9 votes

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! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

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.

16 comments

  1. deadbeef
    Link
    For this week, I'll mention two albums that I've listened to a lot: Leprous' latest album, Pitfalls. I'd call it melancholic prog metal. At the bottom is a good track if you want to check it out....

    For this week, I'll mention two albums that I've listened to a lot:

    • Leprous' latest album, Pitfalls. I'd call it melancholic prog metal. At the bottom is a good track if you want to check it out.
    • The soundtrack for the game FAR: Lone Sails. It's jazzy, ambient, melancholic, orchestral.. Quite interesting. The game itself was so-so.
    4 votes
  2. Adam_Black_Arts
    Link
    High on Fire's Luminiferous album. They're one of the few bands I know of who manage to make every album better than the previous one.

    High on Fire's Luminiferous album.

    They're one of the few bands I know of who manage to make every album better than the previous one.

    3 votes
  3. [6]
    asoftbird
    (edited )
    Link
    Tons of Insomnium (Finnish melodeath) alternated by things like Robert Plant / Mark Knopfler (country/folk rock) + a little bit of Viikate (Finnish rock/metal). Good quality metal is something...

    Tons of Insomnium (Finnish melodeath) alternated by things like Robert Plant / Mark Knopfler (country/folk rock) + a little bit of Viikate (Finnish rock/metal).

    Good quality metal is something that's hard to find(production/mix quality, not "go completely over the top with a full orchestra); so far the best ones l've found that l like are Insomnium and Moonsorrow, which both have stellar production quality.
    I'd like to actually hear what's going instead of white noise.

    The other music is mostly played during work where l need some degree of focus but not speed, which is where country/folk rock works best.

    And Viikate is a band l've listened to for at least a decade. Found them on youtube by accident, loved it ever since. They sing in Finnish (a language of which l only understand about 12 words) but that doesn't matter to me, l listen to lots of different languages. Good music, typical Finnish sound and generally fun tunes, l highly recommend them.

    Some song recommendations:

    Insomnium - Shadows of the Dying Sun

    This is the closing track of the album with the same name. Phenomenally powerful chorus and outro, gives me goosebumps just thinking of it. The rest of the album's fantastic as well, with this song as a worthy ending.

    Robert Plant - Carry Fire

    Nice and relatively calm song with Eastern influences. I've not listened for Plant for very long, this is the only album l know so far, can't say much about it other than that l like it.

    Viikate - Viina, Terva, Hauta

    Aside from the funny video, this is probably a good example of Viikate's style. I've always described it as "biker metal", likely Motörhead-influenced (they did a fairly good cover album). Very good driving music + l know most of the songs by heart even though l don't actually understand most of the lyrics.

    3 votes
    1. [3]
      elcuello
      Link Parent
      It's funny you should say that because IMO it's only in the last three albums Insomnium have been able to do this. Their older albums while great are almost unlistenable to me and hurts my ears...

      Good quality metal is something that's hard to find(production/mix quality, not "go completely over the top with a full orchestra); so far the best ones l've found that l like are Insomnium and Moonsorrow, which both have stellar production quality.

      It's funny you should say that because IMO it's only in the last three albums Insomnium have been able to do this. Their older albums while great are almost unlistenable to me and hurts my ears after a few minutes. I gotta give Moonsorrow a listen again now that I've seen quite a few people recommending them.

      1 vote
      1. [2]
        asoftbird
        Link Parent
        l should've mentioned that since l only know the last three :p For Moonsorrow, l'd suggest starting with a good headset and the album Verisäkeet, one of the best both musically and in terms of...

        l should've mentioned that since l only know the last three :p

        For Moonsorrow, l'd suggest starting with a good headset and the album Verisäkeet, one of the best both musically and in terms of production. Highlights are Pimeä and Haaska imo. l'd really suggest listening the whole thing and not individual songs, it all fits together very well.

        Another album that's very good is Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa or, more conveniently, VKKM.

        The inter-song bits might not be the best (lots of sounds of footsteps in snow and guttural screams) but the music is absolutely fantastic.
        l highly recommend Huuto and the last song from the album of which l forgot the name.

        And if you're in a more progressive mood, check out the V: Hävitetty EP.
        It's lengthy, atmospheric and sometimes a bit post-metalley.

        'EP' is a bit of a running joke with Moonsorrow as both of it's songs are almost 30 minutes each. This is also funny/annoying on vinyl since you'll need to flip the record mid-song a few times per album.
        At least they use special masters for vinyl where the songs gently fade out to forest sounds in a way that does not alter the flow of the song.

        (l have most of their music on vinyl, Verisäkeet spans 3 LPs afaik)

        1 vote
        1. elcuello
          Link Parent
          Ah that makes sense. Give their older albums a try anyways because despite the production there's some really great songs. Thanks for the descriptive recommendations. I heard some different songs...

          Ah that makes sense. Give their older albums a try anyways because despite the production there's some really great songs.

          Thanks for the descriptive recommendations. I heard some different songs here and there yesterday but will go more full album today after this.

          1 vote
    2. [2]
      KapteinB
      Link Parent
      The opposite for me; prog music helps me focus, probably mostly because it's less catchy than most music. My main work playlist is all Haken.

      The other music is mostly played during work where l need some degree of focus but not speed, which is where country/folk rock works best.

      The opposite for me; prog music helps me focus, probably mostly because it's less catchy than most music. My main work playlist is all Haken.

      1. asoftbird
        Link Parent
        Oh both help me focus, it's just in varying degrees. Superfocus study-for-finals is usually Car Bomb / Meshuggdah / SYL or similar.

        Oh both help me focus, it's just in varying degrees. Superfocus study-for-finals is usually Car Bomb / Meshuggdah / SYL or similar.

  4. Dobbie03
    Link
    Lord Mantis, listening to the discography in preparation for the new one.

    Lord Mantis, listening to the discography in preparation for the new one.

    2 votes
  5. stephen
    Link
    Lotta skate punk and easy-core. Talkin bout Strung Out, Wonder Years, Four Year Strong, first Fall Out Boy album, New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, Saves the Day, H20, State Champs, Face To...

    Lotta skate punk and easy-core. Talkin bout Strung Out, Wonder Years, Four Year Strong, first Fall Out Boy album, New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, Saves the Day, H20, State Champs, Face To Face, Teenage Bottlerocket and on and on.

    Some emo like Motion City Soundtrack, American Football, Cap'n Jazz, Jets to Brazil, Latterman, Appleseed Cast, Mineral.

    Some crossover thrash like CRUDOS, Sin Orden, Limp Wrist, Charles Bronson, Racetraitor etc. Some Bikini Kill, Minor Threat, RATM (yeet!), and Fugazi cuz I'm always listening to those bands regardless of my mood.

    And of course J. Cole. Everyone should listen to J. Cole.

    1 vote
  6. tunneljumper
    Link
    Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain and Sonic Citadel. The best I way I can describe this band is drum-and-bass Sonic Youth on amphetamines. Street Sects: Gentrification IV: Suspended From Gallery...

    Lightning Bolt: Hypermagic Mountain and Sonic Citadel. The best I way I can describe this band is drum-and-bass Sonic Youth on amphetamines.

    Street Sects: Gentrification IV: Suspended From Gallery Rails EP. Not sure how to describe these guys, other than misanthropic power electronics-noise.

    1 vote
  7. knocklessmonster
    (edited )
    Link
    I finally managed to kick myself off of hip hop for a week. Not that I was trying to, I love the hip-hop I listen to, but I got bored. Drink may be involved, so this will be long. Aphex Twin's...

    I finally managed to kick myself off of hip hop for a week. Not that I was trying to, I love the hip-hop I listen to, but I got bored. Drink may be involved, so this will be long.

    Aphex Twin's Classics and Select Ambient Works albums have run my rotation this last week. For my own music writing, I've been exploring acid techno as an inspiration, and Aphex Twin was an earlier inspiration (early for me at 18, 2008 is late by Aphex standards). I also put on the AFX Analord series when I think about it because those tracks are great (VBS.Redlof.B is probably my #1, with Halibut Acid and I'm Self Employed tied on #2). I came back into it after listening to Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald's Tranpsport EP, but I've been a fan of Aphex as long as I've liked electronic music. Oddly, I don't particularly care for Juan Atkins's earlier, arguably foundational, techno work as model 500.

    I've been tripping out at Didgeridoo because it has revealed itself with subsequent listening sessions once I started thinking about it. I figured out he used a tb303 on it with a square wave, probably a tr909, and some effects, specifically on the 16-note clap section. Somebody on YouTube messing around demonstrated the sh-101 being used in his Polynomial-C, but I'm still trying to understand what it is about his earlier, more repetitive tracks that gives them a specific hook.

    I went back to IDLES's "Joy As An Act of Resistance," something I'll be listening to more in my down time. I developed a soft spot for their style (Joe Talbot insists they're not punk) after cramming a bunch of Black Flag and Minor Threat a couple years ago, and their themes and ideas resonate with me, creating really aggressively positive music.

    I also have been listening to a lot of Autechre as a solid sort of background noise. Their later works, from Quarstice to elseq1 create a sort of intensely claustrophobic yet comforting wall of sound I've always found enjoyable, particularly when dealing with math-related homework, an intensive white noise in a way. Of these, the de-evolution of the track "recks on" from Exai stands out as a favorite. I've always liked how it starts out with this in your face drum beat for a minute and a half, then pulls the rug out from under you for eight minutes. It seems like the track wouldn't be defined by the minority of its sound, but I always felt "recks on" always compared to it's beginning.

    Paradox also came back in my regular listening this week. He's a dude who makes "drumfunk," a drum-oriented drum and bass style that is very beat-heavy, with minimal, generally dissonant instrumentation. AFAIK from a short documentary thing I saw, he does his work on an amiga 500, and I think an Akai sampler. Specifically, his Ramificactions EP is a standard for me, as well his collaboration with himself (as Alaska), "Isolationist," which has a more liquid drum and bass sound combined with the crunchy-sounding Amiga/Akai-sampler-driven drum sounds of his Paradox sounds. He's also been doing a lot of neurofunk-influenced stuff with Nucleus, and Spotify has been blowing my email up with those notifications. Every single one is solid.

    1 vote
  8. mieum
    Link
    Sex Packets~

    Sex Packets~

  9. audioj
    Link
    Baroness - Gold & Grey Beck - Hyperspace Jimmy Eat World - Surviving
    • Baroness - Gold & Grey

    • Beck - Hyperspace

    • Jimmy Eat World - Surviving

  10. KapteinB
    Link
    Lately I've been giving many spins to Ayreon's latest album; The Source. Here's the opening track. It's 13 minutes long. It has 11 different singers, playing 11 different characters. It tells a...

    Lately I've been giving many spins to Ayreon's latest album; The Source. Here's the opening track.

    It's 13 minutes long. It has 11 different singers, playing 11 different characters. It tells a science fiction story. Yes, it's nerdy as all hell, and I love it. And the video makes me happy, with the man behind the project sharing details about the instruments he plays and anecdotes about the other musicians. If you watch the whole thing, you may recognise some of the guests from other (more famous) bands.

  11. benoliver999
    Link
    This is going to sound nuts but I'm listening to my entire collection in alphabetical order, by artist. I've been doing this for 18 months now, and I'm on 'D'. The best of this week: David Bowie...

    This is going to sound nuts but I'm listening to my entire collection in alphabetical order, by artist.

    I've been doing this for 18 months now, and I'm on 'D'. The best of this week:

    • David Bowie
    • Darondo
    • Dan Penn

    This is the first time I've bust out Bowie on my nice amp and speakers, and it's like hearing him for the first time again. Wonderful artist.