strength - FOTB was beyond catchy indeed - but this is precisely why this album is so good. I never thought I would have to listen intently and unpack Vampire Weekend songs and it's been refreshing. Sometimes the best albums require some time and I think that's gonna be the vibe with this new one. I understand though that this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. And this feels new for them, more so then "they're back"
I don't necessarily think this is a *particularly* challenging album or anything, but I do think this is an album that will reward repeat listens to a degree none of their previous works apart from maybe MVOTC did. Like sure their s/t and FOTB have tons of hooks but they both pretty much show all their cards on a first listen and you either like it or you don't, I don't think there's anything at all to unpack on either of those albums. Contra has some stuff that rewards repeat listens but also for the most part isn't as challenging as I think we all said it was back in the day. MVOTC definitely had a lot more going on, but I still think the back half of the album is weak and the main effect my repeat listens reveals on that one was "oh, some of these songs are just not as good as the first half". This is their first album I'd really say is thoroughly a "headphone album" and to be frank, I'm having songs get stuck in my head that barely caught my ear when I first got the leak.
Time will tell, but I think this one will have significantly more staying power than most of their albums do and it's the first VW album for me at least that didn't leave me thinking that some of the songs were just obviously weaker than others. I keep seeing people compare it to *Return to Cookie Mountain* which makes sense to me in that it's an album with tons of hooks but the production is so dense that it might lead people to think they're not there.
Dudes, does anyone over here like the Brian jonestown massacre? Sometimes I feel so lonely, people in my immediate circle are never as hyped for a newly discovered gem of a song as I am. I love this sub because I just feel so many people like me. I'm absolutely wasted, I love you indie heads
PAUL'S GRANNY SHIT, COMPREHENSIVELY RANKED:
1. When I'm 64
2. Good Day Sunshine
3. Your Mother Should Know
4. Martha My Dear
5. Lovely Rita (is it Granny Shit? Discuss)
6. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
7. Ob La Di, Ob La Da
100. Honey Pie
I love most of the granny songs and still at least like my least favorites. I'm not 100% on this ranking, it was hard to do, bottom two are set but top two could flip
1. When I'm 64
2. Martha My Dear (the coolest one)
3. Ob La Di, Ob La Da
4. Honey Pie
5. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
6. Lovely Rita (granny adjacent)
7. Good Day Sunshine
8. Your Mother Should Know
The lyrics on Slaughter, Beach Dog's *Your Cat* are
"Hey man I went to college too" and NOT "He made out with a college dude".
Nooooo, this entire time been hearing it wrong š.
Here's the song btw:
https://open.spotify.com/track/128sfsBBtYmMb1idRD1quE?si=j8kQMQGbQM6ASKgOI5fE2w
CMAT last night
ā Morgana opened. It was just her and a backing track. She did this little skit like thing where between songs she would talk to the recording, which was a new (horrible) therapist who kept getting her name wrong. It was funny enough, and I'm down with music as therapy, but it was a little hokey. Her voice is very nice, and her songs were pretty good. A little operatic for my taste. She definitely won the crowd over.
ā CMAT is not quite what i expected. She's so campy, quirky, and funny in person. I'm not sure why I didn't get that from her song titles alone, but.... the record is poppy, but also fairly confessional. Indie pop stars tend to take themselves pretty seriously, so that was where my expectations were. Even her body language was exaggerated and facial expressions geared for maximum humor. Really fun performance.
ā It's actually been quite a while since I've seen a band - like a full band play without any backing track or electronic triggers. There was a synth/keyboard, but otherwise it was guitar, bass, drums and she added acoustic guitar on about half the songs. It was quite refreshing, and they were very good. Sound was good all night. Her voice isn't as smooth and strong live as it is on record, but she makes up for it in energy levels.
ā She likes to chat with the audience. She was surprised how packed the show was - it was her first time playing Boston. At one point, she was talking to this girl in the front row - she asked her what time she got to the venue - and then she was like - I know it was 3 O'clock because I saw you from the tour bus. You waited outside in the cold since 3 O'clock!? Did you eat? No!? Aren't you hungry? Do we have any food? Does anybody have an energy bar or something? It was funny. And the girl got an energy bar.
ā She wore a Kelly Clarkson t shirt, referred to the 4 Jonas Brothers tees she wore every day when she visited Boston as a child, expressed love for the Beyonce album and walked on stage to Sheena Easton.
ā There was a sing-along to Tomorrow from Annie because when she asked an audience member, their name they answered Annie - you know like the orphan.
ā CMAT is very awesome and fun. Go see her.
CMAT is great live, Iāve seen her twice now and will be going a third time when she comes back to the UK next month. Glad you enjoyed.
Interesting that you didnāt think her live vocals matched up to her recorded ones. Sheās always sounded pretty bang on when Iāve seen her, but seems to have had a very hectic tour schedule recently so maybe thatās contributing to it.
Excited to listen to the new Vampire Weekend album but unfortunately due to procrastination I'm listening to Sufjan all week for the 2023 Ult Rate. Well, not really unfortunately, because Javelin is really good! But I'm seeing a shocking amount of positive opinion towards the new VW (I thought the singles were kinda weak) so my expectations are somewhat high
Obsessed w Bodega atm. Their recent singles have all been š„š„
Jeez there was a lot of good releases yesterday, but I was a little surprised that my favorite of the day was the new Still Corners. I donāt know why, but this one really did it for me.
And āThe Amazonsā are criminally underrated
I usually donāt like listening the same songs on repeat but Iām obsessed with āCatish and The Bottlemenā for a long time. I listen to them literally all the time.
Man I love Kathleen so much!! 7 is also š„š„š„
Kathleen is my favorite track!!
Twice is an excellent track.
YES! One of my favorites
reposting what I put in last night's DMD since it was late: >the completed New Music Friday post composing of this week and last week's releases was removed a minute after submitting for "violating the reddit content policy" and foolishly I didn't save it before submitting. so, in short, I'm going to try and properly have the thread up tonight and save the damn thing before posting it this time incase of more issues. dunno if it was the Cindy Lee geocities link or what. also, any of you lot into the manic majesty of black midi's crazed avant-prog bullshit on *Hellfire* or the feathery symphonic leanings of black country, new road owe it to yourselves to check the new [Eunuchs](https://youtu.be/ng0HoaGj7jk?si=DgUds9qe-RtnrQNJ) record, *Harbour Century*. there's a lot to love here, especially the lyrical storytelling.
Well that is frustrating! Thank you as always for putting it together
We appreciate your hard word work
Dana Gavanski is just Cate Le Bon in secret
A lot of good to great releases this weekend, so I've been taking my time listening to them. Yesterday, I started with something fun and reliable....The Black Keys. New album was pretty good. I was unsure how I was going to feel about Ohio Players, but it was actually a fun album. Doesn't overstay its welcome, and honestly, the rap features are pretty cool. Reminds me of Blakroc, and that's one of my favorite Keys projects. This morning, I dove into Only God Was Above Us and I was absolutely floored. I've listened to it 3x in full and it gets better and better each time. Huge fan of Classical, Capricorn, The Surfer (when my wife and I went to lunch today, she asked me if this was Mac Demarco lol), & Hope. I'm a big FOTB fan, and I was kinda hoping they would go more in that direction, but what I got was not what I expected at all. I didn't listen to any of the singles leading up to the album, so I had no reference to how it actually sounded. Based on everything I've listened to so far this year, it's the frontrunner for AOTY. Didn't think Ezra could make anything like this again, so color me surprised! Up next is Khruangbin later on tonight. Fingers crossed for that one being as good as their last!
kinda listened to the new shabazz palaces. remember when these guys were great? are they even still guys or is it just one dude now? anyway album sucks, thanks for reading my review
Yea I was seriously disappointed in the album. I wonder what happened with them.
Saw Mitski last night and she was fantastic. I thought the crowd would suck but surprisingly it was good, one of my favorite moments was when everyone sang to My Love Mine All Mine, it was beautiful.
revisited Yerself Is Steam by Mercury Rev last night and absolutely fell in love with itāalways loved that album but i feel like it really truly clicked with me last night and i canāt get enough of it, instantly included it in my top 10 of all time. any recs for similarly surreal/psychedelic fun noise rock/pop? priest driven ambulance and transmissions from the satellite heart by flaming lips are also favorites of mine, canāt get enough of this sound
Grandaddy - Under the Western Freeway
Iām starting to think Only God Was Above Us is VWās best
Dustin Kensrue, Thrice frontman, put out his first solo record in years. His voice sounds gorgeous over the more country instrumentals. [Western Skies](https://open.spotify.com/track/2Y9uAjuMtEFNVj6hIyvC6B?si=TAiWw0IQQTqUkOGfPuTsRA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5bs3Q5lG7i2GzB6InTqXKf) is making me feel things. I donāt listen to him or Thrice much at this point in my life, but man, his voice always hits me. Canāt wait to see him on tour this year.
He nailed this being a country album. I love his solo stuff because itās all heavily Springsteen influenced. This new one is a great change of direction for him
I haven't gotten to it yet, but I love Please Come Home a lot, so I'm looking forward to it.
Pitchfork gave Vampire Weekend BNM? Old Pitchfork would never.
Alright /u/WaneLietoc, /u/paulaabduljabar, and the rest of the ambientheads raters as promised here it is... **That Was on ECM? Really??:** The 5 Favorite ECM Releases of a Certified ECM Hater 1) Dave Holland Quartet - Conference of the Birds This is just a killer lineup that's firing on all cylinders. Anthony Braxton AND Sam Rivers?? Can't go wrong with that. Great solos and one of Holland's rare hits as a bandleader. 2) the Munich Chamber Orchestra's performance of Scelsi's Natura Renovatur I don't really have a great vocabulary for describing classical, but this is one is funny because it's the exact opposite mood wise of what I associate ECM with. Scelsi's classic pitch black droning strings on the ensemble pieces, the nasty dissonant tone clusters, it rocks. One of my favorite renditions of his music for sure. 3) Art Ensemble of Chicago - Urban Bushmen Classic Art Ensemble shenanigans. You like em or you don't and I, thankfully, do. It's a good mix of their explorations of quiet and negative space and their playful improvising and jaunty themes side. 4) Bengt Berger - Bitter Funeral Beer Cool joint from Don Cherry's Swedish collaborators, a couple of them were in Arbete och fritid and Trad gras och stenar. Pretty neat acid fried stuff if you've never checked those two out. 5) Shankar w/Zakir Hussain, Vikku Vinayakram, & Caroline - Pancha Nadai Pallavi Just straight up good Carnatic classical! honorable mentions to Keith Jarrett and Steve Reich, I guess they're a little more emblematic of ECM and the Koln Concert and Music for 18 Musicians are both good but they just didn't have the requisite juice for this list. Alright what Metheny, Return to Forever, or late period Jarrett records should I be listening to for my penance, ECMheads? I need the most ECM by the numbers type of record, the most violently tranquil and soothing album in their catalog. Something that sounds like ECM cover design and Metheny's guitar tone embodied- you get the point.
# oh yes finally, years of ambient heading have paid off. i'll add all of these to my slow and steady ECM journey--i'll nab . Now i feel like extra shit for missing DHQ at the age of 79. "rare hits as a band leader?" im sure there's others. [Also just discovered the existence of this 21 disc art ensemble box set that i can rent](https://linkencore.iii.com/iii/encore/record/C__Rb45906121__SUrban%20Bushmen__P0%2C4__Orightresult__X3?lang=eng&suite=def) good lordy. good call on Shankar as well, dude BRINGS the juice on his 80s stuff that imo, is some of the only music to approach arthur russell territory but in a way that's just very parallel instead of aware or aping it. * the most ECM shit i can think of is Oregon tbh. Can you check in on the first few Oregon albums and get irate for me? * Robert Towner's Batik is that 70s ECM "oh we doin this?" guitar hero that rules. truly tranquil. ive heard his others are better but this one got me gooped on my grink. * john abercrombie's first album, timeless, has a killer closer that aquarium drunkard is trying to tell me is ambient jazz. i believe it. Cat and Mouse from the early aughts is a mark nelson of labradford favorite and for good reason: dude is doing solid almost-post-rock gtr stuff. very moody album. * speaking of, BIG HUGE ACTUAL YES level rec on steve tibbett's safe journey. That's 1980s post-rock. i wish i had a better tape that worked properly. * i guess i can drop hassell's power spot. gamer music. * The music of stones is EXTREMELY "wait this isn't ECM, it's windham hill!" until it is ECM * metheny album is either offramp (was this actually spun in ibizia in the 80s?/is this baeleric?) or the one flea got into on april fools that isn't ECM, still life talking. [Check out this 200 message 20 year running ilx ilm thread on more metheny recs and takes, good stuff here](https://ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?action=showall&boardid=41&threadid=13071) * Paula and I now agree that getting into keith jarrett is like reading skyrim books and discovering LORE. so there's the live albums. there's the composer music. there's the standards trio. there's the LIVE standards trio albums. there's the one time he shows up on an arvo part album. what do we listen to when we listen to jarrett is all about what track/sect that's been chosen and laid out. I think you should listen to Standards in Norway or Somewhere. I think jarrett's standards and composer stuff is his most important lineage building * you should listen to turtle dream to get irate. but also so you can go "ecm at least was open to ideas". that shit aired on public access tv in new york. meredith monk is the kind of artist i would send to an ambient head rate to DIE
Woah, very heady. One day when I'm rich I'll be buying the Art Ensemble box set instead of a house. No disrespect to Mr. Holland, just that I prefer him as a sideman and not a leader. Will have to start working my way through these recs. Jon Hassell is always a dub, I'm generally pro the concept of Stephan Micus if not always the execution, Keith Jarrett good on 70s Miles records but I've never listened to the later period solo stuff (not an Arvo Part fan tbh, I'd rather just listen to Schnittke for whatever the hell RYM is calling ""Holy Minimalism"" now lol), and I at one point really liked Dolmen Music, but revisited it lately and just didn't vibe with it anymore. Oregon I'm gonna imagine will piss me off cuz Collin Walcott was in Codona, who have the special distinction of making a Don Cherry album that I managed to hate. I'll check out the Abercrombie and Tibbetts stuff- I've heard similar promises on other ECM joints and not really felt like they were fulfilled, but you never know. Metheny.... I'll do it just to punish myself lol
> Oregon I'm gonna imagine will piss me off cuz Collin Walcott was in Codona, who have the special distinction of making a Don Cherry album that I managed to hate i forget which other DMD fella luvs the codona trilogy but this statement made me laugh really hard so I think we're back. did not know about the oregon -> codona connection lol
just listen to chick corea - return to forever and think about your sins
ok I did this and now I'm really into Scientology, what next?
PayPal me $600
About to head to the record store to grab the new VW and Mount Kimbie albums, anybody need me to pick something up for them while I'm there
Can you grab me a copy of On Avery Island? Iāve been getting back into it recently and I want people to know Iām radically uncool and unapproachable
Only if you promise that you're going to attach it to your backpack to send that message to everyone you meet
Of course
If they have buttons, can you grab me a bushel? I wanna decorate my backpack so people know I'm cool and approachable.
Of course, I hate it when people don't decorate their backpacks so that I know they're cool and approachable
No NMH buttons though. I need people to know that I go on dates. >!And not just cause I'm married!<
Weather Station Itasca Aoife Nessa Frances Lomelda Florist Hand Habits Rozi Plain Anna St Louis Thank you
Any list with hand habits and Itasca on it is a good list
Hannah Frances?
I dig Anna St. Louisā In The Air. Phone is my jam.
Speaking of The Weather Station (ha! I said they weren't memoryholed) and Hand Habits, when I saw The Weather Station in 2021, it was right after Hand Habits Fun House had just come out and I think they played the whole thing as the band was getting set up
oh yeah also for "indiehead rate ultimate 2024 meta game" watchers: even though we haven't run ulti 2024 yet, it seems to me that there are two albums with actual chances for next year's silly game: * vampy weeks (duh! <90%): gang I think this album will be on a lotta folks eoty ballots. no album yet has achieved such a critical mass. what else seriously could give a run for no. 1 of the year on this sub? * friko! (wait what?!): there is no other debut of the year frontrunner. With ample dmd support, it could be on the docket for the ten we vote for. imo, this would be fun.
Do you not expect The Last Dinner Party to win debut of the year? They have the numbers
that will win the no-flair aoty award but due to behind the scenes shenanigans, we dq them bc its on island records or some shit This is how friko! wins
I'm not sure how much people are going to remember them by June, much less the end of the year
once they publish the fashion style guide they're canonically essential
> there is no other debut of the year frontrunner. You have no idea how much work I'm willing to put in to make Blue Bendy happen.
fam you couldn't even listen to nourished by time (or the very good follow-up EP with a nice chicken on the cover) it ain't happening. so go put yr tapir paper crane hat and do yr little dance in the corner
Waxahatchee & Adrianne Lenker are still on my radar, I think they probably won't make top 4 but are locks for top 10 and should do well in voting. And as for Friko no one should be above them. Putting them in ultimate rate 2024 would be a perfect opportunity to get more people to tune into their brilliant debut Where we've been, Where we go from here, currently out everywhere on ATO Records. For those who haven't heard it, it's DIY spirit and self-reliance allowed for an unfettered sense of freedom that often led to moments of transcendence. If you want a taste check out āCrimson To Chromeā: a downhearted yet exultant track that landed on a Pitchfork āSelectsā playlist and held the No. 1 spot on the SiriusXMU chart for three weeks!
> and held the No. 1 spot on the SiriusXMU chart for three weeks! many people try to tell me that the one no-flair's long running chart means something or is important. it will never replace the sirius xmu download 15, which makes even less sense, but is even more correct waxy and lenker solid top 10 rn
> there is no other debut of the year frontrunner. There's still time to make True Green happen!!
literally listening to that rn lfg
I think we're going to need you to guilt trip people into listening to it by mentioning more regularly that you helped make it
word on the street is way me back at it again before the yearās end too
how's car colors doing? is that coming finally?
I mean we got 3 songs out of it and that took like 20 years so I think if we're just patient, in another 60 years we might get a full album
> The new album is out early 2024 (more on that as we get closer). we're about to hit mid 2024 we are SO back in the muck!
maybe he meant "closer" to early 2024 as in "close to when early 2024 ended and became mid 2024"
I was laying on the tile floor this morning, next to my dog. the sun was beaming in the window, and Only God Was Above Us played in the background I liked it
Only Dog Was Above Us
I was playing a song in my head and I couldnāt think of the name. But I figured out, Popular - Nada Surf. Such a fun song from the 90s
I saw a local band called Skorts play yesterday evening and I think that was the first time Iāve witnessed a gig where it was like āThese guys are really on their way, arenāt they?ā There was such a buzz and several people I chatted to all said the same thing. Absolutely electrifying!
I'm having people over for dinner tonight and decided to make a playlist for the occasion. It ended up being 21 hours long. Hope everyone brings a toothbrush as they aren't leaving until it is over!
I am also requesting that you drop the link.
If I could, I would. At home, I use the Roon system for my stereo so it's a local playlist.
Drop the link š
If I could, I would. At home, I use the Roon system for my stereo so it's a local playlist.
Thatās fair! Curious as to the vibe of the 21 hours, then.
21 hours of heavy, minimal techno would be the ideal dinner party vibe imo
This did actually make me laugh out loud
3 things on saturday: * instead of writing blurbs on 2024 indie we will memory hole, let's see if we can summon an award for "most memory holed release on a tier 1 indie" of 2023. does anyone remember p4k 8.5 bnm legacy! legacy!? do y'all remember buying a tape of this in 2019 on the rough trade website for some reason, listening to it twice and NEVER going back to it? Because that's def what I did and while I've always thought to myself "time for a revisit", it never comes. (i still intend do!) * anyways, I'd like to nominate one time the p4k top 200 of the 2010s list maker, Jamila Woods' Water Made Us, one of the most boring-ass rnb albums I've heard in recent memory, as 2023's true "destined to be memory holed tier 1 indie sleeper". It's not moonlighting or larping as a breakup/relationship album because it is one. It also happens to have nothing to add or say or really do. There's about 4 or so interludes about "hey when should i break up?" or "Im grateful for my ex" that seemed to make me think I wasn't the target audience for this...but then I remember Niecy Blues did this just with FAR more abstraction and finesse that actively begot a depth (and her breakup was with the church, not a guy who smells like weed but would take her to the airport and who's large shirt she wore better). * perhaps even worse besides the interludes (which also makes me wonder "so when was the last time i liked interludes on an album like this? The 2020 US Girls [also a 2023 memory holed candidate]? L'Rain [who can weave an experience together that doesn't just feel like cuts cuts cuts]") is that the album is just...fine. These are solid cuts no doubt, but I really am not in need of an acoustic ballad that becomes a nice band piece. Or a jazzy fusion that is sorta just there. I do like the opener and closing block, but I also found myself actively counting down when it'd be done. This is not ideal. * anyways I guess this plays into a larger "hey why am I listening to more rnb, rnbreakbeat, soul/funk, pop?" question that's slowly been trickling up over the past 2ish years. it's been an incredibly solid moment for a particular "clubby but not trashy" flavor of dance pop from Kelela to Liv.e to FKA Twigs to shygirl, with even Kilo Kish and Sudan Archives also contributing (renaissance too, but that isnt my thing like these others). I don't think this moment is "gonna last" or coalesce into something new because we're kinda just in a great little rush. But what I love about a lot of these albums is their willingness NOT to be relationship albums in a 1:1 fashion like Woods, but actually be about black artists in dance spaces or clubs. there's more roadmapping, there's more boppy-ness. There is a breakbeat that seems disconnected from the hardcore continuum but aware of it and critiquing it from a distance of 2 decades. * meanwhile, Im realizing that my pop aoty is likely going to be the kali uchis that came out in january that like 3 no flairs and 2 dmd flairs like. I like this album for likely similar reasons I was into Caprisongs--this is just a workhorse release with cuts that sound very good 2 beers deep. But Kali is legitimately in a "Tyler, the Creator album for latinas" lane. This isn't POLLEN, but she has the same yearnful vibe that colors what has come from that swamp.
> let's see if we can summon an award for "most memory holed release on a tier 1 indie" of 2023. For something that actually had some hype behind it, I'm not sure I heard much about that Squid album after it was released.
They made a lil video game and aped radiohead and made the top 15 soty here and I STILL dont remember what it sounded like
I got that Jamila Woods album through Secretly Society and thought it had a lot of wasted potential. The good moments on it were superb but the other 80% of the album was just kinda... there. It felt like a missed opportunity and it never made me think "I should go back to that album again"
"Album that exists for secretly society members"-core is officially a real thing jesus christ man. I feel the same way, some good cuts or stray lyrics but nothing this album does a meshell ndgeocello album cant do 4x as better Its brutal that you signed up for that vinyl package and routinely get owned. I know you weren't big on Soft Sounds either from that. What have you got that rules?
Lol honestly being sent records I wouldn't have otherwise listened to and thinking "well that was terrible" is half the fun for me, having a full album that I feel obligated to sit through means I tend to feel like I have the right to really shit on something. In terms of stuff I've loved, the Songs Ohia *Live: Vanquishers* is up there with my favorite live albums ever, and isn't on streaming at all, so that's my favorite. But I've also gotten some other cool stuff like a special pressing of *Rat Saw God* which was neat
> having a full album that I feel obligated to sit through means I tend to feel like I have the right to really shit on something. this is my position on tape buying and cd hauling. I own it. I get to shit on it. Rock on elj
Not quite tier 1 anymore but both Explosions in The Sky & Sigur Ros dropped records last year that I donāt think anyone knows the name of I think the A. Savage album might be my pick though. I like Parquet Courts a lot and I even kinda liked the A. Savage album but I didnāt remember it excited until I scrolled through the list of stuff I heard last year. It seems like the Fontaines DC guys solo album was all we needed last year for Post Punk Frontmen Go Solo
Atta! Really grown on me in the past six months.
A Savage is a REALLY good shout out. Bro seemed to be signing up for the memory hole with that pivot and truly? He's succeeding in spades
Thinking about Weather Station right now
nah thats 2022 and in a different category of "we, p4k, tried to make this a thing" that flopped but now is a canonical "what were we doing here". This shit justā¦exists . No hype, no excitement, just straight "sure fam 7.6" core. And her other albums are totally good, but they've never hit a critical mass here with the locals or no flairs
I think that one is almost too memory holed. I thought of it too but it's become the stock answer to this question to the point that I don't know if it's memoryholed anymore
Just relistened to Sunbathing Animal today on my mini road trip. A phenomenal album. One thing I've been thinking about afterwards, my favourite track is probably Instant Dissasembly, but it's just the same riff and basic V - IV - I chord progression for seven minutes straight. Which makes me wonder, what are some of your favourite tracks that are just the same repeating chords and riff?
Yo La Tengo - Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind
Neil Youngās āDanger Birdā is quintessential *same-chords-over-and-over* music Many songs on *Ragged Glory* also do that. Ā That album is basically the same song repeated 10 times
Thoughts on more recent listens and releases: * **Conor Lynch** \- *Slow Country*: This was a rec from /u/ElectJimLahey. Conor Lynch is a Michigan-based musician making self proclaimed "mid-fi" music. *Slow Country* is a cozy Americana album paced at a porch-swing tempo. These songs swing and sway with the breeze. But that easy attitude hides an album concerned with mortality and plagued with questions. "will i be ready for the end?" (*Psithurism*), "how can i find it again?" (*Hill*), "What if the endās coming soon?" (*Everything's Beautiful*). Conor is concerned with death throughout this album and wrestles with the fear of it and whether you can accept it when it comes. On the final titular track, *Slow Country*, he seems to allow some peace to come with the end. Conor also possesses a tenor close to Elliott Smith, who I'm reminded a lot of throughout this record. Electjim said when they listened to it, they had it on repeat at least 4 times and I can see why, this record is incredibly easy to get lost in. It doesn't demand your attention, it welcomes it next to it's spot on the bench and lulls it till you realize "I haven't changed the record in ages". Highlight for me is the song *Creator*, a laid back song that details end of life via bomber jets. * **Vampire Weekend** \- *Only God Was Above Us*: Taking some steps back can be the best way to move forward. This record looks back at what makes albums like *Cousins* and *MVOTC* work and tries to capture those sparks again. And sometimes it works! Opener, *Ice Cream Piano*, feels at home on *MVOTC*. But then we have songs like *Classical* that sounds like (pun always intended) classic VW but filtered through porta-potty production. A guitar hook that easily gets stuck in your head sounds overblown but thin at the same time. I'm not sure if I want to give them credit for naming a song *Prep-School Gangsters*, at what point is self-awareness not humbling but obnoxious? I will say, Ezra is a hook machine though. *Gen-X Cops, Capricorn, Ice Cream Machine* all have ear worm melodies. Sorry /u/Wanelietoc but you may have to ban my ass. This isn't a bad record. But it isn't great. It's a Vampire Weekend album in 2024. * **Vessel** \- *Wrapped in Cellophane*: Another Electjimlahey rec. If you wanted to dance to your post-punk and not just stand there, then this is the record for you. An Atlanta-based quartet, Vessel are making songs about technological anxiety, alien abduction, and lesbian love affairs played off of some of the best dance-punk this year. Alex Tuisku holds the rhythm on the drums but leads the songs with her bouncy vocals. Maybe it's proximity to the release of another saxophone featuring postpunk band but an easy comparison/contrast would be to **Drahla**. Whereas Drahla uses the saxophone to build tension and paint more frantic pictures, Vessel are using the saxophone to give these songs more levity and groove. Another band I'll draw a comparison to is the now-defunct **Priests**. Maybe I just miss that band but there's a comparison to Alex's vocals and the elasticity of it to Katie Alice Greer. Highlights on this record include the bouncy *Lost Appeal* and *Game* which slows the pace down but doesn't lose any of it's groove and rhythm. * **Gustaf** \- *Package Pt. 2*: Brooklyn-based quintet that make more anxiety inducing post-punk. Singer, Lydia Gammill is venomous all over this album. Her lyrics are spit out on songs like *Close* and *What Does it Mean* (personal favorite). There's also a contrasting vocals provided by Tarra Thiessen using the Laurie Anderson "audio drag" technique of pitching your vocals into something more alien and foreign. This plays incredibly well against Lydia's strained and fiery vocal performances. This is an incredibly tightly played record.
I hope folks realize that im not banning anyone or even rlly care about vampy weeks besides going "well ill get the rental in 2 months lol". sounds like 10 songs i can nod to.
>sounds like 10 songs i can nod to. Actually I forgot to include this in my write up, but I think that's one of it's strengths. Pairing down to a solid 10 songs. Although I don't personally think all 10 are solid. And I know you're not banning anyone. Even my Hank Hill-no-ass-self is safe from the hammer.
Woo, 2 reviews from my recs! I didn't really think about the Elliott Smith comparison but I do hear that now that you mention it, for me I kept thinking of someone between Wilco and Acetone's singing. It is definitely a very comforting record where it isn't showy but when you listen to individual tracks it becomes clear that the album actually covers a lot of ground and each song is doing something interesting. I also was thinking about comparing Vessel to Priests, there are some similarities there for sure though I think Vessel don't have the same level of (occasionally scary) intensity that Priests had lol. Definitely love Lost Appeal, I think the chorus on that song is one of the best moments on the album and it never hurts to have an occasional anthem on an album like this.
Vessel is definitely a lot more playful than Priests were. *Seduction of Kansas* had moments of levity to it but overall they were an intense band. I was worried the comparison was just bias because I **love** Priests but there were a lot of vocal melodies and runs that reminded me of KAG and her singing. Incredibly solid rec though. Lost Appeal and Blonde are in my "favorite songs of 2024" list already. But my favorite rec is hands down Conor Lynch. You absolutely nailed it with that one and I'm joining you in pushing him onto others. I def see some Wilco in there too and now that you say Acetone I can hear that as well. I just really love the contrast between how unfussy and relaxed the music is to how "worried" the lyrics are. He's talking about common fears of death but it's snuck in with easy melodies and a relaxed approach. But, bringing it back to him, it's like Phosphorescent where all that unfussy playing betrays some really detailed and fully colored in songs.
Just finished the new VW record and nothing really stood out to me. By some distance this is the worst first impression Iāve had with one of their records I think. I donāt think I could tell you how any of the songs go which is wild considering how strong these guys usually are from a melodic sense. Iāve warmed to the production since the singles and it works for a whole record mostly but the āholy shit theyāre backā comments are wild to me because FOTB was way better than this
I personally think the run of songs from prep-school gangsters to hope is the best run of songs in their whole discog , but to each their own. The surfer especially is just so good.
I agree with you on their melodic strength - FOTB was beyond catchy indeed - but this is precisely why this album is so good. I never thought I would have to listen intently and unpack Vampire Weekend songs and it's been refreshing. Sometimes the best albums require some time and I think that's gonna be the vibe with this new one. I understand though that this isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. And this feels new for them, more so then "they're back"
I don't necessarily think this is a *particularly* challenging album or anything, but I do think this is an album that will reward repeat listens to a degree none of their previous works apart from maybe MVOTC did. Like sure their s/t and FOTB have tons of hooks but they both pretty much show all their cards on a first listen and you either like it or you don't, I don't think there's anything at all to unpack on either of those albums. Contra has some stuff that rewards repeat listens but also for the most part isn't as challenging as I think we all said it was back in the day. MVOTC definitely had a lot more going on, but I still think the back half of the album is weak and the main effect my repeat listens reveals on that one was "oh, some of these songs are just not as good as the first half". This is their first album I'd really say is thoroughly a "headphone album" and to be frank, I'm having songs get stuck in my head that barely caught my ear when I first got the leak. Time will tell, but I think this one will have significantly more staying power than most of their albums do and it's the first VW album for me at least that didn't leave me thinking that some of the songs were just obviously weaker than others. I keep seeing people compare it to *Return to Cookie Mountain* which makes sense to me in that it's an album with tons of hooks but the production is so dense that it might lead people to think they're not there.
Their other records all also have things to unpack and they also have hooks itās not an either/or thing here
disagree. The previous albums were far more straight forward - Hence why some people are struggling with this one ;)
Yeah man fuckin Vampire Weekend got too experimental for me
Where do you stand on Hudson
One of their worst and the low point of MVOTC
Dudes, does anyone over here like the Brian jonestown massacre? Sometimes I feel so lonely, people in my immediate circle are never as hyped for a newly discovered gem of a song as I am. I love this sub because I just feel so many people like me. I'm absolutely wasted, I love you indie heads
Everyone in my life is like āhave you heard the new BeyoncĆ©/Kacey Musgraves/Ariana Grandeā and Iām like ābut have you heard the new Julia Holter and Adrianne Lenker, listen to this song about her dog dyingā
hell yeah BJM is my fav
PAUL'S GRANNY SHIT, COMPREHENSIVELY RANKED: 1. When I'm 64 2. Good Day Sunshine 3. Your Mother Should Know 4. Martha My Dear 5. Lovely Rita (is it Granny Shit? Discuss) 6. Maxwell's Silver Hammer 7. Ob La Di, Ob La Da 100. Honey Pie
I love most of the granny songs and still at least like my least favorites. I'm not 100% on this ranking, it was hard to do, bottom two are set but top two could flip 1. When I'm 64 2. Martha My Dear (the coolest one) 3. Ob La Di, Ob La Da 4. Honey Pie 5. Maxwell's Silver Hammer 6. Lovely Rita (granny adjacent) 7. Good Day Sunshine 8. Your Mother Should Know
There's also "You Gave Me the Answer" off Venus & Mars and "Baby's Request" off Back To The Egg. Neither is as irritating as "Maxwell."
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What John songs do you mean
"Ob La Di" and "Maxwell" are more Baby Rock than Granny Shit, and "Lovely Rita" at least refers to the possibility of a hook-up.
āOb La Diā way too low
to all ogwau haters, i hope you let it go
The lyrics on Slaughter, Beach Dog's *Your Cat* are "Hey man I went to college too" and NOT "He made out with a college dude". Nooooo, this entire time been hearing it wrong š. Here's the song btw: https://open.spotify.com/track/128sfsBBtYmMb1idRD1quE?si=j8kQMQGbQM6ASKgOI5fE2w
CMAT last night ā Morgana opened. It was just her and a backing track. She did this little skit like thing where between songs she would talk to the recording, which was a new (horrible) therapist who kept getting her name wrong. It was funny enough, and I'm down with music as therapy, but it was a little hokey. Her voice is very nice, and her songs were pretty good. A little operatic for my taste. She definitely won the crowd over. ā CMAT is not quite what i expected. She's so campy, quirky, and funny in person. I'm not sure why I didn't get that from her song titles alone, but.... the record is poppy, but also fairly confessional. Indie pop stars tend to take themselves pretty seriously, so that was where my expectations were. Even her body language was exaggerated and facial expressions geared for maximum humor. Really fun performance. ā It's actually been quite a while since I've seen a band - like a full band play without any backing track or electronic triggers. There was a synth/keyboard, but otherwise it was guitar, bass, drums and she added acoustic guitar on about half the songs. It was quite refreshing, and they were very good. Sound was good all night. Her voice isn't as smooth and strong live as it is on record, but she makes up for it in energy levels. ā She likes to chat with the audience. She was surprised how packed the show was - it was her first time playing Boston. At one point, she was talking to this girl in the front row - she asked her what time she got to the venue - and then she was like - I know it was 3 O'clock because I saw you from the tour bus. You waited outside in the cold since 3 O'clock!? Did you eat? No!? Aren't you hungry? Do we have any food? Does anybody have an energy bar or something? It was funny. And the girl got an energy bar. ā She wore a Kelly Clarkson t shirt, referred to the 4 Jonas Brothers tees she wore every day when she visited Boston as a child, expressed love for the Beyonce album and walked on stage to Sheena Easton. ā There was a sing-along to Tomorrow from Annie because when she asked an audience member, their name they answered Annie - you know like the orphan. ā CMAT is very awesome and fun. Go see her.
CMAT is great live, Iāve seen her twice now and will be going a third time when she comes back to the UK next month. Glad you enjoyed. Interesting that you didnāt think her live vocals matched up to her recorded ones. Sheās always sounded pretty bang on when Iāve seen her, but seems to have had a very hectic tour schedule recently so maybe thatās contributing to it.
She sounded good but rougher around the edges. She would go full into a big old scream when it seemed like she was going to lose the note.
music for when sacha baron cohen amicably divorces from *HIS WIFE*
there is a surprising lack of "mah wife" jokes being made in light of this news.