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A Music Discussion Heap of The Heapers' Hangout Forum [NO EMBEDS]

Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
edited 2014-05-06 20:30:27 in General Media
I made this because I wanted a thread to post stuff about music without it being unloadable to me and the other people with computers who can't handle tons of embeds per page.

To that end, no embedding here. Links are fine, though.

Anyway, I've been listening to Freeway and GirlTalk's Broken Ankles EP a lot lately, and I'm just basically proud that there's some good hip-hop out of my home state that's not either incredibly niche (Mega Ran, The Last Emperor) or not made by a former punchline (Asher Roth). It's nice to have people from your general area (well, Freezer's from Philly, but close enough), that have "made it", so to speak.
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Comments

  • MetaFourMetaFour
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    I applaud the concept of this thread.
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    edited 2014-05-06 20:45:18
    I made this because I wanted a thread to post stuff about music without
    it being unloadable to me and the other people with computers who can't
    handle tons of embeds per page.

    To that end, no embedding here. Links are fine, though.
    THANK YOU
    I kinda hate how music threads just tend to be tons of embeds worth of people showing each other videos that no one will ever watch.

    Still not sure how much I'll participate, since I know quite little about most non-classical fields of music.

    In the meantime, I'm listening to Silver Sky, a slow, sad/contemplative song.
  • MetaFourMetaFour
    edited 2014-05-06 22:35:09
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    On topic, here's something I wrote somewhere else a few weeks ago.
    Meta Four said:

    This came in the mail today: [image of the cover art of Wovenhand's album Refractory Obdurate]

    Initial impressions are HOLY BALLS BEST WOVENHAND ALBUM EVER but that may be premature. I’ve only listened to it once so far.

    Style-wise, Refractory Obdurate is a lot like the last album, The Laughing Stalk: heavy and densely-layered. Sounds a lot like the WH live shows I’ve been to, because it was recorded live-in-the-studio. (Can WH record every album live-in-the-studio from now on?) Only there’s a bit more variety this time. A few songs, “The Refractory” and “Obdurate Obscura”, feature prominent acoustic instruments (the lack of which on The Laughing Stalk was my only quibble). And ”Good Shepherd” and “Field of Hedon” add a slight 80s gloss to WH’s sound—it sounds weird on paper, but it sounds great in practice. (And David Eugene Edwards’ interest in that scene is nothing new. Remember when he covered a New Order song? Good times, good times.)

    Great album. Money well spent.

    First of all, I misremembered. "Hiss" is the second song with the '80s guitar hook, not "Field of Hedon".

    Second, the more I listen to this album, the stranger I notice it is, and the more I like it. Because "Good Shepherd" is the only song with a distinct melody (albeit a damn catchy one—I keep getting "From the house of bread and battle / come the raising of the dead!" stuck in my head at the strangest moments). The rest just have rhythms and occasionally hooks. Sometimes the singing doesn't quite fit the backing music—not off enough to be obvious, but just enough to sound odd. And all the elements swirl together into the dark goo that's left when you melt down a bunch of musical genres, and when you smell it you can no longer tell the difference between terror and hope.

    Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys deliberately arranged air vibrations.
  • One-Winged EagleOne-Winged Eagle
    Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    Yeah I'll never watch any of those embeds.

    Even if I often just click on them and let the music accompany me as I do things.

    Nope. Never.
  • OdradekOdradek
    My dreams exceed my real life
    You know what is odd?

    Rock star swagger often annoys me, R&B swagger sometimes does, but rap and boy band swagger never seem to.
  • Obā-sanObā-san

    http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=14867

    never thought i'd see a metal album get reviewed on RA
  • MetaFourMetaFour
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    Odradek said:

    You know what is odd?


    Rock star swagger often annoys me, R&B swagger sometimes does, but rap and boy band swagger never seem to.
    Hmm. The only album I can recall whose swagger actively repelled me was Mclusky's mclusky do dallas...
  • MetaFourMetaFour
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    Listening to Rum, Sodomy, & the Lash right this second.

    Someone told me once, comparing the Pogues with Flogging Molly, that the Pogues were more of a balance of folk and punk, while FM leaned more towards folk. That was a lie. This album is definitely more folk than FM's output.
  • Sredni VashtarSredni Vashtar
    “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    Yon Assassin said:

    http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=14867

    never thought i'd see a metal album get reviewed on RA

    I need to listen to this album. I love The Body and I have heard a lot of praise for The Haxan Cloak, and to all appearances this is one evil bastard of an LP.
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    edited 2014-05-10 21:36:08
    fripSide and ALTIMA both seem to share a similar musical niche.

    Both are Japanese pop artists doing anisong (i.e. anime songs) with prominent melodies sung by female vocalists, relatively traditional (i.e. similar to western classical conventions) harmony, and high-speed techno-y/trance-y beats (or whatever is the right term for them).  The main difference seems to ALTIMA's taste for some rapped bits.

    examples:
    ALTIMA - Burst the Gravity
    ALTIMA - I'll Believe
    fripSide - fortissimo -the ultimate crisis-
    fripSide - LEVEL 5 -judgelight-
  • Manly McMachoManly McMacho
    ~*tasteless*~
    大學的年同性戀毛皮

    aaaaa
    glennmagusharvey said:

    THANK YOU
    I kinda hate how music threads just tend to be tons of embeds worth of people showing each other videos that no one will ever watch.


  • BeholderBeholder
    I've discovered that my music tastes and familiarity through all the 25 years of my life have been oddly specific, and generally speaking, I know next to nothing about music. To rectify that, I've decided to listen to what seems to be considered a classic of rock, starting with Queen.

    Been surprised by their versatility. Thought they would be a bit heavier, but instead they seem all over the place, and quite catchy/merry.
  • Obā-sanObā-san
    edited 2014-05-12 15:30:19

    https://twitter.com/GenesisBPO/status/465934968825204736
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    So I have been over the past few months, slowly uncovering a lot of the really good Lil Wayne tapes I willingly slept on when I was younger. In particular Da Drought 3, and in particular in particular, his rap over "We Takin' Over" (the original only featured him and was one of those DJ Khaled productions with like 80 people on it) is really good. It's interesting to hear what's basically hashtag rap before A) the phrase became popular and B) when it was still capable of being good.
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    I initially didn't find the first eXceed (a.k.a. eXceed - Gun Bullet Children) soundtrack that interesting, or at least as interesting as the soundtracks of its two successors, eXceed 2nd and eXceed 3rd.  eX 1's soundtrack is mostly techno, without much melodic definition, which makes it less catchy than the other two, which have much more heavy metal.  However, eX 1's soundtrack has turned out to be pretty useful for focusing while studying.
  • MorvenMorven
    @MetaFour: whoever told you that Flogging Molly was more folk than The Pogues was utterly full of shit.  But you already learned that.

    I need new music.  Of course, that's a given.

    It's kind of irony in a sense that the way the Internet & services on it let you get pretty much any music you want -- it doesn't broaden the base of what music you listen to unless you really try hard.  What it does do is get you much, much more of the same.  Which isn't bad if you're in a mood for more of what you already like.  But pretty fucking useless at getting one that out-of-left-field holy shit who knew? moment that is nice.
  • MetaFourMetaFour
    edited 2014-05-13 01:45:32
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    I think that guy's deal was that he considered The Pogues absolutely perfect, so he never gave FM enough of a listen to get an accurate impression.

    What's helped me keep finding out-of-left-field stuff is that I tend to seek out new stuff through... human networking I guess? Stuff like chatting with other music fans online, or checking out other bands on the same record labels as bands I like, or researching the guys who influenced my favorite musicians. As opposed to, say, using Pandora to find bands that sound like bands I like, or searching by genre on music databases. I've tried those a bit and the results were underwhelming.
  • MetaFourMetaFour
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    I'd generally thought of jazz fusion as the domain of bebop-ers who got bored with jazz. So this Buddy Rich track was a nice surprise. Dude was one of the great swing musicians, and here he mixes funk and big band swing with very nice results.

    (Not sure what's up with the cover art on that video. I have the song on the album The Roar of '74.)
  • TreTre
    edited 2014-05-13 22:48:34
    image
    I just saw the video for NRG by Duck Sauce and it's glorious. The song is already the best track on their album, and the video doesn't disappoint thanks to its infauxmercial farce turned tweaked-out rave feel.

    Also, after watching it if you do, call the number they show, 1-844-NRG-DUCK. And if you're wondering what the part at 2:05 says, check the comments, I wrote it out.
  • MetaFourMetaFour
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    That is nice. I'll have to give the rest of the album a listen soon.
  • MetaFourMetaFour
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    Like It Never Happened by Elizabeth & the Catapult makes the same mistake that their first album did: sticking the quietest and least interesting tracks at the end.

    Local used music shop had More News for Lulu by John Zorn, Georgia, Lewis, and Bill Frisell. Picked it up, and figured I could blame you folks if I ended up not liking it. It's very different but I'm enjoying the Zorn more than I expected.

    Glenn mentioned Jake "virt" Kaufman in another thread, which is funny because I independently stumbled onto his work just this week. The Mighty Switch Force OST is my jam right now. A lot of those rhythms remind me of Sega Genesis tunes.
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    I sometimes think I just want to apprentice myself to that guy.  He's brilliantly creative with his harmonies and rhythms and he also knows how to carry on the proud tradition of 8-bit chiptune writing.  I would love to learn composition from him.  Would also be great since I pretty much only know (the basics of) western classical composition and I know a little bit of how to supplement that with the modern pop features that I've grown familiar with, but there's a lot of things I don't know how to make by myself, even if I can recognize them in the music I listen to.  I don't know how to an unsettling videogame boss theme with mixed rhythm, or how to give something a Latin flair, or stuff like that.  Without it sounding cheesy, I mean.

    I actually don't like Mighty Switch Force's soundtrack as much as some of virt's other works, but it's still good.
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    SO I finally heard the Miku / Pharrell collab.

    It's not as weird as people were making it out to be beyond who's involved in it, it's pretty typical Miku Hatsune stuff.

    Technically I guess I should point out that the musician here is KZ (I think that's their name anyway), but the media is in the habit of treating Miku as an artist instead of an instrument, so here we are.
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    Was KZ the composer or do you mean the voice source for Miku?
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    I honestly don't know. The original tune is credited to "KZ (Livetune)".

    *shrug*
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    edited 2014-05-16 02:23:57
    I wish songs would credit composers more often, not just performers.  'Cause if I like what I hear, chances are better I'll get more of it if I listen to more stuff from the same composer, rather than more stuff from the same singer but by a different composer.

    and i don't get the miku fanning like she's some sort of pop superstar either
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    She is the most popular vocaloid, and has in fact opened for Lady Gaga.

    That said I don't listen to much Miku either. Though I do like what I've heard.
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    I like Miku more for what she can do than for what she is.  I like that vocaloid technology has enabled a degree of self-publishing by songwriters who can't hire a singer, but I'm not really enamored with Miku's voice.
  • Obā-sanObā-san

    i can't think of a single vocaloid thing that has ever held my attention at all
  • Section42LSection42L
    We can do anything if we do it together.
    I liked this Miku song when I heard it. 

    I find it to be pretty cool drone music. Unfortunately, the identity of whoever produced that song is unknown.
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    edited 2014-05-16 13:35:14
    See, Miku songs illustrate the issue I mentioned earlier.

    For example, if I enjoyed "Letter Song", I'm better off looking for more music written by doriko (the composer), rather than more music sung by Miku Hatsune (or ENE or any of the cover artists).  Because there are a ton of different songwriters who've written songs that they've set Miku to sing to and they each have their own style and tendencies.
  • MetaFourMetaFour
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    There's one track on the Shatter OST with Miku vocals. Except the way she's used, she sounds more like another instrument than like a vocalist. I quite like it.
  • BeholderBeholder
    edited 2014-05-16 22:09:18
    The song currently stuck in my head is Tarja Turunen's "I walk alone". A hauntingly beautiful piece, in my opinion, but the impression is lessened by realisation that it is essentially a Take That to her former band. Such pettiness

    And that's why I prefer not to know anything about the person of the artist.

    The same currently goes for Ritchie Blackmore. Blackmore's Night is pretty much the my favourite band that can be used to illustrate what kind of music I like the most, and I've also been curious about some of his earlier projects lately and discovered that I like Rainbow (Temple of the King being another song stuck in my head permanently). However, I've used to know absolutely nothing about him, and now I know that he has rather obnoxious personality, is a control freak and is abrasive to the other band members, and it does mar my enjoyment of music.

    Does that happen to anyone else?
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    I think there is a bit of controversy over Richard Wagner because he was anti-Semitic.
  • Obā-sanObā-san

    http://jackotheclock.bandcamp.com/album/all-my-friends

    fred frith likes these guys so you should listen to them
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    edited 2014-05-18 13:39:34
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    My much more successful/possibly just better peer Samuel Truth put out a new tape.

    I listened to the advance single and liked it, so this is probably also good.

    FYI, you can get it for free by putting 0.00 in the "pay what you want" field.
  • Obā-sanObā-san

    also my dad likes Sun Araw apparently
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    good.
  • MetaFourMetaFour
    For once, or maybe twice, I was in my prime.
    "No Te Vayas" by Calexico is beautiful. Jacob Valenzuela should sing lead more often.
  • Previous CalicaPrevious Calica
    (flower path)
    Yon Assassin said:

    also my dad likes Sun Araw apparently

    didn't he do music for hotline miami
  • Obā-sanObā-san

    at least some of it yeah
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    The particular arrangement of the Prayer of St. Francis that I like most turns out to have originally been in Spanish, so searching "Oración de San Francisco" turns out to be the right way to look for it.
  • BeholderBeholder
    Do I fail at music forever if I say that I really can't get Beatles? It's just... not my thing. Not even close
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    Contrary to popular belief, it's not uncommon to be ambivalent to or even actively dislike the Beatles.

    I like Sgt. Pepper myself but am indifferent to the rest of their work, really.
  • Obā-sanObā-san

    Beholder said:

    Do I fail at music forever if I say that I really can't get Beatles? It's just... not my thing. Not even close

    The fact that so many books still name the Beatles "the greatest or most significant or most influential" rock band ever only tells you how far rock music still is from becoming a serious art. Jazz critics have long recognized that the greatest jazz musicians of all times are Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, who were not the most famous or richest or best sellers of their times, let alone of all times. Classical critics rank the highly controversial Beethoven over classical musicians who were highly popular in courts around Europe. Rock critics are still blinded by commercial success: the Beatles sold more than anyone else (not true, by the way), therefore they must have been the greatest. Jazz critics grow up listening to a lot of jazz music of the past, classical critics grow up listening to a lot of classical music of the past. Rock critics are often totally ignorant of the rock music of the past, they barely know the best sellers. No wonder they will think that the Beatles did anything worth of being saved.
    In a sense the Beatles are emblematic of the status of rock criticism as a whole: too much attention to commercial phenomena (be it grunge or U2) and too little attention to the merits of real musicians. If somebody composes the most divine music but no major label picks him up and sells him around the world, a lot of rock critics will ignore him. If a major label picks up a musician who is as stereotyped as one can be but launches her or him worldwide, your average critic will waste rivers of ink on her or him. This is the sad status of rock criticism: rock critics are basically publicists working for free for major labels, distributors and record stores. They simply publicize what the music business wants to make money with.

    Hopefully, one not-too-distant day, there will be a clear demarcation between a great musician like Tim Buckley, who never sold much, and commercial products like the Beatles. And rock critics will study more of rock history and realize who invented what and who simply exploited it commercially.

    Beatles' "aryan" music removed any trace of black music from rock and roll: it replaced syncopated african rhythm with linear western melody, and lusty negro attitudes with cute white-kid smiles.

    Contemporary musicians never spoke highly of the Beatles, and for a good reason. They could not figure out why the Beatles' songs should be regarded more highly than their own. They knew that the Beatles were simply lucky to become a folk phenomenon (thanks to "Beatlemania", which had nothing to do with their musical merits). THat phenomenon kept alive interest in their (mediocre) musical endeavours to this day. Nothing else grants the Beatles more attention than, say, the Kinks or the Rolling Stones. There was nothing intrinsically better in the Beatles' music. Ray Davies of the Kinks was certainly a far better songwriter than Lennon & McCartney. The Stones were certainly much more skilled musicians than the 'Fab Fours'. And Pete Townshend was a far more accomplished composer, capable of "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia". Not to mention later and far greater British musicians. Not to mention the American musicians who created what the Beatles later sold to the masses.

    The Beatles sold a lot of records not because they were the greatest musicians but simply because their music was easy to sell to the masses: it had no difficult content, it had no technical innovations, it had no creative depth. They wrote a bunch of catchy 3-minute ditties and they were photogenic. If somebody had not invented "beatlemania" in 1963, you would not have wasted five minutes of your time to read a page about such a trivial band.
  • OdradekOdradek
    My dreams exceed my real life
    Burgundy Queen said:

    Contrary to popular belief, it's not uncommon to be ambivalent to or even actively dislike the Beatles.

    I like Sgt. Pepper myself but am indifferent to the rest of their work, really.

    I like most of what the Beatles did.

    Except for Ob-Lah-Di Ob-Lah-Dah which is insipid garbage that someone should be shot over.
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    Yon Assassin said:

    Beholder said:

    Do I fail at music forever if I say that I really can't get Beatles? It's just... not my thing. Not even close

    The fact that so many books still name the Beatles "the greatest or most significant or most influential" rock band ever only tells you how far rock music still is from becoming a serious art. Jazz critics have long recognized that the greatest jazz musicians of all times are Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, who were not the most famous or richest or best sellers of their times, let alone of all times. Classical critics rank the highly controversial Beethoven over classical musicians who were highly popular in courts around Europe. Rock critics are still blinded by commercial success: the Beatles sold more than anyone else (not true, by the way), therefore they must have been the greatest. Jazz critics grow up listening to a lot of jazz music of the past, classical critics grow up listening to a lot of classical music of the past. Rock critics are often totally ignorant of the rock music of the past, they barely know the best sellers. No wonder they will think that the Beatles did anything worth of being saved.
    In a sense the Beatles are emblematic of the status of rock criticism as a whole: too much attention to commercial phenomena (be it grunge or U2) and too little attention to the merits of real musicians. If somebody composes the most divine music but no major label picks him up and sells him around the world, a lot of rock critics will ignore him. If a major label picks up a musician who is as stereotyped as one can be but launches her or him worldwide, your average critic will waste rivers of ink on her or him. This is the sad status of rock criticism: rock critics are basically publicists working for free for major labels, distributors and record stores. They simply publicize what the music business wants to make money with.

    Hopefully, one not-too-distant day, there will be a clear demarcation between a great musician like Tim Buckley, who never sold much, and commercial products like the Beatles. And rock critics will study more of rock history and realize who invented what and who simply exploited it commercially.

    Beatles' "aryan" music removed any trace of black music from rock and roll: it replaced syncopated african rhythm with linear western melody, and lusty negro attitudes with cute white-kid smiles.

    Contemporary musicians never spoke highly of the Beatles, and for a good reason. They could not figure out why the Beatles' songs should be regarded more highly than their own. They knew that the Beatles were simply lucky to become a folk phenomenon (thanks to "Beatlemania", which had nothing to do with their musical merits). THat phenomenon kept alive interest in their (mediocre) musical endeavours to this day. Nothing else grants the Beatles more attention than, say, the Kinks or the Rolling Stones. There was nothing intrinsically better in the Beatles' music. Ray Davies of the Kinks was certainly a far better songwriter than Lennon & McCartney. The Stones were certainly much more skilled musicians than the 'Fab Fours'. And Pete Townshend was a far more accomplished composer, capable of "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia". Not to mention later and far greater British musicians. Not to mention the American musicians who created what the Beatles later sold to the masses.

    The Beatles sold a lot of records not because they were the greatest musicians but simply because their music was easy to sell to the masses: it had no difficult content, it had no technical innovations, it had no creative depth. They wrote a bunch of catchy 3-minute ditties and they were photogenic. If somebody had not invented "beatlemania" in 1963, you would not have wasted five minutes of your time to read a page about such a trivial band.
    please stop copypasting this one and the one about Soulja Boy
  • BeholderBeholder
    Well, thing is, I have expected them to be poppy and catchy, but they turned out just... weird
  • Section42LSection42L
    edited 2014-05-18 23:30:47
    We can do anything if we do it together.
    If poppy and catchy is what you're looking for, then you might want to try checking out some of their earlier albums.

    Out of curiosity, what albums of theirs have you listened to?
  • Imipolex GImipolex G
    Touch the cow. Do it now.
    the Beatles were poppy and catchy and weird, which is part of why they're great

    and yes, FFS, enough with that copypastttttttttt
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