OK, a post. Lord.
I'll keep this simple. That 15 albums meme has been going around facebook, and I posted mine there. I took the assignment to mean "post the 15 albums you've done the most listening to." So they were mostly older, or at least the intensive, repeated listening happened years ago.
But here are 5 albums I've been listening to a lot lately. They're not necessarily new. I might do this again in a month or so. Meanwhile, you all should post 5 of your own. Or talk smack about these in the comments. Whatever, biters or haters, up to you.
Robyn, Body Talk 1. She's everything I've ever wanted in a girl. This one's more subdued than her last album, but still pretty perfect pop. Just grabbed Part 2, which sounds okay, if a little more disco. I like the triple album strategy a lot. Who else does such a thing? Oneida. That's about it.
Nigeria 70: The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos. I'm late to the African jazz/funk/rock thing. The Robert Christgau site and a totally amazing Nova Box Set I downloaded a while ago convinced me that it was more than a fad built up by Pitchfork and Vampire Weekend. This album is amazing.
Big Boi, Sir Lucious Left Foot. Really solid, even the skits, which are thank christ kept short.
Primal Scream, Screamadelica. I totally missed this the first time around. Well, I pretty much skipped all of British rock in the 90s. But in my defense these guys always got lumped in with Stone Roses. They're not Stone Roses. They're actually listenable.
Queens of the Stone Age, s/t. I didn't miss this one the first time around. But it's been years. In the meantime they got a big, non-Kyuss following, and I stopped bothering because they were on the radio. Whatever the reasons, it took me this long to remember that I really like this record. It's sort of like if shoegaze did meth instead of E.
Also been listening to new Walkmen (good - but Hamilton's ennui sounds more forced than before); Black Mountain (I like them darker than this); Ratatat (good background music when I need to get something done); Best Coast (I don't get it); Flying Lotus (I think I'm starting to get it); LCD Soundsystem (I've decided I like hearing James Murphy talk about music more than I like hearing him play it).
Comments!
Interesting picks. I've been struggling lately with the music. Really struggling. I'll try to post up 5 of my own soon. Comments on yours.
ReplyDeleteRobyn - I don't get this.
Nigeria 70 - I don't know this.
Big Boi - I've listened to this once.
Primal Scream - I've had this on my iPod for at least 5 years and I keep meaning to give it a chance.
QOTSA - I think I have this one too. And some Kyuss. Never really bothered.
I do like the new Walkmen, but it's nothing mind-bending. I've given up on Black Mountain. I, as well, don't get Best Coast but I did buy tickets to their show next month as it's in an interesting venue and it was really cheap. And LCD Soundsystem has really disappointed me this year.
Which brings us to our musical thought of the day. There's been a lot of bands that have really disappointed me lately. Either with sub-par albums or lacklustre live showings. So when do you give up on a band? Is it better to give up after that one sort of lacklustre show and keep the hope alive, or do you just keep going back hoping they will rekindle some of the old magic, inevitably just ruining the whole thing for yourself?
Oh. The Walkmen recently opened up here for two nights of the National at the Malkin Bowl. We went and sat on the grass and listened to the Walkmen. It was very odd. Live music with no visuals. I really missed watching the drummer beat the hell out of his kit. He can really drum, that guy.