The 2013 Music Thread

[Crybaby Bunting]

New Janelle Monae is pretty disappointing :/

[METALMAN]

Really?

I will have faith until I listen to it myself!

I liked that song that was released a few months back.

[Cactus Drags]

Haven't got round to the new Franz Ferdinand yet. I have listened to new NIN and there's some good tracks, but it's a bit too down tempo for me. Admittedly, I haven't listened extensively to the back catalogue, but the tracks I've liked best have been more vitriolic and in your face.

[GoGo Yubari]

New Janelle Monae is pretty disappointing :/

Not at all. The worst I can say for it is that it doesn't have any songs on it as good as "Oh Maker" or "Say You'll Go," but on the other hand it doesn't have anything as awful as that hideous song she did with Of Montreal on ArchAndroid so it evens out. "Dance Apocalyptic" is basically equal to "Tightrope" though it ends really weird.

It's a lot more straight old-school R&B than ArchAndroid, I guess, which went all over the place.

[RPS]

Anybody who likes electronic music, give a spin of Factory Floor's self titled debut. Very good. A mix of house and techno with an industrial edge. High recommendations from moi.

[METALMAN]

I'm only four songs into the new Janelle Monae but I really like it so far. I've got the bass turned up on my speakers and it sounds lovely and warm. It's a bit old school RnB as you say, but with a fresh and modern sheen. I've got a feeling it could drag on a bit, being around 70 minutes long, but the Archandroid went on a bit too long and I liked it just fine.

But yeah, it's a nice start. Not as good as Dance or Die into Faster into Whatever The One After That Is, but very little is.

Oh but here's a slow one. She's never been so good at those. This PrimeTime one is a bit crap.

Oh and Factory Floor is wonderful.

[GoGo Yubari]

Yeah, Dance Or Die/Faster/Locked Inside is killer. There isn't a sequence of songs that works as well as that, though I really like "It's Code" into "Ghetto Woman."

"What An Experience" is a disappointment as a closing track, though. It's the one outright song that I imagine I'll be skipping on repeat listens. I think "PrimeTime" is decent but a bit below par.

[RPS]

Honestly, Janelle Monae is the type of artists I would usually love. But there is something to her I just don't like. She is in no way terrible, but I'd never go out of my way and say she is a fantastic artist. Especially with her first LP, I think it came across as too calculated and rehearsed. Which I guess is sort of what pop music is all about. But at the same time, she's operating in this high-minded concept and it rings not genuine. The best song off of her last album - Cold War - was so removed from the gimmick and that's probably why I liked it so much.

[METALMAN]

Having listened to the full album, I think it's one of the best albums I've heard this year. I really enjoyed it. I was expected the worst when I came to the closing track because of what you'd said but I actually liked it. Maybe because my expectations were lowered. >_>

Mind you, I really, really hated the closing track on the Archandroid. It just dragged on and on and on.

Oh yeah, Janelle Monae is totally calculated and rehearsed. It's soul music without soul! Good tunes though, so I like it.

[GoGo Yubari]

See, I always forget that "Say You'll Go" isn't the last track on ArchAndroid because it feels like such a clear-cut end point for an album. Instead it's a song that is nearly nine full minutes and I don't remember any of. Weird.

Yeah, there's obviously a lot of artifice and walls put up with what she does, which I guess is to be expected when all of her releases seem to be part of a fictional narrative that only half-makes sense in which she herself is presented as something alien. I don't mind it at all, though.

Also, on my "I'm just listening to songs" listen to with things out of sequence I am really gravitating to "Sally Ride."

[RPS]

AlunaGeorge's debut LP is pretty amazing.

[SRN]

Honestly, I wasn't too thrilled on first listen. Might have to give it a second go, if you like it so much.

[RPS]

I grew up listening to mid 90's r&b and girl groups like TLC and Destiny's Child, so it's right up my alley. I think some of the production on the album does a really great job of balancing retro with a modern take.

[SRN]

I really only checked her out because she was featured on "White Noise" by Disclosure.

[METALMAN]

Cause I'm just back and can't sleep, here are my favourite songs of this year. Cause why not?

1. Kurt Vile - Wakin On A Pretty Day

2. Where Are We Now? - David Bowie

3. Bob Dylan - I Threw It All Away (doesn't really count I guess because it's a bootleg, but SHUT UP)

4 Chvrches - Recover (CID RIM Remix)

5. Everything Everything - Kemosabe

6. Q.U.E.E.N. - Janelle Monae w/ Erkyah Badu

7. Edwyn Collins - Too Bad (That's Sad)

8. Rihanna - Diamonds

9. Benga - Yellow

10. Can't think of any right now

~84. Cher Lloyd - I Wish

59375689124. That Blurred Lines nonsense

And albums:

AWFULLY GOOD

Kurt Vile - Wakin On A Pretty Daze

David Bowie - The Next Day

The Strokes - Comedown Machine

Kanye West - Yeezus

Bob Dylan - Another Self Portrait

Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady

GOOD

Everything Everything - Arc

Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Fault Less Youth

Foals - Holy Fire

Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughs, Right Words, Right Action

Camera Obscura - Desire Lines

Boards Of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Matias Aguayo - The Visitor

Benga - Chapter 2

Johnny Marr - The Messenger

Edwyn Collins - Understated

Arctic Monkeys - AM

OKAY

James Blake - Overgrown

My Bloody Valentine - mbv

Caitlin Rose - The Stand In

Merchandise - Totale Nite

Pond - Hobo Rocket

The Duckworth Lewis Method - Sticky Wickets

Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse

Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse

Queens of the Stone Age - Like Clockwork

Babyshambles - Sequel To The Prequel

Biffy Clyro - Opposites

Clutch - Earth Rocker

Palma Violets - 180

Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle

Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience

BAD

None that I've heard, at least.

I dunno if I've left anything out.

[GoGo Yubari]

I can't remember if I've actually listened to all of Comedown Machine yet. I have it on my computer so I don't know why.

I do want to hear that Franz Ferdinand album though, though they're more of a singles band for me. "Evil Eye" I like a lot.

[jack95]

I really really like the new Janelle Monae, at first listen I think I prefer it to the ArchAndroid. It's got more of an instant appeal to it and I think it flows really nicely. There's lots of really really fun songs and the interludes make me chuckle. Hooray for it!

[METALMAN]

I can't remember if I've actually listened to all of Comedown Machine yet. I have it on my computer so I don't know why.I do want to hear that Franz Ferdinand album though, though they're more of a singles band for me. "Evil Eye" I like a lot.

Yeah, I really like Comedown Machine. It's nothing especially new, just the normal Strokes sound really. But the songs are really good. Although the is this ridiculous song that sounds s bit like Tom Waits.

Franz Ferdinand don't really have any bad albums, but I'd agree that their singles are generally their strongest songs by some distance. That being said, I can imagine listening to their new album quite a bit more than I would ever listen to their others.

[Jimmy]

Chvrches album's leaked and it's very, very good.

[METALMAN]

Hey, their singer was on my course at uni. I'll be telling her you're stealing her album!