Music: Last Album You Listened To And Rate It III

[Oxbow Lakes]

^ Wholeheartedly disagree about the peaks being better than on Daytona, for me the only track that even challenges first two tracks of that album is ”Dreamin of the Past”. ”Diet Coke” is still great, ”Neck & Wrist” is decent but disappointing, ”Hear Me Clearly” is money but that beat loses its steam pretty fast. Agree that this could be tighter, and Pusha’s rhymes don’t hit quite as hard as they’ve used to. Still bunch of good shit here - hell, I even like the song with Lil Uzi Vert. Probably on par with My Name Is My Name for me; not as much filler here, but no career-defining stuff like ”Nosetalgia” or ”Numbers on the Boards” either.

Good album, which is to be expected from Push at this point - can’t say I wasn’t kinda nervous though.

 

[Oxbow Lakes]

Eminem - The Slim Shady LP (1999)

Loses its steam on the second half, but damn… this dude was so special back in the days. Cartoonish as f***, laughably calculated flow that makes sure you hear every single thing he says, morbid manifestations of trailer trash frustration; You can hear he was going through some shit, with no other (legal) way to deal with it than writing this. Most Eminem album in a way; Marshall Mathers LP is better, sure, but also very reactionary - a response to the reception of his newfound fame and controversy. This though? Just him and his twisted mind.

Never have really liked his ear for beats or his voice, but his rapping I can’t deny. ”Role Model” is probably his best song for me - if only Karens (and their kids) would’ve listened what he was actually saying.


Deerhunter - Monomania (2013)

Avoided this for a long while, thinking it was just another one of those modern indie rock albums that’s supposed to be raw and noisy, only to be some mildly-noisier-than-usual mush that goes nowhere.

Well, I was wrong. This is pretty f***ing special. Not only does the album rock, it also dabbles in nocturnal atmospherics and more usual textury stuff ala Halcyon Digest, creating songs that are distinctive and work together as a whole. Slightly dips in the middle (”Dream Captain” through ”T.H.M.”), but after that it’s one smooth ride to the end. Tracks like ”Neon Junkyard”, ”Leather Jacket II”,
”Sleepwalking”, ”Punk (la vie anterieure)” and especially ”Pensacola” are among the upper echelons of modern indie rock. One of the truly worthwhile rock albums from 2010s.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

^ Wholeheartedly disagree about the peaks being better than on Daytona, for me the only track that even challenges first two tracks of that album is ”Dreamin of the Past”. ”Diet Coke” is still great, ”Neck & Wrist” is decent but disappointing, ”Hear Me Clearly” is money but that beat loses its steam pretty fast. Agree that this could be tighter, and Pusha’s rhymes don’t hit quite as hard as they’ve used to. Still bunch of good shit here - hell, I even like the song with Lil Uzi Vert. Probably on par with My Name Is My Name for me; not as much filler here, but no career-defining stuff like ”Nosetalgia” or ”Numbers on the Boards” either.

Good album, which is to be expected from Push at this point - can’t say I wasn’t kinda nervous though.

I agree that Daytona's first two tracks are the best of the album but I think they, in their best moments(besides maybe The Games We Play, which might be the best track between both albums) but I don't think the subsequent 3-4 are remotely close, so that that's why I think I'd currently take the latter album. With that said, fully agree that Nosetalgia and particularly Numbers on the Boards are probably the best two tracks Pusha T has ever released.

Still, I think the line Richard Pryor's flame gave birth to pipe dreams might be my favorite Pusha T line ever on a purely cheeky/referential/playful level. What a killer end to his verse on Neck and Wrist.

The exasperated You supposed to put the first 500 in the safe and lose the combination intro is a moment of great inspiration as well.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

No full album but been listening to Stereolab again. Loving it. Anyone has full album recommendations?

 

[shadow1]

7/10

It's a pretty good album for this late in their careers. But it's a little too long (17 tracks) considering how many of the songs blend together (apparently they recorded almost 50 tracks). I almost gave it a 6, but the strong songs bump it to a 7 for me.

Top Tracks:

#1 Black Summer
#7 It's Only Natural
#10 Whatchu Thinkin'
#12 White Braids & Pillow Chair*

*Best track

 

[Shareefruck]

No full album but been listening to Stereolab again. Loving it. Anyone has full album recommendations?

Stereolab's awesome. Feels like a band that took all the styles/influences that cater most to my preferences (especially the Neu! influence) and boiled them in a stew.

It's pretty hard to go wrong with their first six albums. I'm not sure they have a consensus magnum opus that I'd consider a masterpiece or anything, but Dots and Loops might be the tightest/most pristine, Cobra and Phases might be the most sprawling/all-ecompassing/ambitious but maybe bloated, Transient Random Noise Bursts might be the most direct, and Emperor Tomato Ketchup might be the most poppy. A lot of people consider the Switched On compilations as good/better than the studio albums, too.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Stereolab's awesome. Feels like a band that took all the styles/influences that cater most to my preferences (especially the Neu! influence) and boiled them in a stew.

It's pretty hard to go wrong with their first six albums. I'm not sure they have a consensus magnum opus that I'd consider a masterpiece or anything, but Dots and Loops might be the tightest/most pristine, Cobra and Phases might be the most sprawling/all-ecompassing/ambitious but maybe bloated, Transient Random Noise Bursts might be the most direct, and Emperor Tomato Ketchup might be the most poppy. A lot of people consider the Switched On compilations as good/better than the studio albums, too.

Thanks man. I feel like right now all my favorite tracks (Pack Yr Romantic Mind*, Jenny Ondioline, Cybele's Reverie, The Flower Called Nowhere, Les Yper-Sound) are spread across these albums, which is a good omen. Do you have any particular favorites? At any rate, they're the first musical act I bought tickets for since 2016. I'm excited to see them and hopefully it's not too crowded.

Also, did you ever get around to The Durutti Column's Fidelity?

 

[TheDoldrums]

No full album but been listening to Stereolab again. Loving it. Anyone has full album recommendations?

I really like Dots and Loops



Miss Modular into The Flower Called Nowhere is an exquisite 10 minutes of music.

 

[Shareefruck]

Thanks man. I feel like right now all my favorite tracks (Pack Yr Romantic Mind*, Jenny Ondioline, Cybele's Reverie, The Flower Called Nowhere, Les Yper-Sound) are spread across these albums, which is a good omen. Do you have any particular favorites? At any rate, they're the first musical act I bought tickets for since 2016. I'm excited to see them and hopefully it's not too crowded.

Also, did you ever get around to The Durutti Column's Fidelity?

Oh yeah, I listened to it way back when you brought it up but didn't remember to post anything. I thought it was okay, but the only track that seems to be sticking to my memory is the specific one that you posted (Future Perfect?). Might need to warm up to it more over time.

For me, Stereolab's one of those bands where almost almost everything sounds good, but favorites don't really stand out to me. I agree that Dots and Loops is probably their best album, and most of my relative favorites would probably be from that, though.

 

[Mikeaveli]

Dots and Loops is definitely my favourite from them as well, love the library music-like sound of the instrumentals.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Thanks for the feedback fellas. I guess I'll start with Dots and Loops first, though I've been completely obsessed with Cybele's Reverie the past two days. What an achievement. Might be recency bias but it's rocketed up my all-time favorite tracks.

 

[Shareefruck]

Mmm.. that's a good choice.

I don't have a hard recommendation, but maybe these are worth giving a shot too? (note: Contranatura is more of a second-half song)

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Love some good Stereolab. As noted above, everything up to and including Dots and Loops is at least very good. As for after that, I think Margerine Eclipse is solid.

Their compilations of b-sides are worth a listen as well.

 

[Oxbow Lakes]

”Brakhage” is possibly the best opener for an album of the 90s, so hypnotizing. One of those songs I just love to repeat again and again. That and ”Ticker-tape of the Unconscious” are the jams from Dots and Loops for me.

 

[Shareefruck]

Since just about everything else from the album has been mentioned, I think Diagonals and Refractions in the Plastic Pulse (although many seem to find that one disjointed) are up there as well.

 

[frisco]

Tango In The Night-Fleetwood Mac (7.5/10)--Listened to this heavily when it was first released. All very well crafted songs, some very mainstream (like Rumours) but some a little more out there (like Tusk). This is really the most Lindsey Buckingham album that they've made. A lot of the core of the album started as a LB solo project. Lots of Christine McVie, too. Steve Nicks probably shot her wad song writing-wise on two solo albums over the three years previous. Plus, was going through drug treatment during a lot of the making of this record.

The hits were Buckingham (Big Love), 2x McVie (Little Lies, Everywhere), Nicks (Seven Wonders). Not any real dud songs (OK, Mystified is not good) and the better ones weren't released as singles, IMO (Tango In The Night, Family Man, Caroline, Isn't It Midnight). Very meticulous production, not a note here that wasn't well thought out. An enjoyable listening experience throughout and sometimes raised to pretty great. Cannot complain about the musicianship of the basically brilliant LB, John McVie, or Mick Fleetwood. Nice harmonies and vocals overall.

The usual behind the scenes drama during this period. Mainly involving Buckingham not wanting to tour although the album was a massive hit and work on a solo album instead which in retrospect wasn't released for about four years after, anyways. Would've been a good time for them live if they could stave off the drugs and infighting.

Not my fav FM album, but the one that got me started on the band and probably listened to the most.

My Best-Carey

 

[reckoning]

Tango In The Night-Fleetwood Mac (7.5/10)--Listened to this heavily when it was first released. All very well crafted songs, some very mainstream (like Rumours) but some a little more out there (like Tusk). This is really the most Lindsey Buckingham album that they've made. A lot of the core of the album started as a LB solo project. Lots of Christine McVie, too. Steve Nicks probably shot her wad song writing-wise on two solo albums over the three years previous. Plus, was going through drug treatment during a lot of the making of this record.

The hits were Buckingham (Big Love), 2x McVie (Little Lies, Everywhere), Nicks (Seven Wonders). Not any real dud songs (OK, Mystified is not good) and the better ones weren't released as singles, IMO (Tango In The Night, Family Man, Caroline, Isn't It Midnight). Very meticulous production, not a note here that wasn't well thought out. An enjoyable listening experience throughout and sometimes raised to pretty great. Cannot complain about the musicianship of the basically brilliant LB, John McVie, or Mick Fleetwood. Nice harmonies and vocals overall.

The usual behind the scenes drama during this period. Mainly involving Buckingham not wanting to tour although the album was a massive hit and work on a solo album instead which in retrospect wasn't released for about four years after, anyways. Would've been a good time for them live if they could stave off the drugs and infighting.

Not my fav FM album, but the one that got me started on the band and probably listened to the most.

My Best-Carey

I remember reading an interview with Buckingham around the time he left the band where he said he would rather shoot himself in the head than be singing FM hits on reunion tours 20 years later. But that's exactly what he ended up doing.

Tango In The Night was also my introduction to the band, which prompted me to check out their earlier work. It doesn't hold up as well for me today as their other albums.

 

[frisco]

Johnny Cash At San Quentin (9.0/10)-I go back and forth with this and the earlier, more famous and ground breaking Folsom Prison album. Both are great and as authentic a live experience as one could get. The main differences are the song choices and obviously part of the reason for releasing both albums was there were quite a few songs on Folsom and not San Quentin (Busted, 25 Minutes To Go, I Got Stripes, and the even more rebellious than Folsom Prison Blues--Cocaine Blues) and vice-versa (San Quentin, Wanted Man, Big River, Boy Named Sue).

Cash is in his element throughout. His got the audience where he wants them and somehow relates to each one. He is the every man and these are Johnny Cash fans, even if they weren't before. Cash likes to talk about his run-ins with the law and obviously some of his tunes speak to this. At the same time, his "spirituals" or gospel songs resonate just as well as the anti-authority hits.

I guess the main point is this is a special recording. It is worth having both the Folsom album and this one. Personally, because of the song variety, you can't have one without the other. If forced to choose I'd take SQ ever so slightly vs. Folsom. The gospel songs are a little better on the San Quentin album and that's what gives it the edge.

If one could find fault with San Quentin is that Cash rambles a bit in his patter with the audience which is OK for the first listen, but you probably would find yourself skipping this just and getting to the tunes for multiple listens.

My Best-Carey

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements, Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Dots and Loops by Stereolab ('93, '96, '97) - Thought I'd just blend all three albums in as I've been listening to them in their entirety as muddled bunch and they're all of the same relative qualities. Loved them all, and a few of the tracks have rocketed up among my all-time favorites. Love the metronome quality of the music and the accent on melodies with the odd tinge of noise freakouts. Lyrics isn't something I particularly give a crap about in music (whatever works best with the orchestration is what she should be prioritized, not pretension at depth of thought or feeling, IMO) but I enjoy Stereolab's surrealist and concise lyrics to go along with the krautrock-infused sound. Really a band whose taste seems to match their craftsmanship. Can't go wrong with either of these albums. Consistent from start to finish. There isn't any filler tracks, which isn't something you can say about a lot of modern LPs.

Standout Tracks (one from each album): Crest (Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements), Cybele's Reverie (Emperor Tomato Ketchup), The Flower Called Nowhere (Dots and Loops)

 

[Mikeaveli]

Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus

This album has been in constant rotation for the last 3 months. I used to view it as merely a stepping stone in El-P's development rather than a masterpiece in itself but I now see that was a mistake.

El-P brings his most "New York" production and rapping in his career on this album but that doesn't make it generic. The psychedelic sci-fi sound of his later works is here but in the context of lo-fi boom bap production. Every beat here is very good, I even like the few tracks on here that weren't produced by El. As for the verses, most of the tracks here stick to bragging instead of concepts and that is fine by me. El comes through with the typically dense flows and lyrics from early in his career and he nearly sounds as good here as he does on Fantastic Damage. Surprisingly Bigg Jus is able to keep up with him and even deliver the better verse on a few tracks. Both can come off as pretentious but I think that's part of the appeal of the album. It's two guys proving why they're better than the big budget rappers out there. This is one of those hip-hop albums where you can be listening to it for a long time and still be realizing the meanings of lyrics you missed before.

There are a few interlude tracks I could maybe do without (Help Wanted, Funcrush Scratch) but aside from those two every song here is at least very good. This is in my top 10 albums of all time.

10/10

Favourites: Bad Touch Example, 8 Steps to Perfection, Blind, Population Control, Tragedy of War (In III Parts), The Fire In Which You Burn, Last Good Sleep, Info Kill II

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Is this thread dead? It was one of my favorite to read... Where's @Shareefruck ?

Anyway, I just listened to Piero Piccioni's Il Dio Sotto La Pelle (which is not a 1972 release - soundtrack of a 1974 film, released in 2000). 6/10



And I'm now listening to Cex's Role Model, which is probably a 6.5/10.



(I normally don't rate albums, but it's something I need to start doing - memory is getting weak)

 

[Shareefruck]

Is this thread dead? It was one of my favorite to read... Where's @Shareefruck?

Just ran out of obvious albums to try that interest me, and sort of unofficially shifted gears to rediscovering videogames (a more neglected medium by me with healthier recent output, for my money) instead of albums/movies, at least for the time being.

The success rate has just been super low and I'm really particular about it, personally. I'm the type where the process itself doesn't interest or feel worthwhile to me unless there's a chance something will actually blow me away the way a classic might.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I'll continue then.... I'm going through a few albums from 2000, not a particularly good year.

Ruins – Pallaschtom. 7/10



Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors - In my opinion his (or their) best album, I had it lower than the Ruins album in my rankings, but listening to them side to side, it's the superior one by a good margin. 8/10

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Not a full album but really enjoyed this. I've listened to some of his other stuff and it's good but really sounds similar to this without hitting that same mark. Great song. The musician's name is Hayden Pegido and he's a Texan.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

The Young Gods - Second Nature. I had a positive memory of this album, and there's a few moments where you recognize some of the talent of the group, but it doesn't help the fact that it's overall pretty lame. 3.5/10



The Olivia Tremor Control - Singles and Beyond. Obviously very uneven. Still some great stuff. 6/10



Plus-Tech Squeeze Box -FAKEVOX. Crazy Japanese pop, the lows are boring, but the highs are pretty high (Sneaker Song! being my personal favorite, but there's a few from which to choose). 6/10