Author Topic: General Music talk  (Read 83317 times)

Eric/E.T.

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #470 on: May 16, 2020, 04:18:45 AM »
I'll say, I like this Perfume Genius better than any other I'd heard to this point.

With Charli XCX, I was really big into True Romance, and Nuclear Seasons is one of my favorite straight-up pop songs ever. Listening to forever, and it's got this post-modern noise-pop thing going, singing beneath waves of distortion, which eventually part for a more standard synth-pop on the four-lettered word from HELL. Wouldn't mind listening to the rest of the album.

I don't really get into Migos, I tried previous. Chief Keef, neither. Can't feel the styles.
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #471 on: May 16, 2020, 08:52:36 AM »
Migos I feel like is a case of their first being their best, in part because the sound on Young Rich N***** was so complete and pretty much ushered in where mainstream rap would go largely since that point. Not sure there are man more ridiculous/great lines than "Callin plays in the huddle just like Christian Ponder" and the whole "Out Da Gym" remix is still a banger, but they've not topped it. Chief Keef I can't listen to for a long time, but works well in singles, and he's great on the Riff Raff "Tip Toe Wing 3" from last year, but yeah, not huge in to his discography.

Forgot to post that I also listened to Starz yesterday from Yung Lean and was largely positive on it, though it's definitely an album where you need to immerse yourself in the sound and let it wash over you. Always interesting to see these projects where they go pretty much featureless (one song has Ariel Pink, but he cut the Carti verse on the one song and otherwise it's all him), and though he's not the most proficient lyricist I think that his writing works here with his delivery and how open he is on the album. Need to go back and listen to it more in order to see how lasting it is or positive I am with it, but it's a recommend. Super nuts trajectory for his career too, being in the discussion with/at the very least on the fringes of the big names in vaporwave to slowly just becoming an authentic rapper.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #472 on: May 16, 2020, 07:11:51 PM »
Following up, this KennyHoopla is apparently a debut EP, which makes it even more impressive. Went back to it again tonight and just wow, it really is something else.

Eric/E.T.

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #473 on: May 21, 2020, 03:13:37 AM »
Interpol should have taken over the whole planet. One of the greatest debuts ever, Turn on the Bright Lights. One of the most subsequently disappointing careers, at least in my opinion. The follow-up, Antics, was solid with a few great songs, but this was totally it.

I had seven faces
Thought I knew which one to wear
But I'm sick of spending these lonely nights
Training myself not to care


I know we have some Joy Division fans here. These guys carried the torch and put their own stamp on post-punk and indie rock, at least for a time.
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #474 on: May 22, 2020, 08:44:28 PM »
Wow! It's MDW and also New Music FLYday! Who could have guessed? Certainly not me(atwad,FLY), but, I'm sorry to report, it's a quick hit again, as this weekend is surprisingly slim, and what did come out didn't leave much of an impression.

Another FLYday, another new Migos song. Not even going to look up what this one's called, because it's fine in the way the last two have been fine, but a pretty standard Migos song. Big congrats to Quavo though, he announced either today or yesterday that he's now officially a high school graduate!

Listened to that GaGa and Ariana song called (I think?) "Rain On Me" or something like that, which isn't based on Reign Over Me afaik. The GaGa parts are cool, but Ariana largely doesn't do much for me even though she has a strong voice. They work well together and compliment one another's style, this is likely a fine first single for Gaga's new album, but not sure how much I'll be returning to it.

That's it for the singles I listened to, I think? There's an Ellie Goulding one that I didn't listen to. So on to the albums?

The biggest release this week, at least what's at the top of my Spotify New Release section, is The 1975's new album. Tried some of it, but cut bait super early. Tbh starting it off with Greta Thunberg rubs me the wrong way in the sense that it really feels 'of a time' in a way that set a sour note that colored what I did listen to. Also, this sucker is, I'm pretty sure, exactly two hours long. Maybe I'll get back to it at some point, but probs not, if we're being honest.

The release I was most excited about would be Carly Rae Jepsen's B Sides companion album to last year's super solid Dedicated. It's a really strong collection of songs that has the unfortunate timing of releasing a week after that Charli XCX album, which I'm still listening to pretty regularly, so I'm unsure if I'll be compelled to pivot from that to Carly when put side by side. On its own though it is solid, and while the highs don't match the original album proper, there are a few songs on here that do some great work with sound in a way that I really CINECAST! with, specifically on stand out "Window". Well worth a listen, and I'll try to go back to it more if I can pull myself away from Chuck and Guapdad.

New HAIM EP Don't Wanna dropped today as well. Not sure how many of these are new, or which bonus songs have been floating around before. The bonus songs are the more compelling ones (ridiculous to have bonus songs on like a three or four track EP), but I struggled with HAIM's debut outside of a couple songs, they didn't stand out when I saw them at Made In America Festival, and I didn't follow them much, though their work on Charli's album last year was good. This EP is such a quick listen, and an engaging one, so while I wasn't floored, it didn't drop off for me either?

Checked out Gunna's new album Wunna (not to be confused with, or seen as a counterpoint to the previous HAIM EP Don't Wanna) that has a cool cover, but is probably about the most generic thing that Gunna could have made. Much like other recent albums that feature him, the Young Thug songs are the real stand outs (and the Travis song is surprisingly good), but with Gunna, who is so modeled on Thugger, the contrast between him and just how strong of a hold Thug has on the sound he's pioneered is so large that you kind of wonder why you're bothering with an entire Gunna album when there's so much Thugger Thugger baby.

This EVERYTHING from some guy named Koda The Friend came out today, and while there is an okay feature from Joey Badass, I kind of really disliked the majority of this project. It feels like Chance, but all the worst parts of Chance doing bad Chance. And it's all too positive and 'CINECAST! the haters' for me. This shit is as bad as this guy's rap name, tbh. CINECAST! Koda The Friend.

Anyway, getting back to FLY wheelhouse, I dipped in to Key Glock's Son Of A Gun, which is both a great album name and phrase, though mostly is just a good background album. Bars go a little hard, beats go a little hard, and I'm sure if gyms were open and I tossed this on while tossing up plates it would get the job done, were I not in the mood for shuffling my Purest Pump Spotify playlist that I am always adding to. In the past week I've actually gone back to that Polo G album more than I expected, which I wondered if it would be the case last week, but really not getting that feeling with this one.

And, finally, in this week's Bandcamp special, we get what I guess is, (sorry Carly, you're actually still number one) by default, the most interesting project released this week. The wonderfully titled Bumping Carti Leaks In A Walmart Parking Lot by the apparently everything BROCKHAMPTON should have been hip-hop collective Boof Bois. Tbh first I heard of these dudes who, from what I can tell, are a bunch of white kids/guys (and one guy who isn't white) making hardcore meme lord hip-hop that feels tailor made for an Anthony Fantano rapping feature at some point. Sadly, with it existing mostly on Bandcamp and Youtube I'm not sure how much I'll go back to it, but damn if this sucker isn't something. So strange in a way that I kind of CINECAST! with heavily/would be a guilty pleasure if I believed in such things, and everything about it just feels so CINECAST!ing raw in a way that you don't get. Or maybe you do and I'm just not familiar with the subgenre, so a breakout like this is a nice diversion, feeds an appetite I didn't know I had, and much more would piss me off a good deal? Who knows. Right now I'm kind of all about it, which is nuts for a project that basically concludes with one of them just going "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is overrated" and then ends. Like I said, it's BROCKHAMPTON, in a way, but I actually want to listen to it.

That's that. Like FLY said, kind of a bummer of a week in terms of music releases.

Eric/E.T.

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #475 on: May 24, 2020, 03:09:52 AM »
A dud FLYday, except, well, Owen Pallett dropped a new LP out of nowhere, Island.

Dude's the king of baroque pop right now, imo. You should read/hear him break down why people like certain pop tunes. Like, really, it's not insulting or pretentious, it's just from the lips of a guy who keenly understands how certain notes, cords, progressions, etc., impact the human brain. He's on another level, began composing at 13. He's turned all this godly knowledge to some great albums, too, most recently 2014's In Conflict. Island sounds like an early contender for my album of the year, but I have to hear it a few times before actually knowing. He's destined to be underrated because his music is generally not immediate, not a visceral thrill, but always great.\

Islands was recorded at Abby Road Studios with London Contemporary Orchestra. To say you even did that is impressive. For my lack of achievements in life, I have no problem basking in those of others.
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #476 on: May 24, 2020, 08:18:59 AM »
Have heard of him, but don't think I'll listen. Will need to check out this new one when I ind myself on Spotify this MDW, though idk what baroque pop is.

EDIT: The name sounded familiar and I was wondering if maybe it was because of SSLYBY or something, but there's a more direct connection. He worked on some songs that didn't make Transcendental Youth, FF (who I had heard before, though also confused for Crystal Castles when thinking about the two, as I poked around the Wikipedia) toured with the Mountain Goats in 2009 (prior to me seeing them but this was probably the Life Of The World To Come tour [if my memory serves and the time line up]), and he actually produced their album from last year, In League With Dragons (which, tbh, isn't one of my favorite recent releases, but is still really good, as most tMG is, I just haven't gone back to it much like the new one, or even compared to Goths, and definitely not as much as Beat The Champ), so I'm at least partially familiar with some of his work, it would seem.
« Last Edit: May 24, 2020, 11:59:55 AM by FLYmeatwad »

Eric/E.T.

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #477 on: May 24, 2020, 09:33:47 PM »
Baroque pop is the merging of pop/rock and classical elements, usually in the form of string arrangements on a pop/rock album. Owen Pallett has done a lot of work with string arrangements for Arcade Fire, going back to Funeral, I believe. (Would make sense as that is, perhaps tied with The Suburbs, the albums with the most string arrangements.) I like his work better under his own name than Final Fantasy, but dig both, and generally admire him as a musical thinker.
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #478 on: May 30, 2020, 05:35:41 PM »
New Music FLYday! (or Saturday, since I got swallowed by the Cage hole of Colour Out Of Space)

Got a little more distance, but I reckon I'll play with the format a little? Mostly because I'm trying to get back in to the films tonight.

So single-wise everything was led by "Tell Me U Luv Me" which is apparently set to be the first official single from Juice WRLD's upcoming posthumous album, which features Trippie Redd. I'm not a huge Trippie fan, though have liked some of his songs, especially ones with Juice, and this one is pretty good, but a bit more laid back, and, unlike some other recent Juice features, feels more constructed, which is weird. Hope the album doesn't end up feeling that way. RIP to Juice WRLD, the god. Another new Kevin Gates loosie was also pretty good, and the Ellie Goulding song "Power" was alright.

Albums were anchored by Lady Gaga's Chromatica, which is really good and feels up there with her strong recent work, though still not the revolution that her early work was/continues to be. Like this more than Born This Way and Art Pop, obviously she's a great singer, with the stand out tracks being "911" and "Sour Candy", though the song with Elton John is also good and there are a bunch of solid songs. Not sure if she's in a place where she can change her sound like she did when first coming up, though, which is a bummer, and, like Carly last week, pop still exists in the shadow of that great Charli project.

The most Built To Stream release is probs Lil Yachty's Lil Boat 3, which is definitely a Yachty album. A mixed bag, though better than Teenage Emotions by a ton, and maybe on the same level as Nuttin' To Prove. No songs as good as that one's "Yacht Club" song with Juice though, and there's no Juice WRLD feature to be found here. A couple of Thugger spots though, and the song with  Thug and Lil Durk, "Till The Morning", is a heater. Also liked the Drake verse on "Oprah's Bank Account" because it sounds like the era of Drake critics love but I never connected with in more than a few short bursts. Not a great song on the whole though. The song with Future is kind of cool, and there's this part where Future uses whistling in his rhymes that is nuts and makes you wonder if Future does himself a disservice sometimes (see Future's latest album), while the song with A$AP Rocky, Tyler, and Tierra Whack is fun, but I don't like the Whack's verse or her sound enough for how fantastic Tyler's verse is to keep me coming back.

Diplo officially followed up that EP from a few weeks back with the full (part one?) album, Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil. It has some crossover, that Jonas Brothers song is still good, but it's all a country adjacent album with Diplo's EDM or whatever stylings. It's fine to listen to once, but not sure I'll come back to it, or that I need Diplo's take on the Old Town Road version with Billy Ray at this point. The one with Young Thug and that yodelling Wal-Mart kid? I'd listen to Diplo's version of that. The only song that caught me off guard was "Dance with Me" that uses Thomas Rhett (a country singer, I imagine?), but also has Young Thug in such a welcome feature that is too short. Thug has flirted with country influence before, both on that "Old Town Road" remix mentioned earlier, but a few times on Beautiful Thugger Girls (I think that's the one, he has a lot of projects), and he continues to show how in a league of his own he continues to be.

But, of course, the best album of the week, unsurprisingly, is The Alchemist and Freddie Gibbs's portmanteau album Alfredo. Right up there with Gibbs's best work when he's linked up with Madlib, the production from The Alchemist continues to have him firing on all cylinders. He's produced so man fantastic projects in just the past few months, one wonders if he will ever miss. Just such a talent. And you get more solid Gibbs. From the opening track to the closing one, you get some heaters, and Gibbs's more traditional style puts him far from the trap sound that has dominated hip-hop for the past few years. My favorite song is "Something To Rap About" that has Gibbs crushing it, but features another stellar Tyler, the Creator feature. There's a point where it sounds like he's winding down and picks back up again, brings an energy to the laid back beat. A couple of other strong features on the album from Conway The Machine and Benny The Butcher, but this album as a whole is just incredibly consistent and strong. I've already listened a few times, and is a nice release of frustration that is a nice outlet given everything happening in the US over the past couple of days.

That's pretty much all I listened to. Guess it was the same format mostly? What I did want to do was start streamlining the songs that I pick out each week/if I do. On Spotify I have a playlist of my favorite songs from 2020, for if/when I make a year end list of best songs. So like a running short(long)list.

This week I added:
"Something To Rap About" - The Alchemist and Freddie Gibbs feat Tyler, the Creator
"Till The Morning" - Lil Yachty feat Young Thug and Lil Durk

Not sure if anything from Gaga will make the cut, might add the Juice WRLD song too, but I need to listen to it more.

Eric/E.T.

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Re: General Music talk
« Reply #479 on: June 01, 2020, 08:45:33 PM »
I have not listened to a lot of Freddie Gibbs since Pinata, which I liked quite a bit, so I'll give his collabo with The Alchemist a look. I wonder how many songs The Alchemist produced in his lifetime. I caught on to him when he was doing work with Dilated Peoples, now I'm seeing that their album The Platform turns 20 this year. Damn. And he still brings it, there really hasn't been a point of diminishing returns. I think of how far the RZA fell or DJ Premier lost a bit of relevance, but this dude keeps at it.
A witty saying proves nothing. - Voltaire

 

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