What music are you listening to?

[SRN]

Les Rallizes Dénudés... again. Man, I absolutely love the 27-minute edition of "The Last One" from Double Heads. It so drenched in noise, so psychedelic, so god damn amazing. Previously, but completely unrelated, I also ran through some of Owen Pallett's stuff; specifically the Has a Good Home album he released under the Final Fantasy moniker. It was pretty good stuff. For anyone who is interested in somber indie music based pretty much on violin and nothing much else, really. I also have He Poos Clouds lined up, can't wait to hear that.

[Cymbols]

Imagine Dragons. I liked their song on the FIFA 13 soundtrack and I've listened to more of their stuff and it's just so chilling. They are playing 4 gigs in the UK in December but the closest to where I live is Oxford :/ Any further than Birmingham is out for me

[thatshortguy]

This week, methinks it'll be new ones from The Sword, Stone Sour, & Paul Banks. Given my love affair with the self-titled Interpol album, I have high hopes for that Banks effort.

The Sword's newest has a cover of ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses", too. Should be interesting. Speaking of ZZ, give "La Futura" a shot. Nothing monumental, but the single ("I Gotsta Get Paid") is great and the album as a whole is road-standard ZZ.

[KONGO]

Thanks for reminding me about the Interpol self-titled. Need to check that out.

[thatshortguy]

Thanks for reminding me about the Interpol self-titled. Need to check that out.

Absolutely do so. Very space-y album with a noticeably restless undercurrent.

[SRN]

The Sword has a new album? I thought they called it quits after Warp Riders. I did like that album a lot, is the new one worth checking out? Besides the obvious ZZ Top cover, of course.

[thatshortguy]

The Sword has a new album? I thought they called it quits after Warp Riders. I did like that album a lot, is the new one worth checking out? Besides the obvious ZZ Top cover, of course.

They've gone through a couple of drummers, but they just released "Apocryphon" today. It's worth a listen if you like any of their previous works. ZZ Top cover is meh.

As for the others: there is no point in having Stone Sour and Slipknot. They are effectively the same band with the same music, though I will grant you Stone Sour does not feature a grown man in a clown mask hitting a keg and never knowing when to shut up. If you like Sourknot, go right ahead and check it out. I'm done with Corey Taylor, Inc.

Banks album has its moments but never really reaches its potential. Best album this month remains Pinback's "Information Retrieved".

[RPS]

Sleater Kinney's whole discography. In retrospect, they were probably my favorite rock bands recording around the time. They not only released seven fantastic albums, but two of them - Dig Me Out and The Woods - are arguably rock classics. Too bad they broke up after the Woods, because I would have loved to see how they followed it up.

[SRN]

Listening to Shining's Blackjazz after not having listened to it for like, a year or something. I am quickly reminded why this was one of my favorite albums of 2010. I have absolutely no idea how to categorize it properly (avant-garde black metal jazz?) but either way, it is so thoroughly maddening that I cannot nothing but love it. Skummy, this is something you might perhaps also enjoy maybe although I am not 100% sure. Mind you, this is Shining from Norway, not Shining from Sweden. Also, if I get Norway in EWB Eurovision, one of their songs is so going to be entered.

[New Damage]

I'd never knowingly heard one of her songs before, but I was in HMV yesterday and I heard "I Need Your LOve" by Ellie Goulding & Calvin Harris, and I loved it.

Also, completely contradictory to this, I've started listening to the Deftones. I've never been able to quite get into them, but the two songs they've released from their upcoming album I like and I'm actually looking forward to hearing the new album (hopefully it be up on Spotify).

[Skummy]

The new Neil Young album is amazing. The fact that some of the tracks are almost half an hour long and never get boring is incredible. It kind of feels like an extension of "Le Noise", but not as drone-y. In many ways, between the subject matter in the lyrics, the repetition both within the songs, and (presumably intentionally) repetition of older Neil Young and Crazy Horse riffs, it feels like this album is the logical end-point of a long journey. Like everything Neil Young has been doing for the past twenty or so years has been building towards this - that's not to say that this album is necessarily better than the last twenty years' worth of stuff, but there's definitely a progression from, say, "He Sleeps With Angels", through "Le Noise", to "Psychedelic Pill", stopping at a few points along the way.

[KONGO]

Interpol's self-titled is... on the good side of alright. They're a study in polish through erosion. I think they're better musicians and perhaps even songwriters now than they were before, but they make less exciting music now than they ever did. Probably better than their third album and maybe better than their second, but still not a scratch on Turn on the Bright Lights. Are the last two songs really amazing? I stopped listening a minute through the third-to-last track.

[KONGO]

MAMMOTH song. Pure power.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Gotta represent the locals, yo.

[Jimmy]

Interpol's self-titled is... on the good side of alright. They're a study in polish through erosion. I think they're better musicians and perhaps even songwriters now than they were before, but they make less exciting music now than they ever did. Probably better than their third album and maybe better than their second, but still not a scratch on Turn on the Bright Lights. Are the last two songs really amazing? I stopped listening a minute through the third-to-last track.

I'd say Antics is definitely their second best. Evil's a cracking single and the rest is pretty good, too.

[KONGO]

Interpol's self-titled is... on the good side of alright. They're a study in polish through erosion. I think they're better musicians and perhaps even songwriters now than they were before, but they make less exciting music now than they ever did. Probably better than their third album and maybe better than their second, but still not a scratch on Turn on the Bright Lights. Are the last two songs really amazing? I stopped listening a minute through the third-to-last track.

I'd say Antics is definitely their second best. Evil's a cracking single and the rest is pretty good, too.

Yeah, I remember liking that and "Slow Hands." Forgettable album otherwise or else I'd remember more about it, but none of theirs have been outright bad.

EDIT: Just listening to both of these again. I think... one of the problems I felt with Antics is that these are all just Turn on the Bright Lights-lite. "Slow Hands" does it really well, wasn't as much into "Evil" but it's still a good song. But yeah, tried to do the same sort of thing but just couldn't recapture those first songs. That said, I just want to reiterate that "Slow Hands" is brilliant.

[METALMAN]

The new Neil Young album is amazing. The fact that some of the tracks are almost half an hour long and never get boring is incredible. It kind of feels like an extension of "Le Noise", but not as drone-y. In many ways, between the subject matter in the lyrics, the repetition both within the songs, and (presumably intentionally) repetition of older Neil Young and Crazy Horse riffs, it feels like this album is the logical end-point of a long journey. Like everything Neil Young has been doing for the past twenty or so years has been building towards this - that's not to say that this album is necessarily better than the last twenty years' worth of stuff, but there's definitely a progression from, say, "He Sleeps With Angels", through "Le Noise", to "Psychedelic Pill", stopping at a few points along the way.

It's lovely, isn't it? It seems working with Crazt Horse again has reinvigorated him. It's up there with my favourites of the year.

[thatshortguy]

Flyleaf's latest really comes across as a band who knew this was a throwaway album. I'm curious to know if this is the last album for their contract, because there are very few moments that seem really inspired.

[KONGO]

I'd checked out a Kendrick Lamar song over the weekend, didn't dig it. Tried his album again just now, stopped halfway through song one. Not my vibe at all.

[Skummy]

A few of last week's new ones I've been catching up on;

The new Madness album is okay - nothing special. If "The Liberty Of Norton Folgate" hadn't been such an incredible album, I'd have probably loved this one, but as it had such a masterpiece to follow, I was disappointed. Some nice songs, but it feels a bit of a step back compared to what they had been doing. Not bad, but not what I'd hoped for.

The new Micachu & The Shapes is weird. Not what I'd expected at all. It's fun, but I'm not sure it'll get played much now I've listened to it through a couple of times. If I'd heard one track in isolation I'd have probably thought it was brilliant, but listening to a whole album of it is a bit much.

New Tilly & The Wall is amazing. I'd forgotten they even existed before I saw it in HMV, and was in two minds about whether to pick it up, but I'm so glad I did. The whole album is amazing, but the first two tracks are some of the best, most danceable indie pop rock I've heard all year, if not for several years. Brilliant stuff.

Picked up the OST for Dredd, which I absolutely love. Just cool stuff. Combining that with Geoff Barrow & whoever-it-was' "Drokk" 2000AD inspired album, I've got myself a playlist for whenever I'm in a sci-fi mood.