2008: The Year in Music

[Ketamine Disaster 0]

Whoah, has anyone heard Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket? What...the....fuck. They ruined the only really interesting thing about themselves on that one.

 

Do elaborate.

 

 

I don't see why they felt the need to ruin his voice by overproduction and having him sing in a falsetto for some of the songs. The way he could stretch out a song and hold those notes was beautiful, and on this album it was like they decided they wanted to try something new, which ultimately failed. And Z isn't as good as It Still Moves.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Also, after hearing the new Re-Up Gang album, I'm convinced that Re-Up should stick to mixtapes.

 

Haha yeah. That shit was pretty obv. thrown together with minimal effort. I mean, half of its recycled We Got it 4 Cheap Vol 3 verses put over new, shittier beats and the other half is generic floss-rap (cf. "Fast Life," aka the worst Clipse song ever released). But then again, who expects real quality from a Koch release. The thing's pretty clearly just a stopgap until Till The Casket Drops, uhm, drops in January (or whenever the release gets inevitably pushed back to).

 

My love for all things Clipse taken into consideration, this was probably the most disappointing album of the year for me. So disappointing, in fact, it made me feel inclined to dust off my one-entry blog and write about it. Clipse has generally been great about beat selection, even when they're reusing someone else's, but they totally dropped the ball here. I don't want to ever hear another Sleepwalkers-Clipse collaboration again.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

 

I'm thinking this might be my favorite song of the year so far. It's nice to see that Mike Skinner hasn't disappeared completely up his own ass. Here's hoping the whole album is like this.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Another album I'm really liking that only I care about right now is Ad.Ver.Sary's Bone Music, which may be my fave Industrial Album of the year. It's pretty cheap too (about $5)

 

 

[The Truthiness 0]

"I'ma tell you what George Bush told me, fuck yall niggas I'm outta here"

 

Kanye West

 

 

[Mik 0]

This new Bloc Party is fantastic.

 

I love it.

[Guest WhackingCockDick]

I listened to "Mercury" and I don't think that song is very good.

[Mik 0]

It's not indicative of the album as a whole.

[snuffbox 0]

Whoah, has anyone heard Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket? What...the....fuck. They ruined the only really interesting thing about themselves on that one.

 

Do elaborate.

 

 

I don't see why they felt the need to ruin his voice by overproduction and having him sing in a falsetto for some of the songs. The way he could stretch out a song and hold those notes was beautiful, and on this album it was like they decided they wanted to try something new, which ultimately failed. And Z isn't as good as It Still Moves.

 

I'm not a huge fan of MMJ's studio stuff but they've been great every time I've seen them live.

 

[haws bah gawd 0]

I downloaded a leaked copy of Slipknot's new album yesterday. It's not any better or worse than anything they've done. Just same ol' Slipknot. I had read some magazine last week that gave the album 5 Stars and said it was going to redefine metal, be the new standard by which all metal albums are judged, blah blah. Yea.......

[The Truthiness 0]

 

Good concept, bad execution.

[Guest WhackingCockDick]

Is it just me or is there a shit-ton of Rockwell Black everywhere these days? MTV seems to be using it a lot. Trust me. Be on the lookout for Rockwell Black.

 

So I was thinking "we need a new Rachel's album because Systems/Layers was an interesting listen." Unfortunately, I don't think we've gotten that, but what we have gotten is Max Richter's 24 Postcards in Full Colour, a collection of minimalist Satie-esque furniture music complemented with sparse strings and electronics. As I understand, these are part of some sort of art gallery installation involving cell phones and postcards, and each composition is only around 90 seconds or so on average so as to be employed as ringtones, but these are interesting enough even without the phones or postcards. RIYL the aforementioned dropped names and rainy days.

An attempt an exploration of the ringtone as a vehicle for music performance , ‘24 Postcards…’ is an experimental work made up of 24 classically-composed ringtones, set to be premièred in various gallery spaces. The première is intended to be in the form of a series of installations where pre-registered audience members switch on their phones to receive SMS messages, each message alert playing back one or more of the tracks, so making up the performance. In tandem with this release, will be a micro-website hosting 24 photographic images, one accompanying each track. As Max explains: “Thinking about how we listen to music today, I wondered why it is that ringtones have so far been treated as unfit for creative music… Who says ringtones have to be bad?.. It’s like saying LPs or CDs are bad – its just a medium….”

 

“Because the piece is a collection of tones, where I have no control of the order, I made a structure that holds together by use of shared material – like a cloud of pieces, or a handful of confetti, or a constellation of fragments – to be navigated as you like…” Max views the writing process in similar terms - shuffling basic elements into new constellations. The palette Max limited himself to consists of string quintet; solo piano; 16 track 2 inch tape; transistors; found shortwave radio; vinyl clicks, dust, scratches and rumble; and acoustic guitars. The players on the album are Louisa Fuller (violin),Robert Mc Fall (violin), Natalia Bonner (violin), John Metcalfe (Viola), Ian Burdge (Cello), Chris Worsey (Cello), Sua Lee (Cello), Preston Reed (Guitar), and Richter himself on piano.

okay!

 

hxxp://rabbitshare.com/files/134309338/Max_Richter_-_24_Postcards_In_Full_Colour_-_2008.zip

[Steviekick 0]

 

Good concept, bad execution.

 

I guess they were going for this.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

My friend wouldn't pipe down the other night about how progressive The Game's new album was. I don't exactly trust his taste in music, but I downloaded the album and am in the process of listening to it. As I figured, it's a tough listen. Some decent production and it's clear Game is trying to make a deep album, but he just fucking sucks. He's a name-dropper with a choppy flow who lacks the razor-sharp wit that makes rappers like Wayne at least enjoyable at times. Almost as unforgivable as his clumsy flow is his determination to let you know on every track how gangster he is. Trying to show off your G credentials isn't a novel concept, but I can't recall a rapper of recent vintage who was so unsubtle and uncreative about trying to convince listeners of that fact.

[Guest WhackingCockDick]

Motherfuckin' BARRINGTON! Represent!

 

My grandparents lived outside of Barrington.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Is the thing on the left supposed to be a dude?

[cd213 0]

The new DragonForce is pretty good. The new Iced Earth on the other hand is awesome! Matt Barlow is back and better then ever. The new album has a great epic sound to it. Any fans of theirs should really pick this one up once it comes out.

[Gary Floyd 0]

The new Made Out Of Babies is impressive. Also, L.A.X. by The Game isn't that good.

[haws bah gawd 0]

The new DragonForce is pretty good. The new Iced Earth on the other hand is awesome! Matt Barlow is back and better then ever. The new album has a great epic sound to it. Any fans of theirs should really pick this one up once it comes out.

 

I agree the new Dragonforce was surprisingly good. My only complaint is that "This Fire Still Burns" or whatever it's called, sounds way too much like TTFAF.

[Steviekick 0]

What's TTFAF?

[haws bah gawd 0]

Through the Fire and Flames

[Gary Floyd 0]

Is Minilogue's Animals any good?

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

If you're in the mood for hour and a half long minimal/ambient techno workouts, it's pretty great.

[Gary Floyd 0]

If you're in the mood for hour and a half long minimal/ambient techno workouts, it's pretty great.

 

 

Yeah, I'm giving this a shot.

[Guest דניא&#15]

I don't think I really like M83's Saturdays = Youth all that much yet. I like Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts quite a bit, but the whole '80s pop thing on some of these songs, like "Graveyard Girl," feels more like an affectation than anything else. I mean, I should be all about this.

I really grew to love about two-thirds of this, by the by. They sort of get lost after "We Own the Sky" until the big ambient finale "Midnight Souls Still Remain." I guess I can appreciate why that terrible notebook poetry is in "Graveyard Girl," but that doesn't mean I have to like it. "Up!" and "We Own the Sky" could double-handedly put this in my top 5 if I don't start finding really good stuff before the year elapses. Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts is still much more in my wheelhouse of ambient-as-sketch-series (rather than drone like Stars of the Lid, or extended works like Jasper TX) like Another Green World.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Sovereign Nocturnal by Velinas is pretty damn stellar. I'm a bit let down by Minilogue's Animals though.

[C Dubya 04 0]

Okay, Fate by Dr. Dog has become my favorite album of the year. I'd advise though, if you don't like the Beatles, stay away.

 

Also, I'm enjoying the new Hold Steady album just fine. They're not the deepest shit ever, but they do make very listenable rock music. Something can definitely be said for that.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

I'd say my AotY thus far has been Zimmers Hole's When You Were Shouting at the Devil...We Were in League with Satan. Just balls-out old-school metal with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Caina and Cynic have new albums coming out. Judging from what I've heard, the new Caina seems like it should be great.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Los Angeles by Flying Lotus is some damn fine ambient hip-hop.