Heaper's Hangout Album Club

Salix Babylonika

I wasn't sure what category to put this in.

The idea is pretty self-explanatory really. Once a week someone picks an album, then everyone in the album club listens to it, and shares their thoughts. It can be a favorite album, something that came out recently that you like, something obscure, whatever. We'll say I'll start actually picking the albums if I get at least four people signed up. You don't have to pick your album until your number actually comes up.

I was thinking we'd assign everyone who signs up a number and then roll a virtual dice to see who gets picked, to that end, I'll be keeping a list below.

1. Planet Jane
2. Panurge
3. thenamelesssamurai
4. Section
5. Corvidium
6. MetaFour
7. SF
8. Sunn Wolf
9. Pyridrim

Odradek

I'd be up for it.

Salix Babylonika

alrighty

thenamelesssamurai

Count me in.

Also, just to throw this out there, do you want this to be something we could all do together, i.e. listening to the album at the same time on plug.dj or would you prefer not to do something like that?

Odradek

Also we should probably make it a rule that the album is easily accessible in some way or another, through some streaming service or such.

thenamelesssamurai

Panurge said:

Also we should probably make it a rule that the album is easily accessible in some way or another, through some streaming service or such.

If the album isn't availble, I don't mind getting it one way or another and uploading it to mediafire so people can listen to it, if it becomes a problem.

Salix Babylonika

Panurge said:

Also we should probably make it a rule that the album is easily accessible in some way or another, through some streaming service or such.

Most things are on Spotify nowadays.

I was assuming people here would *ahem* find their own methods.

thenamelesssamurai said:

Count me in.

Also, just to throw this out there, do you want this to be something we could all do together, i.e. listening to the album at the same time on plug.dj or would you prefer not to do something like that?

That would probably be hard to consistently schedule.

Section42L

I would go for this idea.

Salix Babylonika

alright well that is all the convincing I needed

thenamelesssamurai

Planet Jane said:

thenamelesssamurai said:

Count me in.

Also, just to throw this out there, do you want this to be something we could all do together, i.e. listening to the album at the same time on plug.dj or would you prefer not to do something like that?

That would probably be hard to consistently schedule.

Fair enough.

Corvina

Can I join?

Salix Babylonika

NO.

(yes)

MetaFour

I'm in.

SF_Sorrow

I'd like to join too

Section42L

I'm suddenly wondering if Sredni would like to participate. He obviously has other issues ATM, but there are possible ways around those for something as relatively minor as this.

I wonder if Naney could ask him.

Calica

what's wrong with sredni?

thenamelesssamurai

Calica said:

what's wrong with sredni?

Not 100% sure on the reasons but IIRC, various problems means JHM doesn't have internet at the moment.

sunn wolf

aye I'll do it

Odradek

Idea: The first time we roll virtual dice to pick the person. The next time, same deal, but we remove the person who picked the first album from the list. We keep doing this until we have a set order we can just cycle through.

If anyone new wants to join after the cycle is established, they can just go as soon as possible and get added to teh cycle.

Calica

rollermine and feepbot both have procedures that let you choose one from a list.  rollermine has a feature that lets you put a list into a random order

Salix Babylonika

I was just gonna use the D&D roller.

But I like Panurge's idea.

So Calica are you in?

Calica

nah, i'm just providing support

Salix Babylonika

alright

in that case I'm gonna make our first dice roll in a few hours. Pick your albums, people!

Odradek

Planet Jane said:

alright

in that case I'm gonna make our first dice roll in a few hours. Pick your albums, people!

You remembered to add the people who came in after Corvidium to the list, right?

Salix Babylonika

haha, of course

Corvina

Panurge said:

Idea: The first time we roll virtual dice to pick the person. The next time, same deal, but we remove the person who picked the first album from the list. We keep doing this until we have a set order we can just cycle through.

If anyone new wants to join after the cycle is established, they can just go as soon as possible and get added to teh cycle.

Good idea!

Section42L

Corvidium said:

Panurge said:

Idea: The first time we roll virtual dice to pick the person. The next time, same deal, but we remove the person who picked the first album from the list. We keep doing this until we have a set order we can just cycle through.

If anyone new wants to join after the cycle is established, they can just go as soon as possible and get added to teh cycle.

Good idea!

Seconded.

Salix Babylonika

About to roll the first dice!

Alright so SF you're up first. Please provide your album.

Planet Jane said:

I wasn't sure what category to put this in.

The idea is pretty self-explanatory really. Once a week someone picks an album, then everyone in the album club listens to it, and shares their thoughts. It can be a favorite album, something that came out recently that you like, something obscure, whatever. We'll say I'll start actually picking the albums if I get at least four people signed up. You don't have to pick your album until your number actually comes up.

I was thinking we'd assign everyone who signs up a number and then roll a virtual dice to see who gets picked, to that end, I'll be keeping a list below.

1. Planet Jane
2. Panurge
3. thenamelesssamurai
4. Section
5. Corvidium
6. MetaFour
7. SF
8. Sunn Wolf

Salix Babylonika

gaiz

SF_Sorrow

currently getting schoolwork done, I'll pick something by then

Salix Babylonika

ok

SF_Sorrow

awh, I always feel weird whenever I'm picked first for anything 'cause I get nervous about presenting myself and trying to please everyone

so I'm deciding to start all of this with a well-acclaimed album that probably half of you already listened to,

Sigur Rós - Ágætis byrjun

'cause it's one of the first albums that really struck with me when I was discovering the music that I like, and I've fell in love with it again a month or so ago

so yeah

Buttwangs

c-can I join?

Salix Babylonika

sure!

we already rolled for the first person, but I will add your name to the list.

Section42L

I had somehow never listened to SFS’s album in full before.

It’s quite good, of course. It’s actually more shoegazey than I somehow remembered it was from the bits I had heard.

I’ll definitely be keeping this album in my collection.

Odradek

I'm not sure this album is for me.

It's all really pretty and textured, but there's nothing to latch onto.It's like watching footage of beautiful helicopter shots of landscapes for hours. Maybe I just don't know enough about music to really see what's being done here, or maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind.

Salix Babylonika

I didn't quite know what to think of it.

It seemed very mindfully pretty. It didn't quite click for me but I didn't dislike it either.

Section42L

I liked the album, but I can understand those criticisms.

I honestly would’ve liked it it there were more offbeat semi-chaotic moments like “Hjartaõ Hamast”, or if the shoegaze elements I mentioned were a bit more pronounced.

MetaFour

I haven't heard this album before. Only Sigur Ros I've heard before is Takk... and whatever tracks Zudak and Saeglopur played on Mumu Player. (Ahh, good days.)

Post-rock is very hit-or-miss for me, but I'll try to give this album a fair shake. First impressions: 

"Intro": I liked that effect at the beginning. Like one of the tracks was skipping.

"Svefn-g-englar": Rather bored me. I didn't care for the guy's voice.

"Starálfur": Oh, those strings are nice. And I like this new singer. There's so much more going on in this song. I like it.

"Flugufrelsarinn": Organ and reverb-y guitar. This must be the shoegaze influence Section mentioned. Wait a second, this has verses and choruses? You're liable to get your post-rock license revoked if you keep this up, Sigur Ros. (Props for not going all crescendocore like I was expecting, though.)

"Ný batterí": Brass band, with one guy who keeps making fart sounds with his horn. Darn it singing guy, I'd much rather keep listening to the other musicians than hear your... Huh, wasn't expecting those drums. Oh, there's the crescendo. And it doesn't sound like every other post-rock crescendo in the universe, oh frabjous day!

"Hjartað hamast": Digging that funky Wurlitzer or Fender Rhodes or whatever. Not liking that they buried it and the bass under all the static and vocals. The chorus soars rather nicely, though.

"Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása": Slow piano music. Always a good sign of things to come! And just when I was about to write the song off, there's some very nice slide guitar. Or maybe it's a pedal steel. Either way, it's nice.

"Olsen Olsen": That quiet bit at the beginning sounds like vocals. Like the start of a Julianna Barwick song. I like that flute, not so much the rest of the song. Oh, and that waltz-y ending.

"Ágætis Byrjun": I can't think of anything to say.

"Avalon": Bluuuuuuuuuh.

I'll give it another listen tomorrow. Maybe my opinion will improve, or I'll have some big-picture insight.

eriophora zia

Panurge said:

I'm not sure this album is for me.

It's all really pretty and textured, but there's nothing to latch onto.It's like watching footage of beautiful helicopter shots of landscapes for hours. Maybe I just don't know enough about music to really see what's being done here, or maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind.

This is sort of why I enjoy a lot of post rock, actually. There's a meditative aspect that doesn't require you to latch onto something specifically. You appreciate the overall view. It's something that you can listen to right before you go to bed and feel a little better with a more peaceful mind.

I generally do not listen to post rock because it resonates with me, exactly, so much as because I'd like to resonate with it and get into a less turbulent mindset. 

SF_Sorrow

well, if the rest of you are going with a collective shrug, I'm okay with moving on to the next person early

I will take this as a beginner's lesson, and plus I'd like to see what albums you all have picked

sunn wolf

ii have listened to this album before, it was years ago though and i don't remember it too well. i remember finding it a good enough listen without it grabbing me particularly

this time round, i wasnt overly enamoured by the opening 2 tracks, which surprised me because they are 2 of the best known tracks from this album. for me the orchestration and self-consciously big and soaring-sounding progressions somehow managed to make the tracks sound grandiose and twee at the same time and i wasnt really feeling it tbh. probably it was quite something in 1999 but it sounds to me now like a by-numbers soundtrack to an ITV series about the coastline of cornwall or something. sorry sigur ros, i think these tracks have just dated a lil bit. there are some interesting sounds buried in there but they are buried, beneath all of the big weepy-happy chords

i was also surprised by some of the better moments later on. 'Flugufrelsarinn', even though it eventually gave way to big booming chord changes, started out sounding vaguely like a slightly less countrified Earth, which was kinda cool, but they kinda spoiled it by layering too much into the track and moving into a big melodramatic 'chorus' (?) about 4mins in which ruined the vibe i was getting off it

this was a theme, i thought. often the tracks start well but have too much thrown at them (and go on just a bit too long) and end up doing too much at once. i mean, it is beautiful, and well-crafted, but it's trying very very hard to be soaring and epic and uplifting i think. this also happened in 'Olsen Olsen,' 'Ny batteri' and also in 'Hjartad hamast' which i thought had some great godspeed-worship guitar drenched all over it at the beginning. once, the big strings and orchestra thing worked for me, which was at the end of 'Vidrar vel til loftarasa', which was a pity because i didnt care for the first part of the song at all, but i think they really nailed the big expressionist maximalist thing towards the end and i also like how it just kinda descended into chaos

i liked 'Avalon' as an ending piece. it didnt outstay its welcome or overdo the bombast

ok i think it was an okay listen and there are some really interesting sounds and ideas thrown in there but a) i think it's showing its age and b) i think as a listen i just prefer stuff that is more minimalist or melancholy so it's probably more a matter of taste than anythig else.

weird note: i thought it would be good album to do work to but it was incredibly distracting.

Odradek

SF_Sorrow said:

well, if the rest of you are going with a collective shrug, I'm okay with moving on to the next person early

I will take this as a beginner's lesson, and plus I'd like to see what albums you all have picked

I'd give it a few days to TNS and Pyridrym can respond if they want to.

Crystal

SF_Sorrow said:

well, if the rest of you are going with a collective shrug, I'm okay with moving on to the next person early

I will take this as a beginner's lesson, and plus I'd like to see what albums you all have picked

Yeah, what Panurge said. And even a collective shrug (which I don't quite agree with) is still something.

I mean I intend to listen to it this weekend, too, and have this thread bookmarked, but don't quite count myself as I'm still learning and don't always know what to say.

thenamelesssamurai

Panurge said:

SF_Sorrow said:

well, if the rest of you are going with a collective shrug, I'm okay with moving on to the next person early

I will take this as a beginner's lesson, and plus I'd like to see what albums you all have picked

I'd give it a few days to TNS and Pyridrym can respond if they want to.

I've had work 3 days in a row, so today is the first day I actually have free time. I'll listen to it by tonight.

sunn wolf

i thought about it somemore and heres a tl;dr for the ppl who didnt read the big wall of text (everyone):

well crafted, pretty, no subtlety. 5/10

Sredni Vashtar

This needed to happen and I approve heartily in absentia. When I get back I will involve myself and it will be good.

MetaFour

sunn wolf said:

well crafted, pretty, no subtlety.

Hey, I read your wall of text. But I can't disagree with the teal deer version.

I gave it another listen and my opinion didn't really change. The parts I liked ("Starálfur", just about all the parts with brass) I liked more. The parts I didn't like before, still bored me—which robbed the big, dramatic parts of a lot of their power. 

thenamelesssamurai

This is actually the first Sigor Ros album I listened to all the way through, with my only exposure being whatever Zudak and Saeg played. When this album did something I liked, I liked it a lot. "Ný batterí"and "Hjartað hamast" were my favorite tracks on the album and it was worth listening to just for those tracks. However, most of the time the album didn't grab me. There was at least one thing cool that I enjoyed on every track I listened to and the sound design, with regards to the musical texture was well done in some places, but for the most part It kind of went in one ear and out the other. I'd like to listen to it again at some point and analyze it a bit deeper, but it isn't something I'd put on for casual enjoyment.

Section42L

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who really liked "Hjartað hamast". The other track that you listed is pretty good, too. I’ll add that I actually liked the epic sweep of "Svegn-g-englar" for some reason, maybe because it being the first track on the album lent a sort of freshness to its sound. 

Upon further reflection, I am pretty conflicted about the album on the whole. It was indeed better than I was expecting, and I am pretty intrigued by their sound as a whole. On the other hand, I can’t help but think this sound is pretty limited in utility. I also can’t help but think of how well Stereolab used minimalism on Emperor Tomato Ketchup and Dots and Loops to create the sort of epic sweep that this album uses everything but the kitchen sink to try to conjure. 

I would like to listen to this album again sometime soon just to see which side of my inner debate wins out.

Salix Babylonika

I don't want to come across as though I disliked it, I didn't, and honestly think that music that goes primarily for aesthetic beauty gets a bad rap.

However, it just didn't totally fill that niche for me. I have heard other post-rock records that I liked better.