The 2015 Music Thread

[probablyoliver]

Between Decemberists, Bjork, Modest Mouse and the Mountain Goats this is already my favourite year in musical history.

[SRN]

They've evolved their sound a bit over the past seven years. I'd definitely say to give it a shot.

Well, I gave it a shot and man, what a terrible album. What did surprise me was how they managed to sound extremely dated and stale and still pandered so much so the mainstream of today. I'll give them that. Guess Fall Out Boy still isn't worth it, even after seven years.

[Benji]

Echo the other love for the FOB album, dancey as fuck and has made an imprint on my most played of the year so far.

[SRN]

If you want "dancey as fuck", the new Belle and Sebastian album is much better for that, incidentally, seeing as they are apparently not known for that at all. I honestly cannot see the appeal of American Beauty/American Psycho.

[Benji]

"Here's an album I like and the album you like is terrible" is not the best way to convince me to listen to an album, Soren

[SRN]

Well, I am right so...

[Benji]

Can you suggest the best B&S album? I've heard about them loads but honestly can't say I'd know a song if I heard it.

[SRN]

Well, see, here is our dilemma. The new one is actually the only Belle and Sebastian album I have ever heard. I just picked up from a few reviews and whatnot, that the more synth-based dance approach found on most of the tracks on Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is not how they usually sound at all. I still think you should listen to it though, it is a pretty catchy record overall.

Also, I probably should have worded that second-to-last post better. I found that the new B&S was much more "dancey as fuck" than the new Fall Out Boy, it wasn't necessarily that you are in the wrong for liking American Beauty/American Psycho.

[Benji]

I know, I was toying with you

[Benji]

I'm five tracks in and this is like an anti-dance album >_> It's a pretty mediocre British indie band so far. Sorry

[SRN]

It really isn't, though. How is this and "Enter Sylvia Plath" off that album, anti-dance while American Beauty/American Psycho is so dancey? It is dated jumpy pop-punk that attempts to pander to the lowest common EDM denominator a few times. I don't understand. Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is not reinventing the wheel, no, but it is certainly not as mediocre as Fall Out Boy's latest.

[Benji]

It's not a competition dude, you can just like one album and not like another. Weirdly, people have differing opinions on what they like

[SRN]

Sure.

[Lowerdeck]

but it is certainly not as mediocre as Fall Out Boy's latest.

Calling FOB's career mediocre is putting it nicely.

[John Stones' Paint Trophy]

If you're after B&S, go with their first three albums.

[RPS]

A friend of mine once randomly invited me to a Fall Out Boy concert. I had displayed no indication whatsoever of liking Fall Out Boy, but she still somehow thought I'd like to go. I went. It was an alright show. I've listened to a few of their albums here and there. I don't see the fuss one way or another about them. I imagine their new album is a lot like their old albums. They are the last band I imagine anyone getting into a heated discussion about.

[METALMAN]

Can you suggest the best B&S album? I've heard about them loads but honestly can't say I'd know a song if I heard it.

Push Barman To Open Old Wounds. It's a collection of EPs rather than an album, but still their best. And one of my favourites.

[Benji]

Relistened to some tracks from 'Flamingo' this morning, and it's got me all excited about Brandon Flowers's second solo album coming out this year. Wish he'd drop a date for it.

[MalaCloudy Black]

This can only end badly for YouTube, I figure.

YouTube is preparing to radically change the site, adding a subscription service that is intended to help them compete in the streaming music industry. The Google GOOGL +0.65%-owned video site has already signed new licensing deals with all of the major labels, but many independents are refusing to take part. Apparently, not only are smaller, indie labels not being offered the same deals as the majors, but the contracts that Google is putting in front of them are less than fair.

In order to show their muscle, Google has stated that any label—meaning smaller, independent ones—that does not sign a deal with them will not only be left off the new service, but will have their content taken down from the original, free YouTube. Vice President and Global Head of Business at YouTube Robert Kyncl recently claimed that they already had deals with 90% of the industry, and that they had no choice but to move forward.

As noted in an article about the K-Pop artist Psy making money from YouTube ads earlier this week, if a song becomes popular enough, any clip that uses the original music and earns ad revenue is either taken down immediately or split with the track’s owner. Artists make money whenever a cover version, fan-style lyric video, or live version is uploaded on the site and accrue views. As noted in the case of Psy, all of those thousands of additional videos helped him earn over $2 million from ads alone. Soon, all of those would be taken down, and artist revenue could drop.

[Hellraiser]

If you take a look at my avatar you can probably already guess that I'm a Whitesnake fan. My favorite album of the band is their self-titled Album released in 1987 and overall I'm a biger fan of their Hair Metal phase than I ever was of their Blues Rock phase in the late 70s and early 80s. This is a sacrilegious thing to say for most Whitesnake fans as the consensus seems to be that bandleader and vocalist David Coverdale ruined the band by making it a Hair Metal band. But their bluesy hard rock never did anything for me. I'm also a big fan of their two reunion albums featuring a whole new line-up. So when they said that they'll make an announcement today regarding a new album I was pumped to hear it. Not only because I liked the last two but also because they just replaced their lead guitarist and I was curious what the new guy could bring to the table. Today they made the announcement by releasing this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk9wWj8Wh30

They have recorded a Deep Purple Cover album. David Coverdale was actually part of the Mark III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple in the 70s. But still, they're making a Deep Purple Cover album in 2015. Did anyone ask for that? Who wants to hear that? Also Coverdale sounds like shit in the video. I know that his voice is shot and I would never pay money to see Whitesnake live nowadays but on the last two albums they managed it to make him sound decent. But judging by the video they can't even do that properly anymore. What a joke.