The Colin Stetson / Sarah Neufeld collab is fucking tasty.
It's pretty good if you're in the mood for depressing stuff.
It's pretty good if you're in the mood for depressing stuff.
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Neogaf Rock/Indie/Alt Music Thread (RockGAF?)
- Thread starter amnesiac
- Start date
chris121580
Member
Have we talked about how good this new Best Coast song "California Nights" is? The guitar sounds so great. Total Mazzy Star vibe to it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U5LWokfRHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U5LWokfRHY
shameful
Carissa's Wierd are one of my favorite bands. All three LPs are great, personal favorite is Ugly But Honest
The music is definitely melancholy but it's not flatly so, I think their songs are funny and occasionally a bit upbeat ("A Loose Hair Falls Into A Glass" is catchy for instance). Not that the music isn't slowcore, it is, but they're not droningly sad like say Codeine. I think of Codeine as music for wallowing and CW as music for getting rid of being down
New mini-LP from Mac DeMarco is coming out in August. Hype!!
http://pitchfork.com/news/59378-mac-demarco-announces-another-one-mini-lp-with-goofy-video/
The promo video is pretty good lol.
http://pitchfork.com/news/59378-mac-demarco-announces-another-one-mini-lp-with-goofy-video/
The promo video is pretty good lol.
Doug Martsch of Built to Spill is doing an AMA today at 3pm pacific: http://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/33hnvj/hi_doug_martsch_from_built_to_spill_here_ask_me/
equippedwithtowel
Member
Yeah, long time from now =[
Just the little snippets you can hear in the background of the promo video sound great. Has that distinct guitar tone he always uses (and I love).
Those are probably the most straightforward pop songs on the album, and the ones that took longest to grow on me. Not that the rest isn't pop, but it's not all quite as, I dunno, conventional sounding. Those are the singles for a reason. I enjoy the production though, even on Taste and Miniskirt. Miniskirt is weird in that it starts out a bit bland, but it gets more interesting and intense in the second half. Raph's voice is the main draw for me though. Happy When gives me chills. And then Getting Tired has this depressed calm to it...I dunno, it's difficult to explain why I like it so much.
Anyway, I hate to be that guy, but listening to their first two albums as well if you haven't already will give you a better idea of the evolution of their sound, which is part of what impressed me about the new album - it's sort of a synthesis of sounds and ideas from the previous two, but more nuanced and still fresh. But if you're just not into it that's fine.
New songs from Mac is always good news. Can't wait to hear them.
I love pop, I just am not hearing anything notable from those 2 songs. I may give the rest a fair shot though.
If all you hear is a generic pop then you're really not getting it at all. Which is fine. Not all music should be for everyone.
Care to describe what makes it ascend beyond generic indie electro pop?
I think Miniskirt's formal directness is intended to mirror the directness of the lyrics. It's probably the band's most clear and assertive song lyrically and there's no mistaking its blunt critique of our puritanical sex-shaming culture, so I think they decided to take a standard ballad-type sound to aid in its straightforwardness. Then as it gives way to (presumably) Raph's personal experience, it gets more hectic and she goes a bit more wild with her voice. As for Taste, I think it's just a pretty love song, really. I dunno if the piano chords strike you as overly sentimental or cheesy or something, but the production seems great to me for what it is.
There's also a really fine balance in Raph's vocals throughout the album; while on Native Speaker she went all Avey Tare almost constantly, and then (I feel) didn't use her vocal talents enough on the colder and more minimalist Flourish // Perish (In Kind excluded), there's more discretion here, with her singing more quietly and calmly and breaking out the crazy and emotional vocals less often but more strategically in a way that makes the songs more cathartic. She also goes beyond just "calm voice" and "loud emotional voice," like in Getting Tired, in which there's this shaky exhaustion in her voice, which fits the music and lyrics (clearly about depression) perfectly. Really it's an extremely cathartic album as a whole, when you take both the music and the lyrics into consideration.
I'd also like to mention that Braids' percussion is always on point.
Lots of rambling. Whatever.
There's also a really fine balance in Raph's vocals throughout the album; while on Native Speaker she went all Avey Tare almost constantly, and then (I feel) didn't use her vocal talents enough on the colder and more minimalist Flourish // Perish (In Kind excluded), there's more discretion here, with her singing more quietly and calmly and breaking out the crazy and emotional vocals less often but more strategically in a way that makes the songs more cathartic. She also goes beyond just "calm voice" and "loud emotional voice," like in Getting Tired, in which there's this shaky exhaustion in her voice, which fits the music and lyrics (clearly about depression) perfectly. Really it's an extremely cathartic album as a whole, when you take both the music and the lyrics into consideration.
I'd also like to mention that Braids' percussion is always on point.
Lots of rambling. Whatever.
I lost a few years of my life during that Sufjan presale. I know I bought a ticket for second best places, but I don't know on which day and what the exact seat is. I was so stressed out to be finally able to check out.
Then I kept refreshing the website of the venue and ultimately hit a first class seat in row 13 at the day Austra is supporting. So I might have two tickets on the same day now, or if I'm lucky I have one for each day. I'll probably just sell the worst of the two for face value though.
Which day are you going Bert?
EDIT
Just got my confirmation email. Got one ticket for each day.
Then I kept refreshing the website of the venue and ultimately hit a first class seat in row 13 at the day Austra is supporting. So I might have two tickets on the same day now, or if I'm lucky I have one for each day. I'll probably just sell the worst of the two for face value though.
Which day are you going Bert?
EDIT
Just got my confirmation email. Got one ticket for each day.
chris121580
Member
Ok, I totally get that I'm super late to the party on this but holy shit, Deja Entendu by Brand New is a fucking incredible album. "Okay I believe you, but my Tommy Gun Don't" is basically on repeat. That song rules.
was surprised by this new s/t EP by nyc hardcore band Show Me The Body released thru Ratking's new netlabel. For some reason I expected something sloppy and musically underachieving, dunno why. Instead it's some nice hardcore punk with a bit of mathy/noise rock/post-punk bent, covers a good amount of ground in a short time.
We need more Braids defenders in here. Hopefully that'll happen once the album officially drops.
And I'd like to reiterate that Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld's Never Were the Way She Was (drops on the 28th, same as Braids) is fucking rad. Think standard Stetson fare, but also with violin and some subtle vocals (no lyrics). Recorded in Stetson's usual fashion, all one take, no overdubbing or anything. Dude's a freaking magician.
And I'd like to reiterate that Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld's Never Were the Way She Was (drops on the 28th, same as Braids) is fucking rad. Think standard Stetson fare, but also with violin and some subtle vocals (no lyrics). Recorded in Stetson's usual fashion, all one take, no overdubbing or anything. Dude's a freaking magician.
equippedwithtowel
Member
There's a Stetson/Neufield collab album??
How have I not heard about this.
How have I not heard about this.
New History Warfare 2 is fucking bonkers to me in a good way. Think about those songs being recorded live in a single take, wow.
Braid really ain't all that I'm sorry. Flourish is a better album.
yeah this is really good
Metz II's some dependable noise punk
Anyone listen to Wussy? Been on my todo list for a while since they're Robert christgau's favorite active band but I'm halfway thru their 2014 record and don't hear anything mindblowing. Interesting no doubt, runs from shoegaze to country/singer-songwriter to alt rock to roots-y material without ever sounding frenetic or unfocused.
Anyone listen to Wussy? Been on my todo list for a while since they're Robert christgau's favorite active band but I'm halfway thru their 2014 record and don't hear anything mindblowing. Interesting no doubt, runs from shoegaze to country/singer-songwriter to alt rock to roots-y material without ever sounding frenetic or unfocused.
I've never really been able to take Christgau seriously.
And I didn't realize Kamasi was releasing an album, I'll definitely be checking that out.
Yeah, 2 is probably the best of the New History Warfare trilogy, but they're all pretty damn good.
And I didn't realize Kamasi was releasing an album, I'll definitely be checking that out.
It's cool. Different strokes. Flourish is definitely great too.
Twerps' "Range Anxiety?" Dunno if it's necessarily guitar based, but they are your typical guitar/bass/drum indie rock.
and if you know of Coleen Green, you musta heard the Courtney Barnett? My fav of the year.
and my fav band is called Shinobu.... they make catchy indie/rock/punk songs. Check out "10 Thermidor" by them. Maybe try "2Tone Tuesday."
People from Cincy don't even fuck with them too heavy and they used to play hundreds of shows here. They're pretty decent I think that's the most apt description.
I fucking love Metz but the pacing of the new album is off. It's super energetic and aggressive but lacks the build and any semblance of melody contained within their previous album.
I fucking love Metz but the pacing of the new album is off. It's super energetic and aggressive but lacks the build and any semblance of melody contained within their previous album.
Shit you nailed it with this one. Thanks man.
J
Jpop
Unconfirmed Member
Has anyone listed to Cherry Ghost or Elbow?
Heh something clicked in the second half of that Wussy record and I ended up goin right back through most of it again. Really like it. A little Lou Reed, a little Low, a little Silver Jews, all turned arena ready. Bummer they're so unheralded.
Whys that? I don't agree with him terribly often but he's a fantastic writer, he's musics manny farber. Concise expressive clear writing.
He tries way too hard to sound hip and his writing is overwrought, with only small bits of actual insight coming through the dense layers of inane nonsense dressed up as clever wordplay. Also his rating system is pure unabashed wankery. Overall I'd give him three hammer symbols and a poop emoji.
Yeah I'd just have to completely disagree. I don't think xgau tries to sound hip as much as he is genuinely up on music--the man's been doing this for 50 years and helped build up the waves of support for then-small bands like the Velvet Underground that crashed years later as they became ubiquitous. I don't find his writing overwrought; while it's clearly worked over it's not pared into oblivion. And it being so fine-tuned is what makes it clever, allows him to both convey the attitude of his reaction while dropping some theory/form thoughts.
all that is opinion, fair, but I don't get your stance on the ratings at all. how are letter/symbol grades inherently more masturbatory than pretending the value of a record on a ten point scale can be determined to the first decimal point
I love reading Christgau's older reviews. I don't agree with some of his ratings, but the guy's knowledge of music and the sheer variety of what he's been into over the years is fascinating. And his writing is pretty clever most of the time. Kinda wanna check out that recent book he came out with.
Well I mean, to be fair, I'm not much of a fan of rating systems in general. I find Pitchfork giving an album a 7.6 or whatever just as amusing.
Anyway, I respect that he's been a prominent tastemaker for a long time, but his writing is just really grating to me. When I say he tries to sound hip I don't mean he doesn't know his stuff; I'm criticizing his diction more than anything.
Anyway, I respect that he's been a prominent tastemaker for a long time, but his writing is just really grating to me. When I say he tries to sound hip I don't mean he doesn't know his stuff; I'm criticizing his diction more than anything.
Doesn't sound like Alvvays but I like Motorama - Poverty : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoy32NjFw_DgQOv-6yEti3jpjz98OawxD
Holy shit!
Didn't know they had a new album out. With Human Tetris disbanding, they are the only one left from those Russian Post-punk golden times.
And that sounds good!
Very nice! Thanks for the suggestions brehs.