The Music Thread

[leedsrevolution]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ION-Audio-Air-LP-Belt-Drive/dp/B00XCETWIW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1481232629&sr=8-3&keywords=vinyl+player+bluetooth

I just use this with a nice bluetooth speaker.

[Adamski]

Cheers. Would a Sonos Play 1 work with this?

[leedsrevolution]

Is it just a bluetooth speaker? No reason why it wouldn't. I bout the player and then the speaker without ever checking any specs. I have about 4 bluetooth speakers and they all hook up to it fine.

I also have about 400 records you can have aswell for fuck all if you will collect the twats.

[Adamski]

Carlisle meet?

[Adamski]

Anyone play guitar? Looking to learn, any recommendations for a good starter acoustic to buy?

[Raoul Duke]

Anyone play guitar? Looking to learn, any recommendations for a good starter acoustic to buy?

It pretty much comes down to feel and budget - there are some brands which are more established (Gibson/Martin etc.) but they aren't cheap. You definitely need to go into a shop to try a few, and don't rule out a second hand one. Generally, for a beginner, something with low "action" (the distance of the strings away from the fretboard) will be a little easier to fret notes and chords.

Also, if you're starting out, pick up an electronic tuner (and tune-up every time you play), a capo and a few picks. Check out Ultimate Guitar for chords for songs.

[Adamski]

I was thinking of just getting something really basic until I see if it stuck and had managed to learn a few songs. Don't see the point in getting a really good one at the moment.

[leedsrevolution]

In all honesty just get one from gumtree if you just want to see if it sticks. Just don't get a plastic stringed classical guitar. Unless you specifically want to learn that style.

[leedsrevolution]

Ignore this I've fucked up.

[leedsrevolution]

Just go on Argos just found a nice Martin Smith acoustic set for 50 quid with a tuner and a stand.

[Adamski]

Cheers. I seen some on amazon for £40-£50 but wasn't sure if they would be terrible or not.

Will check that out.

[leedsrevolution]

I mean, they aren't going to be brilliant. But at the end of the day, any in tune guitar will sound alright and will do the trick.

[Giggles]

Get a 2nd hand good one instead of a cheap new one.

[Raoul Duke]

They will be terrible. Picking-up a decent second-hand one is fine advice, but again, you want to make sure you buy something that's nice to play.

My first guitar was a Yamaha which I saved up about £300 for. It was an absolute nightmare to play.

[Magic]

You can't really try before you commit with a musical instrument. Buy a shit one and you'll probably be put off. Buy a good one and you can't get in to it and you've wasted money. Personally I'd go for the latter. My little uns 2 piece kit cost £70.

[Adamski]

They will be terrible. Picking-up a decent second-hand one is fine advice, but again, you want to make sure you buy something that's nice to play.

My first guitar was a Yamaha which I saved up about £300 for. It was an absolute nightmare to play.

I'm not really going to have a comparison on whether it's nice to play or not. Ideally I wouldn't want to spend more than £100 on something I might be terrible at.

Would rather get something to learn the basics and worrying about splashing out on something a lot nicer and enjoying it afterwards

[Giggles]

An absolutely shite one will be so horrible to play that you'll be put off though. Don't get anything the action is too high on or it'll be a nightmare.

[Reg]

Instead of buying one you could try a lesson or two with a teacher who will let you borrow a guitar.

[Magic]

That's a good shout.

[igor_balis]

Billy McKenzie's voice is :drool:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ_4f4gVof4

[-james-]

Grabbed John Cale - Fragments of a Rainy Season today

It's a reissue of a 1992 live album with a few bits tacked on the end.

It's fantastic. I love John Cale.

[Magic]

Billy McKenzie's voice is :drool:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ_4f4gVof4

Fuck me that is dreadful.

[-james-]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wah8bIvVkIY


Woof.

[John]

That's great.

I've taken to sticking acoustic playlists on Spotify while pottering around doing the obligatory Christmas clearout and wrapping presents etc. That Hailee Steinfeld thing seems to be near the beginning of just about every one of them, and while it's quite a catchy little song I'd quite like it to fuck off now. I don't need the urge to hum a song about the awakening of girl's sexual desire presenting itself while I'm in Tesco. Was it Bernanke who worked for them? Sort it out.

[Bernanke]

Left about 18 months ago, it's the reason it's going to shit.

[Manc]

There are shades of Fleetwood Mac in Clean Cut Kid. Stoke here I come.

[Magic]

HELP.

I need to remember an artist (I think it was a woman but may be some sort of transpectacular). It was something like Benevita Humperdink or something LOL. FFS. :(

EDIT: Devandra Banhart. :D

EDIT 2: It's a bloke?! :face:

[Magic]

I've just read that back...fukk me. That's a typical moment in my mind. It's like when I thought Gossamer Thin was an American person from the 1800s.

[Adamski]

I didn't realise he was a he either.

[wullie]

Devendra is among the most manly of all names, going by the overwhelming evidence

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-52YhaXcwgw4/VAM67hrmWzI/AAAAAAAACbQ/NgFNi4pEzIo/s1600/550w_corrie_dev.jpg

[Offshore Toon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDUrpPvU1_4

Rather odd.

[Magic]

Omg. :drool:

[-james-]

https://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/interpol-turn-on-bright-lights-15th-anniversary-tour.jpeg


:drool:

[Alex]

:drool:

My brother just messaged me about that earlier. We're going to try and get to the London show.

[Alex]

This week is quite a good one for new releases too, I feel like it's worth mentioning. Cloud Nothings, Japandroids and Ty Segall all release on Friday.

[bruhnaldo]

i've not heard of any of those people. fuck my life.

[Magic]

Me neither.

[Raoul Duke]

There's a new Arcade Fire single which is pretty good. Kinda dance-y, like the Reflektor stuff.

New San Fermin coming out soon too. Worth checking out if you've not tried them.

[-james-]

http://pitchfork.com/news/70642-mount-eerie-announces-new-album-shares-new-song-real-death-listen/?mbid=social_twitter

Pretty special really. Going to save replaying it until the rest of the album's out.

[-james-]

https://soundcloud.com/neilcic/mouth-moods

On another note, this is surprisingly amazing. Had me in stitches for a lot of it.

[Baz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3dSQrW5Y9E

Ace. :) It really should have "The Enemy Is You" on too, but I shouldn't grumble.

[-james-]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpW7iYfuGDU

:)

[ScousePig]

Decided to give Spotify a try as I'm well behind with music. Does anyone here listen to The Twilight Sad? I've been recommended Conor Oberst, Frog and Meilyr Jones so downloaded their albums. Downloaded a Foxygen album too.

[Offshore Toon]

Spotify is great for finding new music. Discover Weekly playlist is quite good, but the Song Radio option is great. Also, if you make a playlist it'll recommend stuff to add at the bottom that you can go through.

[ScousePig]

Everything about it so far is great. I don't why I didn't bother earlier.

[Shindig]

I used to use it a lot to the point where I maxed out plays on songs a fair bit.

[Raoul Duke]

I used to use it a lot to the point where I maxed out plays on songs a fair bit.

Why didn't you pay for it? It's only a tenner a month

[Shindig]

I don't listen to much music outside of work. Even then, it's on my iPod rather than phone.

[CJay]

dino, I assume you've heard WHY?'s new music? The three songs they've released so far are quite good.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oes4gfSbOWs

[Spikey M]

Yeah, it was shit when Hotchip did that 10 years ago.

[Alex]

I'm really liking the new Ryan Adams record. It's his "divorce" album, and I would say it's his best in a decade or so. I've been playing it all week.

[Reg]

Thundercat has a new record that's cool. And I really like At The Drive-In's new single.

[Alex]

Shit, I forgot about the new Thundercat album. I think I pre-ordered that about a month ago. Who could ever have predicted an album would exist which would feature both Kenny Loggins and Kendrick Lamar?

The always excellent Feelies have also released a new album today, which I can already say based on a couple of listens is great.

[leedsrevolution]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O90yZIksM3c&ab_channel=Priko

[Raoul Duke]

I'm really liking the new Ryan Adams record. It's his "divorce" album, and I would say it's his best in a decade or so. I've been playing it all week.

It sounds well Springsteen. To the point I'm still not sure if one or two songs on it are covers :-/

[Alex]

It sounds well Springsteen. To the point I'm still not sure if one or two songs on it are covers :-/

You're right, it does, also a little Tom Petty-esque in places as well I would say. Making a concerted effort to sound more like Springsteen seems to be a legitimate career phase for a lot of acts now, people are always doing it.

"1989" was Springsteen as fuck too (well, obviously it was actually Taylor Swift as fuck, but you get what I mean) and he seems to have just remained in Boss-mode since then. Same band Imagine? "Do You Still Love Me?" is very eighties, but in a completely awesome way. It's the best single he's written in ages.

[hfswjyr]

He seems like one of those artists who need real life sadness to make good music.

Ashes and Fire still my favourite.

[Magic]

Fuck knows how but my little un somehow came across Nightmares on Wax on youtube. I'd never even heard of him before. He's now our artist of the moment. Shit hot!

[Magic]

I'm really liking the new Ryan Adams record. It's his "divorce" album, and I would say it's his best in a decade or so. I've been playing it all week.

Same.

[Adamski]

I'm really liking the new Ryan Adams record. It's his "divorce" album, and I would say it's his best in a decade or so. I've been playing it all week.

Oh didn't realise it was out. Cheers

[Offshore Toon]

The two new Gorillaz tracks that have just been played on Radio 1 are both good. Very good imo. Its not much of a shift in style, but the features on the new album have me excited. Danny Brown, Pusha T, Vince Staples, De La Soul. :drool:

[Offshore Toon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBA0PUQCvIA

Vince. :cool:

[-james-]

Heard the new Laura Marling album today. Her voice and the production and stuff are fine but those lyrics man. :happycry: I suppose I'm not really the demographic.

[CJay]

The new Why? album is short, but very sweet. I didn't listen to any of their stuff since Eskimo Snow, but it seems a bit of departure from their previous work.

[Reg]

The two new Gorillaz tracks that have just been played on Radio 1 are both good. Very good imo. Its not much of a shift in style, but the features on the new album have me excited. Danny Brown, Pusha T, Vince Staples, De La Soul. :drool:
Ascension and Saturnz Barz are really cool, and the videos fit them perfectly, but I wasn't too keen on the other two tracks that are on Spotify. Pretty hopeful for the album based on the first two and those features you mention. Any word on whether Vince is on more tracks?

[Offshore Toon]

Ascension and Saturnz Barz are really cool, and the videos fit them perfectly, but I wasn't too keen on the other two tracks that are on Spotify. Pretty hopeful for the album based on the first two and those features you mention. Any word on whether Vince is on more tracks?
Just the one, sadly. These are tracks that have been registered:

Andromeda (Feat. D.R.A.M.)
Ascension (Feat. Vince Staples)
Busted And Blue
Carnival (Feat. Anthony Hamilton)
Charger (Feat. Grace Jones)
Circle Of Friendz (Feat. Brandon Markell Holmes)
Halfway To The Halfway House (Feat. Peven Everett)
Hallelujah Money (Feat. Benjamin Clementine)
Interlude: Elevator Going Up
Interlude: New World
Interlude: Penthouse
Interlude: Talk Radio
Interlude: The Elephant
Interlude: The Non-conformist Oath
Intro: I Switched My Robot Off
Let Me Out (Feat. Mavis Staples & Pusha T)
Momentz (Feat. De La Soul)
Out Of Body (Feat. Kilo Kish, Zebra Katz & Imani Voshana)
Saturnz Barz (Feat. Popcaan)
Sex Murder Party (Feat. Jamie Principle & Zebra Katz)
She’s My Collar (Feat. Kali Uchis)
Strobelite (Feat. Peven Everett)
Submission (Feat. Danny Brown & Kelela)
The Apprentice (Feat. Rag’n’bone Man, Zebra Katz & Ray BLK)
Ticker Tape (Feat. Carly Simon & Kali Uchis)
We Got The Power (Feat. Jehnny Beth)

[Reg]

Oh cool, cheers. Intrigued to hear how the hip-hop features sit alongside Grace Jones and the like.

[Alex]

I'm really liking the new Jesus and Mary Chain record. To say it's their first new album in going on 20 years it's a great effort. Apparently about half of it made of of material they've recorded previously in their various solo pursuits, but I've never listened to any of that so I'm not particularly bothered.

The new Shins record, on the other hand, is not so good. Well, I don't want to say not good. That's harsh. I don't think Mercer could ever made a properly bad record. It's just a bit dull and it seems very overproduced, like somebody has left him to his own devices in an expensive recording studio for about a year too long. I seem to remember similar criticism being levelled at Port of Morrow when it first came out, but I loved that almost instantly. This, I don't know, it's just not doing it for me.

[Offshore Toon]

The new Soulwax record was a bit disappointing. Its good, but not as good as I expect from them.

[-james-]

I've not really been a fan of much Why? have done since Alopecia. It doesn't offend me or anything, but I'm never really arsed about listening to it again



That new Mount Eerie album about his wife dying is out, my dudes.

https://pwelverumandsun.bandcamp.com/album/a-crow-looked-at-me

Good luck not crying.

[Magic]

With laughter?

[Giggles]

I heard a load of people (on podcasts and irl) raving about the new Elbow album. God it's shite.

[Adamski]

Fucking hate Elbow. For cunts who don't like music.

[Raoul Duke]

Elbow used to be great, now they've turned astonishingly bland. The last couple of albums are bland. The first three were weird and awesome.

[Lewis]

I was at the gym for just over an hour today, where they have Capital FM on, and I heard Ed Sheeran four times (one of them twice). What is the appeal?

[John]

That Mount Eerie thing is very emotional and all, but the lyrics in that first song at least don't add up to a song at all. It's like a 'Play Your Heart Out For The Thread' with some vague noodling behind it.

[Raoul Duke]

That Mount Eerie thing is very emotional and all, but the lyrics in that first song at least don't add up to a song at all. It's like a 'Play Your Heart Out For The Thread' with some vague noodling behind it.

Sun Kil Moon is like that. Just someone with ADD talking over some indie bollocks

[Reg]

New series of Jools! On BBC2 now.

Thundercat :cool:

[Bernanke]

Man Black Messiah is such an amazing album. Might be my favourite of the 2010s honestly.

[wullie]

Yep yep, Back to the Future in particular lodged itself in my head for ages.

[-james-]

http://www.npr.org/2017/04/20/524385887/first-listen-colin-stetson-all-this-i-do-for-glory

New Colin Stetson album.

Not been a massive fan of his last couple but this seems like an incredible return to form. Jaw agape at that second track.

[Raoul Duke]

The new Alt-J stuff sounds pretty great:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ60IVIhzXU

[Offshore Toon]

New LCD Soundsystem.

http://www50.zippyshare.com/v/EECGD2qf/file.html

http://www50.zippyshare.com/v/Fi3kZra4/file.html

They'll be out properly at midnight.

[CJay]

More importantly, Sufjan Stevens released a live version of Carrie & Lowell. The tracks are mostly quite different to the studio version, much more electronic and loud. It's great. On Spotify and all other services.

[CJay]

Also on Youtube, if anyone prefers the additional visuals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FX34TjJe-c

[Reg]

Cheers Offshore, hadn't heard about LCD Soundsystem.

I'll have that, Gorillaz and At The Drive-In to listen to on the weekend. :)

[Offshore Toon]

New Gorillaz was a bit underwhelming imo. The second half felt like effort, but it's probably good for crossover indie appeal. It seemed to lack cohesion and was just an album showing off how diverse their sound is.

[leedsrevolution]

Yeah I agree Offy. Quite disappointed on first listen. It doesn't feel like a Gorrilaz album, which is strange because well, what the fuck does a Gorrilaz album feel like? Not this though.

[Offshore Toon]

Yeah, even Plastic Beach wasn't anywhere near as their first two for me, and this is just a diluted version of that.

[Reg]

What a marvel to behold the Future Islands frontman is.

Two years ago, he thrilled audiences of Jools Holland with a revolutionary mix of dancing and crouching.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8Uhf3gM1m0

This year he was back to excite once more, with the vocals and stage presence of a troll seeing light for the first time after many years in a cave.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYdeWjbaa9s

[wullie]

I love them. First saw them around the time of that first video when they were on Letterman and became 'viral' when he started walking round like an ape and roaring like nu-metal never died.

[leedsrevolution]

Future islands are good. New Mac Demarco album is out, it seems okay just a little uninspired.

[Magic]

Help guys. Heard a great song I'm sure it was about dreams and it was from a singer in a famous band. I think his name was Thorsten or something weird like that. :( Help?

EDIT: Found it, got a hard on for my memory right now?

Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Smoke on Dreams.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c0pR02pv9k

[leedsrevolution]

Sonic Youth. Now that's a band I could never get into.

[igor_balis]

In a long list of bands I've partly really enjoyed whilst also finding their earnestness cringey, I've started to get really into Big Audio Dynamite (even their name makes me a bit embarrassed), just me?

[Magic]

Yeah I wasn't over enamoured by then either.

This though:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkuveBPhkII

:drool:

[Alex]

I'm quite liking the new Afghan Whigs album at the moment, it's probably slightly better than the initial reunion album they put out a couple of years ago. It's also reminded me what a generally very good back catalogue they have, so I've been revisiting a lot of that for the first time in ages as well.

[Spammer]

Went to see George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic tonight.

Holy shit, they were fucking good. Some observations:

1. 'Funk' can be used as a verb.
2. Grey dreadlocks are cool.
3. Those dudes are seriously talented, however there's so many of them that theyll probably each only earn about a tenner for each gig.

[Alex]

I bet that was ace. In Leeds I'm assuming Hammer? I wasn't even aware they were touring. I might have tried to get down to that if I'd known.

[Spammer]

Yeah in Leeds at the O2 Academy. We started out sitting at the top because we got tickets up there for some reason but the sound quality was shit so we snook downstairs in the standing section. It wasn't sold out so we could stand quite close while still have room to dance about. Best gig I've been to in a couple of years tbfh.

[Reg]

Nice, Hammer. Mainly classics or newer material? Did George sing much or was he mainly orchestrating/chilling?

I ended up selling my tickets because the person I was going with couldn't go in the end, and I'm in need of money. Counting on George touring next year (I think he might until he's 95 or something).

[Spammer]

They seemed to play a mixture of classic stuff I knew and stuff that I didn't. I was surprised that 2-3 of the songs were pretty heavy and were basically metal. I had no idea what songs they were but they were great and a nice surprise. Any ideas what they might have been?

George was singing a bit but passed it on to the young'uns quite a bit more. He had a chair and would sit on that for a lot of the time and then get up to sing for a bit.

[Reg]

They seemed to play a mixture of classic stuff I knew and stuff that I didn't. I was surprised that 2-3 of the songs were pretty heavy and were basically metal. I had no idea what songs they were but they were great and a nice surprise. Any ideas what they might have been?

George was singing a bit but passed it on to the young'uns quite a bit more. He had a chair and would sit on that for a lot of the time and then get up to sing for a bit.
Mental, interesting. Maggot Brain could have sounded pretty metal-y depending on the solo and how much other instrumentation there was? Possibly some other Funkadelic stuff too but difficult to guess when they leave so much room for improvising. Could be teasing stuff from new albums (think there's a George solo one and a Parliament one coming this year.)

[Spammer]

The dude with the grey dreadlocks did a fucking awesome guitar solo for about 5 minutes towards the end too. It was the absolute bollocks.

I say 'metal'; there was a definite funk vibe to it, but it was a lot heavier than anything I've heard by them. That said I've only heard about half of their stuff overall so didn't really know what was going on - whether it was a standard song, an improv session, a cover, a new song or what. Fucking good though.

[Reg]

That'll be Blackbyrd McKnight, I think.

Yeah, their improvisation is amazing. One of their best thing about their gigs is how they manage to make it almost one long jam.

[Spammer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htIkWW4I-Ps

Here you go, from 14:30 or so onwards. The sound on that video doesn't do justice to it. Sounds alight on there, but was a lot better live obvs.

[Reg]

Cheers, Hammer. I've no idea what that song is.

[Alex]

The new Slowdive album is lovely, a very impressive comeback after a 20 odd year lay off. Not that I expected it to be bad or anything. It always makes me happy when good, old bands return and make very worthwhile, new music though.

[igor_balis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR3F6IQCWJY

[Magic]

Phoenix Nights-esque.

[Offshore Toon]

Been loving Blawan recently. One of the acts I'm most looking forward to at Glastonbury.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIkhewd69SE

:drool:

[phonics]

Uh oh, I've fallen down the whatever was on Kerrang in the early 00s hole.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTvu1Yr3Ohk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8ekz_CSBVg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYdz6t7xmiQ

etc.

:cool:

[bruhnaldo]

ah yes, the last hurrah of "alternative rock".

Couldn't even tell you the name of one band that's popular now :(

[Reg]

"Whatever was on Kerrang in the early 00s" is "whatever is on Kerrang right now". If you watch for an hour you get Sum 41 - Fat Lip seven times.

[-james-]

Peasant by Richard Dawson is a fantastic album. Weirdo folk stuff, I think it would be popular with a few in here.

[Magic]

I remember owning Mansun's Attack of the Grey Lantern. My mum threw all my stuff out when I moved in with my dad age 14 so I'm happy to have rediscovered it by chance on Spotify.

Mansun. :cool:

[Raoul Duke]

Being A Girl :cool:

[Shindig]

Peasant by Richard Dawson is a fantastic album. Weirdo folk stuff, I think it would be popular with a few in here.

Really good live, as well. Opened for R.M. Hubbert a few years back. All acapella whilst apologising he had a cold. Proper, proper voice on him.

[Foe]

Got tickets for Ed Sheeran next year. :wub:

[Alex]

I got Arcade Fire and The Fall's new albums on Friday, so I've been spending some time with them this weekend.

The Arcade Fire one, I don't know. It seems to be getting a less than favourable reception from the critics, which I kind of agree with. It's by no means a bad album, but it's not particularly good one either. I'm all for them pursuing this more synthy, disco-orientated sound if that's what they want to do, but the songwriting leaves a lot to be desired in places. Peter Pan-Chemisty-Infinite Content is a genuinely quite bad run of songs. There is also some lovely stuff on there though. We Don't Deserve Love is my favourite at the minute. But still, definitely they're least impressive work so far.

I like the new Fall album quite a bit more. They've binned off the keyboard player (who was also his wife, I'm not sure whether she's left him or what) and it seems to have lead a somewhat leaner, tougher, rockier sound. Not that it wasn't already a pretty monumental racket before. I always need to listen to a new album by them a lot before I can make head or tail of it though, but I would say it's about on par with the previous one, which I also enjoyed. Middle-of-the-road Fall I guess, which is better than most things.

I'm aware how outwardly ridiculous it looks to criticise Arcade Fire for a lack of quality songwriting whilst simultaneously praising an record made up of Mark. E Smith's largely incomprehensible ramblings, by the way. I'm fairly certain he's not even forming actual words more than half the time now. I saw a recent picture of him performing and he looked shocking. Not that he ever looks particularly well, but this was much worse than usual. He's fucking sixty now too. I hope he doesn't die. But I suppose it could be considered a minor medical miracle he's made it this far.

[Raoul Duke]

I liked a couple of bits on the new Arcade Fire one but it's not great. Then again I hated Reflektor when it came out too and now like it a lot.

[Magic]

I've just discovered Arcade Fire. Love them. :cool:

[hfswjyr]

New Manchester Orchestra is out. It's more like Manchester Orchestra Lite.

[Alex]

On first impression, the new LCD Soundsystem is very good. "How Do You Sleep?" is an absolute fucking monster of a tune.

[-james-]

Colin Stetson's side project have just put out a black metal jazz fusion album and it fucking rules.

https://exeyeband.bandcamp.com/

[Raoul Duke]

New National album out today, and a bit of Neil Young. Iron & Wine and QOTSA recently too. All good stuff.

[hfswjyr]

Huge September for me.

The National
The Killers
Noah Gundersen
Torres

[Bernanke]

For any James Blake-fans, Corbin - Mourn is a ridiculously good album. Not quite there with the vocal quality, but the emotion he puts in to some of these tracks is amazing.

[Giggles]

I've been streaming for years now, but where do you go about getting full quality songs or albums these days, short of buying the CD?

Like if I've Google Play Music, you can also buy albums as well as stream them if you've the monthly subscription. Will the one I buy separately be better than the streaming version? Same thing for Apple Music, etc. Don't say iTunes as I have no device that has access to it.

Edit - Does Tidal have the same library as Spotify, etc?

[Magic]

Spotify do the full streaming quality if you've got premium. Only notice the diff if you've got audiophile equipment between that and a CD/Vinyl.

[Giggles]

Spotify do the full streaming quality if you've got premium. Only notice the diff if you've got audiophile equipment between that and a CD/Vinyl.

I've just gave Tidal a go there and there's a noticeable difference between their HiFi mode and Extreme quality on Spotify. Double the price, though it's not something I'd probably do long term as it's just to test a phone out.

[Alex]

Peasant by Richard Dawson is a fantastic album. Weirdo folk stuff, I think it would be popular with a few in here.

This is a very strange and interesting album, which I finally got around to recently. Good call.

On an unrelated note, Wild Beasts announced that they were splitting up today, which obviously is a bad thing. They were a good band who seemed pretty much still at the peak of their powers, and if anything they seemed like they were pushing on to plough new territory. I'm surprised they've called it quits.

[-james-]

Nick Cave tonight. Really not sure I'm prepared for the emotional onslaught. Shame it's at the fucking Hydro.

[Magic]

Oh wow. The one in Manchester was charged as fuck apparently.

[phonics]

I've just gave Tidal a go there and there's a noticeable difference between their HiFi mode and Extreme quality on Spotify. Double the price, though it's not something I'd probably do long term as it's just to test a phone out.

That's FLAC which is higher quality than mp3 which is what you'd be getting on a CD. If you want to be a laymen about it think of Spotify like CD and Tidal like Vinyl.

[Giggles]

That's FLAC which is higher quality than mp3 which is what you'd be getting on a CD. If you want to be a laymen about it think of Spotify like CD and Tidal like Vinyl.

Is vinyl not crackly and shite? Surely a CD is better quality.

[-james-]

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question487.htm

If your turntable is crap or your record is fucked, then it'll have sound artifacts, but theoretically vinyl should always sound better.

Nick Cave was good. The new stuff that's fairly stripped back was the best stuff, sounded really good in a massive arena. He's a hell of a performer, though the extent of the crowd interaction ended ip making it pretty self-indulgent.

[phonics]

Is vinyl not crackly and shite? Surely a CD is better quality.

Vinyl quality is dependent on both the record and the instruments used to play it (needle, head, plate balance etc.)

[Giggles]

What was the name of that site we used to go on an play music that was kind of like a chatroom too?

[hfswjyr]

https://www.dubtrack.fm/lobby

https://plug.dj/

[Giggles]

Dubtrack. That's the one, cheers.

[-james-]

https://youtu.be/fJjGZkPl9Tw


Wow this is really bad lol. The first album is still a huge favourite, wasn't really expecting anything new from her and definitely wasn't expecting it to suck.

[Shindig]

I watched all of that. Somebody should've stopped me. I've got some iTunes vouchers so I've splurged it on Lifeblood which, 15 years later, I've decided is a good Manics album. If this trend continues, I'll be looking at Generation Terrorists as "the shit one." Also picked up The National's latest. They're fine. Still.

[Magic]

Anyone like Moses Sumney? Heard him on 6 music being interviewed and live, was pretty epic. He sounded like a total weirdo I was thinking white hippy but I've just seen him on Later and he's a trendy black so lol at that.

[Reg]

Does anyone watch What's In My Bag (https://www.youtube.com/user/amoeba/playlists)? It's a series where musicians visit Amoeba, the record store, and talk about why they've chosen certain albums and DVDs etc.

I enjoyed the Thundercat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19GGOoROPMw) episode.

[Magic]

Absolutely LOVE Concrete by Shame. It's bloody tremendous.

Also I've just found out what King Krule looks like. :D

[Giggles]

The new Vulfpeck is good. The albums never do them justice compared to live tough.

[Jimmy Floyd]

My Spotify 'your year' thing has appeared today, and the most recent song in the first five (i.e. most listened to this year) is from 1967. Fucking tragic stuff from me.

Also two John Denver numbers in the full list, wtf is happening to me.

[wullie]

Mine's slightly more recent, apparently I was big into Billy Ocean this year.

[igor_balis]

I had The The, The Smiths, The Teardrop Explodes, The Shins and fucking WWE. Wussy white indie, wussy white indie, wussy white indie, wrestling. Pretty accurate insight.

As a total non sequitur, and in no way to pretend to have diverse interests, this is my absolute favourite musical discovery of 2017:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTUwfR_qtS4

Never heard any Youssou N'Dour except 7 seconds, but this song is fucking brilliant. Great album too.

[Magic]

Shame's new album out very soon. :drool:

Oh and I finally found something not on Spotify I actually wanted to hear; Proper Crimbo. :(

[John]

Is Spotify Premium worth getting? My new phone contract comes with a choice of entertainment packages, none of which I particularly want or need, but I'm not going to leave them on the table. Either two years of Spotify Premium, NOW TV, or Sky Sports.

[-james-]

Spotify Free is a pile of wank these days, I think. If you ever plan on using Spotify, you should get that.

[Giggles]

Yeah, best of the music subscription services in that bracket. I'd go for it.

[John]

Having Spotify has lead to me revisiting a lot of older stuff. Fall of Math has held up remarkably well for a fourteen year old album in that genre.

[Magic]

It's the best thing I've ever bought.

[Shindig]

I'm sick of shuffle, at the minute so I worked my way through British Sea Power's back catalog. The Decline Of.. is so bloody good. Makes me disappointed when an artist that's almost 20 years old has their debut as their best album.

[igor_balis]

Spotify premium is excellent. I used to download fucking loads of music, but in the 7 or so years I've used Spotify I reckon as an estimate, when I've tried to find something, I've had to find it elsewhere 5% of the time. For the other stuff Soulseek is brilliant, especially for more obscure stuff. My old LODGER's album that sold about 100 copies was on there ffs.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Discovered Big Thief via spotify genius or whatever it's called. Best new (or newish) band I've heard for absolutely years.

[Shindig]

Getting back into Everything Everything. Distant Past was so awful it put me off them for years but I've been pulled back in. Probably seeing them in May if I can get the time off. That's a common theme at the minute. All three gigs I want to go to at the minute are weekdays. Even seeing RM Hubbert in Durham's a chore because doors open at 7pm and I'm working til 8pm that night. At least that can be wrangled.

[-james-]

Having a KLF binge.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtbrnPnHwqY

:rave:

[igor_balis]

Having a KLF binge.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtbrnPnHwqY

:rave:

:cool2:

Bloody love em. The stadium house triology of 3 am eternal, LTTT and what time is love is just about my favourite run of singles by anyone. Fucking love the really lame chart bait as well, all bound for mu-mu land, kylie said to jason, even fucking doctorin the tardis. CLASS.

What I would say though - Chill Out is NOT a good album for an MD comedown, all the spooky samples are far too unsettling.

[leedsrevolution]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yLNuX2umfI&ab_channel=CARRS



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECiMhe4E0pI&ab_channel=johnniewalker23



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAudkj4U-H4&ab_channel=THETHE

Relatively new The The music you say? Wow!

[Lewis]

I bet this upcoming Arctic Monkeys album will be coma inducing (and I bet everyone calls it their best one).

[leedsrevolution]

I bet this upcoming Arctic Monkeys album will be coma inducing (and I bet everyone calls it their best one).

I like album 1/2/4 by them 3/5 can do one. When I say like, I mean like, none of them are owt special. What a game they have played to convince people that they are actually good.

[Lewis]

I really tried with the fourth/fifth ones because it took me a while to get into the third one, but fucking hell. They're boring at best, and mostly like just listening to nothing.

[Lewis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_9e6BBeq58

[leedsrevolution]

I really tried with the fourth/fifth ones because it took me a while to get into the third one, but fucking hell. They're boring at best, and mostly like just listening to nothing.

I think personally, there 4th album is their best by far. I can take it or leave it with 1/2. The 5th is by far the worst, to a point that I can't bring myself to listen to it in full.

[Shindig]

Speaking of bland early 00s nostalgia, The Coral are supporting the Manics when they're coming to Newcastle. :moop:

[igor_balis]

I just don't get the arctic monkeys. First album was alright, the latter introspective electro-ey stuff is just so BORING. In the same way the XX are fucking boring.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the reason why electronic sounding indie these days is so shit is because it's so fucking STRAIGHT. The pet shop boys and ABC and all that 80s electro-pop/new romantic stuff was fun because it was camp as fuck.

[John]

The Arctic Monkeys have about four good songs when they first appeared by they very quickly went to shit. I didn't even realise they were still around.

Who started the po faced electro-indie trend? I think the first group I remember hearing was Bloc Party.

[igor_balis]

The Arctic Monkeys have about four good songs when they first appeared by they very quickly went to shit. I didn't even realise they were still around.

Who started the po faced electro-indie trend? I think the first group I remember hearing was Bloc Party.

It was the latter days of the 00s landfill indie thing, I think? Maximo Park are the quintessential po faced electro-indie band (well put, by the way), because they were a lot more po faced than Bloc Party and their tunes weren't as good

[John]

Maximo Park are another band I've heard nothing of in over a decade. I think of them as being a more straight forward indie band, all angular guitar and shouted lyrics. It's possible I'm just remembering Apply Some Pressure as their entire discography.

[leedsrevolution]

It was the latter days of the 00s landfill indie thing, I think? Maximo Park are the quintessential po faced electro-indie band (well put, by the way), because they were a lot more po faced than Bloc Party and their tunes weren't as good

As I said earlier, Arctic Monkeys played a blinder. They were the last on the scene and hasd some good tunes. The Libertines had died in a heroin mess and The Strokes couldn't go a second without having a drink. They were fading out and Arctic were knocking about and they were the last on the gravy train. They did well, marketing wise.

But less of that


More of this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrPNwLuk0zQ&ab_channel=MocorongoMaster

[leedsrevolution]

AND SOME OF THIS SHIIIIIIIIIIEEE


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVANQheoRUw&ab_channel=scarface115

T

[Alex]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_9e6BBeq58

I don't don't agree with the point he's making here. I've never felt that Alex Turner, as much as he might have changed his hair and bought a leather jacket, has ever tried to shy away from his Yorkshire roots. If you pick the most obvious example of a hit from their last album, "Do I Wanna Know?", he still sounds every inch the Yorkshireman that he's ever been on that record. I would say, in fact, that his major strength as a songwriter is that he's never lost that connection to his roots.

Just because Liam has consistently worn a parker and pronounced the word "sunshine" with the same, perfect Mancunian twang for the last 20 years it doesn't give him the right to go around declaring everyone else as some sort of class traitor. And I say that as a fan. Of Oasis, obviously. Not anything he's done since, which has been uniformly horrendous. It's almost as if his status as the national gobshite in residence is a more lucrative commodity than his actual musical ability these days....

[Alex]

I think personally, there 4th album is their best by far. I can take it or leave it with 1/2. The 5th is by far the worst, to a point that I can't bring myself to listen to it in full.

Correct. :cool:

[Lewis]

Yeah alright lad we're only having a lol.

[Giggles]

The strokes were woeful. The singer was Radiohead bad.

[Spikey M]

It was the latter days of the 00s landfill indie thing, I think? Maximo Park are the quintessential po faced electro-indie band (well put, by the way), because they were a lot more po faced than Bloc Party and their tunes weren't as good

Maximo Park were far better than Bloc Party. Bloc Party had Helicopter and another song I can’t remember the name of, other than that they were shit.

[John]

Maximo Park were far better than Bloc Party. Bloc Party had Helicopter and another song I can’t remember the name of, other than that they were shit.

Eating Glass, probably.

[Spikey M]

It was Banquet.

[Spikey M]

I listened to Editors again a while a go. His voice hasn’t aged well, irritating twat.

[Shindig]

I really wish I never bought their first album. But guys, they're the British Interpol ...

[igor_balis]

I thought Editors had a few decent singles, as did a lot of bands around then, like We Are Scientists etc. Lead singer seems like a nice bloke, I liked them contributing to OSW.

[John]

I really wish I never bought their first album. But guys, they're the British Interpol ...

Let it go. It was over a decade ago.

[-james-]

New Arctic Monkeys album is an Alex Turner lounge pop effort.

[Spikey M]

Do you like it?

[-james-]

Eh, it's ok. There are some nice moments, especially on Four out of Five and the last track with the silly name. I'll give it another go or two but I doubt it'll enter regular rotation.

[Magic]

Their new single was on 6 music. It was shit and completely forgettable.

[igor_balis]

I think they're pretty rubbish in general. There's just no fucking tunes, it's all too introspective and soulless, which you can only pull off if you're very good or very interesting and they're neither. First album is alright. Do I Wanna Know is a turd of a song.

[Spikey M]

The general reactions I’ve read range from ‘it’s fucking shit’ to ‘meh’. Not listened to it yet, but not holding out much hope.

[Alex]

I like it a lot, I think it's a very cool shift in direction. There are no typically big tunes or obvious singles on it (with the possible exception of "Four Out Of Five"), it's definitely something you listen to in the context of an entire album, but I'm fine with that. That's how I consume my music 99% of the time anyway. I liked AM, but a rehashing of it wasn't something I needed in my life. I would say this is a much more interesting record, on first impression.

[bruhnaldo]

new CHVRCHES this week
new 1975 single or album next week
new Kanye next week
new Nas produced by Kanye after that

could my life be better idk i'll get back to you

[Magic]

Gorrilaz just dropped a new song on YouTube.

[Raoul Duke]

Gorrilaz just dropped a new song on YouTube.

They've a new album out Friday, I heard

[Giggles]

Well that's something the world didn't need.

[igor_balis]

Gotten really into Felt lately.

[Raoul Duke]

Discovered King Creosote recently. Lovely Scottish indie stuff.

https://open.spotify.com/album/3r5q6Gn99wKBamIRySGvWI?si=KTqZSbc1TMWLfL4tUFrABw

[-james-]

The album he did with John Hopkins a while back is great

Went to a really good gig the other night. The Tongue Trap, local grungey band. Sound a bit like Parquet Courts; Yama Warashi, weird psychedelic Japanese stuff; Dorcha, synthy/stringsy Birmingham band. All female fronted, and eight quid for the lot.

[SincereTheRebel]

Im ashamed to say, but the Jaded track by Drake hurts my heart. Ive been listening to it for 5 days straight and it brings a tear to my eye.

[igor_balis]

He did a class cover of one of my favourite songs :


https://youtu.be/7GaXdmdirvY

[bruhnaldo]

new 1975 song bangs :drool:

[John]

My mate alerted me to A.F.R.O the other day but I've just got round to listening to him. Jesus. His Definition of a Rap Flow, apparently recorded when he was seventeen, could easily be Biggie leaning away from the gangster stuff.

[Spikey M]

https://youtu.be/-c3X91Ld-GU

More De La Soul or Public Enemy going off that, but decent none the less.

[Shindig]

I'm hearing Abdominal.

[-james-]

Face melter.


https://youtu.be/DoH6k6eIUS4

[John]

Radio One Ibiza Weekender as of about eight this morning. They've got a lineup of house and techno DJs tonight that should make for great listening.

[Spikey M]

Radio One Ibiza Weekender as of about eight this morning. They've got a lineup of house and techno DJs tonight that should make for great listening.

Any sets particularly worth a listen?

[John]

Any sets particularly worth a listen?

I've been busy so didn't get to hear much of it. It's top level DJs playing on a specially constructed set in front of Mambo though, so I'll be amazed if there's a single poor set among them.

[Spikey M]

I drove to KFC earlier and they had Idris Elba on the decks. He’s pretty good. The over talented cunt.

[Raoul Duke]

This is pretty great: https://open.spotify.com/track/0D4PMxA9tKQdj1BBwttdyi?si=yJofCYT4QFSXEMEDGU6rVw


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh103cLDft8

[-james-]

Saw Richard Dawson last night and he was fucking breathtaking. Best gig I've been to in a while. He's a nice bloke, to boot.

[Shindig]

Aye, I saw an acapella set from him a couple of years back. Hell of a voice on him.

[Giggles]

Tried Googling but none the wiser. Presumably you didn't see a dead American actor though.

[-james-]

Tried Googling but none the wiser. Presumably you didn't see a dead American actor though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aipQhTHIvzo

[-james-]

That's probably not the most accessible route to his stuff tbf. Listen to the album Peasant if you've got any interest whatsoever in 6th century inspired avant-folk.

[Alex]

That's probably not the most accessible route to his stuff tbf. Listen to the album Peasant if you've got any interest whatsoever in 6th century inspired avant-folk.

Such an odd but endearing record. It was you who put me onto I actually, I think.

[Alex]

I've got really in to PJ Harvey recently. I'm not really sure why but I had mostly ignored her up until this point. She's ace, Rid of Me is such a good album.

I love that experience of becoming a fan of an artist with an already full discography, none of which you've listened to before so you've just got loads there waiting for you to delve in to. Exactly the same thing happened at the beginning of the year with Fugazi, and they ended up being all I really listened to for about a month and a half.

[Reg]

I love that experience of becoming a fan of an artist with an already full discography, none of which you've listened to before so you've just got loads there waiting for you to delve in to. Exactly the same thing happened at the beginning of the year with Fugazi, and they ended up being all I really listened to for about a month and a half.
I need to listen to them more so cheers for the reminder. I used to play Furniture a lot (simple but great).

[-james-]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wgd3UiFn60A


Fire emojis. I love this woman.

[Spikey M]

I skipped through it. You're just taking the piss now.

[-james-]

First track off Holly Herndon's new album made my jaw drop. I need more.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4sROgbaeOs

[Spikey M]

Actually quite like that.

[phonics]

I didn't post earlier but I meant to.

In the 10-15 years Dino has been posting music on here. That's the first thing I've listened to and not thought 'This is total crap'. It wears on you after a couple of minutes but at least it's a good impression which is better than anything else I can think of.

[Giggles]

I'm still not brave enough to click on one of his music links. He's usually a really good barometer for me to avoid a band like the plague.

[igor_balis]

I don't think I've gotten into any bands from the last decade or so, I've become my dad.

Instead I've basically spent the last few years getting into 80s synthy poppy stuff, which has been fun TBF. I find a lot of the critically acclaimed bands of the last few years a bit overly minimalistic and glib (the XX are the most boring band of all time afaic), whereas bands coming through when the technology was all new and exciting are far more over the top and FUN. Just couldn't imagine a recent band releasing a single like enola gay by omd or it's my life by talk talk.

[Alex]

James has, in my experience, mostly great taste in music.

I've fallen really behind on new music myself though. Must be age. I've gotten really into Wilco recently, which in itself feels like quite a middle-aged thing to say.

I had previously mostly ignored them up to this point (other than the obligatory edition of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot to the collection many years ago, which I rarely listened to) but my brother (who loves them) has talked me into going to see them with him later this year, so I've been working my way through the entire catalogue. They're fucking ace.

Jeff Tweedy is the man. He's such an unassuming character, he's quite easy to dismiss. But when I started paying attention something about his songwriting has just really clicked with me. He always seems to surround himself with very good musicians too. I'm currently up to Summerteeth and the first album with Billy Bragg. They're both brilliant.

[phonics]

I feel like I've seen Wilco but can't remember anything about them. They did Uncle right?

[-james-]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQgd6MccwZc

I've had this stuck in my head for about a month. Just consciously listened to it for the first time. Probably one of the tunes of the generation.

[igor_balis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBHZ60N41AY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBHZ60N41AY

what a bloody BANGER

[Offshore Toon]

Destiny's Child are amazing. Surely they'll get back together for a tour some day?

[bruhnaldo]

Nah Michelle doesn't get on with Kelly + Beyonce if I recall

[Offshore Toon]

Weren't they all cousins or something? Michelle will come round once she's skint.

[phonics]

They literally all hate each other. It's never happening. The two that weren't Beyonce were actually the ones that split to make their own solo career and Queen B just styled it out.

The correct order of songs is:

Bills Bills Bills
Jumpin
Say My Name

Edit: I would like to correct the record. Bug a boo and Lose my Breath are above Jumpin.

[igor_balis]

They literally all hate each other. It's never happening. The two that weren't Beyonce were actually the ones that split to make their own solo career and Queen B just styled it out.

The correct order of songs is:

Bills Bills Bills
Jumpin
Say My Name

Edit: I would like to correct the record. Bug a boo and Lose my Breath are above Jumpin.

When I saw They Might Be Giants they covered Bills Bills Bills, which was probably a more fun surprise than Arcade Fire doing Still Ill by the Smiths when I saw them. It was a good version!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hzFcm6HCeI

This is my current classical obsession, Tom Service mentioned it in relation to Dvorak's from the new world symphony. Not as good as that obviously, but it's really fun as far as classical goes.

[Giggles]

The lad in the green shirt :D Like, why?


https://youtu.be/loWjj21cGTw

[igor_balis]

The lad in the green shirt :D Like, why?


https://youtu.be/loWjj21cGTw

maybe they should do a collab with these specimens


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQe4XVrJFGQ

[phonics]

Nice to know Rab from Consolevania is keepoing himself busy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij6foFRNxx0

Found the cover, it's okay. Can imagine it being great live though.

The correct answer for all-time RnB song is No Scrubs or No Diggity btw.

edit: I forgot Dre does the opening verse so it's not RnB. No Scrubs wins.

edit 2: Fuck, I forgot about Try Again.

No Scrubs > Bills Bills Bills > Try Again > Everything else.

[-james-]

I've never really understood the fuss over Low. Alan Sparhawk's other band are really pretty great though.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz5begiY6p8

[Bernanke]

Jai Paul is back from the dead.

[-james-]

"He" is a bit of a banger, but I'm not sure about the other one. It's a real shame we'll (presumably) never get finished versions of his early stuff. Jasmine is one of the songs of the decade.

[Baz]

Jai Paul is back from the dead.Genuinely never thought he’d “recover” from those leaks. Good luck to him.

Was good to read they’re gonna be available on streaming platforms but will be interesting to hear them without the samples they couldn’t clear.

And yeah, Jasmine probably top 3 song on GTA V.

[Bernanke]

Both of the "new" tracks are from back in 2013. If I understand it correctly this is a way for him to "clear" that entire period of production, and let go of the stuff that leaked. Who knows, maybe he's already cooking up a new album.

The AI Jasmine thing that came along really is incredible.

https://jaipaul.bronze.ai/

It's essentially a procedurally generated version of the song based off the stems, so you get a completely unique "version". Would love something like this for Endless with Frank Ocean.

[-james-]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GjKIh8_EPk

Big into Bible Dylan at the moment.

[Alex]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GjKIh8_EPk

Big into Bible Dylan at the moment.

Great call. That's a really fun period of Dylan to delve into.

His religious stuff is vastly underrated. Say you want about the thematic content, but there's an urgency and passion in that material that you only get from a guy who is very enthusiastic about the music he's making, and that really shines through. I would take a album full of religious tunes made my a motivated Bob over an uninspired collection of secular material (which we got on more than one occasion in the eighties) any day of the week.

The associated instalment of the Bootleg Series (which I assume you've listened to given that live version of Slow Train you've linked) only highlights this further. It sounds like he was on absolute top form as a live act around that time. I was really glad when they brought that collection out. Stuff like that is way more interesting period of his career to revisit than yet another retread of the "classic" material, in my opinion.

[Raoul Duke]

Anyone who loves Dylan and can get to London - I'd recommend you check out Girl From The North Country (https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/girl-from-the-north-country), the play based on his music. It's fantastic.

[Alex]

Almost out of nowhere I've got really into the Melvins this week.

For a really long time the only album I've had of theirs in the collection has been Houdini, and I never really paid it that much attention either. But I picked up copies of Stoner Witch and Stag on a whim the other day though and all of sudden they're all I want to listen to. Stoner Witch in particular is absolutely fucking great.

[Shindig]

Quite happy with what I picked up last weekend. Straight Outta Compton predictably takes top billing but I forgot just how fun that album gets once they've ran out of gangsta bollocks. I always remember Dre's voice being more distinctive but he feels kinda anonymous on this. I can pick out Ren, Eazy and Ice Cube but Dre slips into the background unless someone tells me he's up on the mic. Y'know who else is fun? Roots Manuva. Run Come Save Me was a long first listen but it flows second time around. I'm kinda shocked that's almost 20 years old.

Finally, Twlight Sad's new one is well done. They've surpassed British Sea Power as my band that hasn't put a foot wrong yet. Lyrically, it's still Scottish Misery Porn (tm) but there's a seedy 80s undertone and a drive that keeps it fresh.

[Alex]

https://pitchfork.com/news/david-berman-silver-jews-purple-mountains-dead-at-52/

RIP to the very talented David Berman. :(

He had a lyrical style quite unlike anybody else. Very sombre and poetic, but incredibely funny at times too. Fantastic, baritone sort of a voice too, that really made you pay attention. He just released a new album about a month ago after something like a decade plus hiatus, and it was really good. Just a very unique and talented frontman who unfortunately seems to have succumbed to his demons in the end.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKl4Wpu75W0

"In 1984 I was hospitalised for approaching perfection" remains the greatest opening line of any album, ever.