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Neogaf Rock/Indie/Alt Music Thread (RockGAF?)

Steamlord

Member
Very annoying to try and watch a band when their sound is turned down and the crowd is talking through it though. I just end up frustrated normally.

Eh, at this venue the crowd seems to be reasonably good at shutting up if the band manages to get their attention. They were good when Braids opened for Purity Ring. Not so much when Noveller opened for St. Vincent, unfortunately.
 

faridmon

Member
Just came back from seeing Meat Wave and what a fucking amazing performance that was. People weren't impressed at the start because of teh ''unusual'' vocals that sounded a bit off if you wern't familiar with tehir music before, but by the end, people were jumping up and down excitingly.

I had a long chat with them, and they seem like a great bunch. We chatted about Chicago, Birmingham, UK Beer, Tarin schedules, Football and all sort of stuff.

I disagree, I've done it plenty of times and by the time the main act came along I'm usually wasted so I'll enjoy them anyway.

Also welcome to the vinyl resurgence, I started collecting last December and say I've spent a good $600 on records but it's an awesome hobby to have.

It just feels that the supporting bands in a larger venues, never get the attention they deserve especially if you are a big fan of them or are superior to the main acts. In a smaller venue where the band they are supporting is of the same wavelength is actually enjoyable, because people tend to be there to have a good time generally.

And I will always be against this fad that is called Vinyl. ALWAYS!
 

faridmon

Member
First wave of Field day acts have been posted

FD16_Instagram-photo_151125-lineup-SUN-no-x-3-720x720.png

PJ Harvey, Wild Nothing, Floating Points, Mura Masa and Soak already? Bloody hell!
Maybe I should go to this one...
 

King_Moc

Banned
First wave of Field day acts have been posted



PJ Harvey, Wild Nothing, Floating Points, Mura Masa and Soak already? Bloody hell!
Maybe I should go to this one...

Yep, reckon i'm gonna be going to the Sunday at least. Very good line up. I've never seen PJ Harvey or Beach House either.
 

faridmon

Member
Just bought my ticket for Shura on Wednesday. Excited to see her. Surprised that it didn't sell out, but the venue is the best in town in terms of sound output (saw Braid at the same venue) should be a great evening!

Yep, reckon i'm gonna be going to the Sunday at least. Very good line up. I've never seen PJ Harvey or Beach House either.

Cool. Yeah, never seen them either. Shoould be nice bands to see and check my list off, even though I am not fan of Beach House.
 
Can't wait till next month to see everyone's best albums of the year lists. Could do with finding new albums to listen to, my music discovery for the past few weeks has been on a bit of a lull.
 

Linius

Member
1. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell

2. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly

3. Tame Impala – Currents

4. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit

5. Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear

6. Jamie XX – In Colour

7. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love

8. Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color

9. Kurt Vile – B’lieve I’m Goin Down...

10. Kamasi Washington – The Epic

Top 10 for 2015 according to a collective of Dutch music journalists.

A good sample of those will make my list as well.
 

Reckoner

Member
Just bought my ticket for Shura on Wednesday. Excited to see her. Surprised that it didn't sell out, but the venue is the best in town in terms of sound output (saw Braid at the same venue) should be a great evening!



Cool. Yeah, never seen them either. Shoould be nice bands to see and check my list off, even though I am not fan of Beach House.

From my experience, Beach House are hit or miss. I've seen them three times, only on the last one I can say they were actually good. They work better on small venues and at night - their sound is dreamy and intimist, so it makes sense.

Top 10 for 2015 according to a collective of Dutch music journalists.

A good sample of those will make my list as well.

I'm the dude who can't really enjoy Tame Impala's LP. I enjoy their more psychedelic singles, like Apocalypse Dreams and Let It Happen, but I can't really get into most of their work.
The Less I Know The Better is so annoying.
 

Linius

Member
So far Beach House has been hit on the two times I saw them. Great live band. Though make sure to pick a venue with good acoustics.
 

big ander

Member
Anything in particular you'd recommend?

Spencer Radcliffe - very fractured and downtempo pop and indie rock, also touches of midwest math/emo. great for when you're half asleep
Teen Suicide - indie noise pop from a bunch of assholes
Elvis Depressedly - excellent dream pop, equally hilarious and sad
Crying - 8bit sounds injected into proggy power pop
Adventures - catchy throwback rock, reminds me of Superchunk or TEB even
 

Fjordson

Member
Cloakroom, Teen Suicide, Citizen

Makthaverskan and Elvis Depressedly are my favorite artists on their label probably.

Spencer Radcliffe - very fractured and downtempo pop and indie rock, also touches of midwest math/emo. great for when you're half asleep
Teen Suicide - indie noise pop from a bunch of assholes
Elvis Depressedly - excellent dream pop, equally hilarious and sad
Crying - 8bit sounds injected into proggy power pop
Adventures - catchy throwback rock, reminds me of Superchunk or TEB even
Thanks my dudes. Downloading all of this and then some.
 

Linius

Member
New Sunn O))) whew

Gave their music another try at the festival the other week. It's just not for me. Well except for when I try to get to sleep, then it's perfect. It's quite zen.

In other news, Protomatyr is coming to Amsterdam again in april. Playing a tiny venue. Super thrilled to see them again in a couple of months. And glad they some how still aren't big enough for a bigger venue.
 

faridmon

Member
Tomorrow I am going to She Makes War. Really excited considering she is diy as fuck and pretty alternative compared to many Solo female vocalists out there.

Anything in particular you'd recommend?

Westkust and Makthaverskan are amazing!

From my experience, Beach House are hit or miss. I've seen them three times, only on the last one I can say they were actually good. They work better on small venues and at night - their sound is dreamy and intimist, so it makes sense.

Hmm, wonder which Beach House Turns out
 

faridmon

Member
Just came back from Shura gig, and to be frank, I wasn't impressed that much. Some tracks were better than others, but her low key Electronica and the lack of Energy made me enjoy it less than I though I would. She is great human being though, and kept chatting with the fans until the place closed down.

EDIT: FUCKING FINALY. New track by Big Ups. and a NEW ALBUM NEXT YEAR!!!!!

HYPE!!!

Capitalized: https://soundcloud.com/wearebigups/capitalized
 

Linius

Member
Love that new track from Big Ups. Same for the new Animal Collective track.

That NME list is always good for a laugh. Though they do mention most of my favourites actually this time around.

Quietus top 100: http://thequietus.com/articles/19350-best-albums-2015

Even though Quietus are a bit try hard by ignoring most hype albums, there's always some interesting stuff in there as well to discover.
 
Love that new track from Big Ups. Same for the new Animal Collective track.

That NME list is always good for a laugh. Though they do mention most of my favourites actually this time around.

Quietus top 100: http://thequietus.com/articles/19350-best-albums-2015

Even though Quietus are a bit try hard by ignoring most hype albums, there's always some interesting stuff in there as well to discover.

I wouldn't mind the Quietus and to a greater extent TMT (since they score reviews) having aggressively experimental picks if they didn't aggressively tank albums they gave glowing reviews on release.

I think the example that stands out for me is when both blogs raved about Arcade Fire's Reflektor (TMT gave it a 5/5) and iirc it didn't make either of their top 50s.
 

lamaroo

Unconfirmed Member
So I open up Google Music and see that Parquet Courts have dropped a new EP, and nobody has discussed it in here yet?

It seems to be almost entirely instrumental, and Pitchfork hates it I guess. Just listening to it now, seems repetitive.
 

Cosmic Bus

pristine morning snow
I wouldn't mind the Quietus and to a greater extent TMT (since they score reviews) having aggressively experimental picks if they didn't aggressively tank albums they gave glowing reviews on release.

I think the example that stands out for me is when both blogs raved about Arcade Fire's Reflektor (TMT gave it a 5/5) and iirc it didn't make either of their top 50s.

I'm actually fine with that kind of revisionism. Blogs/vlogs/twitters, etc are built on knee-jerk reviewing - everyone wants to be the first guy to drop the verdict on whatever big new album it is this week - but plenty of these releases don't hold up over time, and it would make sense to place them lower or completely off a best-of list.

It only gets a touch odd when those originally glowing reviews remain on their site, but a regular reader would probably connect the dots; Pitchfork, to no one's surprise, handles that particular aspect very poorly, with numerous review scores changed far after the fact when a band or album falls out of favor with the Music Elite. Critical reanalysis is a legitimate reason to adjust a score, but spite sure is not.
 

Fjordson

Member
So I open up Google Music and see that Parquet Courts have dropped a new EP, and nobody has discussed it in here yet?

It seems to be almost entirely instrumental, and Pitchfork hates it I guess. Just listening to it now, seems repetitive.
Not a big fan personally. It's a lot of experimental instrumental stuff, which just isn't my bag.
 

big ander

Member
I really like the new Parquet Courts EP/mini-lp. best thing they've done since Tally. it's very blatantly their They Were Wrong So We Drowned, a critical darling indie rock/post-punk band making a noisy misshapen mess that reviewers lash out at (despite, in PC's case, giving passes to boring albums like Sunbathing Animal or enjoyable misfires like Content Nausea). yet it's their noisy misshapen mess--just like that Liars album it's not a purposeful rebellion but a sincere path the band felt they needed to travel down. I also think its not that outsider, though. sounds plenty like some Content Nausea tracks, "No No No" could've fit on American Specialties no problem. it's also not far from a lot of their contemporaries, people Savage puts out on Dull Tools or other recognizable post-punk and noise rock bands. it's also also pretty rooted in history, especially NYC experimental rock and noise: moments sound like early Black Dice's more hardcore-inflected stuff, Cale-era Velvets would be proud of "Prison Conversion", as would This Heat in their most abstract moments, the repetition reminds me of J. Spaceman's work under his own name like Guitar Loops or that live album with Kid Millions or even Dreamweapon by Spacemen 3.

not that that will or should change anyone's mind; it's a noise record. If you don't like noise music, you won't like it.
 

Linius

Member
That EP sounds like a bunch of material they just felt like making but doesn't really fit on their LP's.

And in what universe is Sunbathing Animal a boring album?
CZooEXr.png
 

faridmon

Member
Sunbathing Animal is their best release. Just a fantastic Album top to Bottom.

The Quietus gave Gazelle Twin The number 1 spot for their Album of the year award. They are more than OK to me. Fuck that album was and still is a solid album.
 

big ander

Member
in my universe, that's what.

It's boring compared to all of their other releases, that's for sure, and it's handily their worst. it's top to bottom uninspiring and sounds cripplingly indistinct outside a few tracks. Sunbathing Animal is perfectly competent indie rock which is about the worst thing a band with the potential of Parquet Courts can put out. was my biggest disappointment of 2014
 

Linius

Member
Can't say I recognize anything in what you said in regards to this specific album. Almost like we've listened to completely different albums. But yeah, to each his own of course.
 

faridmon

Member
I though it was much more progressive than their first one ''Light up Gold'', had some energetic and exciting track, very lengthy and the balance between Post-Punk and Garage Rock was very organically combined.

In fact it was one of the best albums last year.
 

Fjordson

Member
Love that new track from Big Ups. Same for the new Animal Collective track.

That NME list is always good for a laugh. Though they do mention most of my favourites actually this time around.

Quietus top 100: http://thequietus.com/articles/19350-best-albums-2015

Even though Quietus are a bit try hard by ignoring most hype albums, there's always some interesting stuff in there as well to discover.
Quietus always has some random experimental shit that I couldn't care less about, but I also always find some real gems.

Like this song from some bandcamp album I've never heard of. This is a jam! https://orangejuicesunshine.bandcamp.com/track/yanggakdo-hotel-feat-camille-harla
 
Content Nausea was a more enjoyable listen for me then Sunbathing Animal. Although I think it was very deliberate for the band to go in that direction because the live versions of some of the tracks off it (Ducking and Dodging, What Color is Blood, Black and White) totally shred. Seems like a "build up popular rep for sets phase"
 

Steamlord

Member
I dunno, noisy and repetitive tends to do it for me. Some of the tracks are straight-up no wave. Monastic Living I almost sounds like DNA.


Unrelated, but The Winter Passing's debut LP deserves more attention. Really catchy and energetic Irish indie pop / emo with male and female vocalists.
 
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