OT: Watcha Listenin' To? Part V

[Young Sandwich]

 

[DancingPanther]

I learned this on the piano. Obviously have to sing it an octave lower.

It is far from the most technical song I can play knowing plenty of Elton and Billy Joel and even a Tim Minchin song, but this is the only one that requires left handed chords. I play big ballad chords as my style. The chords to this one were cake to figure out but playing them in the left hand took a lot of practice.

Tldr; this was a huge challenge for me and I'm proud of myself.


Yay.

 

[trostol]

 

[trostol]

 

[The Rage Kage]

 

[Appleyard]

I always thought Kim Deal's voice was really so often mis-used/under-used with both The Pixies and The Breeders... her verses in Gigantic are just so freaking beautifully sung/talked. But I guess Frank Black has such a distinctive, great voice himself hard to do so. Tbh they also had Dave Lovering who did an awesome job on La love you. Albeit crooner-ish!

 

[Appleyard]

Did this on twitter... but thought could be an interesting exercise if people love music.

Favourite 10 bands of 2010s:

La Femme
Metronomy
Ratatat
Idles
Alt-J
Franz Ferdinand
Degiheugi
The Hives
Tame Impala
Crystal Fighters

HMs: Oliver Tree, The Strokes, Dandy Warhols, Slaves

Favourite 10 albums of 2010s:

La Femme - Psycho Tropical Berlin
Metronomy - The English Riviera
La Femme - Mystere
Ratatat - Magnifique
Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts
The Hives - Lex Hives
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Tame Impala - Currents
The Black Keys - Brothers
Degiheugi - Bagatelle

HMs:
The Dandy Warhols - Distortland
The Specials - Encore
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
Degiheugi - Endless Smile
David Bowie - Blackstar
Crystal Fighters - Star of Love
Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance
Tame Impala - Lonerism
Metronomy - Metronomy Forever

Favourite 10 songs of the 2010s (1 per band):

La Femme - Elle ne t'aime pas
Her - Five Minutes
Altin Gün - Süpürgesi Yoncadan
Alt-J - In Cold Blood
Metronomy - She Wants
Idles - Never Fight a Man with a Perm
Dandy Warhols - STYGGO
New Model Army - Devils Bargain
FFS - Johnny Delusional
Slowthai - Doorman

HMs:

Hindi Zahra - Stand Up
Black Keys - Nova Baby
Oliver Tree - All I Got
Franz Ferdinand - Goodbye Lovers & Friends
The Hives - 1000 Answers
Crystal Fighters - Follow
The Specials - Embarrassed by You
Tame Impala - Less I Know the Better
Degiheugi - Qu'attendez-vous de moi
The Strokes - OBLIVIUS
Lachinos - Alas Rotas
Ratatat - Rome
Slaves - The Hunter
LCD Soundsytem - New York I Love You
Bow Low - Kabuki Dance
Concrete Knives - The Quiet Ones

 

[Rebels57]

Did this on twitter... but thought could be an interesting exercise if people love music.

Favourite 10 bands of 2010s:

La Femme
Metronomy
Ratatat
Idles
Alt-J
Franz Ferdinand
Degiheugi
The Hives
Tame Impala
Crystal Fighters

HMs: Oliver Tree, The Strokes, Dandy Warhols, Slaves

Favourite 10 albums of 2010s:

La Femme - Psycho Tropical Berlin
Metronomy - The English Riviera
La Femme - Mystere
Ratatat - Magnifique
Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts
The Hives - Lex Hives
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Tame Impala - Currents
The Black Keys - Brothers
Degiheugi - Bagatelle

HMs:
The Dandy Warhols - Distortland
The Specials - Encore
Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
Degiheugi - Endless Smile
David Bowie - Blackstar
Crystal Fighters - Star of Love
Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance
Tame Impala - Lonerism
Metronomy - Metronomy Forever

Favourite 10 songs of the 2010s (1 per band):

La Femme - Elle ne t'aime pas
Her - Five Minutes
Altin Gün - Süpürgesi Yoncadan
Alt-J - In Cold Blood
Metronomy - She Wants
Idles - Never Fight a Man with a Perm
Dandy Warhols - STYGGO
New Model Army - Devils Bargain
FFS - Johnny Delusional
Slowthai - Doorman

HMs:

Hindi Zahra - Stand Up
Black Keys - Nova Baby
Oliver Tree - All I Got
Franz Ferdinand - Goodbye Lovers & Friends
The Hives - 1000 Answers
Crystal Fighters - Follow
The Specials - Embarrassed by You
Tame Impala - Less I Know the Better
Degiheugi - Qu'attendez-vous de moi
The Strokes - OBLIVIUS
Lachinos - Alas Rotas
Ratatat - Rome
Slaves - The Hunter
LCD Soundsytem - New York I Love You
Bow Low - Kabuki Dance
Concrete Knives - The Quiet Ones

Just picked up This Is Happening by LCD on vinyl a few weeks back and I have listened to it like 4 times already. Such a fun album!

I think ill post some of my favorites tomorrow.

Brothers and Currents will both be in the mix for my albums list.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

 

[Rebels57]

@Appleyard this was extremely hard, and I know I will change my mind on a few of these choices, possibly as soon as later today lol.

Top 10 Favorite Albums of the 2010s (ordered by release date)

• The Black Keys - Brothers (2010)
• LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening (2010)
• Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (2010)
• The Black Keys - El Camino (2011)
• The Shins - Port of Morrow (2012)
• Electric Guest - Mondo (2012)
• Kavinsky - OutRun (2013)
• Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (2013)
• Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly (2015)
• Gunship - Dark All Day (2018)

HM:

• Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls (2012)
• Jack White - Blunderbuss (2012)
• The Lumineers - The Lumineers (2012)
• Gunship - Gunship (2015)
• Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think.. (2015)
• Tampa Impala - Currents (2015)
• A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here.. (2016)
• Anderson. Paak - Malibu (2016)
• Portugal. The Man - Woodstock (2017)
• half | alive - still feel. (2018)

Top 10 Favorite Songs of the 2010s (ordered by release date)

• Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (2010)
• The Black Keys - Gold On the Ceiling (2011)
• M83 - Midnight City (2011)
• Kavinsky - Nightcall (2011)
• Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? (2013)
• Trevor Something - Do It Again (2015)
• Gunship - Tech Noir (2015)
• Kendrick Lamar - These Walls (2015)
• half | alive - I Still Feel Alive (2018)
• Vampire Weekend - Harmony Hall (2019)

HM:

• The Black Keys - Everlasting Light (2010)
• LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great (2010)
• Run the Jewels - Angel Duster (2014)
• Perfume Genius - Queen (2014)
• Tame Impala - Let It Happen (2015)
• Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian At Best (2015)
• A Tribe Called Quest - Melatonin (2016)
• Anderson. Paak - Put Me Thru (2016)
• Gunship - Dark All Day (2018)
• Electric Guest - Freestyle (2019)

Oh and for what it's worth, my top 2 songs of 2020 so far..

• Bombay Bicycle Club - I Can Hardly Speak
• The Strokes - Endless Summer

 

[TCTC]

The 2010s was a pretty bad decade for music, imo. Not a whole lot of albums I'd consider memorable.

The 00's had countless new bands and albums that maybe weren't always original, but they felt fresh and some of my all time favorite records were released during that decade.

It's like the entire music industry suddenly hit a wall.

 

[trostol]

 

[Appleyard]

The 2010s was a pretty bad decade for music, imo. Not a whole lot of albums I'd consider memorable.

The 00's had countless new bands and albums that maybe weren't always original, but they felt fresh and some of my all time favorite records were released during that decade.

It's like the entire music industry suddenly hit a wall.

Sorry for the text wall in advance.

My opinion on the decade overall is that there were a lot of good songs, probably as many as the 2000s... from a lot of artists from all manner of genres...

but not too many good albums. So many artists with ~2 or so good songs in a sea of mediocrity.

Probably a large part due to the way that music went with the advent of music streaming, downloading etc.

While more bands had a platform, at the same time unless bands doing it off their backs, or already well established, no-one is giving them a million to make an album, unlimited studio time, paid for retreats for months together. And one-off songs, small EPs etc are more common. And a lot of albums are just mashed together songs surrounding a couple of great ones to capitalise on their popular success. Not too many bands are focusing on an album when it used to be a money maker. Now selling tshirts makes more.

And while now everyone "can" be a producer and engineer in their own home, and some great tracks have been released like that, well... having a studio engineer and a producer who have a lot of experience, know the sound they want, what the music "can" be is not as common as it was, and studio time is f***ing expensive. And some amazing musicians make shoddy engineers and producers, just like some mediocre musicians and songwriters have made amazing engineers and producers. It is rare for someone to be masters of 2/4, let alone 3/4 or 4/4... Joseph Mount of Metronomy comes to mind (and still, four albums in the decade and only one is amazing, one other damn good, and two more with some great songs but overall just "solid"), but there are not many.

And even if there are great songwriters, in a great band, with the will to make an album... and they get the studio time, and a good producer and engineer... then to really make it an "album" in my eyes it should really be well curated, probably coming with 30+ songs and whittling it down to what fits... and working together. It used to be people would often leave a great song off an album for the next one if it did not fit. Less so now.

I mean, there are maybe more "studios" than ever. But "pro" studies are not like they were for the most part. How many have several rooms, basically a personal library of musical instruments, pedals, amps...

my brother is a sound engineer... and he has a studio in the basement (with a proper vocal booth and desk)... but of course the difference between a pro studio and his selection of ~7 guitars, ~2 basses, 1 drumkit, 1 drum machine and ~20 pedals and ~7 or so mics and ~3 keyboards is enormous. And a lot of albums from smaller bands are made in such spaces or low end local studios.

The difference between recording with him in a proper studio he had free access to a few years ago vs his, I mean, jeez. Just night and day.

One of the best albums ever for me is The Waterboys Fisherman's Blues. They went to Ireland for over a year together, had infinite studio time, and like ~200 versions of 90+ songs that was then practiced and curated into 13 songs. That is not happening now unless someone does it on their own dime.

Additionally, quite frankly most of the "pop stars", even the mass produced ones, until the 2000s were also pretty darn good musicians and songwriters in their own right, no matter if I liked their music or not. Now that number is less % wise.

The talent is still there, and there is a platform to be heard no matter if in Boston or Beirut... but there are not the incentives, rarely the money, and not as many listeners to make it common.

A big single, a tour and merch sales are more valuable to a band than an insanely great album... and can rinse and repeat that ~3 times over in 2 years. Which is probably about the same time to write, rehearse, record and release a good album with just intermittent touring. (ofc some artists just have insane periods of productivity and defy that whole rule... The Stranglers in the late 70s for example with an album every 8 months or so. (but it took a lot of drugs and coming into the industry with a 3 year backlog of songs, and basically a blank cheque from United Artists.)

Just my observations. I am not a professional and have really a second hand view of it. My brother would for sure be more interesting to ask and almost certainly would say some of this is completely wrong haha. (but that is just who he is, even if I was 100% right! Haha)

 

[TCTC]

@Appleyard Well said. You're probably right. The music industry has changed a lot. On one hand it's much easier to consume music and discover new bands/artists nowadays. But at the same time Spotify and Youtube among others have changed the way people listen to music.
It's a shame because in a perfect world making a great album should be top priority for every band.

 

[Appleyard]

Dont know how big they have got across the Atlantic.

But for me, alongside Metronomy, Idles and Slaves one of the best British bands to emerge in the last 10 years.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

 

[Rebels57]

The 2010s was a pretty bad decade for music, imo. Not a whole lot of albums I'd consider memorable.

The 00's had countless new bands and albums that maybe weren't always original, but they felt fresh and some of my all time favorite records were released during that decade.

It's like the entire music industry suddenly hit a wall.

I think mainstream music hit the wall a bit after 2012 and then due to streaming and availability, a lot of niche genres starting to attract more attention. People listen to a lot of weird shit right now and there are great albums being made in these niche genres, but they are not as accessible and therefore it gives the impression that not as many great albums are being made. For example, I love the synthwave/retrowave genre and have been listening to a ton since like 2017 (it really started ramping up around 2015) but the percentage of the population that has heard of any of the bands is infinitesimal.

 

[dragonoffrost]

What I needed while working from home...

 

[Rebels57]

Add this to my list of Best Songs of 2020 with

-Eternal Summer by The Strokes
-I Can Hardly Speak by Bombay Bicycle Club

 

[mja]

Months ago, I had intended this week to be a brief return of my more youthful days and planned to take in a few shows.

First, Steve Malkmus at Union Transfer last Saturday:


Then, the reunited Loaf at Underground Arts this Friday:


And finally, returning to UA the next night to catch Sebadoh:


Now, 3 shows in a week probably would have killed me, perhaps literally as it turns out. Sigh.

 

[Beef Invictus]

What I needed while working from home...

Everyone I've ever encountered absolutely despises this opinion: I cannot stand Janes Addiction. At all.

At this point the problem is obviously me because everyone else looks at me like I'm actively eating a turd I scooped out of a stray dog's butt when I say that. Nobody has ever agreed.

 

[Rebels57]

Everyone I've ever encountered absolutely despises this opinion: I cannot stand Janes Addiction. At all.

At this point the problem is obviously me because everyone else looks at me like I'm actively eating a turd I scooped out of a stray dog's butt when I say that. Nobody has ever agreed.

Nah they suck

 

[Rebels57]

Nah they suck

Ok maybe not suck, but I can do without em.

 

[mja]

Everyone I've ever encountered absolutely despises this opinion: I cannot stand Janes Addiction. At all.

At this point the problem is obviously me because everyone else looks at me like I'm actively eating a turd I scooped out of a stray dog's butt when I say that. Nobody has ever agreed.

They were an important band in priming the music industry to be willing to get a little weird. I can take them or leave them (and more the latter), but my wife suddenly transforms into a 17 year old girl whenever Jane Says comes on the radio.

 

[dragonoffrost]

Months ago, I had intended this week to be a brief return of my more youthful days and planned to take in a few shows.

First, Steve Malkmus at Union Transfer last Saturday:


Then, the reunited Loaf at Underground Arts this Friday:


And finally, returning to UA the next night to catch Sebadoh:


Now, 3 shows in a week probably would have killed me, perhaps literally as it turns out. Sigh.

A few years ago I did 3 concerts in a weekend... BIG Mistake. I had no energy or voice for almost a week. Back in the late 80's I did 4-5 shows in a week without an issue.