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Author Topic: 2014 New Releases  (Read 53207 times)
the captain
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« Reply #200 on: October 24, 2014, 03:52:29 PM »

Some intelligent, charming, and devilishly handsome chap posted in the Beach Boys forum that the new She & Him album is due out on Dec. 2. It's a covers album recorded live. I'm somewhere in the ballpark of interested--but not excited--about it. I liked some of their first album in particular, mostly because I didn't really know who Zooey Deschanel was (but did know and like M Ward), that kind of indie geek chic wasn't really omnipresent yet, and some of the songs were surprisingly good. (I love "Sweet Darlin'.") Since then, meh.

But I trust in Ward, and both of their hearts seem to be in the right place when it comes to influences, so I'll be curious to see what makes the track listing.

In any case, I can't believe I posted this. I'm obviously trying to stir things up by discrediting somefuckingbody or other and being a fuckall apologist. Something like that.
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« Reply #201 on: October 24, 2014, 03:56:09 PM »

I like the second one a lot, particularly Driving In My Car. She is a charming presence in most things and am mostly entertained by what she does. I can't remember the last M. Ward but I like some of his albums pretty good too.
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« Reply #202 on: October 24, 2014, 04:01:57 PM »

I didn't mind Driving In My Car. And she is charming, I'll give you that. Not the best singer, but not the worst. Cute, charming, likable ... enough to get by, which of course also leads certain sorts of people to spew venomous hatred after a while. (Humanity is a classy bunch.)

I started listening to M Ward around Transfiguration of Vincent. While he's never struck me as a great, he's really good. I think maybe a better collaborator and producer than artist, still, there is a lot to like. I actually actively disliked his last solo album, though (Wasteland Companion).

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« Reply #203 on: October 25, 2014, 03:18:33 AM »

The Jessie Ware album kind of lost me in the middle but the song Tough Love has me fully hooked. Love the nods to Little Red Corvette. 

Listening to this now--1st time--and enjoying it a lot. There have been 2-3 songs that warrant consideration among the year's few dozen best. Generally speaking I'm not a fan of the influence of 80s pop soundscapes on current music but a lot of it works here. I think eventually talent--in material, performance or both--overcomes those sorts of things.

I want to call out (at least) one song from this album specifically because it's kicking my ass repeatedly these past couple days. "Keep on Lying" is really wonderful. On my first listen, the instrumental introduction almost had me laughing over my gag, or gagging over my laugh, sounding like some horrific preset on a discount-store keyboard. As I said, I'm not fond of the '80s vibe in so much modern pop... But the verse vocals had my attention, at least minimally.

The background vocals in the pre-chorus, :45ish, are nice. And then--HOLY sh*t--that refrain! The suspensions do it for me. They really do. This song is wonderful. Ware is a really good singer, and this is fabulous. A vocal tour de force.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F09pr1RaiKE
I do like her a lot. I am going to listen to the album a few more times. Have you heard that song she did with Sampha? Also have you heard Sampha? He is pretty good.
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« Reply #204 on: October 25, 2014, 05:46:43 AM »

Woods - With Light and With Love (released earlier this year).


Whoever's a Woods fan already will love it, and anyone who's kind of, sort of, vaguely interested in psychedelic lo-fi indie freak folk with a distinctive 60s/70s flavour (oftentimes The Byrds come to mind) should check it out. They've had good LPs in the past, but this one's probably the easily-est accessible.


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« Reply #205 on: October 26, 2014, 07:08:15 AM »



Panda Bear - Mr. Noah

Yeah quite nice.
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« Reply #206 on: October 26, 2014, 07:19:28 AM »


Panda Bear - Mr. Noah

Yeah quite nice.
It's been soooo long... real nice to have new Panda product. Cheesy I thought it was neat on 1st listen. Haven't yet gotten around to giving it a 2nd spin.
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the captain
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« Reply #207 on: October 26, 2014, 08:03:27 AM »

Woods - With Light and With Love (released earlier this year).


Whoever's a Woods fan already will love it, and anyone who's kind of, sort of, vaguely interested in psychedelic lo-fi indie freak folk with a distinctive 60s/70s flavour (oftentimes The Byrds come to mind) should check it out. They've had good LPs in the past, but this one's probably the easily-est accessible.


Listening now. Just a couple songs in: not bad at all. I'm enjoying it. I had some vague word-association with Woods that had told me I wasn't a fan. I wonder if I made that up, or if I just didn't care for something I'd heard before... After a while, one never knows. But this is, if nothing else, at least a nice listen. Thanks.
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« Reply #208 on: October 26, 2014, 11:05:44 AM »



Panda Bear - Mr. Noah

Yeah quite nice.

Thanks for the heads up. I like it.
The video was cool, too. Although, I won't pretend like I understand it.
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« Reply #209 on: October 27, 2014, 05:56:34 AM »

Taylor Swift, 1989. I'll have it on while I'm working today and write about it after.
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« Reply #210 on: October 27, 2014, 06:09:04 AM »

Taylor Swift, 1989. I'll have it on while I'm working today and write about it after.

Ah I want to hear this. I really liked her last one in spite of never really hearing or caring about her previously. I also saw her on Graham Norton recently being funny with John Cleese and delivering more than a couple fine retorts to his rather stodgy old man persona. Not going to be on Spotify I assume for ages. Will probably get it on iTunes.
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« Reply #211 on: October 27, 2014, 07:06:02 AM »



Logic - Under Pressure
 
Just out the other day. Sounds promising. Very very Drake.
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« Reply #212 on: October 27, 2014, 12:12:27 PM »



Logic - Under Pressure
 
Just out the other day. Sounds promising. Very very Drake.

Yeah this is good. Aurally, in the smooth singing into rap singing into rapping way, as well as the kind of samples that appear it is definitely in that Drake style but subject matter wise it is not really at all. It is more traditional Rap subject stuff - violence, poverty, struggling to get rich and so on - although there is a degree of insight and general avoidance of cliches as well as the strength of the production that raises it above. For those wanting an intelligent and sonically pleasing modern Rap album, well worth a go.  
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« Reply #213 on: October 28, 2014, 03:10:30 PM »

Just released, Belle & Sebastian's new single "The Party Line."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7CP2zxS4zo
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« Reply #214 on: October 28, 2014, 04:08:09 PM »

Just released, Belle & Sebastian's new single "The Party Line."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7CP2zxS4zo


Regarding this ... first of all, nice enough little beat that reminds me how fun it was to hear "Your Cover's Blown" back in '04 or whatever. Belle & Sebastian, dance music? Fun. As for the song as a whole, it doesn't blow me away yet. But virtually everything from them has been a grower for me, very little immediate excitement. (In fact, I didn't like the band at all for years.) So I've learned not to rush to judgment with them.

Also, the downloaded track from iTunes shows up as being from 2015. That's interesting, since, um, wait, what? How long was I asleep?
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« Reply #215 on: November 01, 2014, 11:36:43 AM »

The recent release Pain Killer from mainstream country band Little Big Town has gotten enough good press lately that I decided to give it a listen even though that style of music usually isn't my thing. Arena shows, slick '90s rock with cowboy hats and boots, pedal steel, and just enough twang to call it country. That and the goatees they all seem to have. Why do they all have goatees? And '80s rocker hair? Or sleeveless shirts? I digress.

I wasn't impressed. While there were plenty of harmony vocals--one of my catnips--they weren't especially interesting ones. Pretty paint-by-numbers, I thought. And the production was the same kind of boring, loud, rockish country I introduced above and which generally does nothing for me.

The exception was the ballad "Girl Crush." It's actually (almost) another musical genre exercise, a 1950s I-vi-IV-V frame complete with heavily reverb'd guitar arpeggios. However, it is a little more interesting than that, with a iii instead of a vi, for starters. But more than any minor deviations from the formula, it's just a well performed song ... and a well written one, especially lyrically. The somewhat salacious title belies the reality of the song, which is a singer jealous of her would-be mate's mate. The girl crush isn't the male lesbian fantasy, it's about getting closer to the man for whom she pines.

I don't recommend the album, but this is $1.29 or whatever that you could do worse with.
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« Reply #216 on: November 01, 2014, 12:12:30 PM »

Taylor Swift's 1989.

I meant to talk about it sooner. I failed in that partly because I couldn't decide what I'd want to say: see, it might not really warrant all that much discussion, which is ironic considering its (rare, these days) gigantic major-label marketing assault this past month or so.

"Shake it Off" was released, what, two months ago? I loved, and love, it. It's stupid, silly, shallow, and even a little devious: poor Ms. Swift, the underdog (despite being one of the most successful artists of the past decade)? Life must indeed be hard in big, bad New York... The cheerleader bridge, most of all--no, actually its spoken introduction!--drives me crazy. Not in a good way.

But "Shake it Off" surprised me now that I've heard the whole album, in that it's the best song on the album by far. Swift is a powerhouse songwriter, a pretty good singer, a great marketer. I expected this to be a fantastic album. Instead it's a good one, fitting easily alongside the trove of recent '80s-sounding pop and/or R&B albums. Honestly? I expected so much more. I like it. I listen to it. There are moments. But mostly I just think it seems like a very, very, very (did I say very?) calculated entry to a market that, frankly, doesn't need any more entrants.

I might be wrong, because maybe her fan base was more removed from this sound than I am. Maybe for her audience, little lines like "you can want who you want / boys and boys, girls and girls" might seem somehow novel or shocking. (After all, much was made of Kacey Musgraves saying "kiss lots of boys, or kiss lots of girls, if that's what you're into" and "roll up a joint" made waves in the country world just a year or two ago.) So maybe this really is some bridge between her previous audience and her future, potential one.

Me, I keep being surprised how bored I am. "Out of the Woods," "Wildest Dreams."

What I don't hear in 1989 is 1989 (which I am old enough to remember pretty well). I wonder, what will 1989 sound like in 25 years?


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« Reply #217 on: November 01, 2014, 12:38:01 PM »


Panda Bear - Mr. Noah

Yeah quite nice.
It's been soooo long... real nice to have new Panda product. Cheesy I thought it was neat on 1st listen. Haven't yet gotten around to giving it a 2nd spin.

*sigh*

There's a Mike Birbiglia comedy show wherein he jokes that his girlfriend "wins" every argument with "it's how I feel." Even if it isn't an argument--there is no argument--it just wins. It just trumps everything. Somehow I have a similar relationship to Panda Bear. When I was first hearing Animal Collective in the early '00s, I thought maybe I could like them, even though I didn't quite. When he released Young Prayer I bought it and wanted to like it. But didn't quite. I've always thought I could, maybe even should, like Panda Bear.

Maybe I'm too restricted to more traditional song forms. Maybe I don't do enough, or do the wrong, drugs.

But I just don't like Panda Bear. It's how I feel.
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« Reply #218 on: November 01, 2014, 01:37:20 PM »


Panda Bear - Mr. Noah

Yeah quite nice.
It's been soooo long... real nice to have new Panda product. Cheesy I thought it was neat on 1st listen. Haven't yet gotten around to giving it a 2nd spin.

*sigh*

There's a Mike Birbiglia comedy show wherein he jokes that his girlfriend "wins" every argument with "it's how I feel." Even if it isn't an argument--there is no argument--it just wins. It just trumps everything. Somehow I have a similar relationship to Panda Bear. When I was first hearing Animal Collective in the early '00s, I thought maybe I could like them, even though I didn't quite. When he released Young Prayer I bought it and wanted to like it. But didn't quite. I've always thought I could, maybe even should, like Panda Bear.

Maybe I'm too restricted to more traditional song forms. Maybe I don't do enough, or do the wrong, drugs.

But I just don't like Panda Bear. It's how I feel.
Understandable. You do know Person Pitch (2007), though? It's one of my all-time favourite LPs. 2011's Tomboy is a good album as well.
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« Reply #219 on: November 02, 2014, 05:21:13 AM »


Panda Bear - Mr. Noah

Yeah quite nice.
It's been soooo long... real nice to have new Panda product. Cheesy I thought it was neat on 1st listen. Haven't yet gotten around to giving it a 2nd spin.

*sigh*

There's a Mike Birbiglia comedy show wherein he jokes that his girlfriend "wins" every argument with "it's how I feel." Even if it isn't an argument--there is no argument--it just wins. It just trumps everything. Somehow I have a similar relationship to Panda Bear. When I was first hearing Animal Collective in the early '00s, I thought maybe I could like them, even though I didn't quite. When he released Young Prayer I bought it and wanted to like it. But didn't quite. I've always thought I could, maybe even should, like Panda Bear.

Maybe I'm too restricted to more traditional song forms. Maybe I don't do enough, or do the wrong, drugs.

But I just don't like Panda Bear. It's how I feel.
Understandable. You do know Person Pitch (2007), though? It's one of my all-time favourite LPs. 2011's Tomboy is a good album as well.

I've listened to each one as it came out, but honestly haven't spent much time with any, as they all left me feeling the same.
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« Reply #220 on: November 02, 2014, 06:14:31 AM »

It's not new anymore, but it's a 2014 release nonetheless. For more than four months I have occasionally come back to work out my feelings toward Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence.



Before this album, there was exactly one Del Rey song I even marginally liked, "Video Games," which I like quite a bit. But I have thought--and still think--if there is a current example of style over substance, it is her. She's a singer, melodist, and lyricist whose voice is limited, melodies are often forgettable, and lyrics are often awkward (stretching syllables to force meter, for example). Yet the limited voice is effective in its character if not its technical quality. The occasional melody does cut through. And the lyrics paint interesting pictures. That's the word: interesting. In the "listening to" thread I recounted for the millionth time that first "Video Games" listen and me "do-I-like-it-or-not?" response.

At a certain point, not knowing means yes because doing more than moving on is at least something.

Ultraviolence is so obvious, so heavy-handed in its approach, covering well trodden ground even as it pretends to be shocking. The disaffected narco-chanteusse with her big, bad pottymouth saying ... what, exactly? The music, built around her melodies by collaborators, certainly fits her lyrics: all mood, no direction.

But at its best--which as was the case last time around, is pretty rare--the whole trick works. Nothing is happening, really, but it somehow warrants repeated listens anyway. It's all setting and no plot, but it's a striking setting. The flimsy artifice of the whole thing drives me nuts, and yet there you have it: today I bought "West Coast," "Brooklyn Baby," and "Ultraviolence." But if I ever had the chance to meet Lizzy Grant, I'd have to quiz her: is it a joke? Forget the music, is Lana Del Rey just a performance art piece? What the f*** is going on?

Edit: One thing I'd like to clarify that might not have come through in my rambling above. I'm not opposed to an artist playing a character. It's common and effective. Whether wholly invented or exaggerated versions of themselves, it's fine. Anyone who (unlike myself) pays attention to what I've said in the past knows I think authenticity is a somewhat stupid expectation for a musician (or artist of any kind). My issue with the Lana Del Rey character is how badly done, how clumsy it is. It's like a bad parody of a wannabe-outsider college sophomore, darkly finding herself cultured and knowing thanks to the vast life experience accumulated over her year away from home. ("No, I'm not going to the football game, freshman...I'm fucking tortured. I'm going to stay in my room and read Bukowski.")

It isn't that Lana Del Rey is a fake. It's that she's a bad one, which makes me think the joke is on a different level altogether.
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« Reply #221 on: November 02, 2014, 08:17:50 AM »

I will write more later but I entirely disagree. I think if it is a character it is a particularly compelling one, not for it being tortured but for expressing a mood and frame of mind that is as seductive as it is noir and comic. Relating to the meaning or reality of it is unnecessary and perhaps even actively contrary to the quality of the thing.
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« Reply #222 on: November 02, 2014, 08:23:07 AM »

I think on the shocking thing which is generally something said about almost anyone who does music that contains coarse subject matter and particularly that this is the only tool in the shed so to speak. I think this is a frequently mistaken assumption. I don't think lyrically or conceptually Lana Del Rey is intending to be a prodder and a poker. I think that is just the style of music/expression she likes. As with say almost all Dancehall folks having very graphically sexual lyrics all over the place and videos to match. The aim isn't anywhere to shock and almost no one within the scene thinks of it in that way. It is just an element of the music.
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« Reply #223 on: November 02, 2014, 08:27:21 AM »

If you're right, then it strikes me as even worse. Then it's even more boring.
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« Reply #224 on: November 02, 2014, 12:40:30 PM »

.
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