DDD Forum :: View topic - Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)

Cheers Dreww!

Bjork - Homogenic
Mid Tier
Never listened to Bjork before, and after hearing this thing twice, I'm not sure if she's really my scene. At least, this album isn't my scene. Her voice is very similar to Karin Dreijer Andersson, but the instrumentation is much more symphonic. The songwriting is incredibly ambitious, which I respect, but I feel like you have to be in a very specific mood to really get the full effect of her work. This isn't easy listening, and it doesn't set the mood for you - you have to do that yourself. That being said, Bjork's voice is wonderful. An absolute powerhouse. How would people describe her other albums in comparison to this?

Tame Impala - Lonerism
Top Tier
I liked their first album and I love this. The sound isn't as varied as Kevin Parker thinks it is, but that's not a big problem. The songs here are catchy, and use the "Beatles with a better drummer" formula to excellent effect. My favourite track is Mind Mischief, with it's effortless vocal harmonies. You can really hear the work of producer David Fridmann too. The mix is swirling and glorious. Another album like this would set the band back though - although this is great, Kevin needs to establish a wider sound if he's going to turn Tame Impala into his career.

Fat Freddy's Drop - Live at the Roundhouse London
Top Tier
Their best release. Fat Freddy's live is a completely different experience than in the studio. Their jams are long, but not for nothing. The deep bass leads you into each track, and once the skank kicks in, it doesn't let up. These songs manage to be incredibly soulful, danceable, and affecting, whilst being built on a solid reggae foundation. The Raft transitions into the classic opener of Based on a True Story, Cay's Crays seamlessly during its 16 minute runtime. It's one of my favourite parts of the album. The set closes with a frantic, shimmeringly electronic version of Shiverman. The horn section is always saved for the best moments. There are a few mistakes here and there, but that adds to the appeal. These guys are still the best in Kiwi dub reggae.

I could see you enjoying Debut, as it would perhaps be more up your alley.

Jeff Buckley - Grace
Mid Tier
Inoffensive.

This is basically classic rock with a grunge-ish edge.

Buckley's voice does nothing for me.

I'm sorry I disappointed you Cruz, but that really is what I thought. Perhaps I'll listen to it again sometime, I'm a very forgiving person.

I am not even done listening to it yet, but Buena Vista Social Club's At Carnegie Hall is just unbelievable. It may help to be familiar with the classic studio album from 97, but honestly this live version is even better; so much concentrated intensity of emotion running through every second of this music. They don't go on any huge departures from the studio versions here but there is an extra sense of looseness and spontaneity here that makes it required listening for fans of Latin music.

Dreww wrote:

Is it a live performance of their S/t studio album? If so then it sounds like something I need to check out soon.

Author:	thejew [ Sun Oct 28, 2012 2:00 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
Mitch NZ wrote: Cheers Dreww! Bjork - Homogenic Mid Tier Never listened to Bjork before, and after hearing this thing twice, I'm not sure if she's really my scene. At least, this album isn't my scene. Her voice is very similar to Karin Dreijer Andersson, but the instrumentation is much more symphonic. The songwriting is incredibly ambitious, which I respect, but I feel like you have to be in a very specific mood to really get the full effect of her work. This isn't easy listening, and it doesn't set the mood for you - you have to do that yourself. That being said, Bjork's voice is wonderful. An absolute powerhouse. How would people describe her other albums in comparison to this? Tame Impala - Lonerism Top Tier I liked their first album and I love this. The sound isn't as varied as Kevin Parker thinks it is, but that's not a big problem. The songs here are catchy, and use the "Beatles with a better drummer" formula to excellent effect. My favourite track is Mind Mischief, with it's effortless vocal harmonies. You can really hear the work of producer David Fridmann too. The mix is swirling and glorious. Another album like this would set the band back though - although this is great, Kevin needs to establish a wider sound if he's going to turn Tame Impala into his career. Fat Freddy's Drop - Live at the Roundhouse London Top Tier Their best release. Fat Freddy's live is a completely different experience than in the studio. Their jams are long, but not for nothing. The deep bass leads you into each track, and once the skank kicks in, it doesn't let up. These songs manage to be incredibly soulful, danceable, and affecting, whilst being built on a solid reggae foundation. The Raft transitions into the classic opener of Based on a True Story, Cay's Crays seamlessly during its 16 minute runtime. It's one of my favourite parts of the album. The set closes with a frantic, shimmeringly electronic version of Shiverman. The horn section is always saved for the best moments. There are a few mistakes here and there, but that adds to the appeal. These guys are still the best in Kiwi dub reggae. Sad you didn't like Bjork too much, but I liked your review and the fact that you fairly presented your opinion. Each album from Bjork is a bit different. Homogenic is much darker than her previous works (and really any of her works), and utilizes strings much more so. Vespertine has softer more glitch-oriented beats, with softer melodies, and is a very "snowy" album... if you catch my drift. Debut is more light fluffy pop.. not as groundbreaking or original as her later work, although you can taste what is to come, and it's still ahead of most pop in terms or creativity. Post is harder for me to describe... Kind of like the fluffiness of Debut, with a harder electronic tinge and Bjork's increased eccentricity. It's more reliant on atmosphere than Debut, but not as orchestral as Homogenic or Vespertine. Any post-Vespertine album is way too experimental and not worth your time anyway. I could see you enjoying Debut, as it would perhaps be more up your alley.

Author:	Gray [ Sun Oct 28, 2012 5:59 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
thejew wrote: I could see you enjoying Debut, as it would perhaps be more up your alley. I agree with this Mitch.

Author:	Machine Head [ Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
Post is absolutely amazing and you should listen to it immediately

Author:	Cruz [ Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:21 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
Mitch NZ wrote: Jeff Buckley - Grace Mid Tier Inoffensive. Mitch NZ wrote: This is basically classic rock with a grunge-ish edge. Mitch NZ wrote: Buckley's voice does nothing for me. Do you feel that you can't appreciate Buckley's voice even, or that just the tone of it you don't enjoy? I can't imagine listening to the title track and Mojo Pin and saying "That does nothing for me."

Author:	Tudwell [ Mon Oct 29, 2012 11:30 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
The triple threat of Hallelujah, Lover You Should've Come Over, and Corpus Christi Carol is beyond amazing. The rest of the album is top-notch, but holy fuck is that a centerpiece.

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Author:	dreamcoil [ Mon Oct 29, 2012 1:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
tim >>>>> jeff. i'm with mitch as far as grace is concerned though. not very listenable for me

Author:	Cruz [ Mon Oct 29, 2012 10:56 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
Mitch NZ wrote: I'm sorry I disappointed you Cruz, but that really is what I thought. Perhaps I'll listen to it again sometime, I'm a very forgiving person. No biggie. My thinking was a little.. cloudy when I posted that. I was mostly surprised that you thought it sounded like grungey classic rock though.

Author:	wantabodylikeme [ Mon Oct 29, 2012 11:30 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
For me Grace gains a lot of weight when listening to it with the legend of Jeff Buckley in mind. Musically the album has its gorgeous moments, as mentioned by Tim, but what really keeps it going for me is the haunted nature floating around throughout. I feel like Joy Division's work is augmented by the same kind of ghostly appeal.

Author:	joe c [ Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:05 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
Wanta, I feel like you buy too much into the artist sometimes and not enough into the music. I get why you do it, it's just hard for me to personally do that. When I first heard Grace my initial thought was "this guy sounds really out of place in the world, almost like he's a ghost or something". Maybe it's just because I'm FUCKING AWESOME but probably not because I suck but I think that the album has a really haunting and ghost-like quality (that's honestly adopted from his father's work) that translates through the music without even knowing who Buckley is. It's the way the music creeps in on "Mojo Pin" or the reverb on "Hallelujah" or the ending punch of "Eternal Life" and "Dream Brother". Joy Division is kind of the same way. The music and lyrics are pretty upfront that they were written by somebody that was fucked up. Most people would point to "LWTUA" as the pinnacle of their music but I would honestly say it's "Disorder". There's so much desperation and longing in the music and Ian Curtis sounds like he's afraid of the sound of his own voice and afraid of actually meaning the really dark things he's singing about. Great artists are able to translate their life stories into their work, like Buckley and Joy Division. Then there are bands like Korn and Tool that have a backstory of sexual and child abuse but that kind of fear and anger and confusion doesn't really translate through their music because they just don't have the chops. That's my two cents anyway.

Author:	wantabodylikeme [ Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:24 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
eh, i feel like i care about the artist and their work and the two become inseparable to me once you look into what you experience. Of course I can connect without knowing who an artist is, but that tends to be established by musical tropes I'm naturally biased to (ie pop structures, repetition, etc). I don't really get a full on connection until i can make up my own meta-experience story consisting of my experiences with the work, my knowledge of the artist, how he and it relates to my own life, the aesthetic properties, and the point in time in my life. It's just a relationship with everything all at once really, and that ratio of each ingredient varies from artist to artist. Jeff Buckley just happens to be one of them where I think about stuff outside the music.

Author:	Frethaygil [ Tue Oct 30, 2012 5:43 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
The Eversons - Summer Feeling Somehow I've found myself listening to a 2012 album by a hip New Zealand band. This is great stuff, just really simply-constructed melodic songs, kinda like a looser, less self-conscious incarnation of Weezer, with an exposed kiwi accent delivering the vocals. And with extremely charming youthful lyrics. In fact, the entire album employs a lyrical style in which the lead singer and the backup band represent a protagonist and his peers respectively, in fact at a few points the two groups literally argue - "We thing he's creepy/No I'm just crazy about her and I'm not sorry". It never gets old. 9.0/10 Anyway, y'all should listen to it. It's a short and easily-digestible album. Spotify it. Or at least check out this song: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szqcw27236Y[/youtube]

Author:	Dreww [ Thu Nov 01, 2012 7:30 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
I am not even done listening to it yet, but Buena Vista Social Club's At Carnegie Hall is just unbelievable. It may help to be familiar with the classic studio album from 97, but honestly this live version is even better; so much concentrated intensity of emotion running through every second of this music. They don't go on any huge departures from the studio versions here but there is an extra sense of looseness and spontaneity here that makes it required listening for fans of Latin music.

Author:	thejew [ Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:57 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
Dreww wrote: I am not even done listening to it yet, but Buena Vista Social Club's At Carnegie Hall is just unbelievable. It may help to be familiar with the classic studio album from 97, but honestly this live version is even better; so much concentrated intensity of emotion running through every second of this music. They don't go on any huge departures from the studio versions here but there is an extra sense of looseness and spontaneity here that makes it required listening for fans of Latin music. Is it a live performance of their S/t studio album? If so then it sounds like something I need to check out soon.

Author:	Yousha [ Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:06 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
yeah, Im a huge fan of the studio album, so definitely sounds like good stuff right there

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Author:	Dreww [ Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Album You Listened To (And Rate It)
thejew wrote: Dreww wrote: I am not even done listening to it yet, but Buena Vista Social Club's At Carnegie Hall is just unbelievable. It may help to be familiar with the classic studio album from 97, but honestly this live version is even better; so much concentrated intensity of emotion running through every second of this music. They don't go on any huge departures from the studio versions here but there is an extra sense of looseness and spontaneity here that makes it required listening for fans of Latin music. Is it a live performance of their S/t studio album? If so then it sounds like something I need to check out soon. Basically, yes.