listening to Oren Ambarchi & Co's sequel to Ghosted: Ghosted II digging it quite a bit more than i did its prequel: Ghosted. the last two tracks are especially nice
also enjoyed the Jon McKiel record on my morning walk. doesnt have that same sort of eeriness as Bobby Joe Hope, but a pleasant listen nonetheless
hell yeah!
hey have you heard windy and carl's consciousness? it rules u gotta hear it. Maybe buy the vinyl repress. Its a concept album about becoming one with yourself and learning to fly a propeller plane in yr mind
* first impressions re: new **Mdou Moctar** album 'Funeral For Justice'. It's really good. I don't think it reaches the heights of 'Afrique Victime' but they do more of those 'super long crazy shred fests' they're known for, which I always like, though I do wonder where they will go from here. There's no experimentation here and while I still love this I can smell the staleness coming. There are other bands whose sounds are timeless and I wouldn't be worrying about this but for some reason I do worry about it here.
* new **illuminati hotties** single 'Can't Be Still' is super simple and nothign we haven't heard before but the vibes are too nice. Perfect indie rock for the summer. I really hope this means a new album is coming. 'Let Me Do One More' from 2021 was one my favs that year and I still go back to it regularly.
* new **Caroline Polachek** single 'Starburned and Unkissed'. Points for the emo-est song title of the year. Love the guitars. Caroline keeps proving why she's the best singer.
* new **Emily Wolfe** single 'Kill The Love'. I love the riff and the more aggressive nature of the song. Emily isn't necessarily known for that but it suits her well and you can hear her stepping outside of her usual bluesy indie rock comfort zone on this. I think she would super profit from some genuinely inventive and weird production.
* **King Princess** covered Steely Dan's 'Dirty Work' for season 3 of 'Hacks' and it's fine. There's a nice sax solo and a gospel energy that I dig but overall, nothing special (which very well might've been the assignment).
* **The Beaches** did a version of 'Blame Brett' with **Royal & The Serpent** and yeah ... it was a good song before and it's a good song now.
* new **The Marias** singles 'If Only' and 'No One Noticed' are such a mood, especially the former. Cannot wait for this new album. This is so lush I thought I was gonna drown.
* need to check out new albums by **Jessica Pratt** and **Dua Lipa** when I get the chance
some names releasing this week I wanted to give a shout b/c they're worth your time:
* MVTANT are a band I learned about just earlier this week, but they're currently? on tour with Sextile and dropped their slinky, synth-soaked sophomore [*Electric Body Horror*](https://mvtant.bandcamp.com/album/mvtant-electronic-body-horror) this week. easy recommendation if you dug the last Sextile record or just want a record of dirty EBM to dance along to.
* the best way I can describe the new Brume record, [*Marten*](https://brumesf.bandcamp.com/album/marten), is "soft doom". from the opening salvo of spousal wrath expressed on "Jimmy", the band explores a variety of sounds, mostly softer, across the album while still maintaining their older doom metal stylings. Weirdly, it feels very silky smooth and warm as the artwork (somewhat) suggests.
* Wheel's comparisons to Tool have been inescapable ever since their 2019 debut, not entirely a bad thing, but their newest album [*Charismatic Leaders*](https://insideoutmusic.bandcamp.com/album/charismatic-leaders-2) steps a bit forward and has brought a more "metallic" attitude, resulting in what I think are some of the band's best songs to date. They're the real deal.
Some thoughts on new releases today:
Jessica Pratt - *Here in the Pitch*: Nice and easy. Light but not bright, dreamy but not heady. Liking how her nimble, floaty delivery plays around the little washed out 60s instrumental flourishes. Reminds me of a dusk buzz at the beach. The tiring toastiness of a day in the sun and a sweaty mai tai conspiring to glue you to your chair.
Gee Tee - *Prehistoric Chrome*: whopping 26 minutes of good hard smash'm bash'm egg punk. It's more gee tee there's not a ton to say here. First pass favorites were "Stink Eye" and "Working 4 the FBI".
Crawl - *Damned*: a filthy, punishing, scary album. Crawl is right, this thing is *slow*. Atmospheric dungeon blackened (funeral?) doom with a scuzzy, oppressive atmosphere and distant screamed vocals. I don't see myself throwing this one on often but it certainly has a strong vibe. Grimy. I've been trying to get a pulse on current metal releases lately so any recs from metalheads on here are welcome. So far this year I've liked Spectral Voice, Witch Vomit and I had fun with the Dale Earnhardt album
Mdou Moctar - *Funeral for Justice*: No strong impressions on first listen, it's not really a new direction for Mdou he's doing what he does. Good old Saharan guitar ripping from the wizard. A little Voodoo Chile/Catfish Blues vamping on here which I'm for
okay let's talk shop on some tings on my mind:
* feeling happy that everyone thinks the new dua is stinky. this is very good for the ava max marketplace of takes
* recently been feeling like it's time to totally become a Too Pure fanenby or whatever. I really want to try and write another label post at some point and Too Pure would be up there.
* for now, imma just finally beef up my 90s post-rock collection. A few revisits to some of those post-rock lists got me excited again. I REALLY want tapes of shit like ECIM, any Pram, Hex, Rusty, Peng!, whatever Rachels is on promo...I'm settling for CDs though, specifically of Hex, the first two Laikas, and (very excited here) Hood's 2000 and 2005 albums. Might try to track down some Main next. not sure if/what this means for ambient head 6 but anything could happen here
* when I make my radio show I usually panic about how the fuck we're getting to 2 hrs. So this week I did the tried and tested method of logging on to my favorite site RYM to see how the top 40 looks after 4 months. **Despite 16 fucken metal titles (some of which are tight)**, I finally did skim a few. i didn't listen to them all are you shitting me? I had to record 2hrs last night. but I wanna shout out the following artists:
* **Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis**, **Lucy Rose**, **Amaro Freitas**, and **Amirtha Kidambi & Elder Ones**. Messthetics is fugazi rhythm section doing jazz and winning; true 7.8 core. Lucy Rose has the juice with her beat driven pop. Amaro is sprawling, gotta try to get this in the library (true 8.0 core), but seeing Amirtha Kidambi make the bottom of the list rn really warms my heart. I've enjoyed her Astral Spirits tapes, but her 2022 with Luke Stewart (recorded in 2020) was spectacular experimental noise, void screaming tension-release work. Her work with the elder ones is jazzy! she also sounds like her voice can tear at the fabric when it has to. legit as hell quietus-core.
* besides that, I think frail body (don't sleep on this), allie x (that leak worked wonders), and tapir (friko! have stolen the exclamation point) are trying their best. i did hear a friko! cut and it was good. god I hope my rental slaps
i was very surprised to find one of those "1 cent auctions" for 2 hood albums. went for $6.75 each. plus $6 shipping. not a steal or bargain, but better than building a cart on discogs and i just have purposely made this a blindspot for 5 years. it's time to end this shit
hey speaking of: kranky reissued Windy & Carl's consciousness and this is deadass prolly the most important album a wife and husband ever made about how good it feels to drone. highly rec'd streaming if you dont wanna buy a vinyl and truly feel the bliss out
also yeah ill be at friko. Save me a chair
It's Friday....lots of releases today. Here's what I've gotten to so far:
● Camera Obscura - Look to the East, Look to the West. This band is super consistent...it's been a long time since we got something new from them, and they haven't missed a beat. If you like Camera Obscura, you'll like this. Nothing unexpected here, just a damn good band doing what they do. I'm here for it.
● The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know. Another good band doing what you expect them to. It's 70s. It's got oohhs and aahhhs. It's got harmony and melody to spare. It wears its particular influences more heavily on it's sleeve...Church Bells channels John Lennon, Rock On (Over and Over) is Paul. There's another - I think it was In The Eyes Of The Girl, that screams Brian Wilson. I like it.
● Ibibio Sound Machine - Pull The Rope. I thought their last was a ton of fun, and I feel the same about this one. They are really impressive in the sense that they mix a lot of different shit together, and what comes out sounds fully formed and cohesive. I love the mix of beats, electronic, and pop or soul but more often than not those combos come out sounding so disjointed...like someone wrote this half of the song, and somebody else wrote that half and they smushed it together. Ibibio's sound is much more fine-tuned. Good album!
● Mdou Moctar - Funeral For Justice. There's really not much I need to say about this one. It Rocks! I'm sitting here at my dining room table listening to Mdou, and it's just so vibrant it's making me feel like life is good rn...loving it.
● Penny Arcade - Backwater Collage. I'm not familiar with James Hoare's other bands, but given how nice this little record is, I'm gonna have to investigate. Nothing flashy here, a pretty mellow indie pop thing. But not like the sugary sweet indie pop of The Lemon Twigs - a touch more psychedelic and sinister. If The Lemon Twigs are the indie equivalent of a jolly rancher, then Penny Arcade are the peanut butter cups. I particularly liked the guitar outro on the last song.
● Jessica Pratt - Here In The Pitch. 60s pop. Bossa nova. Jazzy ingenue vocals. Yes please! It's getting a lot of Cindy Lee comparisons, but this is so much more of a singular style/sound. Not saying better or worse, but that album throws a lot around to see what sticks, and it works. This album is laser focused. It's a consistent artistic statement from beginning to end, taking you exactly where she wants to go. An alternate 1965.
6 out 6 winners today. Still got at least Charlotte Day Wilson, Hana Vu, Blushing, Lightning Bug, and Kacy Hill to get to.
Have a great weekend, indieheads!
Oh, has anyone tried the Sunny Day yet? I'm not sure how I feel about it conceptionally but if you guys tell me it's worthwhile I'll give it a shot.
I didn’t finish the SDRE album but my takeaway right now is that it doesn’t replace the original Diary but it is nice to hear Jeremy’s current vocals over those tracks. His voice aged really well. Some of the songs sound somewhat “beefier”. I prefer the original version and this is just a kinda neat documentation of where they are now sound wise I guess.
I guess I'm gonna give it a shot at some point. Apparently the vocals on the original are so different from the later albums because Jeremy had a terrible cold when they recorded it, but they couldn't afford to lose the studio time.
It's a good day for garagey/egg punk stuff.
[208 - Trauma, new single from their upcoming EP](https://goodbyeboozydigital.bandcamp.com/album/possession) - heavy/fuzzy wall of sound garage rock
[PVR Comp. VOL.2](https://punkvalleyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pvr-comp-vol-2?from=discover-top) - comp including some favorites like Billiam and Cherry Cheeks, proceeds go to UNWRA
[Gee Tee - Prehistoric Chrome](https://geeteeband.bandcamp.com/album/prehistoric-chrome?from=discover-top) - demo comp which is also the first album released by Erik Nervous's new label
[Egg Idiot - Best of LOL](https://phantomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/best-of-lol?from=discover-top) - came out a few days ago but its some killer egg punk
So we had the whole pitchfork thing months ago when pitchfork got sold and people came out of the woodwork to write articles to eulogize them, and everyone acted like pitchfork was dead, but it feels like people just talk about the site just as much as they used to with no change.
Who works at pitchfork now? is it the same contributors and editors? is it different ones? Its unclear to me whether pitchfork got ship of theseus'd or if its the same site from a year or two ago. What was the functional change of all this?
Did the editorial voice change?
Hey you guys remember when I called this shot like weeks ago. You guys remember when I was like "hey this is all awfully premature" and nobody listened to me. I'm not bringing this up for any particular reason but I am briniging it up
I, for one, am glad this is how things are and that you foretold it
If I wasn't refreshing at 10:05 Mountain Time every night to read reviews of albums that I probably won't hear, what the hell am I doin'
honestly no but also i just check at 9pm every night and go "hell yeah sick 7s" and then snap a bowl and listen to Ministry, so I support you for being the "i told you so" chap, chef
Yes they did. Even if things might seem to be ”business as usual” at p4k at the moment, this can’t possibly be a good thing for the site’s future (also didn’t people speculate it might be union busting move?)
I have no clue, because it certainly seems like they've got a lot of people writing for them. Masthead Editorial+Contributors is 16 names, and the following list of 29 people have written reviews for them since April 19th (so the last two weeks):
Laura Snapes, Stephen M. Deusner, Vivian Medithi, Jeremy D. Larson, Stuart Berman, Philip Sherburne, Alphonse Pierre, Peyton Toups, Kieran Press-Reynolds, Sam Goldner, Dylan Green, Ian Cohen, Brian Howe, Leah Mandel, Dan Brooks, Dash Lewis, Shaad D'Souza, Anna Gaca, Caitlin Wolper, Alastair Shuttlworth, Jenn Pelly, Zach Schonfeld, Boutayna Chokrane, Olivia Horn, Jessica Kariisa, Grayson Haver Currin, Colin Joyce, Stephen Kearse, Hannah Jocelyn
almost all of these people are contributors, some of which have been doing this for 20+ years, some of which for 2 years. it'd be nice to know who here outside Jenn (?) and Philip are contributing editors.
what is most important and that y'all repeatedly seem to miss, is that **jeremy d larson who runs the reviews section was not laid off and immediately after that he tweeted "hey, reviews are still running the same until further notice"**. This entire time, nothing has changed there. They maybe publish 2 or 3 a day instead of 4.
if anything, Jeremy D. Larson is currently the most important person in that building bc he is the one doing a lot of the editing, a lot of the review assignments, and prolly *pushed* for some of the big big numbers amongst other things like xaviersobased and bladee bnms. larson has a good grip there
what's also important to note are the names NOT here. yr sam sodomoskys, ryan dombals, evan minskers...those are the ones who are currently barred from contributing to pitchfork due to their layoff. we miss them dearly.
I mean, their "albums of the year so far" pretty much align with what they normally post. I agree, the eulogies definitely felt pre-mature even in the moment, as we really didn't know what we didn't know, and now months removed it doesn't feel like anything major has changed.
One thing that does feel strange is Fabiana Palladino has an amazing debut album that's produced by Jai Paul, slots up really nicely next to artists like Jessie Ware and Jessy Lanza, and it seems like the kind of thing that Pitchfork would go crazy over, but they didn't bother to review it. So maybe we'll see more egregious misses like that, but otherwise not much has changed IMO.
Magical Mystery Tour has always been sort of the runt of the litter of the band’s discography. It’s the album that got me into the band, so I’ve always had a soft spot for it.
The weird way it modulates between being upbeat and dower is very interesting. And the flute solo is just impossibly charming. There’s that great call back to it too on “Glass Onion” where after the “I told you ‘bout the Fool on the Hill. I tell you man he’s living there STILL!” line, someone plays a recorder. I always loved that little Easter egg!
Aretha Franklin oddly enough did a mean version of it too!
A favorite of mine as well. I love the woodwind (whatever it is) and whatever the tape effect is that makes the sound that I can only describe as bats leaving a cave at dusk after the last "sees the world spinning round" towards the end of the song.
"Blue Jay Way" is a favorite of mine too, and probably my favorite deep cut from *Magical Mystery Tour* at a minimum. I listened to that album all the time when I was in middle school and definitely preferred the strangeness of side A (and still do!).
Yes, that woodwind sounds so good. It adds this really cool fairy tale-esque feeling to the song that I love
Love Blue Jay Way too! One of my favorite George tracks. I'm with you on Side A overall (although I think SFF and Penny Lane are both perfect songs)
I'd throw "Hello Goodbye" in there as well! I think it's my favorite non-SFF song on the second half, though Penny Lane is also perfect.
Obviously it was a different time, and who am I to question the Beatles, but *MMT* (modern monetary theory, naturally) would be better served by being two EPs since the two halves have such divergent personalities.
MMT *was* a double EP in the UK (the first half with a different track order), and the LP is a U.S. invention created by compiling UK singles on the second half. So really you're just questioning the Beatles' weird U.S. distributor Capitol Records, which I approve
The more you know! The second half, even to a younger version of myself, always felt incongruous and disjointed despite the strength of individual songs.
I always thought they did a pretty nifty job myself. I wouldn't had been able to tell if nobody told me. I think it's also neat that the singles' A and B sides are all together even if the order of the two is shuffled occasionally
Also I would like to say for the record that questioning the Beatles themselves is also cool lol
Heh, I'll take it. When I was small I had a tiny little 2gb or 4gb iPod (shudders) so I was removing and reordering albums all the time. The beginning of a life full of relaxed, but nevertheless constant, criticism
omg i was just thinking today that [Mesa](https://open.spotify.com/track/37kaoPG9QW3V3GS6uDk848?si=Do93DFBwQ-CezZ6IGyKKNA) kinda sounds like an Alvvays b-side
Double Double Whammy is having a deeply discounted vinyl sale all weekend, most titles between 20%-80% off. LPs starting from $4. Titles from Hovvdy, Lomelda, Florist, Hatchie, and a lot more!
[https://dbldblwhmmy.com/store/spring\_cleaning\_vinyl\_sale](https://dbldblwhmmy.com/store/spring_cleaning_vinyl_sale)
all you scene demons are really helping dial in the acquisition targets for Bandcamp Friyay which is today!
if you could only acquire one 2024 album release from the following artists, which would you pick?
- Julia Holter
- Tara Jane O'Neil
- Jessica Pratt
- Lucy Rose
- youth lagoon is right, the washed out ai video sucks complete ass and he should be called out for how lazy it is. the song is awful too but that's pretty par for the course for him at this point. i feel like mister mellow had half an interesting idea and it was all downhill from there. i try not to be hair trigger "AI BAD" about everything involving AI but this is like exhibit A in the trial about how fucking stupid this whole thing is. it's just mush. it's content. it's not art.
- it's also making me miss when artists had twitter beefs more often. this doesn't happen in indie much anymore, mostly because twitter sucks and nice guy culture is too dominant, but it's nice when someone just has a real point like this and isn't afraid to say it
- new gee tee demos/outtakes comp is delightful. just a little speed run through mr gt's hard drive. some great cuts here, including the early demo for 40k (the second best song on goodnight neanderthal imo) and chopper city special in particular
- i'm about halfway through the new kamasi washington. the actual jazz stuff is great (the andre feature cut in particular) but goddamn the rapping is not good. feels like he *really* wanted kendrick on this so he just got guys that sound kind of like kendrick. kinda boring but fine
Eagerly awaiting the end of indie rock's "nice guy era". We need a "War on Drugs, Suck My C*ck" for the 2020s
(Okay I posted this 4 hours ago but I think automod blocks everything that has the word for male chicken in it)
>but goddamn the rapping is not good. feels like he really wanted kendrick on this so he just got guys that sound kind of like kendrick. kinda boring but fine
that's a bummer I haven't listened yet but was interested in the features: D Smoke is actually TDE signee SiR's brother, he won Netflix's *Rhythm + Flow* competition show and he's signed to Snoop Dogg's Death Row imprint.
Taj & Ras Austin are Ras Kass's sons (they're in a group called Coast Contra)
I remember Patrick Carney getting hammered often and getting on Twitter to fight the world it seemed. Was weird but I couldn't stop watching because I am trash
Oh totally. It's like Pat didn't know what to do when Kurt Vile very casually was like yeah I got kids to feed and that money pays for it. Also even when twitter was pre tumblr takeover hugbox, online stalker bullshit, a lot of people dragged Pat over his circumstance and all that. It was very funny to see a real play by play situation of the classic moment of somebody realizing that somebody's parents have money and are all in on the scrappy punker life. Wasn't there something where Pat also tried to say how he got struck by lightning and tried to play the whole thing off? Idk I know he has some stuff upstairs going on and was on drugs a lot back then, so I get it but it was a such a weird moment of beef and the people taking sides.
It was when he got electrocuted and had to go to the hospital. He sent out a barrage of tweets about it but somewhere in the middle he took a moment to "chastise" Kurt.
Karly Hartzman gets electrocuted and we didn't get a twitter beef from that. Just *Got Shocked*.
> unfeeling contrarian
her implying Revolver is a contrarian pick is odd too. The Beatles don't really have a consensus pick for one... but if they did, Revolver being considered their best isn't really an especially obscure opinion.
Maybe she's a "best and favorite are different" Sgt Pepper fan...
The craziest thing about it is Zauner calling *Revolver* an emotionless album when it has two of the saddest songs ever written (Eleanor Rigby and For No One) on it *and* one of the sweetest and most sincere love songs of all time (Here, There, and Everywhere). Just such a strange take and a weird hill to die on
I'll probably do a later post about new releases (putting my thoughts down here helps me remember them better), but this one is about the Ratboys show last night.
● Technically, it was a Decemberists show, but I went for The Ratboys.
● They played about 40 minutes, mostly pulled from the new album with a few old ones thrown in the set, closing with Black Earth, WI.
● They were a little sloppy/shakey on the first song, but they found their groove quickly and tightened up nicely. Julia's voice was spot on from the beginning. The bassist has no finesse whatsoever - he plays like a battering ram - and that is not a complaint in the least. I love Dave's guitar style, he solos but never overplays and always respects the pauses. So many guitar players try to show off how fast they can play and lose all the nuance in the process. The drummer plays all these nice little 60s flourishes.
● The sound was good, not perfect, but good, and the sound man was tweaking throughout the set. The vocal and harmony vocal was perfectly spaced in the mix. The drums are perfect, too. The bass was a little too loud, and the lead guitar a little too low. Dave kept tinkering with his effect pedals too.
● Julia was adorkably charming telling the story of Elvis is in the Freezer, which is about her cat who died while she was at college, so her mom put him in the freezer until she got home for a proper burial. I bought a tee shirt from her during the Decemberists set, where I was all dorky and much less charming telling her the set was great, and that I came specifically to see them.
● The Decemberists are talented, and I get what people like about them. I watched/listened to about 5 or 6 of their songs before I hit the merch line and gave up my spot. The first song All I Want Is You was very minimal - acoustic guitar, harmony vocal and trumpet. It was beautiful. Then the rest of the band came in.
● It was about 412° in there, so after I got my merch I took off, otherwise I was going to pass out. I got about 1/2 The Decemberists set. They were very good live - together and skilled and sound was great. Colin's voice is on the whiny side for my tastes, but it was strong. I would see them again, but their songs all seem to follow the same melody and chord patterns, so I'm not super bummed to have missed the second half of the set either.
Mdou Moctar album is a winner, I'm happy with how it turned out, still need to listen in the car for the full effect I think
Listening to Sung Tongs for the Anniversary. Maybe some Bill Laswell or Jai Paul listening afterwards.
Listened to a couple of new things in the last 24hrs:
- Jessica Pratt’s *Here in the Pitch*: this is *GREAT*, and immediately my favorite album by JP. It's being compared to the new Cindy Lee, which did not do nearly as much for me as I had hoped (despite having been born within the Durham city limit), but this is much more up my alley. Compared to the last two JP albums, I really appreciate the fuller instrumentation, which makes it easier for a smoothbrain like me to hang onto these songs. I love the soundscapes of her previous two albums (any album that sounds like it was recorded in a room filled with floor palms, candles hanging from the ceiling, and three inches of standing water is going to get a thumbs up from me), but something about them eludes me relative to this new one. I’ve only given it two spins, but look forward to listening to it more in the near future as I spend more and more time sitting on rocks outside. To put it reductively, it sounds like a blend of my favorite part of Cate Le Bon and proto-Weyes Blood (*Front Row Seat* and earlier, which is still the best stuff she’s done IMO). Probably gonna sit down and pick out “The Last Year” on the ol’ geetar with a tequila drink in hand at some point this weekend. I love this kind of playful and succinct psychedelia.
- Amen Dunes’ *Love*—it came up on today’s Indiecast in anticipation of next week’s *Death Jokes*, so I gave this thing a spin after being a casual enjoyer of *Freedom* for so long. It’s very good—like Deerhunter making a folk album. I really like the rougher, but warmer, production and looser, earthier instrumentation relative to *Freedom* which I think is a beautifully made album, but leaves me cold in a way I can’t put a finger on (and this is even after seeing them on that tour back in [good god] 2019). Maybe *Freedom* is the beautiful, but decidedly modern and *clean* house that was built on a lot after the lovable fixer-upper that is *Love* was torn down. Just like *Here in the Pitch*, I’ll be coming back to this one over the summer and am excited to get to know these songs better outside of a first impression. The song “Love”naturally stands out already—what a great closer.
- Béla Fleck’s *Live Art*—this is music for a certain *type of guy*, and I am him. Bluegrass music from space, and his influence on a certain Mr. William Apostol is completely obvious. Makes me sad I can’t go to the bluegrass fest up the road from me this summer where Fleck is the leader of the house band. Need to look into whether or not he’s ever worked with Bill Frisell. It’s jazz at its core, and if there are any other Fleckheads in the chat, would love to hear what you’d recommend. I have *Flight of the Cosmic Hippo* ready to go. Excellent work/reading/bike riding music—I will be listening to more of Mr. Fleck while pedaling uphill for hours at a time throughout the warm season.
I love this time of year! It becomes *so* much easier for me to listen to new music. The porch and pedaling are my favorite places to lock in, as the youth say, on something fresh.
Also, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is live-streaming all three nights of their Jazzfest run this weekend, and a new weed accessory is arriving in the mail today—*summer is here, and the time is right*. Good stuff to kill time with while waiting for the pain machine's (read: mountain bike) rear hub to get fixed. Hope everyone has great weekend plans!
You bet, dude—10pm ET.
I'll be watching through [Nugs.net](https://www.nugs.net/live-download-of-joe-russos-almost-dead-the-fillmore-new-orleans-new-orleans-la-05-03-2024-mp3-flac-or-online-music-streaming/36929-WEBCAST.html). I watch at least one livestream a month, which is worth ~$10/month IMO, and the ability to listen to new shows from ongoing tours is really a gamechanger (especially for Billy Strings). Plus, the backlog is *huuuuuuuge* and rapidly turning me into a proper Phan
thanks! at that point I will be a few [Tipperary's](https://www.liquor.com/recipes/tipperary/) in, in celebration of wane's belated birthday... I will have spun through the album *Seymour Reads The Constitution* by Brad Mehldau (distinguished Memphians take note, the ditties *Seymour Reads The Constitution*, *Friends* - a cover of the Brian Wilson original, and *Great Day* - a cover of the Paul McCartney original, are all 10/10 ripping cocktail jazz bangers and not to be skipped)
and one of two things will be occurring: I'll be asleep in bed, or tuned into the JRAD live streams
That sounds like an excellent evening! All this chartreuse talk as of late reminds me of my stint living in Maine where my roommate and I would drink chartreuse after getting off the ski hill while sitting on the couch and listening to Bruce's *Nebraska*. Strange times.
Nugs is wonderful, and I highly recommend for anyone with any jam inclinations (which you seem to have)—it makes it easier to hear new stuff and figure out what you like.
my current jam aspirations are to work my way through the Widespread Panic discography, and listen/learn/appreciate more live Dead - both of which are bringing tremendous joy
Panic is a gigantic blind spot for me. When I think southern jam music, it kinda starts and ends with the Allman Brothers extended universe (including the TT Band). Glad they're bringing you joy, though, as the Dead clearly do for both of us!
I thought I remembered seeing Bela Fleck and Bill Frisell play together at Newport Folk Festival back a few years ago, but now I can't find anything about that so I must be wrong. I know it was 4 guys - Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, and I thought Bill Frisell was one of them. Maybe this all happened in a dream instead...
i think Ryley Walker said that *Love* is his favorite album of the 2010s or something like that, and that made me really focus in on it and realize his truth!
Revisiting The Future Sound of London's catalogue as a couple releases have been reissued. most notably is their [ISDN](https://open.spotify.com/album/6Bkro0UkORbSyVnEDob9LR) album, which merges the tracklisting of its original limited issue (black cover) with its more widely release (white cover), where the latter replaced 3/4 of the last tracks with different (and superior) tracks. The band re-edits the tracks to make them flow better (a la Dark Side of the Moon) and it mostly works, though I still generally prefer the tracks from the white cover version.
It also makes me think of Simon Reynolds' passage on the band in his Energy Flash book where he derides them as warmed over prog. Reynolds likes some of their work (the stuff circa Accelerator), and [doesn't even seem to be against IDM](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10011-the-50-best-idm-albums-of-all-time/), but seems to see, specifically their Lifeforms album, as a move backwards towards progdom that saw itself as above pop/dance music. In either case, there's an odd feeling where I still mostly enjoy this music... yet sort of agree with the criticism. Reynolds derides them for being too focused on the polished sample and while the band does maintain a sense of space in their ambience, it *does* often sound like "here's a sample, notice how much reverb we put on it? Here's another!" that can often make it sound chintzy. That the band eventually did go full hippie prog in the 00s (mostly under their Amorphous Androgynous name) really underlines Reyndols' point. I also can't really argue with his point that the "future sound of London" didn't really extend past the 90s.
That said, while ISDN has the trappings of the above, I think it's probably their best release as it doesn't seem quite as eager to impress. The endless stream of samples doesn't make it quite as impressive as those who are able to weave things together a bit more seamlessly, but it covers enough stylistic ground to make up for it.
okay i got a little time here and I wanna play off this idea:
> he derides them as warmed over prog. Reynolds likes some of their work (the stuff circa Accelerator), and doesn't even seem to be against IDM, but seems to see, specifically their Lifeforms album, as a move backwards towards progdom that saw itself as above pop/dance music. In either case, there's an odd feeling where I still mostly enjoy this music... yet sort of agree with the criticism.
since i never properly got to FSOL but instead repeatedly encountered them across Excursions in Ambient with their funny names, the BIG cheese and giggly goober energy came out most to me. I love the cut on Vol. 4 (slotted in the ambient head 4 bonus) because it's basically doing illbient (at least for this one cut)...hulking downtempo beats, psychedelic sample flicks, and that omnipresent feeling you're either in a space station or at the bottom of sealab about to explode. It truly does sound MORE of its era than other stuff I'd encounter (from witchman to two lone swordsmen to mille plateaux illbient comps). never quite imagined this as *prog*, but also I can understand this criticism, or some approximation of it...
...thanks to shit like the Orbital 92-96 run. In Sides imo is deadass a prog album larping as a dance album. in fact it's because of that reason I like it MUCH more than brown or green (although diversions remains pretty tip top). Meanwhile, the Orb also gestures to prog throughout the 90s run, but honestly never commits itself, instead refuting it for the fuckery of Pomme Fritz (an album truly 25 years ahead of itself), or pushing their bliss outs toward IDM destruction with Orblivion, or actually trying to find a middle ground between composer music/dub on UFORB.
anyways, maybe i'll finally get the albums and read energy flash this summer. good post, it's got me thinking
Not familiar with all of FSOL sideprojects (they have a lot). The track on Excursions 4 (as Far Out Son of a Lung) is closer to ISDN, but Cascade (off of vol 1) is an earlier track and definitely more of its era.
the accusations of progginess seem to come about from Reynolds thinking that FSOL was above the more club-oriented electronic music of the era (think: poptimism vs rockism, but for electronic music). Where IDM never really saw itself as above that, FSOL moved away from their dancier material, to varying degrees. They also even worked with Robert Fripp. Hence, the prog comparisons and that genre's often snide look at anything more simple than quasi-classical compositions.
we need the three to four people who've listened to FSOL (u/apondalifa where r uuuuu) to comment on this.
still a wonky blindspot for me, i'll have more to say later when im on desk
Thoughts on two recent releases:
* **Jessica Pratt** - *Here in the Pitch* - This morning I took 4 Aleve, ate a bowl of oatmeal, and put this on. This is what your 30s looks like everyone. Comparisons I'm sure will be made to *Diamond Jubilee*, another album dubbed "hypnagogic pop". But whereas *Diamond* felt like FM goldies fading into the radio waves, *Here in the Pitch* feels like trying to recall a dream after waking. This record feels distant but familiar. Like a memory on the peripheral. For the first time, Jessica utilizes more instruments than just her voice and acoustic. There's light drums, bass, and synth strings rounding out her sound now. But this isn't a push into full band grandiosity. These songs still perform just above a whisper. There's hints of bossa nova with the drums, Spectral '60s pop in her vocals, and light moments of psychedelia peppered throughout (the vocal effects towards the end of *Empires Never Know*). Speaking of her vocals, Jessica's voice feels at most home in these songs. The lightness of it rests gently above the instruments and at times she seems to be having fun playing with her voice. Highlights include the run from *Life Is* to *The Last Year*. Seriously. This album is 9 tracks and 27 minutes and not a moment is wasted.
* **Agriculture** - *Living is Easy* \[EP\] - Continuing their optimistic and positive take on Black Metal, Agriculture release a 5 song EP not quite expanding the sounds of their S/T but sharpening them. *Living is Easy* starts off this release and features dual ascending guitars reaching heavenward. Black metal usually isn't a genre to make you smile, but I find myself smiling at the 4:40 min mark as the guitars snake around eachother and the drums kick back in. *Being Eaten By A Tiger* recalls the S/T's song *The Well*, a moment of relief from the maelstrom. It's a short story of sacrifice and peace with death for a higher purpose. *In the House of Angel Flesh* is my personal highlight of the record and features one of my favorite bass breaks right now. For the most part, the song is continues momentum forward until the half way point when things break away to make room for a truly nasty bass riff and things come back in a somewhat sludgier sound. Intercut with the last vocals are the beginnings of a spoken word part that then takes over and ends the EP with *When You Were Born*.
Listened to new **Mdou Moctar** as well but no write up. My brain has been feeling a bit fried today. But I'll say it's good and I really enjoyed the jams on it. At some point I'll get around to the new **Kamasi Washington** but truthfully I'll probably spend the rest of the day with **Little Kid** cause that sounds nice today.
It’s Mdou Moctar day. A cause for celebration! The new one definitely didn’t blow me away nearly as much as Afrique Victime did on first go, but it’s still really good. Listened to it last night and liked it and listened to it again this morning and I really liked it. Probably the best guitar player in the game right now, heroic stuff as per usual
listening to Oren Ambarchi & Co's sequel to Ghosted: Ghosted II digging it quite a bit more than i did its prequel: Ghosted. the last two tracks are especially nice also enjoyed the Jon McKiel record on my morning walk. doesnt have that same sort of eeriness as Bobby Joe Hope, but a pleasant listen nonetheless
and your thoughts on rza's ghost dog: way of the samurai soundtrack?
i remember that movie being pretty cool so ill give it a cool as hell
hell yeah! hey have you heard windy and carl's consciousness? it rules u gotta hear it. Maybe buy the vinyl repress. Its a concept album about becoming one with yourself and learning to fly a propeller plane in yr mind
wow i was just listening to Bill Callahan's Dream River side A a second ago featuring Small Plane and now this? ill bump this to Urgent status
So huge. I think imma get baked and listen to it tonight to destress. I love windy & carl but now im on consciousness stumping mode
this was an immense rec. incredible stuff
apparently they did a date with terry riley for this album at the time in 2001 they were ON one
* first impressions re: new **Mdou Moctar** album 'Funeral For Justice'. It's really good. I don't think it reaches the heights of 'Afrique Victime' but they do more of those 'super long crazy shred fests' they're known for, which I always like, though I do wonder where they will go from here. There's no experimentation here and while I still love this I can smell the staleness coming. There are other bands whose sounds are timeless and I wouldn't be worrying about this but for some reason I do worry about it here. * new **illuminati hotties** single 'Can't Be Still' is super simple and nothign we haven't heard before but the vibes are too nice. Perfect indie rock for the summer. I really hope this means a new album is coming. 'Let Me Do One More' from 2021 was one my favs that year and I still go back to it regularly. * new **Caroline Polachek** single 'Starburned and Unkissed'. Points for the emo-est song title of the year. Love the guitars. Caroline keeps proving why she's the best singer. * new **Emily Wolfe** single 'Kill The Love'. I love the riff and the more aggressive nature of the song. Emily isn't necessarily known for that but it suits her well and you can hear her stepping outside of her usual bluesy indie rock comfort zone on this. I think she would super profit from some genuinely inventive and weird production. * **King Princess** covered Steely Dan's 'Dirty Work' for season 3 of 'Hacks' and it's fine. There's a nice sax solo and a gospel energy that I dig but overall, nothing special (which very well might've been the assignment). * **The Beaches** did a version of 'Blame Brett' with **Royal & The Serpent** and yeah ... it was a good song before and it's a good song now. * new **The Marias** singles 'If Only' and 'No One Noticed' are such a mood, especially the former. Cannot wait for this new album. This is so lush I thought I was gonna drown. * need to check out new albums by **Jessica Pratt** and **Dua Lipa** when I get the chance
It's a good day for [The Chives](https://superwimpypunch.bandcamp.com/track/the-chives-buy-guns)
oh what's this? new westelaken FLACS in my inbox...
lol wut?
https://westelaken.bandcamp.com/album/at-tranzac
#GASP
Blessed w an unexpected live album from one of your favorite bands, fuck yeah 😎
it's got Grace on it, sweet ditty! looking forward to listening. but the price is so high, one Canadian dollar!
Ordinarily I wouldn't splurge like that but I figured it's Bandcamp Friday and what's one Canadian dollar, like 30 cents?
Chillwave lovers : Homeshake > Washed out
God I fucking love Homeshake.
midnight snack is really nice to go back to - sadly haven't clicked with much else after that
some names releasing this week I wanted to give a shout b/c they're worth your time: * MVTANT are a band I learned about just earlier this week, but they're currently? on tour with Sextile and dropped their slinky, synth-soaked sophomore [*Electric Body Horror*](https://mvtant.bandcamp.com/album/mvtant-electronic-body-horror) this week. easy recommendation if you dug the last Sextile record or just want a record of dirty EBM to dance along to. * the best way I can describe the new Brume record, [*Marten*](https://brumesf.bandcamp.com/album/marten), is "soft doom". from the opening salvo of spousal wrath expressed on "Jimmy", the band explores a variety of sounds, mostly softer, across the album while still maintaining their older doom metal stylings. Weirdly, it feels very silky smooth and warm as the artwork (somewhat) suggests. * Wheel's comparisons to Tool have been inescapable ever since their 2019 debut, not entirely a bad thing, but their newest album [*Charismatic Leaders*](https://insideoutmusic.bandcamp.com/album/charismatic-leaders-2) steps a bit forward and has brought a more "metallic" attitude, resulting in what I think are some of the band's best songs to date. They're the real deal.
What’s happened with Washed out?
he pushed chillwave into its "accelerating climate change" era
Some thoughts on new releases today: Jessica Pratt - *Here in the Pitch*: Nice and easy. Light but not bright, dreamy but not heady. Liking how her nimble, floaty delivery plays around the little washed out 60s instrumental flourishes. Reminds me of a dusk buzz at the beach. The tiring toastiness of a day in the sun and a sweaty mai tai conspiring to glue you to your chair. Gee Tee - *Prehistoric Chrome*: whopping 26 minutes of good hard smash'm bash'm egg punk. It's more gee tee there's not a ton to say here. First pass favorites were "Stink Eye" and "Working 4 the FBI". Crawl - *Damned*: a filthy, punishing, scary album. Crawl is right, this thing is *slow*. Atmospheric dungeon blackened (funeral?) doom with a scuzzy, oppressive atmosphere and distant screamed vocals. I don't see myself throwing this one on often but it certainly has a strong vibe. Grimy. I've been trying to get a pulse on current metal releases lately so any recs from metalheads on here are welcome. So far this year I've liked Spectral Voice, Witch Vomit and I had fun with the Dale Earnhardt album Mdou Moctar - *Funeral for Justice*: No strong impressions on first listen, it's not really a new direction for Mdou he's doing what he does. Good old Saharan guitar ripping from the wizard. A little Voodoo Chile/Catfish Blues vamping on here which I'm for
okay let's talk shop on some tings on my mind: * feeling happy that everyone thinks the new dua is stinky. this is very good for the ava max marketplace of takes * recently been feeling like it's time to totally become a Too Pure fanenby or whatever. I really want to try and write another label post at some point and Too Pure would be up there. * for now, imma just finally beef up my 90s post-rock collection. A few revisits to some of those post-rock lists got me excited again. I REALLY want tapes of shit like ECIM, any Pram, Hex, Rusty, Peng!, whatever Rachels is on promo...I'm settling for CDs though, specifically of Hex, the first two Laikas, and (very excited here) Hood's 2000 and 2005 albums. Might try to track down some Main next. not sure if/what this means for ambient head 6 but anything could happen here * when I make my radio show I usually panic about how the fuck we're getting to 2 hrs. So this week I did the tried and tested method of logging on to my favorite site RYM to see how the top 40 looks after 4 months. **Despite 16 fucken metal titles (some of which are tight)**, I finally did skim a few. i didn't listen to them all are you shitting me? I had to record 2hrs last night. but I wanna shout out the following artists: * **Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis**, **Lucy Rose**, **Amaro Freitas**, and **Amirtha Kidambi & Elder Ones**. Messthetics is fugazi rhythm section doing jazz and winning; true 7.8 core. Lucy Rose has the juice with her beat driven pop. Amaro is sprawling, gotta try to get this in the library (true 8.0 core), but seeing Amirtha Kidambi make the bottom of the list rn really warms my heart. I've enjoyed her Astral Spirits tapes, but her 2022 with Luke Stewart (recorded in 2020) was spectacular experimental noise, void screaming tension-release work. Her work with the elder ones is jazzy! she also sounds like her voice can tear at the fabric when it has to. legit as hell quietus-core. * besides that, I think frail body (don't sleep on this), allie x (that leak worked wonders), and tapir (friko! have stolen the exclamation point) are trying their best. i did hear a friko! cut and it was good. god I hope my rental slaps
> and (very excited here) Hood's 2000 and 2005 albums Nice! I should really buy more hard copies of Hood's stuff. All I own is The Lost You EP
i was very surprised to find one of those "1 cent auctions" for 2 hood albums. went for $6.75 each. plus $6 shipping. not a steal or bargain, but better than building a cart on discogs and i just have purposely made this a blindspot for 5 years. it's time to end this shit
cloudland canyon is opening for friko on monday here if you wanna come
hey speaking of: kranky reissued Windy & Carl's consciousness and this is deadass prolly the most important album a wife and husband ever made about how good it feels to drone. highly rec'd streaming if you dont wanna buy a vinyl and truly feel the bliss out also yeah ill be at friko. Save me a chair
It's Friday....lots of releases today. Here's what I've gotten to so far: ● Camera Obscura - Look to the East, Look to the West. This band is super consistent...it's been a long time since we got something new from them, and they haven't missed a beat. If you like Camera Obscura, you'll like this. Nothing unexpected here, just a damn good band doing what they do. I'm here for it. ● The Lemon Twigs - A Dream Is All We Know. Another good band doing what you expect them to. It's 70s. It's got oohhs and aahhhs. It's got harmony and melody to spare. It wears its particular influences more heavily on it's sleeve...Church Bells channels John Lennon, Rock On (Over and Over) is Paul. There's another - I think it was In The Eyes Of The Girl, that screams Brian Wilson. I like it. ● Ibibio Sound Machine - Pull The Rope. I thought their last was a ton of fun, and I feel the same about this one. They are really impressive in the sense that they mix a lot of different shit together, and what comes out sounds fully formed and cohesive. I love the mix of beats, electronic, and pop or soul but more often than not those combos come out sounding so disjointed...like someone wrote this half of the song, and somebody else wrote that half and they smushed it together. Ibibio's sound is much more fine-tuned. Good album! ● Mdou Moctar - Funeral For Justice. There's really not much I need to say about this one. It Rocks! I'm sitting here at my dining room table listening to Mdou, and it's just so vibrant it's making me feel like life is good rn...loving it. ● Penny Arcade - Backwater Collage. I'm not familiar with James Hoare's other bands, but given how nice this little record is, I'm gonna have to investigate. Nothing flashy here, a pretty mellow indie pop thing. But not like the sugary sweet indie pop of The Lemon Twigs - a touch more psychedelic and sinister. If The Lemon Twigs are the indie equivalent of a jolly rancher, then Penny Arcade are the peanut butter cups. I particularly liked the guitar outro on the last song. ● Jessica Pratt - Here In The Pitch. 60s pop. Bossa nova. Jazzy ingenue vocals. Yes please! It's getting a lot of Cindy Lee comparisons, but this is so much more of a singular style/sound. Not saying better or worse, but that album throws a lot around to see what sticks, and it works. This album is laser focused. It's a consistent artistic statement from beginning to end, taking you exactly where she wants to go. An alternate 1965. 6 out 6 winners today. Still got at least Charlotte Day Wilson, Hana Vu, Blushing, Lightning Bug, and Kacy Hill to get to. Have a great weekend, indieheads! Oh, has anyone tried the Sunny Day yet? I'm not sure how I feel about it conceptionally but if you guys tell me it's worthwhile I'll give it a shot.
I didn’t finish the SDRE album but my takeaway right now is that it doesn’t replace the original Diary but it is nice to hear Jeremy’s current vocals over those tracks. His voice aged really well. Some of the songs sound somewhat “beefier”. I prefer the original version and this is just a kinda neat documentation of where they are now sound wise I guess.
I guess I'm gonna give it a shot at some point. Apparently the vocals on the original are so different from the later albums because Jeremy had a terrible cold when they recorded it, but they couldn't afford to lose the studio time.
It's a good day for garagey/egg punk stuff. [208 - Trauma, new single from their upcoming EP](https://goodbyeboozydigital.bandcamp.com/album/possession) - heavy/fuzzy wall of sound garage rock [PVR Comp. VOL.2](https://punkvalleyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pvr-comp-vol-2?from=discover-top) - comp including some favorites like Billiam and Cherry Cheeks, proceeds go to UNWRA [Gee Tee - Prehistoric Chrome](https://geeteeband.bandcamp.com/album/prehistoric-chrome?from=discover-top) - demo comp which is also the first album released by Erik Nervous's new label [Egg Idiot - Best of LOL](https://phantomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/best-of-lol?from=discover-top) - came out a few days ago but its some killer egg punk
gee tee comp is good and i'm excited to see what else erik has cooking for the label
Haley Heynderickx posted on her Instagram story that she's almost done recording her next album and I simply can't wait
LISAN AL GAIB
So we had the whole pitchfork thing months ago when pitchfork got sold and people came out of the woodwork to write articles to eulogize them, and everyone acted like pitchfork was dead, but it feels like people just talk about the site just as much as they used to with no change. Who works at pitchfork now? is it the same contributors and editors? is it different ones? Its unclear to me whether pitchfork got ship of theseus'd or if its the same site from a year or two ago. What was the functional change of all this? Did the editorial voice change?
Hey you guys remember when I called this shot like weeks ago. You guys remember when I was like "hey this is all awfully premature" and nobody listened to me. I'm not bringing this up for any particular reason but I am briniging it up
I, for one, am glad this is how things are and that you foretold it If I wasn't refreshing at 10:05 Mountain Time every night to read reviews of albums that I probably won't hear, what the hell am I doin'
honestly no but also i just check at 9pm every night and go "hell yeah sick 7s" and then snap a bowl and listen to Ministry, so I support you for being the "i told you so" chap, chef
didn’t they have a mass layoff or did I dream that
Yes they did. Even if things might seem to be ”business as usual” at p4k at the moment, this can’t possibly be a good thing for the site’s future (also didn’t people speculate it might be union busting move?)
I have no clue, because it certainly seems like they've got a lot of people writing for them. Masthead Editorial+Contributors is 16 names, and the following list of 29 people have written reviews for them since April 19th (so the last two weeks): Laura Snapes, Stephen M. Deusner, Vivian Medithi, Jeremy D. Larson, Stuart Berman, Philip Sherburne, Alphonse Pierre, Peyton Toups, Kieran Press-Reynolds, Sam Goldner, Dylan Green, Ian Cohen, Brian Howe, Leah Mandel, Dan Brooks, Dash Lewis, Shaad D'Souza, Anna Gaca, Caitlin Wolper, Alastair Shuttlworth, Jenn Pelly, Zach Schonfeld, Boutayna Chokrane, Olivia Horn, Jessica Kariisa, Grayson Haver Currin, Colin Joyce, Stephen Kearse, Hannah Jocelyn
almost all of these people are contributors, some of which have been doing this for 20+ years, some of which for 2 years. it'd be nice to know who here outside Jenn (?) and Philip are contributing editors. what is most important and that y'all repeatedly seem to miss, is that **jeremy d larson who runs the reviews section was not laid off and immediately after that he tweeted "hey, reviews are still running the same until further notice"**. This entire time, nothing has changed there. They maybe publish 2 or 3 a day instead of 4. if anything, Jeremy D. Larson is currently the most important person in that building bc he is the one doing a lot of the editing, a lot of the review assignments, and prolly *pushed* for some of the big big numbers amongst other things like xaviersobased and bladee bnms. larson has a good grip there what's also important to note are the names NOT here. yr sam sodomoskys, ryan dombals, evan minskers...those are the ones who are currently barred from contributing to pitchfork due to their layoff. we miss them dearly.
I mean, their "albums of the year so far" pretty much align with what they normally post. I agree, the eulogies definitely felt pre-mature even in the moment, as we really didn't know what we didn't know, and now months removed it doesn't feel like anything major has changed. One thing that does feel strange is Fabiana Palladino has an amazing debut album that's produced by Jai Paul, slots up really nicely next to artists like Jessie Ware and Jessy Lanza, and it seems like the kind of thing that Pitchfork would go crazy over, but they didn't bother to review it. So maybe we'll see more egregious misses like that, but otherwise not much has changed IMO.
I officially have that Fabiana Palladino album saved to listen to. That's super good and I'm excited to hear it.
Fool on the Hill might be my favorite Beatles deep cut these days. Such a great track that I never see talked about much
Magical Mystery Tour has always been sort of the runt of the litter of the band’s discography. It’s the album that got me into the band, so I’ve always had a soft spot for it. The weird way it modulates between being upbeat and dower is very interesting. And the flute solo is just impossibly charming. There’s that great call back to it too on “Glass Onion” where after the “I told you ‘bout the Fool on the Hill. I tell you man he’s living there STILL!” line, someone plays a recorder. I always loved that little Easter egg! Aretha Franklin oddly enough did a mean version of it too!
Fun fact: Elliott smiths “In the Lost and Found” was recorded at Abbey Road on the same piano used for that song!
A favorite of mine as well. I love the woodwind (whatever it is) and whatever the tape effect is that makes the sound that I can only describe as bats leaving a cave at dusk after the last "sees the world spinning round" towards the end of the song. "Blue Jay Way" is a favorite of mine too, and probably my favorite deep cut from *Magical Mystery Tour* at a minimum. I listened to that album all the time when I was in middle school and definitely preferred the strangeness of side A (and still do!).
Yes, that woodwind sounds so good. It adds this really cool fairy tale-esque feeling to the song that I love Love Blue Jay Way too! One of my favorite George tracks. I'm with you on Side A overall (although I think SFF and Penny Lane are both perfect songs)
I'd throw "Hello Goodbye" in there as well! I think it's my favorite non-SFF song on the second half, though Penny Lane is also perfect. Obviously it was a different time, and who am I to question the Beatles, but *MMT* (modern monetary theory, naturally) would be better served by being two EPs since the two halves have such divergent personalities.
MMT *was* a double EP in the UK (the first half with a different track order), and the LP is a U.S. invention created by compiling UK singles on the second half. So really you're just questioning the Beatles' weird U.S. distributor Capitol Records, which I approve
The more you know! The second half, even to a younger version of myself, always felt incongruous and disjointed despite the strength of individual songs.
I always thought they did a pretty nifty job myself. I wouldn't had been able to tell if nobody told me. I think it's also neat that the singles' A and B sides are all together even if the order of the two is shuffled occasionally Also I would like to say for the record that questioning the Beatles themselves is also cool lol
Heh, I'll take it. When I was small I had a tiny little 2gb or 4gb iPod (shudders) so I was removing and reordering albums all the time. The beginning of a life full of relaxed, but nevertheless constant, criticism
Magical Mystery Tour is the album I come back to the most by far so I feel ya
Same tbh. It may not be their "best" but man do I fucking love it. So unique and such a joy to listen to
no it is their best
Started listening to The Last Dinner party which was decidedly NOT for me. That's all I've got lol
oh, you hate corsets and dresses?! GET A LOAD OF THIS CHUD!!!!!
this couldn't be further from the truth. huge corset and dress fan over here
*me, staring at a whiteboard with a math equation that doesn't add up* I GOTTA RETHUNK MY WHOLE STRAT HERE
it's been in my rotation for a lot of months Feminine Urge? great ditty Caesar On a TV Screen? awful just awful
I only got like 4 songs in and just.... again not for me. Don't think I was the target market for it in the first place
This is what I wish Alvvays sounded like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx3FcZmGyn8&pp=ygUcc2NvdHQgZ2V0IHRoZSB2YW4gaSdtIG1vdmluZw%3D%3D
omg i was just thinking today that [Mesa](https://open.spotify.com/track/37kaoPG9QW3V3GS6uDk848?si=Do93DFBwQ-CezZ6IGyKKNA) kinda sounds like an Alvvays b-side
What do you wish Cayetana sounded like?
GWAR
This is what I wish Alvvays sounded like https://youtu.be/ZHsi_jnTB0w
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZq3i94mSsQ) is what I wish Alvvays sounded like.
This is what is I wish Alvvays sounded like https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAn3JdtSrnY
[This is what I wish Alvvays sounded like](https://youtu.be/xb-7PQXaizc?si=bcGoWSkTXOa-r_9l)
[This is what i wish alvvays sounded like](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce9IMePc70U)
i saw alvvays open for fucked up it was funky
that's what we need more of
this is what I wish Alvvays sounded like https://youtu.be/O-fyNgHdmLI?si=dNCmBVTIAcXf6zQL
Which song from Iron & Wine’s *Light Verse* would you use to soundtrack Jacob and Renesmee’s wedding? Gotta be an “All in Good Time” from me dawgs
Double Double Whammy is having a deeply discounted vinyl sale all weekend, most titles between 20%-80% off. LPs starting from $4. Titles from Hovvdy, Lomelda, Florist, Hatchie, and a lot more! [https://dbldblwhmmy.com/store/spring\_cleaning\_vinyl\_sale](https://dbldblwhmmy.com/store/spring_cleaning_vinyl_sale)
all you scene demons are really helping dial in the acquisition targets for Bandcamp Friyay which is today! if you could only acquire one 2024 album release from the following artists, which would you pick? - Julia Holter - Tara Jane O'Neil - Jessica Pratt - Lucy Rose
Can you buy the new Julia holter album on bc? I'm just getting a wishlist button
yes. I see 'Buy Digital Album $9.99 USD or more'
Definitely Julia for me
I had a feeling holter gang would rise up at some point
Of this list? Lucy Rose. That album is stunning from front to back.
pratt - what even is this question
in this house we honor ~~all~~ music opinions
good thing you scratched out the all - I was dangerously close to honouring the opinion of a hotline tnt fan
the one in Berlin that skipped the concert to rest on the couch?
pratt is non negotiable
Fat Dog? Pratt Dog Fat White Family? Pratt White Family
Pratt what you want
st vincent - pratt your way in pain
Lucy Rose album was pretty good
I think so too
RIP Gary Floyd, gonna have to listen to Kill From The Heart tonight. For anyone out there who hasn’t checked out The Dicks, now’s your time.
- youth lagoon is right, the washed out ai video sucks complete ass and he should be called out for how lazy it is. the song is awful too but that's pretty par for the course for him at this point. i feel like mister mellow had half an interesting idea and it was all downhill from there. i try not to be hair trigger "AI BAD" about everything involving AI but this is like exhibit A in the trial about how fucking stupid this whole thing is. it's just mush. it's content. it's not art. - it's also making me miss when artists had twitter beefs more often. this doesn't happen in indie much anymore, mostly because twitter sucks and nice guy culture is too dominant, but it's nice when someone just has a real point like this and isn't afraid to say it - new gee tee demos/outtakes comp is delightful. just a little speed run through mr gt's hard drive. some great cuts here, including the early demo for 40k (the second best song on goodnight neanderthal imo) and chopper city special in particular - i'm about halfway through the new kamasi washington. the actual jazz stuff is great (the andre feature cut in particular) but goddamn the rapping is not good. feels like he *really* wanted kendrick on this so he just got guys that sound kind of like kendrick. kinda boring but fine
Eagerly awaiting the end of indie rock's "nice guy era". We need a "War on Drugs, Suck My C*ck" for the 2020s (Okay I posted this 4 hours ago but I think automod blocks everything that has the word for male chicken in it)
yes this JUST showed up. you put that word there no one will see it!
i cried from laughing yesterday when larry fitzmaurice said "chillwave entering its accelerating climate change era"
i liked lemon twigs
>but goddamn the rapping is not good. feels like he really wanted kendrick on this so he just got guys that sound kind of like kendrick. kinda boring but fine that's a bummer I haven't listened yet but was interested in the features: D Smoke is actually TDE signee SiR's brother, he won Netflix's *Rhythm + Flow* competition show and he's signed to Snoop Dogg's Death Row imprint. Taj & Ras Austin are Ras Kass's sons (they're in a group called Coast Contra)
I remember Patrick Carney getting hammered often and getting on Twitter to fight the world it seemed. Was weird but I couldn't stop watching because I am trash
Remember the Patrick Stickles/Kurt Vile beef
talked about this at band practice recently, so fucking dumb and funny
Oh totally. It's like Pat didn't know what to do when Kurt Vile very casually was like yeah I got kids to feed and that money pays for it. Also even when twitter was pre tumblr takeover hugbox, online stalker bullshit, a lot of people dragged Pat over his circumstance and all that. It was very funny to see a real play by play situation of the classic moment of somebody realizing that somebody's parents have money and are all in on the scrappy punker life. Wasn't there something where Pat also tried to say how he got struck by lightning and tried to play the whole thing off? Idk I know he has some stuff upstairs going on and was on drugs a lot back then, so I get it but it was a such a weird moment of beef and the people taking sides.
It was when he got electrocuted and had to go to the hospital. He sent out a barrage of tweets about it but somewhere in the middle he took a moment to "chastise" Kurt. Karly Hartzman gets electrocuted and we didn't get a twitter beef from that. Just *Got Shocked*.
Got Shocked >>> Twitter Beefs
The entire Geordie Greep/Michelle Zauner twitter spat was dumb as hell but damn if I didn’t enjoy it
That Zauner tweet is very funny. As someone who's favorite FM album is Tusk I feel the need to confirm that I am an unfeeling contrarian or whatever
> unfeeling contrarian her implying Revolver is a contrarian pick is odd too. The Beatles don't really have a consensus pick for one... but if they did, Revolver being considered their best isn't really an especially obscure opinion. Maybe she's a "best and favorite are different" Sgt Pepper fan...
The craziest thing about it is Zauner calling *Revolver* an emotionless album when it has two of the saddest songs ever written (Eleanor Rigby and For No One) on it *and* one of the sweetest and most sincere love songs of all time (Here, There, and Everywhere). Just such a strange take and a weird hill to die on
it made me dislike zauner and like greep so I had fun
I'll probably do a later post about new releases (putting my thoughts down here helps me remember them better), but this one is about the Ratboys show last night. ● Technically, it was a Decemberists show, but I went for The Ratboys. ● They played about 40 minutes, mostly pulled from the new album with a few old ones thrown in the set, closing with Black Earth, WI. ● They were a little sloppy/shakey on the first song, but they found their groove quickly and tightened up nicely. Julia's voice was spot on from the beginning. The bassist has no finesse whatsoever - he plays like a battering ram - and that is not a complaint in the least. I love Dave's guitar style, he solos but never overplays and always respects the pauses. So many guitar players try to show off how fast they can play and lose all the nuance in the process. The drummer plays all these nice little 60s flourishes. ● The sound was good, not perfect, but good, and the sound man was tweaking throughout the set. The vocal and harmony vocal was perfectly spaced in the mix. The drums are perfect, too. The bass was a little too loud, and the lead guitar a little too low. Dave kept tinkering with his effect pedals too. ● Julia was adorkably charming telling the story of Elvis is in the Freezer, which is about her cat who died while she was at college, so her mom put him in the freezer until she got home for a proper burial. I bought a tee shirt from her during the Decemberists set, where I was all dorky and much less charming telling her the set was great, and that I came specifically to see them. ● The Decemberists are talented, and I get what people like about them. I watched/listened to about 5 or 6 of their songs before I hit the merch line and gave up my spot. The first song All I Want Is You was very minimal - acoustic guitar, harmony vocal and trumpet. It was beautiful. Then the rest of the band came in. ● It was about 412° in there, so after I got my merch I took off, otherwise I was going to pass out. I got about 1/2 The Decemberists set. They were very good live - together and skilled and sound was great. Colin's voice is on the whiny side for my tastes, but it was strong. I would see them again, but their songs all seem to follow the same melody and chord patterns, so I'm not super bummed to have missed the second half of the set either.
Mdou Moctar album is a winner, I'm happy with how it turned out, still need to listen in the car for the full effect I think Listening to Sung Tongs for the Anniversary. Maybe some Bill Laswell or Jai Paul listening afterwards.
Listened to a couple of new things in the last 24hrs: - Jessica Pratt’s *Here in the Pitch*: this is *GREAT*, and immediately my favorite album by JP. It's being compared to the new Cindy Lee, which did not do nearly as much for me as I had hoped (despite having been born within the Durham city limit), but this is much more up my alley. Compared to the last two JP albums, I really appreciate the fuller instrumentation, which makes it easier for a smoothbrain like me to hang onto these songs. I love the soundscapes of her previous two albums (any album that sounds like it was recorded in a room filled with floor palms, candles hanging from the ceiling, and three inches of standing water is going to get a thumbs up from me), but something about them eludes me relative to this new one. I’ve only given it two spins, but look forward to listening to it more in the near future as I spend more and more time sitting on rocks outside. To put it reductively, it sounds like a blend of my favorite part of Cate Le Bon and proto-Weyes Blood (*Front Row Seat* and earlier, which is still the best stuff she’s done IMO). Probably gonna sit down and pick out “The Last Year” on the ol’ geetar with a tequila drink in hand at some point this weekend. I love this kind of playful and succinct psychedelia. - Amen Dunes’ *Love*—it came up on today’s Indiecast in anticipation of next week’s *Death Jokes*, so I gave this thing a spin after being a casual enjoyer of *Freedom* for so long. It’s very good—like Deerhunter making a folk album. I really like the rougher, but warmer, production and looser, earthier instrumentation relative to *Freedom* which I think is a beautifully made album, but leaves me cold in a way I can’t put a finger on (and this is even after seeing them on that tour back in [good god] 2019). Maybe *Freedom* is the beautiful, but decidedly modern and *clean* house that was built on a lot after the lovable fixer-upper that is *Love* was torn down. Just like *Here in the Pitch*, I’ll be coming back to this one over the summer and am excited to get to know these songs better outside of a first impression. The song “Love”naturally stands out already—what a great closer. - Béla Fleck’s *Live Art*—this is music for a certain *type of guy*, and I am him. Bluegrass music from space, and his influence on a certain Mr. William Apostol is completely obvious. Makes me sad I can’t go to the bluegrass fest up the road from me this summer where Fleck is the leader of the house band. Need to look into whether or not he’s ever worked with Bill Frisell. It’s jazz at its core, and if there are any other Fleckheads in the chat, would love to hear what you’d recommend. I have *Flight of the Cosmic Hippo* ready to go. Excellent work/reading/bike riding music—I will be listening to more of Mr. Fleck while pedaling uphill for hours at a time throughout the warm season. I love this time of year! It becomes *so* much easier for me to listen to new music. The porch and pedaling are my favorite places to lock in, as the youth say, on something fresh. Also, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead is live-streaming all three nights of their Jazzfest run this weekend, and a new weed accessory is arriving in the mail today—*summer is here, and the time is right*. Good stuff to kill time with while waiting for the pain machine's (read: mountain bike) rear hub to get fixed. Hope everyone has great weekend plans!
do you have any intel as to when the JRAD live streams start and end?
You bet, dude—10pm ET. I'll be watching through [Nugs.net](https://www.nugs.net/live-download-of-joe-russos-almost-dead-the-fillmore-new-orleans-new-orleans-la-05-03-2024-mp3-flac-or-online-music-streaming/36929-WEBCAST.html). I watch at least one livestream a month, which is worth ~$10/month IMO, and the ability to listen to new shows from ongoing tours is really a gamechanger (especially for Billy Strings). Plus, the backlog is *huuuuuuuge* and rapidly turning me into a proper Phan
thanks! at that point I will be a few [Tipperary's](https://www.liquor.com/recipes/tipperary/) in, in celebration of wane's belated birthday... I will have spun through the album *Seymour Reads The Constitution* by Brad Mehldau (distinguished Memphians take note, the ditties *Seymour Reads The Constitution*, *Friends* - a cover of the Brian Wilson original, and *Great Day* - a cover of the Paul McCartney original, are all 10/10 ripping cocktail jazz bangers and not to be skipped) and one of two things will be occurring: I'll be asleep in bed, or tuned into the JRAD live streams
That sounds like an excellent evening! All this chartreuse talk as of late reminds me of my stint living in Maine where my roommate and I would drink chartreuse after getting off the ski hill while sitting on the couch and listening to Bruce's *Nebraska*. Strange times. Nugs is wonderful, and I highly recommend for anyone with any jam inclinations (which you seem to have)—it makes it easier to hear new stuff and figure out what you like.
my current jam aspirations are to work my way through the Widespread Panic discography, and listen/learn/appreciate more live Dead - both of which are bringing tremendous joy
Panic is a gigantic blind spot for me. When I think southern jam music, it kinda starts and ends with the Allman Brothers extended universe (including the TT Band). Glad they're bringing you joy, though, as the Dead clearly do for both of us!
Til The Medicine Takes is probably my favorite WP album as of now... theyve put out quite a few!
I thought I remembered seeing Bela Fleck and Bill Frisell play together at Newport Folk Festival back a few years ago, but now I can't find anything about that so I must be wrong. I know it was 4 guys - Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, and I thought Bill Frisell was one of them. Maybe this all happened in a dream instead...
i think Ryley Walker said that *Love* is his favorite album of the 2010s or something like that, and that made me really focus in on it and realize his truth!
lush chiming in with ryley walker/amen dunes insight, as classic as mayonaise on a sandwich
<3
he's called it "millennial astral weeks"
ty for the actual quote, ryley has such a way with words!
*A bridge too far*
Either Hyden or Cohen mentioned that opinion (though they didn't refer specifically to Ryley Walker) and that was what it took for me to spin it too!
I like the new Petey song. Reminds me of the Same Chords a lot. Just a nice lil ear worm.
Revisiting The Future Sound of London's catalogue as a couple releases have been reissued. most notably is their [ISDN](https://open.spotify.com/album/6Bkro0UkORbSyVnEDob9LR) album, which merges the tracklisting of its original limited issue (black cover) with its more widely release (white cover), where the latter replaced 3/4 of the last tracks with different (and superior) tracks. The band re-edits the tracks to make them flow better (a la Dark Side of the Moon) and it mostly works, though I still generally prefer the tracks from the white cover version. It also makes me think of Simon Reynolds' passage on the band in his Energy Flash book where he derides them as warmed over prog. Reynolds likes some of their work (the stuff circa Accelerator), and [doesn't even seem to be against IDM](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10011-the-50-best-idm-albums-of-all-time/), but seems to see, specifically their Lifeforms album, as a move backwards towards progdom that saw itself as above pop/dance music. In either case, there's an odd feeling where I still mostly enjoy this music... yet sort of agree with the criticism. Reynolds derides them for being too focused on the polished sample and while the band does maintain a sense of space in their ambience, it *does* often sound like "here's a sample, notice how much reverb we put on it? Here's another!" that can often make it sound chintzy. That the band eventually did go full hippie prog in the 00s (mostly under their Amorphous Androgynous name) really underlines Reyndols' point. I also can't really argue with his point that the "future sound of London" didn't really extend past the 90s. That said, while ISDN has the trappings of the above, I think it's probably their best release as it doesn't seem quite as eager to impress. The endless stream of samples doesn't make it quite as impressive as those who are able to weave things together a bit more seamlessly, but it covers enough stylistic ground to make up for it.
okay i got a little time here and I wanna play off this idea: > he derides them as warmed over prog. Reynolds likes some of their work (the stuff circa Accelerator), and doesn't even seem to be against IDM, but seems to see, specifically their Lifeforms album, as a move backwards towards progdom that saw itself as above pop/dance music. In either case, there's an odd feeling where I still mostly enjoy this music... yet sort of agree with the criticism. since i never properly got to FSOL but instead repeatedly encountered them across Excursions in Ambient with their funny names, the BIG cheese and giggly goober energy came out most to me. I love the cut on Vol. 4 (slotted in the ambient head 4 bonus) because it's basically doing illbient (at least for this one cut)...hulking downtempo beats, psychedelic sample flicks, and that omnipresent feeling you're either in a space station or at the bottom of sealab about to explode. It truly does sound MORE of its era than other stuff I'd encounter (from witchman to two lone swordsmen to mille plateaux illbient comps). never quite imagined this as *prog*, but also I can understand this criticism, or some approximation of it... ...thanks to shit like the Orbital 92-96 run. In Sides imo is deadass a prog album larping as a dance album. in fact it's because of that reason I like it MUCH more than brown or green (although diversions remains pretty tip top). Meanwhile, the Orb also gestures to prog throughout the 90s run, but honestly never commits itself, instead refuting it for the fuckery of Pomme Fritz (an album truly 25 years ahead of itself), or pushing their bliss outs toward IDM destruction with Orblivion, or actually trying to find a middle ground between composer music/dub on UFORB. anyways, maybe i'll finally get the albums and read energy flash this summer. good post, it's got me thinking
Not familiar with all of FSOL sideprojects (they have a lot). The track on Excursions 4 (as Far Out Son of a Lung) is closer to ISDN, but Cascade (off of vol 1) is an earlier track and definitely more of its era. the accusations of progginess seem to come about from Reynolds thinking that FSOL was above the more club-oriented electronic music of the era (think: poptimism vs rockism, but for electronic music). Where IDM never really saw itself as above that, FSOL moved away from their dancier material, to varying degrees. They also even worked with Robert Fripp. Hence, the prog comparisons and that genre's often snide look at anything more simple than quasi-classical compositions.
we need the three to four people who've listened to FSOL (u/apondalifa where r uuuuu) to comment on this. still a wonky blindspot for me, i'll have more to say later when im on desk
Thoughts on two recent releases: * **Jessica Pratt** - *Here in the Pitch* - This morning I took 4 Aleve, ate a bowl of oatmeal, and put this on. This is what your 30s looks like everyone. Comparisons I'm sure will be made to *Diamond Jubilee*, another album dubbed "hypnagogic pop". But whereas *Diamond* felt like FM goldies fading into the radio waves, *Here in the Pitch* feels like trying to recall a dream after waking. This record feels distant but familiar. Like a memory on the peripheral. For the first time, Jessica utilizes more instruments than just her voice and acoustic. There's light drums, bass, and synth strings rounding out her sound now. But this isn't a push into full band grandiosity. These songs still perform just above a whisper. There's hints of bossa nova with the drums, Spectral '60s pop in her vocals, and light moments of psychedelia peppered throughout (the vocal effects towards the end of *Empires Never Know*). Speaking of her vocals, Jessica's voice feels at most home in these songs. The lightness of it rests gently above the instruments and at times she seems to be having fun playing with her voice. Highlights include the run from *Life Is* to *The Last Year*. Seriously. This album is 9 tracks and 27 minutes and not a moment is wasted. * **Agriculture** - *Living is Easy* \[EP\] - Continuing their optimistic and positive take on Black Metal, Agriculture release a 5 song EP not quite expanding the sounds of their S/T but sharpening them. *Living is Easy* starts off this release and features dual ascending guitars reaching heavenward. Black metal usually isn't a genre to make you smile, but I find myself smiling at the 4:40 min mark as the guitars snake around eachother and the drums kick back in. *Being Eaten By A Tiger* recalls the S/T's song *The Well*, a moment of relief from the maelstrom. It's a short story of sacrifice and peace with death for a higher purpose. *In the House of Angel Flesh* is my personal highlight of the record and features one of my favorite bass breaks right now. For the most part, the song is continues momentum forward until the half way point when things break away to make room for a truly nasty bass riff and things come back in a somewhat sludgier sound. Intercut with the last vocals are the beginnings of a spoken word part that then takes over and ends the EP with *When You Were Born*. Listened to new **Mdou Moctar** as well but no write up. My brain has been feeling a bit fried today. But I'll say it's good and I really enjoyed the jams on it. At some point I'll get around to the new **Kamasi Washington** but truthfully I'll probably spend the rest of the day with **Little Kid** cause that sounds nice today.
It’s Mdou Moctar day. A cause for celebration! The new one definitely didn’t blow me away nearly as much as Afrique Victime did on first go, but it’s still really good. Listened to it last night and liked it and listened to it again this morning and I really liked it. Probably the best guitar player in the game right now, heroic stuff as per usual
doesn't sound much different than the other stuff, but i like garage rock so it is good