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What have you been listening to this week?
It looks like it's been about a week since the last one, so I'll go ahead and post another! @Whom, your post description was great so I'll just borrow that :)
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something!
Feel free to give recs or dicuss anything about each others' listening habits.
You can make a chart if you use last.fm:
I've been listening to Courtney Barnett's new album Tell Me How You Really Feel. example song.
I've also been listening to The Weakerthans lately. They're often in my rotation, but I've been feeling them a lot recently.
They had a song that was title music to some show on netflix recently? What was it again? It'll come to me...
Jack Johnson all day every day. Whenever it's a hot summer day I just cannot ever get enough of his music.
JJ knows what's up. I'm on board.
I have been slowly working my way through a stack of jazz records I bought last month at a record fair in Brooklyn. Photos and descriptions (originally posted in /r/vinyl) here: https://imgur.com/a/PyuT9b1
So far I have listened to about half of them, while also buying another five records from a local record store and Amazon. Hobby, or addiction? You be the judge.
I also got promo copies of the new Grant Green releases from Resonance Records (vinyl versions were released on Record Store Day and CD versions came out last Friday). I seem to be almost alone in not liking these releases. I love me some Grant Green in both his jazz and funk incarnations, but these releases are fatally flawed because of weak rhythm sections, IMO. The Funk In France set has a couple of drummers who are not at all appropriate for GG's style, while the Slick! set sounds like the drummer is on something - the groove has a really nervous and jittery feel that isn't to my liking. It's too bad because GG himself sounds great, but the rest of the band leaves me with no desire to listen to these releases again. I'll go with his Blue Note albums instead.
What year was this stuff recorded, and who else was in the band? It's multiple dates I assume
By the way, I looked at your post history noticed and noticed you're really into jazz. Others appreciaters are few and far between so I'm always curious to talk to them when I can.
What are some of your favorite records and musicians?
I assume you're asking about the Grant Green stuff? The Funk In France release has music from two or three different concerts in 1969 and 1970, with two different bands. Larry Ridley on bass for all, either Don LaMond or Billy Wilson on drums, Clarence Palmer on organ for some tracks and Claude Bartee on sax. Barney Kessel sits in on guitar for one song. This set is mostly straight-ahead jazz and some boogaloo. I guess you could call it soul jazz. I get the sense that these bands were kind of thrown together at the last minute for these festival gigs because they didn't sound very tight.
The second release is called Slick!, recorded live at Oil Can Harry's in Vancouver in 1975. I think this one has GG's working band of that time - Ronnie Ware on bass, Greg Williams on drums, Emmanuel Riggins on keys and Gerald Izzard on percussion. Not sure what was going on with Greg Williams on this one because he sounded so good on Live At The Lighthouse but he's kind of all over the place here.
But please take my comments above with a grain of salt and judge for yourself, because like I said, I seem to be the only one who is bothered by the flaws on these records. So maybe it's not as much of a problem as I think. The guitar playing is certainly great and the packaging is top notch for sure.
As for favorite records and musicians, there are far too many to list in a single post. I'm a drummer and a record collector so I dig it all! Or most of it, anyway. Hard bop, funk, fusion, swing, and New Orleans brass bands, among other styles. I used to post a lot of music in /r/listentous, /r/vintageobscura, /r/realjazz and /r/truemusic, so feel free to dig through those old posts to see where I'm coming from.
Cool, checked your reddit history. Good shit, man. I don't think I've ever seen someone else mention John Stubblefield.
I like all music, although I mostly listen to improvised music I guess.
I'll have to check out the Grant Green stuff. I haven't listened to him much beyond Green Street. One of those guys who just kind of slipped through the cracks in my listening.
For his straight-ahead side I'd recommend Matador (w/McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones) and Idle Moments. For the funk stuff, Live At The Lighthouse is one of the all-time great cookers.
Nice chatting with you, uh, Mr. President. Post a tune or two tomorrow! ~music needs more content.
Thanks, I'll give them a listen soon.
Was that Smorgasborg by chance? I was gushing at the Merge table last week.
No, it was the WFMU Record Fair in Greenpoint. But I went to the Smorgasbord one a few years ago and found some good stuff.
I've mostly been listening to my usual mix of classic rock and some random, more modern additions, but I found an album and an artist while browsing that I think that other people may enjoy (hopefully I'm not just woefully uninformed and these are actually new to people).
First, the album that I found is Songs of Distant Earth by Mike Oldfield, which I thought was very cool both for its general sound and the fact that the entire album acts as one cohesive piece of music.
The artist that I found is Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, who I think, based on their listener numbers, are relatively popular but could be a cool find for anyone who hasn't heard them before, like me until this week.
SODE is one of my favorites. My friends call it the 'timewarp' album, since if you listen to it while driving there's a good chance you'll get seduced by it and miss your exit. It's perfect for night driving. :D
Judas priests new album. I fucking love it. Crazy they can rock out so hard at 65+
My 3x3.
I plan on writing out some words about these once I get some things done at work, so check back later for more!
Susumu Yokota — Greenpeace (album link)
I've always liked Yokota's album Symbol (a wonderful mix-up of electronic and classical. if you're a fan of Venetian Snare's Rossz Csillag Alatt Született, check this out). So I was surprised that I hadn't listened to this album earlier! Worth listening to if you like instrumental electronic / house.
My playback statistics might not be that interesting, but I did find a few nice, laid-back tunes recently:
Tornado Wallace - Don't Hold Back
Ron Basejam - Get Closer
Plej - Lay of the Land
Bensley - To The Moon
Recommendations welcome!
I listened to Snarky Puppy’s Culcha Vulcha yesterday after a long while and it is still fantastic, especially “Grown Folks.” To call it “experimental” jazz would be unfair to the group, who is clearly well-versed in “traditional” jazz musicianship, but it is certainly a modern record. Highly recommend it.
Please describe "traditional" jazz musicianship and what the term "'tradional' jazz" means to you
My 3x3
Low - I Could Live In Hope - I put this off for far too long and I love it. It captures a lot of what I want slowcore to be and is a perfect sad/melancholic album. Sunshine is beautiful.
Motorpsycho - Demon Box - @Whom introduced me to this and it's great. There's a ton of variation from track to track and it hits a lot of interesting notes in metal, lofi indie rock, and other stuff like that.
Unwound - Fake Train - Noisy, post-hardcore jam. Like a lot of this, dislike some other parts. Will be great to see if it grows on me.
I've really got to like lofi hiphop mixes on youtube. It's relaxing to work to.
here's my favorite mix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw3UYy02lSI
I hate how much I like these. They're so great though, can't get enough. Would love to get into some actual artists that specialize in it rather than just odd Spotify playlists and youtube videos though.
Agreed. Some of the mixes will show the artist briefly on the screen before each song so we should keep an eye out for those.
Here's my 3x3
I really like Passion Pit.
I recently realized how much I love lofi hiphop, but it's hard to find music since none of my friend listen to it. X has some songs that sorta fit the description sorta, but i would love some suggestions if you have any.
When you mention lo-fi hip hop, it makes me think of Madlib or Jay Dilla.
Between the two, there is a treasure trove of 'lo-fi' beats.
Finally decided to give Death Grips a listen and instantly regretted putting it off for so long, but strangely just as quickly as I finished Exmilitary, I started looking for just about any mash-up I could find.
Did you put off listening to it because /mu/ made it into a meme? because I did that with a LOT of bands and it was a mistake lmao
Damn do I know this feel, I put off stuff like Spiderland, Godspeed's albums, and King Crimson for forever because of /mu/ shitposting.
Most /mu/ memes are genuinely good albums, even in spite of their infamy.
Don't know if you're just looking for Death Grips mash-ups, but I have to recommend Neil Cicierega to anyone who hasn't heard of him. Mouth Moods is amazing!
Wtf this is the first DG mash-up I've heard that didn't feel like a determined 3-year-old trying stubbornly to put a square peg into a round hole. I love it.
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yke5L9oB_Co
RAP. Never touched the genre before, I'm more of a techno, goa-trance, hard-style kind of guy. Mostly lyrics without or with extremely repetitive lyrics. But I wanted to try something else, completely different. So I ended up at rap, started off with Eminem which I really enjoyed. Now I'm listening trough all of NWA, fuck do I love NWA. I'm listening to all the "must listen to" albums, so mostly 90s stuff at the moment.
After that I'm going to branch out with newer stuff and more obscure stuff. LOVING it so far.
How have I missed this genre?
Feel you on that. For a long amount of time in my life I let myself get locked in one of those music elitist echo chambers where I was too young and naive to realize I was shutting out different enjoyable experiences.
I had a similar experience in '01 when I was introduced to Quasimoto (Madlib). I had never really delved into rap/hip hop and he's now one of my favorite artists, and I listen to as much hip hop/rap as anything else, these days. Granted, its pretty different from the artists you mentioned, but it was a mind-opening experience.
Do yourself a favor, watch this, and then go listen to some Aesop Rock, MF Doom, or whoever else catches your ear.
And don't forget, hip hop is more than just rap... As a techno/psytrance fan, you should already have a healthy respect for DJs, so turntablism might be a good fit for you as well (though it's definitely not for everyone!) You can't go wrong with the Invisibl Skratch Piklz.
I've been enjoying Arctic Monkey's new album. It's definitely different for them, but I like it. Also just got around to trying Spotify so there's a big mix of 80's and 90's rock.
I went through the Arctic Monkeys' whole discography for the first time yesterday. I had heard all of their stuff scattered and their first three albums are longtime favorites of mine, which got me into a rut of not liking AM because it sounded different than their older stuff. Going all the way through though, I got a way better appreciation for AM. Such a well-done divergence from their more punk earlier stuff. Unfortunately though I think they sort of took that too far with this new album. I listened through and felt pretty bored with it and felt like Alex Turner was sort of brooding to the point of dropping the quality of the album.
Yeah, it's nothing like their old stuff. I've been using it as a "study" playlist and it fits well. It won't be going on my "driving" list though.
I've been listening to Hamilton way too much recently. I just stick it on in the background while I' working on stuff. I'm not even usually a fan of that kind of music, but Hamilton sold me.
In terms of my more normal listening habits:
"A Farewell to Kings" by Rush
"Pure Cult: The Singles 1984–1995" by The Cult
I've also been catching up on a couple podcasts - namely "Triforce Podcast" (still 3 episodes behind) and "Critical Role" (5 episodes behind)
vein - self destruct
6 dogs - 6 wolves
gorguts - colored sands
chief keef - light heist
young dolph - niggas get shot everyday
drakeo the ruler - cold devil/i am mr mosely 2
I am currently working through the full collection of peak era Stax/Volt singles that span 1959 to 1975. It's 3 volumes with about 9-10 discs per volume and 34 total hours of music.
Vol. 1: 1959-1968
Vol. 2: 1969-1971
Vol. 3: 1972-1975
It's been an amazing tour of old music and recognizable samples - I'm almost 1/3 of the way through. The funniest moment came the week before last. I was listening during work one day then suddenly heard like 3-4 Christmas songs in a row. The volumes are organized chronologically, so I was just listening to some Christmas music in mid-May. Booker T & the MG's do a great cover of Jingle Bells.
When you're done with Stax you can move on to The Complete Motown Singles. There are 14 volumes! They run from 1959 to 1972. A little less gritty, but still filled with greatness.
Oh god. It’s enough to wade through 34 hours over 3 volumes. Not sure I have 14 in me! I feel like I need to though.
Without story or elaboration, here are the latest additions to my all-encompassing Spotify playlist:
Of those 4 right now I'd say my favourite would have to be Gemini Feed, but I enjoyed all of them enough to add them.
I'm currently revisiting Queen's songs and watching their clips of old concerts on youtube. I was introduced to them 2 years back where I was unable to fully appreciate them. Now 18 yrs old me can't pass his day without listening to them. Also can someone suggest me their under appreciated songs? Thanks.
For the past few weeks I've been listening to a lot of Rise Against songs, or other punk rock type songs. Songs like The Dirt Whispered or Tragedy + Time has been really catchy to me and lead me to listen other songs in this genre.
You guys gotta check out Wilderado. They're a great new indie rock band that's amazing live.
I've been hooked on this song for the last couple days: Tyler Childers - White House Road
I'm usually more into folk/bluegrass/americana but this is a great country song, and not the terrible pop country that has dominated for the last couple decades.
A Tribe Called Red - Dub-style powwow music.
Kanye's Ye - came out today, and it sounds great.
Miles Davis Kind of Blue - because
Steely Dan Aja - one of my better sounding albums.
A friend of mine posted a song by a band (or is it just a guy?) called insecure men. The guy was kicked out of fat white family for taking too many drugs, which is enough for me to give him a try. It's interesting music, like you'd expect to hear in a casino by a band that have been living the high life for too long. I just posted a video as my first post here, but I'll share it here too, guy has a real young Shane McGowan vibe, badly needs a wash and some dentistry...
https://youtu.be/frqb6prcIMA
i'm going to see my favorite band of all time for the first time tomorrow, so i've been listening to them nonstop. they're called midland and they only have one album out, but it's the best album i've ever heard. every single song is amazing.
they are country, but they have the old school country sound. i haven't heard anyone like them since the 90s.
Hey, just checking this place out. My family has been on vacation for two weeks and my kids and I have really been grooving on Superorganism. They have a very interesting Tiny Desk concert on NPR. Plus, their lyrics and sound are very complex, without being too serious.
Needless to say, my kids love their wackiness, while I enjoy their subtle irony.
Debaser by the Pixies
Kids with Guns by the Gorillaz
Feeling Good by Nina Simone
Trouble by Cage the Elephant
Cool mix
but I'm biased
Stompy the Bear - Captain Babypants
It's for kids, but awesome.
Kaputt - Destroyer
I've been meaning to listen to this for a while and I finally got around to it. I'm not disappointed, this is a very good album. The jazzy instrumentation was a surprise, but definitely a pleasant one.
God's Favorite Customer - Father John Misty
This just came out today, and I have been listening to it almost non-stop. I liked Pure Comedy, but it wasn't quite up to the level of I Love You Honeybear imo. God's Favorite Customer is, and may in fact top I Love You Honeybear.
I saw Jeff Rosenstock last week so a lot of that good punk husband. other than that, a lot of Charly Bliss and Adult Mom.