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 recently bought a banjo and have started the journey of learning how to play. It's my first instrument but I have been having a blast so far, which got me wondering — what have you all been playing recently? This is not a reoccurring post, but maybe it could be, so let's use this as a place to talk about music-making related things: what have you been practicing, what techniques are you stuck on, what have you been playing around with, etc? Feel free to share or ask for advice.

I typically listen to music and discover new music through YouTube, but the gradual creep of ads and the possibility of videos being deleted in the future has made me interested in building up a personal library of tracks on my own computer instead of streaming.

What do you use to manage your songs, and buy songs when you find ones you like?

My main computer runs Debian so I'd prefer Linux compatible options, but I'd be interested I hearing whatever other people use regardless.

This is Album of the Week #16 ~ This week's album is Coil - Love's Secret Domain

Year of Release: 1991
Genre(s): Industrial
Country: United Kingdom
Length: 61 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from The Quietus:

... the combined musical impact of Love's Secret Domain remains undiminished: a sonic world erupting with mind-spinning ingenuity, that beneath its surface strangeness, holds more hooks and grooves than a Cenobite's playroom. As always with Coil, however, Love's Secret Domain is about more than music; it's an exploration of what it meant, in 1991, to be a deeply inquisitive consciousness, all channels on, all bandwidths open, trapped in a human body and surrounded by the joy, anger and madness of existence. It's a palimpsest of an incredibly potent time for London's underground cultures, a mindmap of spaces, now largely lost ...

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

This is probably a niche subject, but here we go. The album version of Protect Ya Neck is censored and I hate how it was done. Luckily we have Protect Ya Neck (The Bloody Version) from the single. I don't like all of this version, so I took my European remaster and edited it all to replace the >drrrrtttt< with the swearing.

Today I got the Music on Vinyl release from 2009 and liked it enough, I figured I'd patch it. When I brought it into Audition I noticed that the audio was inverted.

Is there any reasoning behind this?

I’ve been getting back into guitar playing and trying to have more focused practice when I play each day. I wouldn't call myself a "beginner", but I don't think I'm near the "intermediate" stage yet. I know chords and power chords and can transition between them pretty easily. I've been working on figuring out CAGED shapes, but still really struggle with playing scales and "solo-ing"...partly because (1) I have tried exploring music theory and "learning the notes on the fretboard", but it hasn't clicked for me yet, and (2) my fret fingers feel sluggish and don’t seem to move across the fretboard with the ease that I seem to have when switching chords.

That said, I’m feeling pretty discouraged right now. Looking for some “pick me ups”, so to speak. And wanting to learn to play a few songs all the way through so I can feel more confident in my ability to actually play a song. But I don’t really want to get hung up on a difficult “solo” or a bunch of individual fretting stuff yet.

As I thought about making this post, I figured it might be useful to also ask about some "beginner tips" on how to best stay motivated to stick with learning, practicing, and playing the guitar. If I'm going to keep this up, I want to really invest in it and stick with the guitar. Here are some additional questions/thoughts to hopefully trigger a discussion.

Fellow guitarists:

• What has helped you in the past?
• What helped you get over the "discouraging" first steps of guitar playing and keep at it?
• What were some of the first songs you were able to learn to play all the way through?
• How did you learn the notes on the fretboard?
• How did you learn to play different chords all around the neck?
• What would you say to your younger self to help encourage them to continue pushing through the sticking points of guitar?
• What was the "key" to getting guitar playing to "click" in your brain?

Looking forward to seeing what advice fellow players can offer! Everyone's musical journey is different, and I am interested in learning how you learned to get to where you are now!

I've been spending a lot of time working on developing my singing voice, and I'm starting to push into a loud, yelling voice at the upper end of my register. It sounds awesome, but it kind of hurts and makes me wonder if this sort of thing is sustainable long-term.

Someone like Dave Grohl (great example of the type of vocals I'm trying to emulate) seems to have made a career singing like this, so I'm pretty sure there's a way. I guess I'm mostly wondering if there's any sort of "progression" or way to do it properly vs improperly.

Does it get easier? Will my vocal chords adapt? Mostly I'm just wondering if I can keep doing this without sacrificing vocal range in the future.

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.

This is Album of the Week #15 ~ This week's album is Mew - Frengers

Year of Release: 2003
Genre(s): Dream Pop
Country: Denmark
Length: 48 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from Drowned In Sound:

On the cherub face of it this album is a soaring, triangle tapping, kitten cuddling, debut; Mew have playground innocence down - lunchbox in hand, toothpaste on tie and scabby knees, all set for a day of holding hands with the pigtailed girl. Mew could market this to my 6-year old cousin to dance around to whilst munching her Sugar Puffs, and they'd sell a billion. Pop is Universal... aaaaaaah, that's the cookie, that's what everyone has forgotten!

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

Harmony does something to my brain than I can't explain but it's like a short cut to, well, I dunno, but something good.

I'd really like your suggestions for harmonies that create emotional response.

Sorry for dumping a huge number of links here. Here are two favourites:

Picforth, In Nomine a 5.

and

Cork Sacred Harp - "47b Idumea"

Here are some examples: (and now that I post them, I realise some of them aren't really harmony proper, so I'm not sure what I'm asking for)

Irish lilting in harmony

Beloe Zlato - "За тихой рекою" (beyond the calm river?), and a better but more noisy version Белое злато - "За тихой рекой" (Белое злато / Beloe Zlato / White Gold -- I don't know anything about this group and if I'm posting Russian propaganda please let me know because I don't want to be doing that)

Mamas and Papas - "California dreaming", "Here in my arms" (although Ella Fitzgerald's version is much much better), "Safe in my garden" (especially the bit around 1:50 building to 2:15)

Sacred Harp choirs. Sacred harp and "shaped singing" is how you teach people to sing if they can't read music. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_note](Wikipedia has a good explainer). They start with a verse of the soh, lah, ti, fah sounds so people know the tune and rhythm and then they launch into it. I'm not religious (in a quiet, polite, respecting other people's religions kind of way) but they turn out a great tune sometimes. Henderson, Texas - Sacred Harp 463: "Angel Band", Austin, Texas - Sacred Harp 463: "Angel Band", Unknown - scacred harp 463: "Angel band". Camp Doremi Europe 2015 - Sacred Harp 117 "Angel Band". I've dumped four of the same song so you get a feel for differences in pace, in size of congregation, and skill of singers. The acoustics of these rooms suck, and even skilled professional sound engineers are going to struggle to mic up these rooms and get good output, but I like the fact that every consumer grade mic and recording equipment is just OVERLOADED TO ALL HECK.

More sacred harp. Texas - Sacred Harp 505 "Cleansing Fountain". The lyrics are really something.

Irish sacred harp, and this is the one I really want to share because my word they mean it: Second Ireland Sacred Harp Convention - "47b Idumea" there's a woman really singing. I love love love this. There's also Cork Sacred Harp - "Come thou fount"

It's not just vocal harmony either. Lankum, NPR Tiny Desk Concert, "The Wild Rover" just builds and builds layer upon layer. (And "Bear Creek" does something similar, with more joy. The Mary Wallopers - "Frost is all over" have something going on underneath this romping joyful noise and I think it's the sneaky "Banish Misfortune", so here's a version of that Sorcha Ni Scolai - "Banish Misfortune" and it's all amazing but there's a tiny bit at 1:19-1:25 that gets right into my brain.

Sometimes it's just a big crowd. From a comment by @jgb I found this Welsh National Anthem just before Wales beat England. Here's a Welsh flash mob Cor Meibion Male Voice Choir - "Bread of Heaven"

And I think it's not just "harmony" proper that I'm thinking of. A bit of nice tune in the middle of near chaotic noise is nice. So, for an example, listen to all of this The Incredible String Band - "The Mad Hatter's Song" and stick with it, because at 3:40 they suddenly drop into this very short, but very sweet bit of nice tune. And that "I am the archer, the lover of laughter, and mine is the arrowed flight; I am the archer and my eyes yearn after the unsullied sight" is lovely.

I'm listening to a bunch of music from the 1500s, and especially In Nomine. The strings sliding all over the place is amazing to me. In Nomine À 5, "Seldome Sene" · Christopher Tye · Jordi Savall, In Nomine À 5, "Rachells Weepinge" · Christopher Tye · Jordi Savall, In Nomine IV A 6 (Strogers) · Hespèrion XX · Jordi Savall, Youtube have given this weird artwork Picforth, In Nomine a 5.

Inspiration came when I was listening to Busy Signal - One More Night, a half-cover of the Phil Collins original. Reggae and dancehall have a lot of examples like this but it's usually interpolating or covering the chorus rather than the entire song.

So, which do you know? If you could post links for both the cover and the original, that'd be ace. I'd say sampling in hip-hop usually doesn't qualify here, unless there's clear conceptual connection to the original song beyond just the beat.

Also, if anyone suggests the Chet Faker version of No Diggity, I will start a riot in here.

Savannah Locke’s “Oh Holy Night” has a vocal quality that I’ve heard many times before in other songs and I was always curious what it was called, as well as the general EQ settings to reproduce it.

I name this song because I feel like it’s a very over the top example that I first heard over the holidays on a random playlist. I can only describe the vocals as “paper-like”. The style is folksy but it’s that particular sound of the vocals I’m interested in identifying.

Also, if there’s a particular nomenclature to these different types of styles or a glossary of some kind I’d appreciate it.

Full disclosure: I’ve sat behind a mixing board as an enthusiast but am no means educated beyond lows, mediums, highs.

Many thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I've been interested for a while in learning to play banjo. My first exposure to it was listening to bluegrass, but recently I have gotten very into Celtic and Irish music, and I think I would most enjoy learning to play by playing that style. Hence I am interested in Irish banjo, which I have come to understand is a bit different. I have a few questions that I was hoping someone here could answer. I don't play any other instruments and I'm interested in this just for fun.

• My understanding is that the typical Irish banjo player plays a tenor banjo with 4 strings. However I see some variation between 17 and 19 frets. Does anyone have some insight into the difference here, and which might be preferred?

• How hard would it be to learn other styles if I start with a 4 string? Is it like going from playing bass to guitar? Is 4 string typically seen as easier to pick up? I like Celtic music but not totally sure I want to be "locked in" to that. But then again, maybe that would help to be a bit more focused.

• To get specific, I am thinking of buying this as a beginner banjo. I'd be surprised if so, but does anyone here have experience with this brand, or else have other recommendations?

Like I said, I am a total beginner in that I've never played any instrument. So on that note, if you think I'm asking the wrong types of questions, I'd want to know that too!

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.

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.

My whole life I have lived with the regret of not becoming proficient in a musical instrument. I grew up with a piano and acoustic guitar in my childhood home, and I actually took lessons for both but never committed to practicing or improving. As a result I grew up tinkering with both hit never learned how to read music or actually develop any fundamental techniques to play either.

I am an autodidact and have always felt that with the right resources, and a little discipline, I could at least learn enough to play a few songs on either instrument, and possibly with time become a sight reader.

To that end, I am curious, musicians of ~Tildes, what resources are the best to self-learn piano and guitar? Books, videos, apps, anything that you’ve used or know people have used and actually went from complete novice to reasonably proficient?

Thanks and happy new year!

I’m going insane from the bland ass Xmas music at my work and I’m looking to zhuzh up the playlist with some more interesting Xmas music. Think “Christmas at the Zoo” by the Flaming Lips or “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight)” by The Ramones.

I would also like some non-Christmas holiday songs, so we can get some representation for holidays besides the Christian one, or even just “Winter Songs”

Thanks!

Reflect on the music you listened to this year.

Tell us about it.

Important:

• You do not have to limit your discussion only to music released this year. Anything you listened to this year is fine.
• This thread is much more interesting if you give details and explanations. Please don’t just list artists/albums/songs on their own. Let us know your thoughts and feelings too!

Conversation starters:

None of the below is required, but feel free to use any of it as a jumping off point for what you want to talk about (if needed).

Consider the following categories:

• Your personal Artist(s)/Album(s)/Song(s) of the Year
• Highlights
• Hidden gems
• Surprises
• Disappointments
• Outliers (stuff you loved from genres you usually don’t)

Consider the following questions as well:

• What music resonated most strongly with you, and why?
• What could you not stop coming back to, and why?
• What music was the most interesting or exciting to you, and why?
• What did your music listening habits say about your year?
• How did you change as a listener this year?

Meta note:

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.

This is Album of the Week #14 ~ This week's album is Love - Forever Changes

Year of Release: 1967
Genre(s): Psychedelic Pop
Country: United States
Length: 42 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from AV Club:

Forever Changes, for all of its gorgeous balladry, layered acoustic guitars, and silky string arrangements, is filled with passion and angst. 1967 may have been The Summer Of Love, but Forever Changes dismantles any notions of free love and social change. Opening track “Alone Again Or” boasts the overtly hippie line “You know that I could be in love with almost everyone.” Love pulls off a bait-and-switch though, undercutting that line just moments later with, “and I will be alone again tonight, my dear,” a line that closes every verse and positions the album as one of isolation and disconnect.

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

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.

What is a classical music piece you enjoy and what do you like about it? Maybe we can help each other find new classical music or even different styles of classical music to listen to. I like classical music a lot but I'm far from well versed in the different periods or much more than the most famous composers and performers.

One (far from obscure) piece I like a lot is Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1. It is full of explosive energy and the diversity and emotion of the violin part always amazes me.

And bonus question: how do you listen to classical music? I primarily listen to the local classical music radio station but occasionally attend concerts.

Time Period: 1995-1999

Choose one album
that you love
that you think deserves more love

Tell us what it is, and why.

Previous posts in series

Additional Details

This is Album of the Week #13 ~ This week's album is Don Cherry - Don Cherry/Brown Rice

Note that this album has been released under two names/artworks: self titled (Don Cherry) and 'Brown Rice'.

Year of Release: 1977
Genre(s): Spiritual Jazz
Country: United States
Length: 39 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from The Quietus:

Cherry transformed the rigorous improvisational ethos he developed and deployed alongside Ornette Coleman in the creation of free jazz as a crucial tool to communicate and collaborate with musicians far outside of his original milieu. Few before or since have demonstrated comparable ease in connecting with other musicians, regardless of background or ethos, like Cherry. His ability to locate the deepest, most humanistic, and spiritual links in disparate traditions remains sublime. Lots of musicians profess that they don’t recognise genre, but it’s hard to think of an artist who lived it as much as he did.

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

So I've just been using basic earbuds my whole life, never felt like spending big bucks on good headphones. Recently though, I've been really interested in what I've been hearing about IEMs. Youtubers and forum users have been name dropping a few of them, such as Moondrop Chu/Chu II, Salnotes Zero, etc. So I looked them up, and was shocked to find how cheap they are. They're like $20, in the same price range as the crappy earbuds I buy anyways! These kind of headphones seem like a whole world I know nothing about, with pros and cons I don't fully understand, so what would be the best recommendation for a first set?

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.

Good morning ~ This is a thread to discuss new album releases that have arrived on our doorstep this week. Feel free to share albums and EPs that have caught your eye and interest.

Discussion Points

What are you looking forward to listen to?
Have you listened to any of these releases?
What are your thoughts?
What have you enjoyed from these artists in the past?

Why Friday?

Most (but not all) new LPs/EPs release on a Friday, as labels want to give the release a full week of sales before entering the charts.

~~ Feedback on the format welcome

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.

This is Album of the Week #12 ~ This week's album is Ka - Honor Killed the Samurai

Year of Release: 2016
Genre(s): Abstract Hip Hop
Country: United States
Length: 36 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from Stereogum:

Ka raps in a desiccated mutter. His production, which seems to draw on half-forgotten film scores and haunted ’60s instrumentals, is pure headphone haze. Throughout history, most of the great rappers have brought an outsized, extroverted flair to what they’ve done, and Ka has none of that. Instead, his presence is a murky, monastic intensity. He does not make social music. He makes music for getting trapped in your own mind.

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

Good morning ~ This is a thread to discuss new album releases that have arrived on our doorstep this week. Feel free to share albums and EPs that have caught your eye and interest.

Discussion Points

What are you looking forward to listen to?
Have you listened to any of these releases?
What are your thoughts?
What have you enjoyed from these artists in the past?

Why Friday?

Most (but not all) new LPs/EPs release on a Friday, as labels want to give the release a full week of sales before entering the charts.

~~ Feedback on the format welcome

This is Album of the Week #11 ~ This week's album is Jag Panzer - Ample Destruction

Year of Release: 1984
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Country: United States
Length: 39 minutes
RYM | Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from Ride Into Glory:

Ample Destruction is filled to the absolute brim with killer riff after killer riff. It’s difficult to pick out a highlight track as they all flow together in one, singular metalstorm. There is very few moments for reprieve as Jag Panzer keep it at 100% for nearly the entire album. The guitars, played by Joe Tafolla and Mark Briody, are masterful and a worthy match for Conklin’s performance. The bass, as became standard for most US power metal, is very prominent in the mix. John Tetley’s bass guitar works to compliment the guitars and drummer Rick Hilyard is certainly no slouch as his drums round it all out. The production is thick and undoubtedly old-school sounding. It does a wonderful job bringing together the instrumentation while letting Conklin take the lead with his soaring vocals.

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

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.

This is Album of the Week #10 ~ This week's album is The Undertones - The Undertones

Year of Release: 1979
Genre(s): Pop Punk
Country: United Kingdom
Length: 29 minutes
Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from BBC:

Armed with seemingly rudimentary musical skills, the reason the Undertones stuck out was that, unlike their cooler older peers from London and Manchester, they didn't stick to the rigorous adoption of American garage and art rock like the Stooges to the Velvets. They were still in love with their elder brothers and sisters' Bolan and Bowie albums: their sound welded glam to pub rock, all topped off with Feargal Sharkey's Larry the Lamb warble. If they did take a cue from any USA acts it was the cartoon fun of The Ramones, Here Comes The Summer contains the same Beach Boys-on-amphetamine rush that 'da brudders' wielded so succesfully. At the same time, the accents definitely didn't stray across the pond. Never has the Northern Irish twang been so thrust into the face of our pop kids. Check out the deadpan backing vocals on True Confessions.

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

Good morning ~ This is a thread to discuss new album releases that have arrived on our doorstep this week. Feel free to share albums and EPs that have caught your eye and interest.

Discussion Points

What are you looking forward to listen to?
Have you listened to any of these releases?
What are your thoughts?
What have you enjoyed from these artists in the past?

Why Friday?

Most (but not all) new LPs/EPs release on a Friday, as labels want to give the release a full week of sales before entering the charts.

~~ Feedback on the format welcome

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.

Time Period: 1990-1994

Choose one album
that you love
that you think deserves more love

Tell us what it is, and why.

Previous posts in series

Additional Details

This is Album of the Week #9 ~ This week's album is The KLF - Chill Out

Year of Release: 1990
Genre(s): Ambient, Sound Collage
Country: United Kingdom
Length: 44 minutes
Listen! (YouTube) This album isn't available on streaming services.

Excerpt from Pitchfork:

The interwoven pieces play out like a radio broadcast heard while half asleep, tapping into the same surreal aesthetic that David Lynch would explore in Twin Peaks’ debut just a few months later. Call it the American uncanny, in which familiar tropes are turned strange, and tantalizing snippets suggest hidden narratives—root systems of stories burrowing deep underground. Like the Swiss heritage of photographer Robert Frank, another eagle-eyed traveler of America’s backroads, the KLF’s foreignness gave them special purchase on American myths. It was all a product of the duo’s imagination; Drummond had never even been to the places they were evoking, and they only settled on the titles after recording. “We thought that it had the feeling of that sort of trip,” Drummond told X Magazine in 1991. “I love maps and atlases and I love place names, and I just sat down with the atlas and picked, you know, and saw the journey that it was and it all seemed to fit.”

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

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.

Good morning ~ This is a thread to discuss new album releases that have arrived on our doorstep this week. Feel free to share albums and EPs that have caught your eye and interest.

Discussion Points

What are you looking forward to listen to?
Have you listened to any of these releases?
What are your thoughts?
What have you enjoyed from these artists in the past?

Why Friday?

Most (but not all) new LPs release on a Friday, as labels want to give the release a full week of sales before entering the charts.

~~ Feedback on the format welcome

Merrily abusing my piano with my horrifying lack of skill, I keep noticing songs beginning with the notes C-F:

• Moonlight Shadows
• Auld Lang Syne
• Es hatt ein Bauer ein junges Weib
• Der sad to katte på et bord
• Forest Green

It sorta feels like the melody exists in the area around F, while C is used as kind of special effect. Are there some connection or tradition behind those C-F openings, or is it just me seeing patterns where there is none?

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.

This is Album of the Week #8 ~ This week's album is Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

Year of Release: 2020
Genre(s): Psychedelic Pop
Country: United States
Length: 57 minutes
Listen! (Album.Link)

Excerpt from NPR:

As a producer, Parker has more moving parts to balance this time, but he arrives at a deft auteur-pop synergy in which every last decision, down to the assorted cathedral-like reverb effects that lend his voice an otherworldly aura, become as intrinsic to the music as the melodies or the words. Though there's a lot going on in the latticework of the music — springy analog synthesizer arpeggios, guitars doing unguitarlike things, layers upon layers of pastel lushness — the post-psychedelic swirl of The Slow Rush registers as an organic blend, with the songs never feeling cluttered or too tightly scripted.

Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?

--

Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.

Missed last week? It can be found here.

Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~

Good morning ~ This is a thread to discuss new album releases that have arrived on our doorstep this week. Feel free to share albums and EPs that have caught your eye and interest.

Discussion Points

What are you looking forward to listen to?
Have you listened to any of these releases?
What are your thoughts?
What have you enjoyed from these artists in the past?

Why Friday?

Most (but not all) new LPs release on a Friday, as labels want to give the release a full week of sales before entering the charts.

~~ Feedback on the format welcome

So, I used to think I hated all love songs.
I disliked them because, in the ones that id heard were the type that found on the FM radio stations, and those tend to fall into a couple broad categories:

• I just met you, and I want to marry/stalk you
• You broke up with me, and I will do anything to get you back
• Your with someone else, and Im trying to win you over

My view on them changed when I found I'll Take Lonely Tonight, A song about the temptation of cheating in an established relationship.
While not a song I can exactly relate to, it still struck me, because its, well, respectful.
Its respectful towards the woman offering the one night stand, but still describes a deep, enduring love between Tim and his wife,
that he would rather spend the night on his own then break their trust.
(I guess it probably helps that I already like tim minchin, especially his newer, more subdued works.)

Since then, Ive only discovered one other song that scratches that same itch: Like my Father, a song about how the artist's parents relationship set the standard she strives for in her own relationship (My parents relationship was very much a role model for my marriage today, so this one hits me in the feels)

Im actively looking for other similar songs, and would appreciate any other suggestions.

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.

Spotify recently increased their price, making it the same price as Apple's service. I've had Spotify since 2016 (started with the free version), and got premium in 2018 when they had the college student deal where you would get that and Hulu for only five bucks a month. I've been an off and on Premium subscriber since 2019. Only re-subscribing to it when Spotify would send me offers to sign up for three months for the price of one. This is actually the first year that I've consistently had Spotify all year since I was in college.

But now that they're the same price I was wondering if I should switch over. I don't want to get into the whole quality thing and lossless (I don't even know what that is) but I haven't been happy with Spotify's algorithm for a while. Streaming services have always been how I discovered new music, going back to me using Pandora while I was in high school. But now Spotify keeps suggesting the same songs whenever it's on smart shuffle. For example, if I play a song from the late 60s or early 70s, I know the next song Spotify plays is going to be Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Whenever I play an indie pop song, like a Lana Del Rey song or something, I know that the next song is going to be Borderline by Tame Impala.

I'm kind of sick of it at this point, and I feel like it's limiting the scope of what I'm listening to. I'm not sure what Apple Music's algorithm is like, I've heard mixed things with some saying it's better than Spotify and others saying it's worse.

I'm also happy taking recommendations on other things to do or try with Spotify to correct this.

Albums specifically, please! Not individual songs. I’m wanting something meant to be listened to from back to front.

I thought about listing some of the favorites I already have, but I don’t want to prime the recommendations. I might jump in with some in a comment later if other people are wanting to enjoy the recommendations too.

Anyway, give me any chiptune album favorites you have. If the music sounds like a game console is having a good, meaningful, moody, or interesting time, then that’s exactly what I’m looking for!

Also, game soundtracks are fine as long as they work as an album.