Bri, thanks for the Hello Echo recommendation. Not sure if it's any good but it's $4.90 price tag on emusic aligned nicely with that very same amount I had on my monthly balance, which refreshes in a few days. Think this may be the end of the road for me and emusic, though. It's been a nice ride but really, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find enough interesting music to download.
Also thinking it may be time to start folding up this here blog, at least in its current incarnation. There are some other ways that we can collaborate in an online space that may make more sense and be less time consuming, which I suspect may be a problem for some.
Anyhow, appreciate thoughts, suggestions on either!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Here's your challenge for the week:
Come up with a band or artist who haven't recorded an album in years and whose pending new release you could actually care less about than this?
Come up with a band or artist who haven't recorded an album in years and whose pending new release you could actually care less about than this?
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Friday, July 08, 2011
re: Braids The first track, "Lemonade" introduces a very specific vocal range/style that seems to endlessly repeat throughout every subsequent song on the record, with quick, soft yippy little shouts leading to slow, slightly drawn out words quickly rising to sharp yelps. lather, rinse, repeat. musical arrangements lead me back somewhat but not to the point where i'm actually liking it all that much. I dunno. Mike? Marc? Stu? Guy Stu met in England?
Sorry to be persnickety but Iceage are actually from Denmark and would probably be pissed if you called them an Icelandic band. I've listened to it a few times on Rdio and as much as some of the sounds excite me it could rather use a bit more meat on them their bones. Not bad for a first album though.
Sorry Kyle but until you posted that Polaris list I'd never even heard of Galaxie. Must be good if it knocked off two of my faves from last year (PS I Love You and Women) off the shortlist. I keep trying with Destroyer's "Kaputt" and as much as I've grown to appreciate it's more meandering style I can't ever see myself loving it. As for Braids I think I'm liking them a bit more than the two of you.
Sorry Kyle but until you posted that Polaris list I'd never even heard of Galaxie. Must be good if it knocked off two of my faves from last year (PS I Love You and Women) off the shortlist. I keep trying with Destroyer's "Kaputt" and as much as I've grown to appreciate it's more meandering style I can't ever see myself loving it. As for Braids I think I'm liking them a bit more than the two of you.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Kyle, great news abut record sales, made even more exciting by the news that it's on the backs of Lady Gaga's $0.99 special!
Hey thanks for the prompt posting of recent favourites and disappointments. That will help. I have a couple of those - Antlers, Yuck, and Low - but will check out the others - particularly the Papercuts and UNKLE, which you mentioned the other night and I tried to find unsuccessfully.
I'm also enjoying a few others which you may well know, but just to share the love: the cave singers which is a mix of pleasant chanted folk music and slightly rawer electric stuff, the mellow indy pop sounds of Iceland's Sin Fang, the hard punk sounds of the latest under-20 phenom band, Iceland's (yet again) Iceage, some atmospheric guitar-forward pop from Hello Echo, soft Cali-rock-meets-Pavement from The Donkeys, and finally, though it's early on in the listening cycle, liking the recent follow up records from Army Navy and Pete and the Pirates. Three other records that I've spun a fair bit are the 20-years-in-the-making Feelies release, the J Mascis record, and Yellow Ostrich's exercise in stimulating pop weirdness.
Somewhere in that amalgam lie my faves of the first half of 2011. (Fleet Foxes is nice too....damn, so is Matt Pond's EP, and oh yeah, the Sloan record is pretty dang good). Anyone else care to sound in?
Re disappointments, the Braids are unduly lauded to my ear as well. And I'm quite unhappy with the Bon Iver album - he's suddenly sounding like Grizzly Bear, which I thought was a great band until Veckatemist's excesses (I know many differ with my opinion). I'll give it another few listens but it lacks the immediacy and the huge angsty soulfulness of For Emma, replacing with busy, grandiose, and annoying arrangements.
Hey thanks for the prompt posting of recent favourites and disappointments. That will help. I have a couple of those - Antlers, Yuck, and Low - but will check out the others - particularly the Papercuts and UNKLE, which you mentioned the other night and I tried to find unsuccessfully.
I'm also enjoying a few others which you may well know, but just to share the love: the cave singers which is a mix of pleasant chanted folk music and slightly rawer electric stuff, the mellow indy pop sounds of Iceland's Sin Fang, the hard punk sounds of the latest under-20 phenom band, Iceland's (yet again) Iceage, some atmospheric guitar-forward pop from Hello Echo, soft Cali-rock-meets-Pavement from The Donkeys, and finally, though it's early on in the listening cycle, liking the recent follow up records from Army Navy and Pete and the Pirates. Three other records that I've spun a fair bit are the 20-years-in-the-making Feelies release, the J Mascis record, and Yellow Ostrich's exercise in stimulating pop weirdness.
Somewhere in that amalgam lie my faves of the first half of 2011. (Fleet Foxes is nice too....damn, so is Matt Pond's EP, and oh yeah, the Sloan record is pretty dang good). Anyone else care to sound in?
Re disappointments, the Braids are unduly lauded to my ear as well. And I'm quite unhappy with the Bon Iver album - he's suddenly sounding like Grizzly Bear, which I thought was a great band until Veckatemist's excesses (I know many differ with my opinion). I'll give it another few listens but it lacks the immediacy and the huge angsty soulfulness of For Emma, replacing with busy, grandiose, and annoying arrangements.
Anyone else listen much to the Galaxie album that was shortlisted for the Polaris prize? Catchy, energetic, dance rock, on first full listen at least, but I'm wondering if this is one that actually stands a chance of winning or if it's serving the same purpose that most British actresses serve in the best actress category at the Oscars--that is, they're there to add variety, credibility to the rest of the list. In other words, is Galaxie the Keira Knightley of the Polaris shortlist?
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Polaris Shortlist with convenient Rdionlists on the page. Braids disc has not grown on me, despite at least a dozen listens.
Good call, Bri. As you may have noticed, I have tried, but ultimately aborted, attempts to put together a list here over the past few weeks. Here are some recent emusic downloads from 2011 that I'd recommend:
Battles - Gloss Drop - less visceral in some way but probably more accomplished than their previous release, with some more direct vocals and arrangements, varied, interesting
Thievery Corporation - Culture of Fear - though only a few listens in, and more of the same, it's a perfect accompaniment to languid summer evenings and probably their best (only interesting) release in a decade
The Antlers - Burst Apart - rich combination of folk, guitar, electronics, vocals, kind of sweetly morose, soaring and reflective all at the same time
Yuck - Yuck - comparisons to Dino Jr. on a few tracks aside, this disc is far more varied
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong - their last release had a few great songs but the whole was less than the sum; think this is a more cohesive album, with bigger songs that make use of the more up front production without sounding like they're simply going for a bigger sound
Papercuts - Fading Parade - reminiscent of the Pains first disc described above
Would also add Wye Oak, the new UNKLE disc, and the Danger Mouse Rome disc but alas, they are not available on emusic. There's another one I'm forgetting...sound like Wye Oak at times...for the life of me I cannot recall just now.
....UPDATE: Got it! (Thank you, unconscious mind): Low - C'mon - another example where previous releases were hit and miss for me but this one resonates. Easily one of the best of the year.
......UPDATE 2: Also want to add that there have been a number of underwhelming releases from previously heralded bands. Perhaps too early to tell with Bon Iver, which I've only listened to twice, but the latest Elbow, Miracle Fortress, Jolie Holland, Panda Bear (parts better than the sum, imo), and yes, Radiohead, fall squarely into this category.
Battles - Gloss Drop - less visceral in some way but probably more accomplished than their previous release, with some more direct vocals and arrangements, varied, interesting
Thievery Corporation - Culture of Fear - though only a few listens in, and more of the same, it's a perfect accompaniment to languid summer evenings and probably their best (only interesting) release in a decade
The Antlers - Burst Apart - rich combination of folk, guitar, electronics, vocals, kind of sweetly morose, soaring and reflective all at the same time
Yuck - Yuck - comparisons to Dino Jr. on a few tracks aside, this disc is far more varied
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong - their last release had a few great songs but the whole was less than the sum; think this is a more cohesive album, with bigger songs that make use of the more up front production without sounding like they're simply going for a bigger sound
Papercuts - Fading Parade - reminiscent of the Pains first disc described above
Would also add Wye Oak, the new UNKLE disc, and the Danger Mouse Rome disc but alas, they are not available on emusic. There's another one I'm forgetting...sound like Wye Oak at times...for the life of me I cannot recall just now.
....UPDATE: Got it! (Thank you, unconscious mind): Low - C'mon - another example where previous releases were hit and miss for me but this one resonates. Easily one of the best of the year.
......UPDATE 2: Also want to add that there have been a number of underwhelming releases from previously heralded bands. Perhaps too early to tell with Bon Iver, which I've only listened to twice, but the latest Elbow, Miracle Fortress, Jolie Holland, Panda Bear (parts better than the sum, imo), and yes, Radiohead, fall squarely into this category.
Hey boys, I'm faced with a fresh bunch of downloads and only a few ideas against which to apply them. Seems like a good time to inquire into your musical 2011's......been a good year in terms of new music? What would you put forward as your highlights thus far? What are the best new bands or artists that you've come across?
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Monday, July 04, 2011
Interesting piece on how much it costs to make a hit song these days. Given the end result, it seems an incredibly wasteful.
Friday, July 01, 2011
Given how gloriously sunny and beautiful the day is, you likely won't be checking this today. Thought I'd put together a collaborative Canada Day playlist on Rdio in honour of our great country. Please add some Canadian artist gems as you see fit over the course of the weekend.
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