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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! 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.
I listened to the new Microphones release 'Microphones in 2020' and wrote about it here. Writing about music is somewhat new for me besides the odd internet comment but The Microphones (to the extent that that name means something) are important to me and I felt like I had something to say.
To avoid this comment just being a link to my blogpost, I will say this - it's a great album, my favorite of the year so far, and while most of the attention from the internet has been on the nature of the lyrics and the record's unusual structure as one single track, I think it's well worth commenting on just how amazing this album sounds. As influential as Phil has been on so many musicians, he proves here that no-one else can make indie folk sound as good as he can. The instrumental midway through this LP is spectacular - among the very best moments in his entire discography. This is an essential listen for almost any music fan.
Listening to Moses Sumney's album "grae". It's very soulful and enjoyable to listen to.
God, what a lovely album. It's so sprawling but every inch of it feels like it had care put into it. I got the double LP and there are some absolutely gorgeous inserts -- it's practically a coffee table book.
I don't recall exactly where I first heard the name "Phideaux", I'm pretty sure it happened before this week, but it wasn't until sometime last weekend (it's a bit of a blur) that I finally dug in and listened to Doomsday Afternoon.
You know how sometimes you find a new song or album and it just sort of busts into your head and throws a big party and brings all its friends and it takes you all week to get everyone to settle down and go back home?
That's been my week, and Phideaux's big apocalyptic trilogy of albums (The Great Leap, Doomsday Afternoon, and Infernal) has been playing pretty much on loop the whole time, either on my phone, my stereo, or just stuck in my head.
I'm still unpacking all my thoughts on the music and lyrical themes, but for now I'll just describe it as melodic prog-rock from the side of the family tree that didn't go down the metal route. I'm also reminded that, for whatever reasons, I can't think of many other women singers in prog bands (outside of maybe Renaissance/Annie Haslam or Trans Siberian Orchestra), and Phideaux's crew brings a broader dynamic range that adds a lot to the whole experience.
Edit: I'm also faced with the problem that the trilogy (especially the latter two albums) are one of those works where everything flows so smoothly into the next piece that it's hard to ever listen to just one song without wanting to immediately listen to the next and then the one after that. Digging up links for this post already has taken me longer than it should've because I just had to listen to Formaldehyde for the 20th time (and Microdeath Softstar, and Inquisitor ("those hypnotizing mesmerists, those greedy black-ops alchemists!"))....
It's all up on bandcamp with a choose-your-price model.
The Tempest by The Real McKenzies | spotify link
I've had some hard deadlines this week and needed to focus so have gone back to listening to one song on permanent repeat to switch part of my distracted brain off. I seem to always come back to it as I think my brain now associates it with focus.
Vulfpeck! As a bassist, listening to Vulfpeck is incredibly stimulating and incredibly disheartening. Joe Dart's a beast. I've been digging the hell out of Dean Town, Animal Spirits, and 1 For 1, DiMaggio.
I've been thinking of looking at more Radiohead, as I've extensively listened to Kid A (one of my favorite albums) and Hail To The Thief (an oft panned album but one I'm quite fond of). I was debating between The Bends, Amnesiac, or In Rainbows first.
I've been in a bit of a post rock-y mood, but I don't know any artists well entrenched in the genre, so I've been looking around on spotify
If you're looking for post-rock I think this is a decent flowchart.
Thank you! This'll definitely save me some time! What's your favorite post rock band atm?
Ultra-boring choice but it's got to be Slint. Spiderland is one of the three albums that rotate as being my all-time favorite.
Where is 65daysofstatic ? :)
Machine Girl: "The Ugly Art": a horrifying yet intriguing mix of jungle, breakcore, hardcore, and rap. Necro Culture Vulture is an absolute banger.
The Soft Moon: "Deeper": not sure how to describe this but I like it.
Sidenote, does anybody know how to scrobble to last.fm from Apple Music on mobile?