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What have you been listening to this week?
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)
Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.
You can make a chart if you use last.fm:
http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/
Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.
I've been listening to The Last Dinner Party's album Prelude to Ecstasy. I love the classical elements, the bass lines are groovy, and the vocal melodies definitely go against what I'm used to hearing which makes each song feel refreshing.
Here's my chart. I've got some Creed on there. Lol Didn't realize I listened to them enough this week. Had a bit of a nostalgic moment. Haha
https://drive.proton.me/urls/70K0CBTR5M#uKcf2299XBQu
https://danielledurack.bandcamp.com/album/escape-artist
https://squirrelflower.bandcamp.com/album/tomorrow-s-fire
https://knockedloose.bandcamp.com/album/you-wont-go-before-youre-supposed-to
https://topographies.bandcamp.com/album/interior-spring
Knocked Loose singles have been awesome, might be one of my most anticipated releases of the year. The track featuring Poppy is awesome too. The singles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO8q_Q4lRC8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlOFqHXH368
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAuuVY__KQ0
I just started the new Justice album last night! I only got about halfway through before I needed to go to bed, but its awesome! These guys didnt skip a beat. This one is up there with Cross.
A bold claim! Cross is genuinely one of the best albums I've ever heard, and one I re-listen to from start to finish at least once a year. I had no idea Justice had a new album though, so thanks for the heads up!
p.s. LFTL: https://album.link/i/1724935208
Maybe my enthusiasm got the better of me there. The new album is great, but its not quite as good front to back as Cross.
Yeah, I listened to it. It was still really good, but definitely no Cross, which has banger after banger. It also felt a lot less thumpy and hard hitting, more chill/synthy, and kinda reminded me more of Daft Punk than classic Justice.
I'm on my first listen right now and love it! It really helped me get through my Friday afternoon.
I gave the new Taylor Swift album a listen on some streaming service or other. I like it about as much as Folklore and Evermore. I'm a physical media hold out so I typically use streaming as a preview to see if I want to buy the CD (or vinyl in extremely rare situations) or not, but in this case I guess she's only releasing half the album physically? And if you want the full 30+ track "Anthology" edition the only way is digital? Might mean I have to give this one a pass, at least until the second half also gets a physical release.
I'm the same as you. Streaming is just a way to see if I want to buy the CD.
My wife is pretty crafty, so we bought the Anthology on Qobuz and plan to create our own CD with a car, artwork, and slip cover.
Florence Welch is one of my favorite singers, so the Florida collab has been hitting home for me. It is a little sleepy / introspective compared to Midnights, but I like the album overall, as with all TS, for the clever lyrics.
Tons of prog rock and prog metal! Devin Townsend, Nospun, Universal Totem Orchestra, The Ocean, Kingcrow and other obscure artists that I'd be very impressed if anyone else has heard of (sometimes less than 100 Spotify monthly listeners).
Devin is one of my favorite artists, but not so I feel like his output has been super bland since the quadrilogy of Ki, Deconstruction, Ghost and Addicted.
I've desperately tried to like Empath, Z2 and Transcendence, but none of them stick with me and I tend to feel pretty bored with them after not too long.
Maybe it's because I come from a Metal background, so I like that as a sound in general, while Townsend has really moved away from that aspect in his music, but even his newer stuff that's Metallic or heavy tends to pale in comparison to his earlier releases.
Hate to be a negative Nancy, but just been kind of disappointed with his work over the last 10 years or so and it causes me a lot of internal conflict.
Fair point. He's definitely started exploring new directions, as he always has done, and I can definitely see how his later stuff is harder to like, especially the Puzzle, Snuggles and Lightwork albums. He has gradually incorporated more of a pop-metal sound, and I can see why that's a major turn-off. That said, I find Empath to be some of his best material. I love that album and I don't think it's as cheesy as some of his more recent stuff. I especially love the 23-minute track Singularity. That one brings tears to my eyes.
Apparently his new album is going to be really heavy, so maybe it will be more up your alley?
I don't necessarily need anything to be particularly heavy. Ki is one of my favorites of his and I very much like the Casualties of Cool album, it's just something about his work has lost something for me.
But it also may be that I've changed pretty dramatically in the last 10 years as well. I don't listen to albums the same way I used to, tending to prefer something concise and about 35-45 minutes long, as that tends to stick better for me now, rather than 90 minute epics.
Other than that, I can't really put my finger on why I've found most of his recent releases rather boring, but maybe that will change in the future as I have more time again.
I woke up this morning to discover that Darkthrone has released another new album, though I looked at when they released Astral Fortress and it's already been two years, which it certainly doesn't feel like.
I bought it immediately, but of course, have had zero chance to listen to it beyond one song this morning through my semi-crummy phone speakers. Just been damn busy all day and I won't really have a chance to give it an active listen probably until later this weekend at the earliest, but I hope I'll have time today.
But it's apropos, considering I've been listening to plenty of Darkthrone lately anyway and had no idea they were working on something new (though I suppose they always are.)
I can't believe that I hadn't heard about this release at all. I know what I need to do for the next many weeks!
Aaaand I just ordered the purple vinyl.
It's awesome, I'm loving it. I liked Astral Fortress quite a lot, but It Beckons Us All is just damn good. Standout of this album is The Bird People of Nordland.
I'm on my 3rd listen of the album and so far this one might be my favorite through-and-through since Old Star. I'm really enjoying the guitar tone, Fenriz's singing (of course), and the production quality. Every time they put out an album I'm reminded that they are absolutely unstoppable. It's crazy - this is their 21st full-length if I counted correctly.
Their output generally seems to be regarded as somewhat hit and miss, but pretty much everything since Circle the Wagons I have absolutely adored, warts and all. And it's so prolific that I can always expect something new in a relatively short amount of time, but it's always additive and never pushes old releases off my playlists either.
I kind of regard Darkthrone as a perfect 7/10 band, not perfect, with lots of sharp edges, but it's all of that with the highs and lows that really gives them their charm and makes them standout for me; they're absolutely one of, if not, my favorite.
I also really appreciate that they're just working class people who do music as their passion project/hobby. Generally unconcerned about making something broadly appealing or marketable and just doing whatever they feel is creatively rewarding at the time.
So, my favorite band is called CHON. They're a really sick, progressive, soulful math rock band; sorta post-hardcore on some of their earliest stuff. Years ago, they namedropped a pianist named Tigran Hamasyan as an inspiration for their sound, and a couple days ago I finally decided to look him up.
My mind's still blown. This is some of the best modern fusion music I've ever heard. I really didn't know this existed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xlNF9-C6lQ
Masayoshi Takanaka - The Rainbow Goblins
Many tracks on this remind me of spring - very bright tones and a very happy vibe. Even the darker ones like Thunderstorm are not so dark as to not be approachable and fun in the middle.
Lots of Black Metal era Ulver, Altar of Plagues and Ultha.