Is it just me or does it feel like there is no big new song of the summer this year? Nothing is standing out to me. Like a Watermelon Sugar type of anthem, etc. What big hit are you all listening to a lot so far?

I love shoegaze. Nowadays, I am a bit out of the genre and scene but hearing shoegaze always makes me happy.

My first introduction to the genre was through Lowtide. They are an Australian trio (originally quartet) that were inspired by the classics like Slowdive. "Held" was the first ever shoegaze song I remember hearing a/o loving. Their self-titled album is one of my favourites of all time, and I have it on vinyl!

Of course, the landmark shoegaze album remember by many is Loveless by my bloody valentine. Great album, noisy asf and has awesome songs like "Only Shallow" ,"To Here Knows When", "Blown a Wish", "Sometimes", "Soon", "I Only Said". There are many other bands out there that deserve recognition, like Show Me Mary with "A Dream" from their self-titled EP.

So yeah. Post some of your shoegaze picks, if you love shoegaze.

Every now and then, my Japanese class and I head out to sing karaoke. I've never really been a fan of karaoke, but perhaps that's because most karaoke libraries don't really have any of the songs I've learned and/or want to sing.

So does anyone have any recommendations for Japanese karaoke songs? I'm not mentioning my personal music taste to keep the topic general, but feel free to ask if you're interested in helping me in particular.

Many of us listen to whatever music strikes our mood, but there are some out there who, in addition to mood, listen to and appreciate music in focused listening projects. It could be a discography of an artist you want to finish, or it could be listening to all the top 10 albums from each year. There's really no end to the listening projects we get ourselves involved in. I'd like to open a discussion about this.

I've been involved in a number of listening/appreciation projects over the years. For example, even though half the year hasn't elapsed, I've already finished my 2023 Listening Challenge, in which I listened to 50 albums on a variety of criteria.

Right now I'm discog diving some of my favorite artists, and the experience has really opened my ears to the lesser-known avenues of exploration. I've completed so many already, satisfying my urge to always be doing something goal-oriented. Right now, for example, I'm listening to The Musings of Miles as part of my Miles Davis discog dive.

So what are you into project-wise? Please share your experiences!

What's your classical music playlist when you hit the gym? Lately, I've been enjoying classical minimalist composers for my workouts. I like that the pieces are long and build gradually, which matches the energy and intensity I feel in a cardio workout. Also, the minimalist pieces I select have no rubato, so I can get in a groove. They often lack variety in dynamics, which is good because I want to be able to hear the music over gym noise. Most importantly, they are droning and repetitive in a way that doesn't demand constant attention. They allow me to enter a meditative state.

Here's my playlist these days:

• John Adams - Phrygian Gates
• Steve Reich - Electric Counterpoint
• Steve Reich - Variations for winds, strings, keyboards
• Philip Glass - Pruit Igoe (from Koyaanisqatsi)

More than suggestions, I'm just curious to hear what classical music is on your playlist. But also I'm curious about ambient/trance suggestions, as I suspect that there's a lot in those genres that might fit my criteria, but I'm ignorant on the topic.

I've realized recently how much of a throughline music documentaries and behind-the-scenes features have been in my life. Like watching whatever VH1 "Behind the Music" was on or watching Prodigy's "Electronic Punks" VHS for the umpteenth time.

What music docs have you really enjoyed historically or recently?

I've been working my way through Hip Hop Evolution on Netflix and it has been a real joy re-familiarizing myself with 90s and aughts hip hop and diving deeper into the 70s and 80s. I feel like they've done a really good job covering the history and the context for the different styles emerging.

Sound City details the history of the prolific LA studio where many well-known rock artists have recorded. There is a palpable reverence for analog recording and the Neve Electronics 8028 mixing console specifically. I thought it was interesting to learn about and hear from the different bands about their experiences there.

I'm guessing most people have seen Peter Jackson's recent one, Get Back, so for something more obscure... if you're a Depeche Mode fan there's a series of short docs on YouTube, one for each album up through Exciter I think. Really cool history on the band and the process of creating each album, cut together from interviews with the band members as well as many of their team and recording collaborators.

We have a language learner in our household and I am tired of listening to J-pop at random on road trips. Do any of you music lovers have japanese language songs or even better artists or bands you really like?

Thank you very much

Good morning. This is a thread to discuss new album releases arriving at our doorsteps today. I'll start with some big names

Sigur Ros - ÁTTA

(Ambient, Modern Classical)
Spotify

A surprise release! I believe this is the first album with all three Sigur Ros members since Valtari in 2012. Initial reponse seems positive but mixed, should be worth checking out for fans

Queens of the Stone Age - In Times New Roman...

(Alt Rock, Hard Rock)
Bandcamp

Been a short while since the last QOTSA release. Initial reponse to this one seems very positive.

King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation

(Metal, Prog Metal)
Bandcamp / Tildes Discusson

King Gizzard on a roll and don't seem to be stopping. Looks like this one is a move to a more metal sound. Could be the album of the week.

Killer Mike - MICHAEL

(Hip Hop, Concscious Hip Hop)
Bandcamp

First album away from Run The Jewels since 'R.A.P. Music' in 2012. Mike is a hip hop heavyweight at this point. Initital impressions look mixed.

Gunna - A Gift & a Curse

(Hip Hop, Trap)
Spotify

The first post Young Thug RICO trial from Gunna. First impressions seem mixed.

Feel free to share more releases below.

Discussion Points

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

Why Friday?

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

~~ Any feedback on the format welcome!

The original version of this thread was going to be a list of songs sung by Elvis, along with versions that were released by other people before him. For example:

Burning Love

Arthur Alexander 1971 YouTube

Elvis Presley 1972
YouTube

Nice and simple. Not to say "this is great, this is terrible", or "look, he stole it", but just because it's interesting to compare versions.

But then I looked at Hound Dog and wow there are a lot of covers. I got most of these from the Wikipedia article, which is pretty in-depth about this song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hound_Dog_(song)

So, here's a short list. I'd be interested to know what you think - I love Big Mama Thornton's version, I love Elvis's version, but I'm not that keen on any of the others here.

Hound Dog

Big Mama Thornton 1952 YouTube

Freddie Bell and the Bellboys (date uncertain) []YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJQ-fDb4M4s)

Elvis Presley 1956 YouTube

And here's a bunch more before Elvis did his version:

Little Esther 1953 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVUQ_lmoyJ4

Jack Turner and his Granger County Gang 1953 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AbAotf6ac0

Billy Star 195X https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuDuuPWVL0s

Betsy Gay 1953 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNG-0L-mldc

Eddie Hazlewood 1954 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN23peWBe3g

I’m getting ready to plunk down cash on a Gibson Les Paul. I’ve wanted one of these things since i was a 14 year old kid watching Jimmy Page “The Song Remains The Same”

Anybody here gone through buying and bringing home their cherished axe?

A few photos from last night's Cure concert in Montreal.

The set list

Growing up, live concerts wasn't really an option for me. Even if I hadn't lived in the middle of nowhere, I couldn't have afforded it.

This show was everything my teen goth heart could have wanted - a set list that combined their most popular songs with some newer tracks, and some deep cuts that don't usually make it to their live shows. The stage set up was basic but effective, with multiple screens divided by lights that were very effectively used to convey mood and tone. The merch was great too, each city has its own poster design. Montreal's was this adorable cat design.

The audience ranged from small kids with their parents, all the way up to the grey haired set, with everything in between. And for the most part, people weren't stuck to their phones filming - there were moments of snapping pics and taking short clips, but no one spent the entire show filming with their phones. I took maybe a dozen photos and 3 short clips of video, which is about standard from what I could tell.

The band also made the choice to price tickets fairly, disabled the bullshit "dynamic" and "platinum" ticketmaster mechanics, didn't allow reselling for more than face value, and restricted the tickets to mobile only so there was no resellers' market. I wish every band did this looking at you, Depeche Mode. Tickets in Montreal started at $31 Canadian, which meant it was accessible to just about anyone. My floor show seats were $175, well worth it to see one of my "bucket list" bands up close and in person.

Robert Smith made this show for me. He kept up some light-hearted banter in between songs, did some silly dancing while playing, and just seemed to be enjoying himself. At 64 years old, he's put on a little weight and has grey hair, but who hasn't by that age? He (and his bandmates, including Simon Gallup on bass!) performed an entire 2.5 hour set with only a few brief moments between encores, and his voice sounds as good as it ever has.

If you have a chance to get tickets and are wondering if you should, do it!

This will be a place that I use to gather all the cool AI music videos I can find. Everyone are welcome to join!

To limit the scope somewhat, only videos where the visual is AI generated are included (so AI generated music isn't necessarily included). Please also keep each video in a separate comment so they can be voted on individually. Maybe by the end we will have a kind of Tildes best-of list.

Feel free to talk about each video in their replies or talk about general stuff here. This will be a work-in-progress so stuff may be a bit all over the place. Let me know if you have any suggestion.

This thread will likely be very spammy so please use the IGNORE button. On the other hand, if you think you may want to contribute some of your own finds in future dates, you can also 'Bookmark' (Fun fact: you can use both at the same time).

This is an appreciation post for Luke Vibert, Aphex Twin's best friend, classmate, and roommate, aka Wagon Christ, Amen Andrews, Kerrier District... etc.

To put it simply, I'd account a good little chunk of Aphex Twin's style to Luke. I had a chat with Luke at one of his shows, and he claimed that Aphex Twin would have never released his stuff at all if he weren't strongly encouraged. Thanks Luke!

This track is the best evidence I have for my claim. It's from 1990, and is an amalgamation of Breakbeat, Dub, Acid, and Ambient.. kind of unheard of for the time, and the quintessential Aphex sound. Those ambient pads sound familiar? The bells? The breaks? I found it on Luke's discogs page. This was definitely shown to Aphex Twin. I've got a prize for whoever can find an earlier and similarly styled track.

This alone is fairly significant I'd say.. I don't mean to discredit Aphex Twin. Even giants are on the shoulders' of giants.

Luke's individual accomplishments are insane though. It's a shame he doesn't get much credit.

Reading this dude's comments referencing break samples that have rarely been sampled, and detailing old underground raves when people used to trade physical records of independent Jungle tracks.. He lives and bleeds electronic music. He's 50, and grew up through the Electro/Hip Hop late 80s scene, and rode through the Jungle, Hardcore, House scenes and more. I really don't think there's anyone else who was so centered to what electronic music became.

His pseudonyms are all case studies on electronic music..

This is a phenomenal case study on UK Garage, titled UK Garave. A liiittle dry for me, but his code switching is nuts. He gets it lol.

This is a study in Jungle, under the pseudonym Amen Andrews. Time warping, snare rolls.. the hallmarks, and spot on.

This is Disco House... Listen to the versatility in sampling, production techniques, and drum patterns--very distinct.

This is Acid Electro.. a blend that's not easy to pull off. Futuristic and clean.

I could go on--his breadth is ridiculous.

Would love to chat about icons. Someone else do a little write-up on electronic music history and @ me!