The NEW OFFICIAL Music/Albums Discussion Thread

[TEEX]

Arve Henriksen is an experimental nu jazz trumpeter whose sound has a calm flute-like quality to it and whose music is generally characterized by ambient soundcapes and periodic spoken monologues. He's been a guest contributor for the electronic jazz trio Nine Horses and has performed at a few live Punkt festivals in Norway. His album Cartography (2008) is phenomenal and serves as a great introduction to the subgenre.






Also...

For anyone who is familiar with Joanne Hogg, the guest vocalist who was featured on Yasunori Mituda's Xenogears and Xenosaga soundtracks, her progressive Celtic rock band Iona had released an album titled "Another Realm" on June 2, 2011, which I've had the pleasure of buying and listening to recently. It's remarkable how Joanne's vocals are still as sharp and as beautiful as they were when they first started out back in 1990. Regardless of however one may feel about themes of ancient Christian history and myths, the eloquence of each composition and the skill of each member of the band, most of whom are multi-instrumentalists, makes this too good to pass up.



Tracks:
Let Your Glory Fall
Clouds

[ashtonkutcher]

http://liluglymane.bandcamp.com/releases

Thanks to da homeboy zimlord for tippin a NEMO off about dis1. Best tracks are Radiation n Bitch I'm Lugubrious. Insane beats. AND THIS GUY IS WHITE WUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[TEEX]

Virginia Astley is a dream pop singer/songwriter from the UK. Her 4th full-length release "Hope In A Darkened Heart" (1986) is nine-track album, seven of which were produced by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (坂本龍一). As the title implies, the general theme is centered on introspection and the endeavor to establish resolution during times of emotional turmoil. The opening track "Some Small Hope" was written by Virginia Astley and Mr. Sakamoto, and is sang as a duet between her and former Japan vocalist David Sylvian. It comes as no surprise therefore, that her work had gained quite a bit of popularity in Japan compared to the small-scale groups of devoted listeners throughout England.

The remainder of the album features Ms. Astley singing solo. If I had to compare her vocals to anyone, it would most likely have to be Annie Haslam, who is best known as lead singer for the English progressive rock band Renaissance. Albeit neither reaching a vocal range as high nor performing quite as powerfully, which to be fair was unlikely the intention given the nature of the material, Ms. Astley sings with the same gentle quality that Annie had for Renaissance's ballad tracks, all the while exercising just the right amount of breath control.

Two other tracks I feel are worth highlighting are "A Summer Long Since Passed" and "Darkness has Reached its End". The former is an alternative version that was originally featured on the 1983 release "From Gardens Where We Feel Secure", and while it has no actual lyrics, Astley's vocals serve as an additional instrument nonetheless. It's become one of her most well-known songs among fans. The latter serves as a conclusion to the spiritual journey that was narrated in the preceding songs. Reference is made to a growing child, which symbolizes how time will continue to move forward and how despite having her own share of regrets in life, her optimism outweighs the pain she had experienced.

Although this album was a somewhat accidental discovery, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to explore it, and it is undoubtedly something I expect to revisit frequently. Ryuichi Sakamoto, who has always been known for his emotional piano pieces, creates melodies that are both suitable for the material and complementary to Ms. Astley's voice. If you're someone with a profound appreciation for melancholic, introspective, and eloquent forms of self-expression, "Hope in a Darkened Heart" is certainly worth your time.

[ashtonkutcher]

anyone into top billin? man deez ngas is crazy

[lokira]

[| nokt |]

I've been listening to a lot of modest intentions lately.
Suicidesheep posted one of his songs off his newest EP "It's All Gone"
Hands down "Falling Stars" takes the cake for favorite song.
I'll post a boobtube link when I get home.

[Psychotik]

Midori - Aratame mashite, Hajime mashite, Midori desu
No cover art because it's not safe for work.

Midori is a 4-piece hardcore punk band from Japan. They're in a specific sub-genre of punk that's not too uncommon in japan known as Jazz-punk (well that's what I call it). They have the intensity of a punk band but play jazzy melodies with lots of swing notes. I've always been fascinated by this jazz-punk sub-genre, and I believe that this album may be one of the best of it's genre. The variety on this album really runs the gamut. The first song is a 44-second long acoustic, very lo-fi ballad with a cute pop-esque vocal delivery. It quickly segues into probably the most abrasive song on the album, vocally and instrumentation-wise. I absolutely love that kind of contrast. This album is full of contrast. Generally, when the vocals is more punk with screams and all, the instrumentation falls more under the jazz category, and when the vocals are pop-like, the instruments are abrasive and distorted. You'll also find a wide variety of moods, from happy up-eat sounding songs to more dark and rebellious tunes. Might as well mention some individual songs. My personal favorite is probably Himitsu no Futari, which is the jazziest of all the tracks, I find, and possibly even the most accessible. Chiharu no Koi is a very bass-driven song, starting out with a slow, 30-second plucked bass solo. The last song I wanna mention also happens to be the last song on the album, Muyoku no Muryoku. It's basically a free-form jazz song. It's by far the most experimental and ambitious of their tracks and it's almost all instrumental, so if you don't really fancy the vocalist, you might appreciate this.

Yeah, there are no youtube samples, sorry. You can check on my blog for a DL link to the album.

[| nokt |]

Hmmm weird. Megaclown took down his soundcloud, youtube, and Facebook page.
Then I google his name and it brings up a youtube link with 3 different artist saying he stole their tracks and used them as his own. Not sure if anything off his EP's are even legit or not anymore.

Anyways I've been listening to a lot of Logic lately.
Pretty abstract artist. Really like his flow, his vocabulary, and his wide variety of music. He has three free mixtapes out of datpiff. Kind of disappointed, the mixtapes range in bit rate and some of the quality is just awful.
I feel these songs show a range of his talent.
The first song is kind of like Lupe Fiasco, just an upbeat track.
The second is more a new age type of track, deep bass, cool sounds.
The third is old school beats, just flowin to the beat. Love it
The last remind me of something like Eminem in his early days, just writing a track about some whack shit.

[Psychotik]

Atsuko Chiba - Animalia: Several States of Being



I can pretty much garantee you that you haven't heard of this band. They are a local 5-man experimental post-rock outfit from Montreal and this is their first EP. They opened for The American Dollar a couple of days ago, and announced that they released this EP, and I liked their performance, so I decided to check it out. I don't normally write reviews for local stuff. I usually stick to some of my favorite albums, but I have the sudden urge to talk about them now. Why? Well, I think they're really good. Like, really good. This is pretty damn impressive for a first EP. I didn't notice this until my second listen, but this EP has a really strong Godspeed You! Black Emperor feel to it (in case you don't know, they're my all-time favorite band). They have those ambient and drone moments as well as samples, sorta like those scattered throughout Godspeed's Lift your Skinny Fists. Like, at some points, it's eerily similar, though they're definitely not a copy-cat band. They have their own psychedelic touch to their music. They have their own sound.

Let's look at this track by track. The first track, Carpets Through the Fog, starts out with an excellent ambient drone and then quickly cuts to a quick psychedelic part and then goes back to drone. It's a nice intro. It segues into the second track, Silento Del Dezerto, which is by far my favorite form the EP. The bass in this is so fun to listen to. It has this fluttering synth that reminds me a lot of the fluttering guitar in Godspeed's Sleep (during the Monheim mouvement). Near the end, both electric guitars kinda play off each other with the bass in the background. That fades out and segues into La Mezquita, the third track. This is probably the closest these guys are to a Godspeed sound. The drums in this track really steals the show. It has this really dramatic quality to it. It builds up for 6 minutes with the guitars to a cacophonous climax which quickly fades out and then segues into the last song, Sunset Shirley (La Dee Da). This is a short outro, that has a melancholic feeling. It's a happy end to a journey.

This is certainly an impressive EP and I love what I hear, but I guess I do have some qualms. I know this is an EP, but I felt like some build up could have been a little longer. Some transitions from post-rock to ambience and vice-versa felt a little quick, like in the first track. I also felt that the outro could have used a bit more variety and maybe be a little longer. But yeah, the middle two tracks are definitely great. I'm looking forward for the material these guys put out in the future. They're pretty cool. After the American Dollar set was over and I waited for the bus outside, they passed by with their ironing boards and actually thanked me for coming to the show. That was kind of neat.

7/10
http://atsukochiba.bandcamp.com/

[| nokt |]

Atsuko Chiba - Animalia: Several States of Being

I've mentioned this guy before a long time ago.
But this really reminds me of a local band (not anymore he moved to Cali).
Vinyl Williams

They both seem to have that psychedelic feel to them. Although Lionel does singing in his stuff.
I really enjoy his stuff. But he seems to have removed his older albums off his bandcamp not sure why.

Alabaster Island has got to be one of my favorite songs.
http://www.reverbnation.com/open_graph/song/2862127

But I'm glad you shared this. I picked the EP up.

[joe#2]

Getting into Floating Cloud, not sure why I haven't sooner. Having a blast with their C81 album, 幻想郷事変. Shit is cash.



in before touhou so shit

[TEEX]

The Sigur Rós concert in Philadelphia last night was spectacular and certainly exceeded my expectations. This was supposedly their first show, at least in the U.S., since taking their long-term hiatus, making it especially more satisfying to have been a part of. Jónsi Birgisson's vocals are just as pure live as when they are heard on the actual albums. The accompanying visuals were amazing to watch between the different lighting effects, epileptic slideshows, and music videos displayed on the overlying screen. I picked up a Valtari 2012 Tour shirt and poster while I was there.

(The Setlist)

The opening act was Perfume Genius, whose music I've never heard prior to the show. They're definitely an impressive group whom I'll have to look into more in the near future.

[Psychotik]

Man that looks great. I can't wait to see them on Friday. I just hope they play Staralfur and Flugufrelsarin.

[Psychotik]

Okay so I went to Osheaga this weekend and I'll write up everything that happened woohoo. In case you don't know, Osheaga is an "Indie" music festival held every year in Montreal over the course of three days. They had an amazing line-up this year so I couldn't afford to not go. So yeah wall of text let's go~

Day 1
It was Friday, so I went after work. When I got there, I first went to go see Of Monsters and Men, and wow, I completely underestimated how many people there were. The festival was sold-out; 40,000 people on each day. Of Monsters played a good set, I got to see most of it. I left a little early to catch Huoratron, except ten minutes in, I didn't really like is set, so I left to catch Dum Dum Girls, an all-female indie-rock group. They were alright, kinda simple. Their best songs were the faced paced ones. After them, I went to go see Gary Clark Jr., a blues-rock guitarist with a modern flavor. I only stayed for one because I wanted to catch Atlas Sound, but he was entertaining. As soon as Atlas Sound came on staged, he thanked Delta Airlines for losing his equipment, so he played a completely improvised set with a borrowed guitar from another band. He even brought a random audience member on stage to play the drums for a few songs, it was pretty cool. He even improvised on vocals which was pretty impressive, but overall it was a bit of a let down since he couldn't play his material. After his set, I went straight to the main stages to get ready for Sigur Ros (I wanted a decent spot). I caught the second half of The Weeknd's set. I was never a fan of him, never thought his voice was all that impressive. Then it was Florence and the Machine on the other stage. Not to crazy about them either, but they were okay I guess. Finally, the main band I wanted to see all festival, Sigur Ros. It was my favorite act of the festival. Jonsi's falsetto vocals are just so powerful live, and mixing them with some of the best textures music has to offer, it makes for an amazing experience. I was a little disappointed that they didn't play any of the main three Ágætis byrjun song (the first three after the intro). Still, they ended with a phenomenal build up. After that, my legs were hurting like mad, so I went home.

Day 2
Full day of music. I first decided to check Propofol, a local band, for a few minutes. They were interesting, mixing rock with electronic music. I left early to catch Memoryhouse. They put on a nice set. I sat in the shade while temperatures for that day reached up to 34 degrees. I then went to the main stage to catch Portugal. The Man, but I also caught the end of Kathleen Edwards' set. I was never a fan of hers, her music always seemed boring to me. P. The Man then came on and performed an awesome and fun set. They had a water jet that occasionally sprayed the crowd. It felt good during that extreme heat. I then left the main stage and had some time to kill so I went to check random bands. I caught a band called Kandle, though I can't remember what they sound like at all. That's not a good sign. I left quickly and saw Cursive. I've never heard of them before but I was surprised at how good they were. They play emo-tinged indie rock and they were a lot of fun. I kinda wished I stayed for their entire set, but instead I went to go see Black Lips. They were alright, though I thought Cursive was better. I left for the main stage again to get ready for another band. Young the Giant was up next, and they were okay, I suppose. Next was Dumas, and I thought they were pretty boring. They drew in such a small crowd despite playing on the main stage. Finally, Brand New was up. They played a really fun set and played some good songs, but they didn't play The Quit Things that No One Ever Knows. Sad face. Then, I left quickly to catch SBTRKT. He played a really great set and I had fun dancing. When he was done, I quickly left once more to the main stage to catch Feist. I missed he first song, oh well. She played a great set, very fun. She even reference Snoop Dogg who was up next by sipping from her water bottle and saying "Just a little Gin and Juice". That was pretty funny. Also, for some reason, some in the crowd had a potted palm tree and so Feist stopped playing mid-song and accepted the tree offering and put it up on the stage. Also funny. Finally, I ended up seeing The Jesus and Mary Chain to end my day. They're a shoegaze/post-punk group from the 80's and 90's and they played a great set. I left a little early because I've been standing up for 8 hours straight and I couldn't take it anymore. I could also talk about the drugged up guys who were standing in front of me, but nah I won't.

Day 3
Legs are tired, so I decided to take it easy. Rain was forecasted to last all day. Boo. It did make for some great moments though. You'll see what I mean. Zola Jesus was first up. People were calling her a witch, because after she said "make it rain", it started to rain significantly more. What a bitch. After only two songs, her set was stopped due to rain. Boo. She left the staged but then came back on to quickly sing the chorus to one of her more popular songs, but that only lasted like ten seconds. I left to go to the main stage. I caught the last song of Dan Mangan, can't really remember what he sounds like. Aloe Blacc was next. He was sorta fun, with his old-style soul music. Next was supposed to be Tame Impala, but instead Passion Pit came on and I don't know why. They weren't supposed to be on for another 2 hours. Whatever, they played an incredibly fun set. During one of their more upbeat songs, the sun shone out. The crowd rejoiced. I then left to catch Austra. I was caught behind the sound check tent, but whatever, I could hear the music fine. They played a solid set. After that, I took a 45 minute break to heal my legs. The sun was shining and the shade was cool. Little did I know that it wouldn't stay like this. Woodkid was up next. I pretty sure he has voodoo powers, because as soon as he started his set, the sky was becoming cloudy. He plays some incredibly dramatic chamber pop with pounding drums and triumphant horns. They sound like they were brewing up a storm. Sure enough, on his final song, during the climax, there was a sudden huge downpour, and I mean HUGE. He played a great set, great music. I then quickly left to catch Buraka Som Sistema. I danced in the rain for about an hour, but then the power suddenly cutoff as they were about to start their last song. Rain issues, I assume. They ended their set like that. At that point I was pissed because Madeon was up next and there's no way I was gonna miss him. Luckily enough, the rain calmed down and they were able to fix the problem somewhat quickly. Madeon was so much fun. He mostly played a DJ set but then started playing his most popular material near the end. With about 20 minutes left, halfway through Raise your Weapons, the power cutoff again. OH SHIT NO. It wasn't even raining at that point. Anyway they fixed it quickly once more and he killed the last 20 minutes with banging tracks. Finally, the end to the festival, M83. I have never danced so hard in my life. I had a ton of fun dancing like a mad man. His light show was great and flashy. Just awesome. Some people were just watching him while standing perfectly still. I don't know how they couldn't move and shake their booty. He played Midnight City surprisingly early, about halfway through his set. After the song, a swarm of people left. What idiots. After he was done, it was time to go back home and sleep before I have to wake up for work at 5:30.

My favorite three sets: Sigur Ros, M83, Madeon.

Three things that I learned:
Everyone smokes weed.
Girls like short shorts and I like them too.
Standing for 8 hours hurts.

The end.
/wall of text

[Xynn]

tl;dr