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Albums Thread - 2015









spring hall convert

Well-known member
Nov 3, 2009
9,608
Brighton
I've worked out what my problem with the Sleater-Kinney album was. I HATE the first song 'Price Tag.' It's likely an irrational dislike but I find it toe curlingly bad, I haven't studied the lyrics (they're probably great) but the bits that lodge themselves in my head sound like some awful S-K parody. I really don't like the riff to the chorus, the progression in the verse gets on my tits. It's genuinely been putting me off listening to it.

The rest of the album is ace. It's my 3rd or 4th favourite of theirs - not up there with Dig Me Out or The Woods but bears favourable comparison with anything else they've done.

This doc on 6 Music was a good listen and made me go back and listen to all their records again - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0516lzy
 








Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,706
The Fatherland
I've have got a copy of the recordings of the solo/career retrospective Damon Albarn gigs at The Royal Albert Hall. He had them on his website. They are fantastic. The man is a genius.
 




Buzzer

Languidly Clinical
Oct 1, 2006
26,121
That BC Camplight album 'How To Die In The North' is quite excellent. For all the Avi Buffalo/Mac DeMarco fans out there it's going to be very popular, I think. It's very much in the same vein as the Avi B/Mac DM albums with whimsical wordplay and some excellent musicianship. He slips easily from lounge to acoustic to keyboard electronica to standard 2 guitars and a drummer sounds with ease. This album isn't going to change the world but if you are left feeling slightly disappointed with the recent Belle and Sebastian album then this could be the tonic you're looking for.

One album that will definitely feature on my year end list is 'Public Service Broadcasting's 'The Race For Space'. It's a concept album based around the Russian and American Space Race in the late 50s and early 60s. Please don't let the phrase 'concept album' put you off, all the tracks, bar the intro, are good enough as standalones in a normal album. Standout tracks are 'Sputnik' and 'Gagarin'. This album scores very highly in my household and even a big thumbs up from my girlfriend who is eternally suspicious of any electronic based music that I play her so I'd read that as being that the album is accessible to people who aren't music nerds.

Another fun album is Cornershop's 'Hold On It's Easy'. If the title seems familiar then it's because it's a lounge/swing re-imagining of their debut album 'Hold On It Hurts'. They've faithfully re-created each track but made it easy listening (hence the 'Easy' moniker) and if the result sounds risky then yes it was a massive risk but one that's paid off big time. I was given a sneaky copy from a friend of a friend to listen to and because apparently it's got a very limited run (on vinyl only I believe) it's probably the nearest I'll get to owning a real copy. I loved this album from the first track and it got better from there. I was a huge fan of the original debut album so it was great fun listening to this and interesting to see how the band mangle their own art just for a the shits and giggles. Put this music on as background whilst doing the Sunday roast or somesuch and you'll be dad dancing in no time. As with the BC Camplight album, it's light and frothy and great for getting rid of the Winter blues.
 




Buzzer

Languidly Clinical
Oct 1, 2006
26,121
...and does anyone know much about Andrew Combs? I heard a track of his last night and was quite taken with it. I think he's got a new album in the offing too. He sounds very retro, the classic 1970s country/pop balladeer. His track 'Nothing To Lose' is the one I heard and it could easily be part of a soundtrack to a Smokey & The Bandit/Any Which Way But Loose film. It's not a criticism, I quite like listening to cheesy crooning as it happens.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,706
The Fatherland
There's a new of Montreal album out next month and the lead track is a return to the funk style employed on False Priest. Great news for me as I adore that album.
 








Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,706
The Fatherland
D
Where do you all find the time and money to listen to so much new stuff?

The bulk of my listening is done at work. I purchase an album or two a week on average but I have few outgoings/commitments (no kids, no car) so thankfully I can afford it.


This thread costs though!
 


Machiavelli

Well-known member
Oct 11, 2013
17,774
Fiveways
Anyone watch that 'Sound of Song' series on BBC4. I think it's still on iPlayer, and is worth viewing for all you music fans out there.
 




Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,706
The Fatherland
Anyone watch that 'Sound of Song' series on BBC4. I think it's still on iPlayer, and is worth viewing for all you music fans out there.

I will check this out. The BBC does some excellent documentaries. I watched the history of the Marshall amplifier last night. Fascinating stuff.
 


Theatre of Trees

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
7,839
TQ2905
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Melody's Echo Chamber have a new album out sometime this year. This single surfaced last October but then disappeared for a while but has since reappeared. Production by him out of Tame Impala who I think is still her boyfriend, judging by this the psychedelia seems to have got a more hazier.
 




Buzzer

Languidly Clinical
Oct 1, 2006
26,121
Where do you all find the time and money to listen to so much new stuff?

I have a work colleague whose brother works for a well-known indie record shop so I get a fair few loans and advances. Listening-wise, I commute to and back from London every day so plenty of time to listen to music.

If Scandinavian dream pop is your thing....

Oh yes! If I could I would move to Gothenburg, the home of dream-pop (although I think D&V come from Malmö). Thanks for the heads-up. I did rather like their Vampyre OST album from a few years back so will definitely check this out.
 




Ludensian Gull

Well-known member
Apr 18, 2009
3,927
Mistley Essex
Anyone watch that 'Sound of Song' series on BBC4. I think it's still on iPlayer, and is worth viewing for all you music fans out there.

I did, thought it was an interesting little series. Mind boggling how things have changed in such a small period of time.
 


Buzzer

Languidly Clinical
Oct 1, 2006
26,121
A few more albums that I’ve been listening to over the past few days:


Father John Misty – ‘I love you, honeybear’. It appears that old-fashioned crooning and balladeers are back in a big way. John Grant paved the way with his ‘Queen of Denmark’ album a few years back and the re-discovered Lewis albums has shown there’s a market for this much-maligned genre and now we have the likes of Andrew Combs and in this instance the Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman has written and produced this quite beautiful album. Essentially it’s a homage to his recently wed wife although there’s quite a bit of stuff that is more Tillman shaking his fist at God ‘Bored In The USA’ for example. He’s perhaps a way bit too honest, very much like John Grant has been of late and I think if I were Tillman’s missus I might not like so much of their relationship being so public ‘She goes down more often than a blow-up doll…’ being just one lyric. The similarities with Grant are quite valid I think, the soaring voice, the brutally honest lyrics, the orchestral feel to the album, they’re all there. If you like your albums with a story behind them then well worth checking this new album out.


Tigercats – ‘Mysteries’. East Londoners who make great pop music. I guess if the XX played in a conventional band then they might just sound like this. It veers between pop-punk (in a good way) to the more saccharine St Etienne sound effortlessly and they have a great crisp, clean sound. Most of their tunes have got the kind of feel that makes me want to see them live in a festival. I think they’re going to be big hit with that crowd this year. The album was released this week.


Jessica Pratt – ‘On Your Own Love Again’. She’s now quite a big noise on the alternative folk scene in the US and this latest album will cement that place for sure. A word of warning, her voice will annoy people (probably the likes of Tiny Cowboy’s wife, it certainly annoyed my girlfriend) it is quite high-pitched. Think Joanna Newsom but slightly less childlike. I agree with other critics who place it somewhere between Vashti Bunyan, Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez (Ms Pratt hates the comparisons but she probably doesn’t read NSC so I’m safe to say that here). All the tracks are lo-fi acoustic guitar. In fact the feel is so lo-fi that it should perhaps have a ‘Live From Greenwich Village’ sticker on the front. It’s not going to set the world alight but if you like downtempo folk then I’d recommend this album too.


Árstíðir – ‘Hvel’. Icelandic folk outfit who make melodic folk music. They flit between Icelandic and English with ease and the overall effect is quite beautiful in a tranquil way. I was given an advance copy as it’s not out until next month but I’ve listened to it quite a lot of late, loved it and wanted to spread the word early. I’m a sucker for Icelandic music so this is right up my street, it’s not going to be of interest to everyone but as with the Jessica Pratt album it’s a very accomplished collection of tunes.


The stand-out album for me out of that lot is the Father John Misty one. I know there’s a fair few John Grant fans on here so that’s where I’d direct them to.
 


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