scumble on 2/1/2020 at 12:32
I found myself watching someone's "albums of the decade" video on YouTube ((
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRYhCg0DHloE9gn-PAiAYNg) deep cuts) - he did quite an interesting couple of videos on Autechre albums.
Looking at other lists I realised my taste is a long way from what may be popular or well-regarded. In most cases people I've never heard of or have no interest - music that defined somebody else's decade. I'm also rarely interested in actual words and songs, possibly because I rarely connect the meaning to the music.
I thought it would be interesting for people to throw in some personal choices.
Steve Roach - prolific ambient composer. There's an hour-long piece called Bloodmoon Rising (night 1) that I probably played hundreds of times, often as an accompaniment to terribly low moods. His music has made difficult times easier to cope with. It's also not distracting when I want to work.
Jeremy Soule - Skyrim - obviously high profile lists of the best music won't go near video game music, but I've certainly listened to favourite pieces of this repeatedly, particularly the melancholy ones.
Meshuggah - Violent Sleep of Reason - Quirky rhythms and lunatic chromatic guitar solos. The only extreme metal band I usually listen to. Not a sign of them on Kerrang's list - although Tool's album was (which I may like if I can get round to listening to it). But I listen to them as it's a kind of precise organised metal that appeals to cathartic needs.
OTT - Mir and Fairchildren. Dub influenced musician some of you may be familiar with. I've enjoyed dubstep influences in his production as I can hear some those sounds without having to listen to actual dubstep...
Keiichi Okabe - Nier:Automata Soundtrack - I don't like all of the tracks but my favourites I listened to a great deal.
Meg Bowles - This Shimmering Land - Probably relatively obscure but well regarded with fans of ambient classical influenced music.
Machinedrum - Room(s) and Vapor City - Incorporates sounds from music I wouldn't normally listen to like Juke. I mostly like it because of the Jazz influences.
Borislav Slavov - Divinity Original Sin 2 Soundtrack - like Skyrim the music stuck with me although I haven't managed to complete the game
A lot of what I have been listening to is older music so I didn't have a huge amount to pick from that I've actually listened to a lot.
What has made an impact on the rest of you?
Starker on 2/1/2020 at 13:01
I'm the complete opposite -- lyrics are the main thing I seek out in a song and songs that tell stories are ones I like best. It has to be some extraordinary piece to catch my attention otherwise, such as Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygène or Miles Davis's Kind of Blue or something classical perhaps. And there are times when I sort of understand on an intellectual level that something is technically brilliant, like for example Coltrane's Giant Steps, but it utterly fails to speak to me.
As for the topic, I don't listen to albums much, for I've never been quite able to get behind the concept of listening to someone else's list of songs, but Nick Cave's latest album Ghosteen was heartbreaking, particularly Waiting for You. Here's the song, but a fair warning, if you have ever lost someone close to you it might hit hard:
[video=youtube;GF43RrFmpb0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF43RrFmpb0[/video]
scumble on 2/1/2020 at 17:21
You don't have to come up with albums - similarly for me there are very few albums I'll listen all the way through. Interesting we have the reverse responses - I can occasionally really like specific songs so it may be a case of occasionally making a bit of extra effort. But I can be fussy about the way people's voices sound or struggle to hear the words over the music unless I know them already. I did give Nick Cave a try and quite liked the song but I don't think I could listen to his voice for an hour.
Saying that, I did come across Kate Tempest when looking at year end lists, and I find her speech easily comprehensible. I was surprised that it worked for me at all.
[video=youtube_share;aXWhOsTLeB4]https://youtu.be/aXWhOsTLeB4[/video]
Purgator on 2/1/2020 at 19:09
I like albums....
[video=youtube_share;5ojv0jtFoQY]https://youtu.be/5ojv0jtFoQY[/video]
Pyrian on 3/1/2020 at 02:34
Music of the decade? I feel like I have to choose something equally large to span it. I select...
Taylor effing Swift. 5 hit albums released like clockwork, every one of which has at least one song I love, and most of them are more winners than losers, IMO.
henke on 3/1/2020 at 10:22
I love Nick Cave but the Ghosteen album hasn't really grabbed me yet. I took a while to come around on Skeleton Tree as well tho, so I'll get there eventually. And yeah, Kate Tempest is a great writer, (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYJ_fVBRcrI) Europe is Lost, from 2015, is one of the songs that describe the decade the best (and bleakest).
My most played artists of the decade are old faves Tom Waits and Johnny Cash, but as for new music discoveries this decade, it mainly comes down to two genres.
SoulBeing a big hip hop-fan I've long been into the occasional soul-tune, especially if it's one that's been sampled by some of my fave rappers. I'd also listened to a Best of Nina Simone album or two, and I got into a bit of gospel via Nick Cave, Johnny Cash, and Tom Waits dabbling in the genre. But it wasn't until 2012 that I got really into soul, mainly thanks to the Daptone Records radio station in
Sleeping Dogs which introduced me to a couple of my fave artists of this decade,
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and
Charles Bradley.
[video=youtube;ZRLAkT1j4Kg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRLAkT1j4Kg[/video]
Yeah yeah this isn't a release from this decade, I'm kinda doing my own thing here.
MusicalsI never thought I'd get into musicals, and once I did I wondered how the hell it took me so long. Songs that tell stories, delivered with dramatic flair and a lot of emotion? I
love that shit! Tom Waits, The Dresden Dolls, and MF DOOM all were pointing me in this direction but somehow I never noticed. In December of 2016 I decided to give that Hamilton thingy everyone was raving about a listen and since then I've devoured another 30-40 albums. Musicals are
amazing, guys.
[video=youtube;lWengrlMpok]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWengrlMpok[/video]
Yeah what the hell let's go with this scene from Marriage Story where Adam Driver sings Sondheim's "Being Alive". btw watch Marriage Story.
Sulphur on 3/1/2020 at 17:30
Albums are great. You get this spinning salad plate of sounds you sample at your own leisure, you can pause and rewind and replay them at will, it's great. I like 'em. I don't like salads though. Too much stick in your teeth-ness, and for all the effort of miming a penned-in rabbit inhaling entire sheets of vinegared chlorophyll, you get onion breath and the distinct sense you're being discreetly avoided. Salads ain't good for no one, not even the disaffected rabble rouser living in the metro with his ribs sticking out from underneath his jacket like accordion plate rack.
What was this thread about? Music? A decade has gone by? Oh. Funny, feels like time is just this continuum we've ascribed discrete steps to in order to make sense of our lives. Well, I suppose that's all right. Here is one best album for now. (If you haven't heard this, it might be pleasant for you and then you say fuck it and close it down. But things kick in from 12:16 on. Stick with it.)
[video=youtube;BCOKmu3lZN0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCOKmu3lZN0[/video]
henke on 3/1/2020 at 21:48
That video's not available in Finland, Sulph. The album's on Spotify tho, so I've listened to to the first couple tracks and I gotta say it's good stuff. I should probably listen to the whole album, eh? Not right now tho coz I gotta get some sleep. GOOD NIGHT!
scumble on 4/1/2020 at 08:38
I agree that these year end and decade lists are a bit arbitrary, so it could just be anything you've not been able to get enough of lately that might have changed from years ago. I've spent more time listening to Queen after seeing the Bohemian Rhapsody film.
@henke - enjoyed the Soul up there. My mum used to have a load of soul records, but I was more interested in my Dad's prog rock records. I'm clearly partly wrong about myself enjoying vocals. It was my sister who used to love musicals - also Gilbert and Sullivan which is when it was called operetta or something similar...
scumble on 4/1/2020 at 08:53
Quote Posted by henke
The album's on Spotify tho, so I've listened to to the first couple tracks and I gotta say it's good stuff.
I had the same issue and found it on Apple Music. Interestingly I quite like them as well, so these examples are overturning my idea that I don't like songs...
So I guess to distinguish this from "what are you listening to right now" it's more like what do you keep coming back to...