Give YD albums to quickly review while he does boring stuff at work
 

My job has me doing very mindless tasks by myself for the next couple weeks. I’ve been listening to albums of my own choice for a while but figured I’d open the floor for some recs

Any genre, any artist. If I hate it I will not listen to the whole thing though, so keep that in mind.

My reviews will be very short and to the point since I’m typing on my phone

Also everything needs to be easy to find, Spotify or Bandcamp

Ready GO

Wild card:
https://unonyc.bandcamp.com/album/stretch-2
Arca - Stretch 2

For something more up your alley, have you heard Underside of Power by Algiers?

What genres are you into, Yorke?

Some favorite artists off top of my head: Bowie, Elliott Smith, The Replacements, Eno, Kendrick, Cocteau Twins, Sufjan, Nujabes, Waits, Paul Simon, Clash, Wire, Talking Heads, Ween, Slowdive

The blanket genre I listen to least is probably metal but I can still get down on some good metal

Almost done with Frownland’s rec

Any of The Magnetic Fields albums but 69 love songs as that's their classic album(s). The songs are short but if that's too long in the tooth for you maybe Get Lost or Holiday.. All on Spotify.

Have you listened to Ought? If you haven't, give More Than Any Other Day a spin.

Can you do YouTube? I'm not sure I can rec this one from Spotify (it looks like it might be on someone's playlist but I didn't look that deeply) and I'm not that familiar with Bandcamp.

https://unonyc.bandcamp.com/album/st...2610707_10.jpg

Arca - Stretch 2 recommended by Frownland

Did I listen to the whole thing?: Yes

General thoughts: First half blends together a lot but 2nd half felt a lot more varied and imaginative. Great final two tracks to close the album. I would probably enjoy this more if i was high but I don’t do that before work

Rating: 6.5/10

Favorite tracks: Tapped In, Meditation

I’ve heard and enjoy 69 Love Songs. I’ll do Holiday because it came out on my birth year

@Goofle I’ve heard that album but remember nothing about it. I can listen again

@Rubbersoul I can do Youtube

Yassss, YD, yas. PS you still in Bloomington or wherever?

Cool, try the Spacemen 3, Sound of Confusion. I really love the first track.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kgaCqbocr4

Fort Wayne now, I graduated from IU and left in ‘16

Nice. His songs don't have much substance but his production is off the hook. It's sleek and alien and gross. His live shows look pretty interesting as well.

Arc Iris - Moon Saloon
https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...n+Saloon-2.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/25fgiqpC5Q1usoPxfBmiLs

Magnetic Fields - Holiday recommended by Dreadnaught

Did I listen to the whole thing?: Yes

General thoughts: This was a lot synth-ier than i was expecting. I don’t really have many complaints about the songwriting or production, the only frustration is just that his vocal range is so minimal that it’s hard for any of his melodies to stand out. Even Matt Berninger can write vocal melodies that stand out in my head, whereas I feel like this album featured the same three notes sung on every track. I can’t even name a favorite track because none of them stuck out. But again the songs themselves are well written and enjoyable.

Favorite tracks: Genuinely can’t name one, nor would I be able to name a least favorite

Rating: 6/10

That's very fair. Their older stuff is very synth heavy and doesn't highlight stephin merritt's song writing ability or plays off of his voice as well as some of the later albums. I still love it though. It might take a few listens for it to start to sink in. Thanks for playing at least.

I'm still in Indy but graduated from IUPUI thank the high heavens.

Very nice congrats

I’m ancitipating I’ll have to stay in Indiana for a while. Fiancee is nearly finished getting her teaching license and wants to then teach kindergarten, and shortly after we’ll probably look for a house and whatnot. Fort Wayne has a lot of flaws but in terms of owning a house and starting a family it’s tough to beat

Ought - More Than Any Other Day recommended by Goofle

Did I listen the whole thing?: Yes, and this won’t be the last time

General thoughts: Like I said, I know I listened to this once but I must’ve not been in the right mindset because I never went back. This album kicks tons of ass. Several times the singer’s voice reminded me of Paul Westerberg’s, and to be honest this feels like something Westerberg might have written if he’d been born 20 years later. That is a huge compliment. This is just some great post punk from fromt to back, they develop their songs well and do it with an attitude. A couple early tracks go on a little longer than they needed to. Not much else bad I can say

Favorite tracks: Title track, Forgiveness, Around Again

Rating: 8.5/10

good work listening:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1OxgPZHcHL.jpg

Mkwaju by Mkwaju Ensemble

I wont steer you wrong (Midori Takada is a part of this group so you know its good)

Tropical **** Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace

https://e.snmc.io/lk/o/l/a75c4bcc1e2...0f/6939859.jpg

^

You don't have to review it or anything if you're feeling overloaded, I'm just curious.

I don't blame ya. Indiana is cheap as hell. Ft. Wayne isn't bad, I have friends and family up there. Good ol' 69 lol.

I went to middle waves to volunteer a few years ago, it was a blast. Saw Doomtree and a bit of the Flaming Lips before driving back.

I have not, but I can add it on after ninetales or blank’s or sumthin

Here ya go, son.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruIZ...hCa6kbSuAPtmXA

Spacemen 3 - Sound of Confusion recommended by rubber soul

Did I listen to the whole thing?: No, I started to skim through the tracks

General thoughts: Sorry man, this definitely isn’t bad by any stretch, it just wasn’t doing much for me. Electric guitar power chords with reverb singing basically the whole time. I like The Stooges cover near the end though. I was hoping it would feel more spacey given the band name but it just kind of chugged along with the same crunchy guitar tone on each track. Hardly any energy to the record either, it feels phoned in like an obligation rather than a passionate rock album, which is what sets apart albums like this from albums by bands like the aforementioned Stooges. It falls right in the middle of my rating scale as an average listening experience

Favorite Track: Little Doll, The Stooges cover

Rating: 5/10

Knew you would like that Ought album. Has similarities to several of the artists you named as your favourites.

Yes great rec. Are there other albums equally as impressive or was that one just a flash in the pan?

Their second album is almost as good imo, but it’s rated higher generally.

Arc Iris - Moon Saloon recommended by MicShazam

Did I listen to the whole thing?: 99% of it, I jumped to the next song 20ish seconds early a couple times

General thoughts: I think this album suffers from a pacing issue. The best albums function like a good film to me, with structure helping to create moods that rise and fall naturally. A high tempo track can sometimes be followed up with another one, but it can often be effective to follow it up with a lower tempo track. This album is like BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM HERE SNORT SOME COKE BEFORE THE NEXT TRACK BAM BAM. It’s a soft, beautiful female vocalist but the album throws so much wacky uptempo tracks with so many different instruments that it all feels like a disjointed, plastic attempt to be ambitious. That’s not to say there aren’t some great tracks here. The album closer is a gorgeous, subdued atmospheric song, but as far as I remember its the ONLY subdued track. You’ll get lots of horns and strings and banjos that create a cinematic atmosphere but it reminds me of the kind of atmosphere that box office flops like John Carter or Valerian give off. I wish I knew what the hell the album is about but I can’t discern everything, especially with it going from wild spacey tracks to a song with a banjo singing about a guy named Johnny. There’s some amazing musicianship here and cool ideas littered in most of the songs, but as a whole the album falters a bit for me.

Favorite tracks: Paint With the Sun, Johnny, Title track

Rating: 6/10

Mkwaju - Mkwaju Ensemble recommended by Ninetales

Did I listen to the whole thing?: Yes

General thoughts: Isn’t it awesome what you can do with some talented percussionist and maybe a little synth or two for flavor? This album is just a fun time with some great afrobeat and occasional electronic influences sprinkled in. From the very beginning they do a great job establishing layers of percussion that build and expand into a sonic onslaught of rhythmic goodness. Occasionally the tracks linger a bit too long on the same idea, but the mesmerizing percussion keeps it interesting. A much needed change of pace comes on track 5 “Pulse of the Mind”, which is followed by an album closer that goes a tad long for my tastes. I think the perfect length for an album like this is 35ish minutes, but it hits 40 and I think just a smidge could have been cut to make for a more compact experience. And Ninetales is right, this is great working music.

Favorite tracks: Pulse of the Mind, Tira-Rin

Rating: 8/10

This made me laugh :D

But yeah, I kinda see what you mean. Been a while since I listened to the whole thing myself, but I think the crazy tracks are kind of what I like about it. Saturation Brain probably being my favorite. Although it's a shame there's not anymore tracks in the style of the first one, which has a moodier atmosphere.

milo - who told you think??!!?!?!?!

if you havent heard it

Shannon Wright - Division
https://img.discogs.com/KPMarT4n4yny...-7725.jpeg.jpg

Quite a short album. Very,very good imo, but your mileage may vary.

https://open.spotify.com/album/18gcpRF5K1BTbDuxah1Xkk

Blue Cartoon - Are You Getting On?
https://img.discogs.com/bogYwHdM5pxY...-1715.jpeg.jpg

https://open.spotify.com/album/46OLMKOWTQwx9fWG3n2269

Interesting album with some diverse songwriting, though the foundation is power pop and the 70's. I think you'd like it a lot.

Is this on Spotify? The wifi at work is blocking it lol

Tropical **** Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace recommended by Blank

Did I listen to the whole thing?: Yes

General thoughts: I had really low hopes, because I’m not sure how any self respecting artist would decide upon this band name. Going into it I thought I was going to get some really psychedelic trippy ****, but my expectations were completely subverted when I discovered this is actually an apocalyptic post punk album. Turns out the singer here is also in the band The Drones, a band that I generally dislike. This is way better than any Drones album. I actually greatly enjoyed most of these tracks, there’s a great atmosphere to it all and some really high energy stuff that’s fun to listen to. The latter half has some stinkers like that instrumental Shellfish Toxin (5.5 minutes was way too long for that) and the title track slows things down a lot and it’s a lot less engaging than the rest of the album instrumentally or lyrically. Overall though a shockingly good album. This will compete for a spot on any year end lists I do

Favorite tracks: Antimatter Animals, Two Afternoons

Rating: 7.5/10

See signature. Click the cat head. Listen. Get back to me.

Yeah it's not on Spotify for... reasons. If this doesn't work then I'm ****ed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIRq...816737630564C6

Edit: and if that doesn't work then try this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDG505s75FE

Algiers - Underside of Power recommended by Frownland

Did I listen to the whole thing?: Hell yes I did

General thoughts: Man this is a weird album. It's a guy yelling at you about what sounds like political lyrics with really cool dark, gothic instrumentation. And then just when you feel like you're being yelled at too much, a nice slow track or two comes in to break up the album and make it a fine experience. None of the individual tracks stood out too much, but the overall vibe of this album is pretty sick.

Favorite tracks: Just about all of them

Rating: 8/10

Did you ever get any of my recs to work?