[Music] Albums Thread - 2017

[tinycowboy]

Depends which 'form' you're defining, they peaked at Soft Bulletin for me.

Yoshimi was only a bit below that.

 

[Albumen]

Yoshimi was only a bit below that.

It was too polished for me, overproduced. I just couldn't get to grips with it.

 

[Buzzer]

Another thumbs up here for the Flaming Lips album. I took a risk on buying the album on the back of the We A Family single which I rated highly. I'm glad I did take the risk as I'd promised myself I'd never buy another Flaming Lips album again after their decline over the last few years. It's a cracking album, I've always loved it when they've gone full on psychedelic and I've not enjoyed an album of theirs as much since Yoshimi.

 

[Buzzer]

I'm listening at the moment to Allison Crutchfield's solo debut album 'Tourist In This Town'. I never got into her previous pop-punk band Swearin' so this is the first I've heard of her. She's Waxahatchee's twin sister and quite understandably, sounds a lot alike voice-wise but less lo-fi, more synth and indie bubble-gum pop. It's a great break-up album (she went solo after splitting with a band member) and barely a duff track on there. It's got an early 90s feel to it and harks back to then when there were quite a few female singer/songwriters with this sound but nowadays it's mainly power-pop or folk. I'd give it a very solid 7 out of 10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpYuZNaP7nE

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

Another thumbs up here for the Flaming Lips album. I took a risk on buying the album on the back of the We A Family single which I rated highly. I'm glad I did take the risk as I'd promised myself I'd never buy another Flaming Lips album again after their decline over the last few years. It's a cracking album, I've always loved it when they've gone full on psychedelic and I've not enjoyed an album of theirs as much since Yoshimi.

Totally agree with you. A true return to form. Listened to it a few times before actually buying on vinyl. A friend of mine saw them live a couple of weekends ago and said the new tracks stood out really well.

 

[Buzzer]

I'm quite taken with the new Goldfrapp single 'Anymore'. She's ditched the ethereal, acoustic approach completely for an in your face techno-tinged dance track. It reminds me a lot of Madonna's Confessions On A Dance Floor-era sound. Think 'Hung Up' but beefier. The new album comes out at the end of March.

Edit - sorry, just seen someone beat me to it.

 

[Buzzer]

Have Real Estate EVER had a duff track? Here's their latest and for fans of jangly guitar, geeky indie music this is pure catnip. Great to see that despite the departure of Matt Montadile, they sound as tight as ever. There's also a new album 'In Mind' out in a few months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUFr4SK1-l4

 

[Buzzer]

Working from home this morning and it's given me the chance to listen to the new Cherry Glazerr album 'Apocalipstick'. A female vocal led fuzzy-guitar band who like to play their music loud. Reminds me of Warpaint with a bit of Breeders, bit of Siouxsie and the Banshees. It's a very good album and they don't hold back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFgz9aiiZlQ

 

[Buzzer]

I don't tend to buy vinyl, most of my purchases are either CD or if it's from Bandcamp then it's digital but I do like occasionally to buy minimal techno records. I took a punt over the weekend with a Marcel Dettman/Bern Klock double EP 'Phantom Studies' and I'm so glad I did. It's the 100th 12" from legendary label Ostgut Ton and it's a bit special in my opinion. The lead track is nearly 9 minutes long and just broods ominously as the song builds and builds. Not sure if there are any other minimal techno fans out there but if so, I think you'll like this number.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8ydv_fk-_c

 

[Buzzer]

That new Bonobo album gets better with every listen. I reckon it's a good tip for a Mercury shortlister

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebzEEEdjHj0

 

[Theatre of Trees]

[video]https://www.mixcloud.com/The_Airing_Cupboard/mix-24/[/video]

Selection of stuff that's been released in the last month or so I've been listening to if anybody wants to waste an hour.

Playlist:
David Bowie - When I met you
Trance Farmers - Shadowy
Tough Tits - Anxious
Pharmakon - Transmission
Jupiter-C - Concrete Skies
Shift Work & Lone Taxidermist - Heretic
Sneaks - Inside Edition
Novella - Does the island know?
Noveller - Deep shelter
Purple Pilgrims - Drink the juice
Cwtch - Chasing headlights
Dream Ride - Night (Soaring through the shadows)
Isla Panorama - Tangerine
7FO - Forest of old cloth
Ectoplasm Girls - Transmission from the 18th century

 

[Buzzer]

A few new releases:

Elbow – ‘Little Fictions’
I like this album as pleasant background music but even though the critics say this is as good an album as Elbow have done, I still don’t get this band. I should, I’m their perfect demographic and some of their songs are really quite nice but that’s as far as it goes. They seem to lack an edge, it’s like Nick Cave’s dodgy mid-noughties peak ballad period as re-imagined by the Lighthouse Family. I wish I could see the attraction because Guy Garvey seems like a really sound bloke but there’s nothing there. Can anyone help?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONQ25RW585w

…and this video is a complete copy of Godley & Crème’s ‘Cry’

Fufanu – ‘Sports’
Now this is a band I can get behind. If you’re a fan of bands that wear their Joy Division influences on their sleeves then give this a listen. The album starts quite dark although there are moments that are light and uplifting but with a mean bass guitar driving the whole album has a very muscular feel to it. Kudos to the drummer too especially on ‘Gone For More’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CZ2oWZWrWk

Duke Garwood – ‘Garden of Ashes’
I raved about this Londoner who oozes Deep South Blues with his last album and I reckon he’s just got better and better. This album conjures up all sorts of voodoo sounds, his blues is still very, very blue and I reckon you’d be hard pushed to find a more authentic sound this of the Mississippi Delta.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ok3ztBXQIU

I’m also starting to listen this morning to the new Cherry Glazerr album and 2 songs into ‘Apocalipstick’ I’m hooked. It’s like Warpaint gone mental.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFgz9aiiZlQ

(warning – there’s a NSFW moment in this video where the lead singer flashes her boob)

 

[spring hall convert]

Elbow. Hmmmmmm.

I have to admit I like everything up to and including most of 'Seldom Seen Kid,' which was one of those records you listened to and knew immediately they were going to go massive.

Since then I've not really been interested. It could be them/ it could be me.

Love Garvey's voice to be totally fair.

Long had a big thing for this track but it will likely just prove what you are saying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJDf1atIuBc

 

[spring hall convert]

In fact it is totally what you said (like Nick Cave’s dodgy mid-noughties peak ballad period as re-imagined by the Lighthouse Family.)

 

[Buzzer]

I'm always blown away with stuff I find on Bandcamp - I know I bang on about this site a lot but it is just about the best website out there for discovering new bands. I've kind of given up on Soundcloud because of its terrible search functions and the odd way that the website is set up but there's no probs with Bandcamp and by all accounts it's about the fairest out there for getting dosh to the bands.

I've been listening this lunchtime to a brand new album by Communions, a Danish band with some great guitar work, reminiscent to Cast, and some very fresh summery vocals. Passed You by and She's A Myth are well worth checking out. https://communions.bandcamp.com/

 

[Albumen]

I can't stand Guy Garvey's self obsession and name dropping. Hearing songs from Seldom seen kid will always make me warm as it was a special time in my life but I don't actually own any Elbow and I know I never will. It's like someone has finally found the tuner for Embrace.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Co sign Buzzer's thoughts on the Bonobo album, it's well good mate.

 

[Buzzer]

Co sign Buzzer's thoughts on the Bonobo album, it's well good mate.

It gets better with every listen, doesn't it! I mean, I liked the previous stuff but this takes it to a different level.

 

[Buzzer]

Sadly, the new Depeche Mode single 'Where's Your Revolution?' from the upcoming album 'Spirit' is a bit of a turgid affair IMO. I reckon this would have been a DM album filler a few years ago, certainly not the first release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpuaPfOuxB0

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I can't stand Guy Garvey's self obsession and name dropping. Hearing songs from Seldom seen kid will always make me warm as it was a special time in my life but I don't actually own any Elbow and I know I never will. It's like someone has finally found the tuner for Embrace.

I've probably mentioned this before but I cam back to my tent at Glastonbury one year to find my gazebo all skew-whiff and my picnic table demolished. A short while later a neighbour came over to explain the damage. Turns out Guy Garvey did an acoustic set for the BBC and used our area for the performance....he sat on the table, it gave way and he tumbled into my gazebo. I have a film of this somewhere.