Music: Last Album You Listened to and Rate It II

[Gordon Lightfoot]

I could see that. I think there's a pretty stark divide between Radiohead at their most genius (Kid A, In Rainbows, OK Computer, The Bends, Moon Shaped Pool), at their most experimental (Amnesiac, Hail to the Thief), and at their... least good (Pablo Honey, King of Limbs). I think that exact order is how I'd rate them, too.

Man, I've tried so hard to like King of Limbs over the years. It's just... not good.

I go like this:

A Moon Shaped Pool
Kid A
In Rainbows
Amnesiac
Hail to the Thief
The King of Limbs
OK Computer

The Bends

Pablo Honey

I think they're a great band overall. Not my favorite but lots of good stuff.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Any standout tracks from Virtue and Marquee Moon? I love both.

I know you didn't ask me, but... Venus is the standout on MM.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I'm super curious what kind of vinyl/stereo set-ups you guys use.

Nothing super fancy but I love the sound of it.

Turntable: Technics SL-20
Cart:. Shure M97xE
Receiver: Technics SA-5470
Speakers: Boston Acoustics A40

 

[Shareefruck]

I keep second-guessing exactly how good I think Radiohead is as a band. I don't think they're among the very very best, but I get why people feel compelled to elevate them to that-- they do check off so many of the boxes with such proficiency and polish.

Radiohead Albums
1. In Rainbows - 4.0 (Flawless) [Just feels the most "right" out of all their albums-- Weakest track for me is "Videotape"]
2. Kid A - 3.5 (Great) [Only thing that holds it back for me is "How to Disappear Completely", which reminds me of their melodramatic earlier stuff]
3. Hail to the Thief - 2.5 (Good) [Underrated-- What it's going for is aesthetically/attitude-wise really cool-- In fact, I wish they'd revisit it-- and it nails it most of the time]
4. Amnesiac - 2.5 (Good) [I like the style and peaks a lot more than the albums beneath it, but it's lacking a bit of cohesion and consistency]
5. A Moon Shaped Pool - 2.0 (Positive) [Really unreservedly solid and consistent but after numerous revisits, nothing ever really stands out or sticks with me]
6. OK Computer - 2.0 (Positive) [The more time passes, the more I feel like it's more of an admirable transition period between their tasteful stuff and their overbearing stuff rather than some amazing classic that marks their peak, personally]
7. The King of Limbs - 1.0 (Negative) [I actually do like the style/tastefulness and a handful of the tracks, but yeah, it's not great for sure]
8. The Bends - 0.5 (Bad) [I find it really cheesy, whiney, melodramatic, heavy-handed, and generally annoying, personally-- completely negates the admittedly consistently memorable catchiness for me]
9. Pablo Honey - 0.0 (Terrible)

Favorite Radiohead Tracks
1. Everything in Its Right Place
2. The Pyramid Song
3. A Wolf at the Door
4. There There
5. Jigsaw Falling Into Place

 

[Saturated Fats]

Any standout tracks from Virtue and Marquee Moon? I love both.

Glad you asked! From Virtue, 'Pyramid of Bones' is an absolute banger. Love it.

Tougher identifying a fave from Marquee Moon, as I think the quality of many of the songs is based on the album flow. 'See No Evil' and 'Venus' are amazing as an opening pair.

 

[Saturated Fats]

I keep second-guessing exactly how good I think Radiohead is as a band. I don't think they're among the very very best, but I get why people feel compelled to elevate them to that-- they do check off so many of the boxes with such proficiency and polish.

Radiohead Albums
1. In Rainbows - 4.0 (Flawless) [Just feels the most "right" out of all their albums-- Weakest track for me is "Videotape"]
2. Kid A - 3.5 (Great) [Only thing that holds it back for me is "How to Disappear Completely", which reminds me of their melodramatic earlier stuff]
3. Hail to the Thief - 3.0 (Very Good) [Very underrated-- What it's going for is aesthetically/attitude-wise really cool-- In fact, I wish they'd revisit it-- and it nails it most of the time]
4. Amnesiac - 2.5 (Good) [I like the style and peaks a lot more than the albums beneath it, but it's lacking a bit of cohesion and consistency]
5. A Moon Shaped Pool - 2.0 (Positive) [Really unreservedly solid and consistent but after numerous revisits, nothing ever really stands out or sticks with me]
6. OK Computer - 2.0 (Positive) [The more time passes, the more I feel like it's more of an admirable transition period between their tasteful stuff and their overbearing stuff rather than some amazing classic that marks their peak, personally]
7. The King of Limbs - 1.0 (Negative) [I actually do like the style/tastefulness and a handful of the tracks, but yeah, it's not great for sure]
8. The Bends - 0.5 (Bad) [I find it really cheesy, whiney, melodramatic, heavy-handed, and generally annoying, personally-- completely negates the admittedly consistently memorable catchiness for me]
9. Pablo Honey - 0.0 (Terrible)

Favorite Radiohead Tracks
1. Everything in Its Right Place
2. The Pyramid Song
3. A Wolf at the Door
4. There There
5. Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Right there with you for virtually all of this, except HTTF. Just feel that the lows (and there are several) are too low for me. And yeah, The Bends does take itself veeeeeeery seriously. So thankful they subsequently moved away from that.

If I had to place a 5 fave Radiohead tracks, it'd go 'Pyramid Song', 'Optimistic', 'Reckoner', 'House of Cards', & 'Let Down'. Pyramid is in my five favourite tracks from any band ever, without question.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I know you didn't ask me, but... Venus is the standout on MM.

I think Venus and Prove It are my favorites from the album.

 

[Shareefruck]

As an opinionated person, I really love Prove It. The way the sentiment seemingly wavers back and forth between loving tribute and satirical ridicule (at least that's how I take it) is just perfect.

 

[Shareefruck]

Right there with you for virtually all of this, except HTTF. Just feel that the lows (and there are several) are too low for me. And yeah, The Bends does take itself veeeeeeery seriously. So thankful they subsequently moved away from that.

If I had to place a 5 fave Radiohead tracks, it'd go 'Pyramid Song', 'Optimistic', 'Reckoner', 'House of Cards', & 'Let Down'. Pyramid is in my five favourite tracks from any band ever, without question.

Conceded. I definitely think I Will, We Suck Young Blood, and (to a lesser extent) The Gloaming are weaker and more forgettable tracks that ideally should have been left off, but they still don't strike me as downright awful or even any worse than some of the more respected tracks in the earlier albums (that I dislike more actively), personally. The rest of the album is great, though.

 

[Saturated Fats]

I listened to a LOT of really good music this week, and I'm absolutely buzzing. Tapped into some classics that I hadn't heard in a long time and/or hadn't heard as complete albums.

NEW-ISH
Bon Iver - i,i (5/10)
Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? (5/10)
Panopticon - The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness (8/10)
Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains (7/10)
Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy (7/10)
Sun Kil Moon - I Also Want to Die in New Orleans (4/10)

I've never been a huge Bon Iver fan, and this album does nothing to change that. I appreciate the chances he takes, and it feels VERY conceptual, but I just can't vibe on his voice and song structure. Deerhunter has one of my favourite albums of the last ten years (Halcyon Digest), but this one was pretty meh. Panopticon are one of the best things going in metal right now, and though this album doesn't quite reach the heights of the nature trilogy, it's still really quite good. I'd put off Purple Mountains for a while, but with David Berman's death, I prioritized it this week - and it was a strong album. Car Seat Headrest is really up-and-down, but I love the ups, while Sun Kil Moon has really fallen off since the Himalayan heights of Benji and now just sound boring.

CLASSICS
Swans - To Be Kind (8/10)
Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me (7/10)
Sun Kil Moon - Benji (9/10)
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone (9/10)
The Drones - Feelin Kinda Free (5/10)
Kyuss - Sky Valley (8/10)
The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt (8/10)
Slowdive - Slowdive (9/10)
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (8/10)

I feel like I gave too many 8+ marks here... but I just happened to listen to a lot of really good music this week, and I'm not gonna bell curve the stuff that I love.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

2nd by Agitation Free (1973) - Randomly stumbled a great track a while back and now listened to the full album. It's almost perfect. The structure of songs range from extremely tight to very fluid, but always off the beaten path. A very creative if not outright strange work (Dialogue & Random is one hell of a weird song and probably the one I liked the least). The songs sound like a perfectly executed mix of naturalistic and futuristic sounds. The musicians often create these oddly melodic and different pools of sound within the song yet it never clunks. No vocals (which is just as well). Only brilliant orchestration.

@Mikey 48 @Shareefruck Are you guys familiar with this band? Since you guys both like Krautrock I think you guys should check this album out. Could see it clicking.

Standout tracks: First Communication, Laila Pt.1, Laila Pt.2, A Quiet Walk

 

[Shareefruck]

2nd by Agitation Free (1973) - Randomly stumbled a great track a while back and now listened to the full album. It's almost perfect. The structure of songs range from extremely tight to very fluid, but always off the beaten path. A very creative if not outright strange work (Dialogue & Random is one hell of a weird song and probably the one I liked the least). The songs sound like a perfectly executed mix of naturalistic and futuristic sounds. The musicians often create these oddly melodic and different pools of sound within the song yet it never clunks. No vocals (which is just as well). Only brilliant orchestration.

@Mikey 48 @Shareefruck Are you guys familiar with this band? Since you guys both like Krautrock I think you guys should check this album out. Could see it clicking.

Standout tracks: First Communication, Laila Pt.1, Laila Pt.2, A Quiet Walk

Yeah, thanks for mentioning it-- the album was kind of off my radar. Agitation Free has always felt more like a second or third tier Krautrock band to me, personally, although every time I make the rounds trying out all the Krautrock bands, I always stop at the album "Malesch" and have never gotten around to trying "2nd". I'm really digging some of it, but it doesn't really hold together that well for me (and while the sound is up my alley, it doesn't really seem that inspired to me). "First Communication" is probably my favorite track (gives me slight vibes that remind me of "Miss Fortune" by Faust, The Side of the Machine by Tony Conrad, or "Toucan Ocean" by Jon Hassell, all of which I love), Layla Pt. 2, In the Silence of the Morning Sunrise & A Quiet Walk are solid, I'm lukewarm on Haunted Island, and I dislike Dialogue & Random and Layla Pt. 1.

2nd by Agitation Free - 2.0 or 2.5 (Positive/Good)
Malesch by Agitation Free - 2.0 (Positive)
Mekanik Destrukiw Kommandoh by Magma - 1.5 (Neutral)

 

[irunthepeg]

"Malibu Nights" by LANY. 8.5/10. Has a real 80s pop vibe to it. A break-up album. It's dope.

Best tracks: "Thick And Thin", "I Don't Wanna Love You Anymore", "Malibu Nights"

 

[ItsFineImFine]

I go like this:

A Moon Shaped Pool
Kid A
In Rainbows
Amnesiac
Hail to the Thief
The King of Limbs
OK Computer

The Bends

Pablo Honey

I think they're a great band overall. Not my favorite but lots of good stuff.

OK Computer
The Bends
Kid A

In Rainbows
A Moon Shaped Pool

Hail To The Thief

The King of Limbs
Amnesiac

Pablo Honey

kent were better.

 

[heatnikki]

Titanic Rising – Weyes Blood, like it
9/10

 

[Shareefruck]

Operation Doomsday by MFDoom - 3.5 (Great)
Shades of Blue by Madlib - 2.0 (Positive)
Krush by DJ Krush - 2.0 (Positive)
Instrumentalyst (Octagon Beats) by Dr. Octagon - 2.0 (Positive) [I like Kool Keith's rapping but some of these tracks really do sound better without rapping on them]
An Electric Storm by White Noise - 1.5 (Neutral)
Millions Now Living Will Never Die by Tortoise - 1.0 (Negative)
TNT by Tortoise - 1.0 (Negative)
Beat Konducta Vol. 1-2 by Beat Konducta (Madlib) - 1.0 (Negative)
Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett by Venetian Snares - 0.5 (Bad) [Sounds like a cheesy, try-hard, kind of pretentious rip-off of Aphex Twin to my ears rather than an interesting successor, IMO]

Special Herbs Vol. 1-2 by Metal Fingers (MFDoom)
Not intended to be a coherent album experience, so I won't rate it, but I really appreciated this. Really highlights how great of an artist MFDoom is (one of my favorite artists period after 2000). Made me appreciate Operation Doomsday more.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Ki Oku by DJ Krush - 4.0 (Flawless) [continues to grow on me]
Operation Doomsday by MFDoom - 3.5 (Great)
Shades of Blue by Madlib - 2.0 (Positive)
Krush by DJ Krush - 2.0 (Positive)
Instrumentalyst (Octagon Beats) by Dr. Octagon - 2.0 (Positive) [I like Kool Keith's rapping but some of these tracks really do sound better without rapping on them]
An Electric Storm by White Noise - 1.5 (Neutral)
Millions Now Living Will Never Die by Tortoise - 1.0 (Negative)
TNT by Tortoise - 1.0 (Negative)
Beat Konducta Vol. 1-2 by Beat Konducta (Madlib) - 1.0 (Negative)
Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett by Venetian Snares - 0.5 (Bad) [Sounds like a cheesy, try-hard, kind of pretentious rip-off of Aphex Twin to my ears rather than an interesting successor, IMO]

Special Herbs Vol. 1-2 by Metal Fingers (MFDoom)
Not intended to be a coherent album experience, so I won't rate it, but I really appreciated this. Really highlights how great of an artist MFDoom is (one of my favorite artists period after 2000). Made me appreciate Operation Doomsday more.

MF Doom is fantastic. His production on Mm...Food is infinitely pretty in such a low-key and unconventional way. I absolutely adore the song Potholderz. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be on Youtube.

 

[Saturated Fats]

NEW-ISH
The Tallest Man on Earth - I Love You, It's a Fever Dream (6/10)
Jack White - Boarding House Reach (4/10)
The Twilight Sad - It Won/T Be Like This All the Time (6/10)
Buddy Guy - The Blues is Alive and Well (8/10)
The Black Keys - Let's Rock (4/10)
State Faults - Clairvoyant (5/10)
Falls of Rauros - Patterns in Mythology (10/10)

The new Falls of Rauros is the peak of the folk/myth metal that bands like Panopticon and Saor have been at the forefront of for the past few years. It is hard-driving, atmospheric, storytelling genius... the new Tallest Man is a little disappointing, if only because he abandons some of his folk trappings for a poppier sound, which comes off a little hollow at times. 'Hotel Bar' is absolutely gut-wrenching, though... for a man who is obsessed with the history of music, Jack White sure has a tendency (post-WS) to make mediocre records... TTS step away from pure sadcore and into a bit more poppy territory, and while some of the songs are definitely solid, it just wasn't what I expect from them - this is a record that I sense may grow on me... the new Black Keys just feels stale, and like they ran out of ideas after 'Lo/Hi' and 'Go', which are bangers... I expected more out of State Faults, considering some of the reviews I'd read, but there's way better hardcore/screamo out there right now... and I just freaking love Buddy Guy, even if not all of the songs on this record are perfect.

CLASSICS
Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi OST (9/10)
Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' in the Moonlight (9/10)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A#∞ (8/10)
Viet Cong - Viet Cong (5/10)
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind (7/10)
Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (5/10)
Gary Clark Jr. - Blak & Blu (3/10)
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw... (9/10)

Couple things I learned this week - Philip Glass has such an immense influence on the avant garde instrumentation that we see rampant in modern film OST's, only his is so diverse and motif-heavy that it feels like a fever dream... and Fiona Apple is basically the female Bob Dylan, but doesn't get nearly the credit for it. Each of her albums has gotten better, and this one is top-10 of the decade territory for sure.

 

[Shareefruck]

MF Doom is fantastic. His production on Mm...Food is infinitely pretty in such a low-key and unconventional way. I absolutely adore the song Potholderz. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be on Youtube.

Mm... Food is definitely up there for me as well.

 

[Shareefruck]

Some predictable news: Giles Martin is continuing his process of remixing Beatles albums in a way that sounds infinitely more crisp, modern and pristine, now with Abbey Road set to be released on September 27th.

Not sure how strongly I feel about this one because the original already sounds pretty difficult to improve in any noticeable way fidelity-wise. I'm just waiting for him to fix Rubber Soul and Revolver (which would legitimately shoot them up my favorites). Cleaned up Abbey Road demos will be nice though.

The Beatles’ Abbey Road Gets Massive 50th Anniversary Box Set | Pitchfork




The 50th Anniversary versions of Sgt. Pepper and the White Album were incredible, IMO.

 

[Shareefruck]

Off-topic thing I'm curious about. How do you guys feel about this whole phenomenon?

I mean, obviously it's not against board rules, and if people want to do it, they should-- it's not like you can or should govern that kind of thing-- but it does seem pretty ridiculous. To me, it's not much better than having multiple threads of people going:

Subject: Numbers with the letter 'E' in them

eleven

ten

seven

sixty-five

one

ninety

nine

ninety-nine

eighteen

thirty-three

.... etc.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Off-topic thing I'm curious about. How do you guys feel about this whole phenomenon?

I mean, obviously it's not against board rules, and if people want to do it, they should-- it's not like you can or should govern that kind of thing-- but it does seem pretty ridiculous. To me, it's not much better than having multiple threads of people going:












.... etc.

What? I'm not getting it. What is that?

 

[Shareefruck]

What? I'm not getting it. What is that?

Just the growing epidemic of time-waster-game threads that consist entirely of posters listing off songs that have some random arbitrary thing in common, I mean. I'd get it a bit more if they were actually discussing what the best ones in each category is, but even then it seems pretty senseless.

Is the image not loading?

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Just the growing epidemic of time-waster-game threads that consist entirely of posters listing off songs that have some random arbitrary thing in common, I mean. I'd get it a bit more if they were actually discussing what the best ones in each category is, but even then it seems pretty senseless.

Is the image not loading?

Yeah, I hadn't seen the first image. It hadn't loaded on my phone. Yeah, I don't really participate in those threads but I suppose someone could see the use in finding new music. Personally, I'm more interested in discussion of sensibilities and quality than I am in just rattling off songs, but it's whatever. The controversial opinion thread was fun for that. I'm much more bothered by the fact that threads have to stop at around 1000 posts because then it's going to be a bitch to use this thread for example, which is used by about 5-6 posters, for references when it's going to be buried after being locked.

 

[Shareefruck]

h, I don't really participate in those threads but I suppose someone could see the use in finding new music. Personally, I'm more interested in discussion of sensibilities and quality than I am in just rattling off songs, but it's whatever. The controversial opinion thread was fun for that. I'm much more bothered by the fact that threads have to stop at around 1000 posts because then it's going to be a ***** to use this thread for example, which is used by about 5-6 posters, for references when it's going to be buried after being lock

Weird way to find new music, though, especially considering that liking the song isn't even implied.
I wonder if there are technical reasons for the second thing. Load times/clean-up, etc.