Museum Musica

Zhanteimi · 09-13-2018, 10:00 PM

Thanks, Nea. I just needed a break to sort shit out inside my own head. But I'm an attention whore at heart, so I had to come back.

***

0004 Gyvata - Su vėjužiu kalbėjau
(Lithuania, 2012, Lithuanian folk / neofolk)

This is one of only two Lithuanian albums in my collection, but based on what I like from my two albums, I want to find time to explore more traditional music from this old country. Maybe something from this list will grab me. The choral female vocals evoke an ethereal, pastoral atmosphere, underpinned by beautiful violins. Overall, however, this strikes me as a teensy-weensy bit inauthentic, so it will probably never rise into the upper echelon of my best folk.

The Batlord · 09-14-2018, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zhanteimi

Thanks, Nea. I just needed a break to sort shit out inside my own head. But I'm an attention whore at heart, so I had to come back.

You can't shake a stick at MB without some attention whore wanting to fetch it.

Zhanteimi · 09-16-2018, 12:33 AM

0005 Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
(Germany, 1974, Berlin school / progressive electronic)

I'm trying to reimagine a sci-fi / aquatic setting wherein the queen has a thing for her stepson, and when he rejects her, she tells the king his son tried to rape her. The king believes his wife and banishes his son, who soon gets trampled by (sea)horses and dies. If you're sober, you need to bring something of your own to this album to give it claws. On this most recent listen, I just lay back on the sofa and closed my eyes. My three-year-old son joined me, and together we listened in complete silence. It was like an underwater journey with lights flashing in the deep.

Zhanteimi · 09-16-2018, 03:18 PM

0006 Sigur Rós - Kveikur
(Iceland, 2013, post-rock / art rock)

I listened to this when it was first released, and having lost one of its members, the band sounds a bit different on this album. My initial reaction was one of guarded skepticism. I wasn't sure if I liked it, but when I listened to it again, it just happened to be when I was pulling an all-nighter (and no I wasn't studying). I danced to this album harder than I've ever danced in my life outside a live show setting, and the dancing helped me understand and love this album. As a matter of fact, my experience with this album was so profound that I didn't listen to a single piece of music for the next 30 days. I couldn't. The music receptors in my soul were burned out.

Zhanteimi · 09-19-2018, 02:04 AM

0007 Neil Young - On the Beach
(Canada, 1974, folk rock / singer-songwriter / country rock)

I've got a few Neil Young albums in my collection mostly because (a) I like his music well enough, and (b) he is highly regarded. There are a lot of serious music lovers out there who adore this man's music, even going so far as to say he is the voice of a generation and that his albums are the best of their time. I wouldn't go that far, but I do sense there is more to Mr. Young than I've yet discovered. Every once in a while one of his songs really grabs me. The eponymous track on this album does. "I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day." Although this isn't a state of mind I can personally identify with, I know a lot of people who feel this way, so I try to sympathize. As for me, I learned long ago that people just ain't no good. I avoid them whenever possible.

Zhanteimi · 09-19-2018, 08:35 PM

0008 The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!
(USA, 1966, experimental rock / satire)

I'm sure plenty of Zappa fans out there will disagree with my assessment of the man as a musician, but to me, his music always strikes me as meta-music. Like, he can't switch off. He can't just make a song for normal enjoyment and consumption. There's always a sense of him standing just outside a group of musicians and saying, "hey guys we're musicians. We make music. That's what we do. That's what we're doing. We're making music. We're musicians, and we make music." Instead of just making music. I mean, he does make music, of course, but it's always conscious of it being music, which is why he plays in so many styles and is always experimenting. It's all a kind of puzzle to him. I've listened to a lot of his music--a lot--and I've seen Baby Snakes and other nonsense. He's not a rock star. He's not enjoying himself. He's like a marionette master, manipulating his fans and micro-managing his band. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just why Zappa stands apart from every other artist in my collection. He is an outsider. He's too smart for his own good. I guess that's the hallmark of every good satirist.

**Frownland** · 09-19-2018, 09:23 PM

I dig a good number of his albums but I basically agree with that. A lot of the time it seems like he's working backwards from the genre or style and forgets to inject some emotion into the mix. One Size Fits All is probably my favourite if only because of how wild Inca Roads is.

Zhanteimi · 09-19-2018, 09:38 PM

Good choice, that. I'd have to go with Joe's Garage, especially Act I. I guess I'm a sucker for a unifying narrative. I'm definitely more of a concept album kind of guy.

Spoiler for Joe's Garage (full):

Zhanteimi · 09-20-2018, 06:20 PM

0009 Archaïa - Archaïa
(France, 1977, zeuhl)

This is one of a small number of albums in my collection that tickles me pink because of its obscurity. I don't like an album simply because it's obscure, of course. I actually have to like the music. But when I find a band that made only one album before disbanding, I pay attention. In my experience, it's going to be either really good or really bad. This one falls in the former camp. I'm a huge zeuhl fan, first off. This album has a dark, haunting, rather chant-like beginning, almost as if it's an invocation of sorts before progressing into guitar territory more familiar to the casual ear. Still the cryptic nature of the music continues with unsettling synthesizer use. Whereas Magma is bolder as far as zeuhl is concerned, Archaïa strikes me as more sombre and definitely more disturbing, almost as if there's a touch of the Occult present.

rostasi · 09-20-2018, 07:29 PM

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Nice seeing this mentioned. Very under-appreciated goodie.
L'arche Des Mutations sounds a little like Harmonia meeting
up with Canterbury sound. This and the Phaedra you mentioned
earlier were bedtime albums for me back then.

09-13-2018, 10:00 PM	#871 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,874	Thanks, Nea. I just needed a break to sort shit out inside my own head. But I'm an attention whore at heart, so I had to come back. * 0004 Gyvata** - Su vėjužiu kalbėjau (Lithuania, 2012, Lithuanian folk / neofolk) This is one of only two Lithuanian albums in my collection, but based on what I like from my two albums, I want to find time to explore more traditional music from this old country. Maybe something from this list will grab me. The choral female vocals evoke an ethereal, pastoral atmosphere, underpinned by beautiful violins. Overall, however, this strikes me as a teensy-weensy bit inauthentic, so it will probably never rise into the upper echelon of my best folk. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic Last edited by Zhanteimi; 10-24-2018 at 10:35 PM.

09-16-2018, 12:33 AM	#873 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,874	0005 Tangerine Dream - Phaedra (Germany, 1974, Berlin school / progressive electronic) I'm trying to reimagine a sci-fi / aquatic setting wherein the queen has a thing for her stepson, and when he rejects her, she tells the king his son tried to rape her. The king believes his wife and banishes his son, who soon gets trampled by (sea)horses and dies. If you're sober, you need to bring something of your own to this album to give it claws. On this most recent listen, I just lay back on the sofa and closed my eyes. My three-year-old son joined me, and together we listened in complete silence. It was like an underwater journey with lights flashing in the deep. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic Last edited by Zhanteimi; 10-24-2018 at 10:35 PM.

09-16-2018, 03:18 PM	#874 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,874	0006 Sigur Rós - Kveikur (Iceland, 2013, post-rock / art rock) I listened to this when it was first released, and having lost one of its members, the band sounds a bit different on this album. My initial reaction was one of guarded skepticism. I wasn't sure if I liked it, but when I listened to it again, it just happened to be when I was pulling an all-nighter (and no I wasn't studying). I danced to this album harder than I've ever danced in my life outside a live show setting, and the dancing helped me understand and love this album. As a matter of fact, my experience with this album was so profound that I didn't listen to a single piece of music for the next 30 days. I couldn't. The music receptors in my soul were burned out. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic Last edited by Zhanteimi; 10-24-2018 at 10:35 PM.

09-19-2018, 02:04 AM	#875 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,874	0007 Neil Young - On the Beach (Canada, 1974, folk rock / singer-songwriter / country rock) I've got a few Neil Young albums in my collection mostly because (a) I like his music well enough, and (b) he is highly regarded. There are a lot of serious music lovers out there who adore this man's music, even going so far as to say he is the voice of a generation and that his albums are the best of their time. I wouldn't go that far, but I do sense there is more to Mr. Young than I've yet discovered. Every once in a while one of his songs really grabs me. The eponymous track on this album does. "I need a crowd of people, but I can't face them day to day." Although this isn't a state of mind I can personally identify with, I know a lot of people who feel this way, so I try to sympathize. As for me, I learned long ago that people just ain't no good. I avoid them whenever possible. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic Last edited by Zhanteimi; 10-24-2018 at 10:36 PM.

09-19-2018, 08:35 PM	#876 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,874	0008 The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out! (USA, 1966, experimental rock / satire) I'm sure plenty of Zappa fans out there will disagree with my assessment of the man as a musician, but to me, his music always strikes me as meta-music. Like, he can't switch off. He can't just make a song for normal enjoyment and consumption. There's always a sense of him standing just outside a group of musicians and saying, "hey guys we're musicians. We make music. That's what we do. That's what we're doing. We're making music. We're musicians, and we make music." Instead of just making music. I mean, he does make music, of course, but it's always conscious of it being music, which is why he plays in so many styles and is always experimenting. It's all a kind of puzzle to him. I've listened to a lot of his music--a lot--and I've seen Baby Snakes and other nonsense. He's not a rock star. He's not enjoying himself. He's like a marionette master, manipulating his fans and micro-managing his band. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just why Zappa stands apart from every other artist in my collection. He is an outsider. He's too smart for his own good. I guess that's the hallmark of every good satirist. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic Last edited by Zhanteimi; 10-24-2018 at 10:36 PM.

09-19-2018, 09:23 PM	#877 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,548	I dig a good number of his albums but I basically agree with that. A lot of the time it seems like he's working backwards from the genre or style and forgets to inject some emotion into the mix. One Size Fits All is probably my favourite if only because of how wild Inca Roads is. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

09-19-2018, 09:38 PM	#878 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,874	Good choice, that. I'd have to go with Joe's Garage, especially Act I. I guess I'm a sucker for a unifying narrative. I'm definitely more of a concept album kind of guy. Spoiler for Joe's Garage (full): __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic

09-20-2018, 06:20 PM	#879 (permalink)
Zhanteimi Mord Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Tokyo Posts: 4,874	0009 Archaïa - Archaïa (France, 1977, zeuhl) This is one of a small number of albums in my collection that tickles me pink because of its obscurity. I don't like an album simply because it's obscure, of course. I actually have to like the music. But when I find a band that made only one album before disbanding, I pay attention. In my experience, it's going to be either really good or really bad. This one falls in the former camp. I'm a huge zeuhl fan, first off. This album has a dark, haunting, rather chant-like beginning, almost as if it's an invocation of sorts before progressing into guitar territory more familiar to the casual ear. Still the cryptic nature of the music continues with unsettling synthesizer use. Whereas Magma is bolder as far as zeuhl is concerned, Archaïa strikes me as more sombre and definitely more disturbing, almost as if there's a touch of the Occult present. __________________ Zhanteimi LetsTalkMusic Last edited by Zhanteimi; 10-24-2018 at 10:36 PM.

09-20-2018, 07:29 PM	#880 (permalink)
rostasi . Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 4,007	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Nice seeing this mentioned. Very under-appreciated goodie. L'arche Des Mutations sounds a little like Harmonia meeting up with Canterbury sound. This and the Phaedra you mentioned earlier were bedtime albums for me back then.