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What have you been listening to this week?
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 discuss anything about each others' listening habits.
You can make a chart if you use last.fm:
http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/
Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.
I've found a SpookyWave playlist and I've been hooked. It is such an earcandy to me
Actually have a decent amount of things I wanna say things about this week! 5x5
Low - A Lifetime of Relief - Three discs comprising about four hours of Low's B-Sides and rare tracks from ~1994 to ~2004. Absolutely gorgeous pieces in this, it's worth it if you like Low and/or slowcore in general.
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening - This is only here because I remembered Home is on it (after listening to the Spotify singles release) and it's probably the best song James Murphy has ever made.
The Velvet Underground - VU - Archival release that just kind of sounds like leftovers from self-titled era TVU. Not for me.
Jeff Witscher - Approximately 1,000 Beers - Glued together text-to-speech samples and various country-themed samples. It's kind of like a fever dream.
Stereolab - Fluorescences - Probably my 2nd favorite Stereolab release, behind Transient Random-Noise Bursts (if that holds up when I get around to it). Solves a lot of the problems I have with Emperor Tomato Ketchup + Dots & Loops era Stereolab, which is mainly that I get a bit irritated after a few songs.
Michael Romeo: War of the Worlds // Pt. 1 (2018)
This is basically a Symphony X album with lots of slick guitar work, only it's just the band's founder/lead guitarist and a bunch of other guys. If you're not familiar with Michael Romeo, he's a guitar virtuoso akin to Yngwie Malmsteen, but unlike Malmsteen he can actually write good songs. There aren't any epic-length songs like "The Divine Wings of Tragedy" on this album, but any album with a song called "Fucking Robots" on it is worth at least one listen.
Unseelie: Urban Fantasy (2014)
French symphonic/gothic act Unseelie's first album starts off strong with "Strangers", a quiet mid-temp number whose lyrics are 80 proof French existentialism, follows with "Quantify Your Soul", and keeps on going. It's a concept album, and thus benefits from being able to read the lyrics, but even without them Anne-Emmanuelle Fournier's vocals make Urban Fantasy a worthwhile listen.
Eternal Champion: The Armor of Ire (2016)
Old school power metal from Texas, complete with sword-and-sorcery lyrics. Not only is the band's name inspired by Michael Moorcock, but "The Cold Sword" is a summary of Moorcock's novel Phoenix in Obsidian (alt title: The Silver Warriors). A headbanger's delight.
Welshly Arms - Self Titled Album (Spotify)
One of the few albums I can listen to in it's completion without growing bored of it.
Darren Korb - Pyre OST (Spotify)
Just a wonderful soundtrack. One of the best I've heard.
This week I seem to be going between three albums
Clutch - Book of Bad Decisions
Stoner rock
22 - You Are Creating Limb 1
Progressive rock
Chronus - Chronus
... theatric heavy metal? Imagine Ghost without the satanism and a bit more 70's NWOBHM vibe.
22 and Chronus both had their album last year, but I just found 22 and I had to import a physical copy of Chronus so I could have a lossless format. Digging both of them. Clutch is just always bad ass, and while this isn't my favorite album of theirs so far, I'm definitely digging it!
It has been a big live music week for me. I went to Riot Fest, a big (mostly) punk festival in Chicago. Three days, five stages, and perfect weather this year. I saw Suicidal Tendencies, Fear, Cypress Hill, Digable Planets, Jerry Lee Lewis, Killing Joke, SWMRS, Pussy Riot, Liz Phair, Blondie, Beck, Cat Power, Wolfmother, JD McPherson, and Johnny Marr, among others.
Now I'm back home in NYC, with Neko Case on tap for tomorrow night and Vapors of Morphine on Sunday.
I keep going back to Vincent by Don McLean. I have no strong feelings toward Van Gogh but the song itself is a beautiful tribute to the artist.
https://youtu.be/dipFMJckZOM
Clare Maguire's Stranger Things Have Happened
I just started with this album, but I'm already falling in love with it. Her voice is rich and eminently listenable. She also somehow sounds like a different vocalist on every track. "Spaceman" is currently my favorite track. It feels very Elton-John-meets-Wuthering-Heights.