The same as 40 years ago
I love the question! I rarely listen to songs or playlists, and almost never algorithm based streams. Instead I put on albums I like. Even in my 10m-15m drive to work, and do that until I’m tired on an album. So, love the question.
Aesop Rock’s Integrated Tech Solutions. Being a long time fan I thought The Impossible Kid was fantastic. TIK was as creative and ponderous as anything he’d done, but often felt more accessible and personally inviting. While accessibility is not something you generally look for with Aesop, that feeling of being personal really made it pay off. Spirit World Field Guide was good and was interesting, but didn’t work for me as much. Maybe it was a case of enjoying TIK so much, and comparison being the thief of joy? But ITS absolutely feels top notch again. Love it.
Also worth mentioning is Powerman 5000. A year or so ago (while on a kick to my youth) I found out they were still making music and had released an album (The Noble Rot) in 2020. Shortly after I discovered that, they released one in 2024 (Abandon Ship.) They’re not great songs, but they’re all great vibes. The songs feel like they 3/4s to being great to me. Like they kept the dial at a 7 or 8 instead of turning it up to 11. And even when they did turn it up, it was only at the very end. Maybe he’s going for something different, or maybe I’ve changed, but the strength feels off. But damn the vibes are still there.
Radiohead - Kid A
“Enn” by Eivør, simply amazing! Was on a concert a few weeks back, totalt 600 people and it was a blast!
Have a listen: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mfYUyMRk-zYA1V1Z04a7GGB106N2JT5vU
My wife saw her last week with a band called Heilung. That looked pretty out the gates
What a night! How were Heilung live if I may ask? I’ve been thinking of going to their show here in February.
Dude she showed some videos and it looked unreal. Full disclosure, we are both not into this type of music. Despite that, she said it was probably one of the best concerts she’d ever seen.
We live in New Zealand, and the group had joined forces with a local group of Maori performers who blended in their own cultural practices. It seems like they went above and beyond to tailor their performance to the local setting and honouring native practices here.
I’m really sad I didn’t join, but occasionally you have to give the wife a girls night out.
What an awesome show that must have been! Maybe I have to really go then!
Sincere by Khalid
i don’t do albums. as a kid, we basically only had recorded-from-radio cassettes. when we got a CD player in like 1999, we mostly bought those “now that’s what i call music” collections. i didn’t really listen to music myself at all until like 18-19. i didn’t see the point. as a result i basically can’t sit through an entire album of the same genre.
is this weird?
If you ever get into vinyl, you will appreciate the album format a lot more.
we had a lot of vinyl when i was a child. i listened to that one ELO track a lot. i have no real nostalgia for the sound.
You will never hear a recorded song more clearly than vinyl. A good record player patched into a big 1970s cabinet console. The sound is only beat by live music.
Have you considered that maybe you don’t like music?
going from “i don’t listen to albums” to “maybe you don’t like music” is incredibly strange. i listen to tons of music which i love. i just don’t do albums. I buy loads of songs on bandcamp and have multiple constantly growing playlists hundreds of tracks long.
You will never hear a recorded song more clearly than vinyl
that’s just demonstrably not true. maybe on a perfectly calibrated player in a completely dust-free lab environment with no air movement on a never-played vinyl that was just pressed and has never been moved. as soon as one of those conditions fail to hold the sound is distorted. from an acoustic perspective, live music also tends to have really weird sound and it’s usually muddied by the environment.
You like songs. You don’t like music.
It’s what the part in that one song means when he’s singing
he’s the one who likes all our pretty songs. And he likes to sing along, and he likes to shoot his gun. But he don’t know what it means
what a weird thing to say. please explain.
You will just have to discover it yourself.
Probably not, there’s plenty of people who mostly just listen to the radio and don’t own much music. Sounds much the same. If it doesn’t work for you then it doesn’t work for you!
I’ve been playing Yeule’s softscars over and over for a few weeks now. I’ve never really been into shoegaze, but they put a really interesting twist on it that I’ve fallen in love with. The lyrics are very dark and personal, and it’s a very heavy album - both musically and emotionally. Their videos all have really beautiful aesthetics, and I really love the late 90s/early 00s feeling in the video for dazies.
Treat yourself to Fontaines DC’s new album “Romance”!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kZT0QOARqqnSdN_UcUN0qBfANvv4hvaq0
Of all time, The Cure’s Disintegration. Lately, it’s been Kangding Ray’s Zero. Exactly what you need from a great techno record
Was, is, and probably always will be…
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
I took in this concert back then. It was a really great show.
Damn, I imagine it was!
It was! The drum set was incredible. They had a 4 piece choir of really talented singers in the background. It was an incredible show. I was young but it made a real impression. They even flashed back and did the giant pigs falling from the towers. I’ll never forget that night.
Archived. If the link gives you crap, use Firefox…
I already use Firefox so I had no issue. Thanks!
Addendum: If you ever decide to burn that as a CD, you need to remove the default 2 second delay between tracks for the album to play through as intended.
Pink Floyd was always like that, even though they had multiple tracks, their albums were meant to be experienced as a single solid piece of work.
But I’m sure you already knew that. 👍🎶
Doing 3 because I’m eclectic. They are different enough that I feel justified.
Tool - Fear Inoculum
Run the Jewels 2 (3 is incredible also)
Chappell Roan - The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
I can listen (have listened recently and frequently) to all three repeatedly.
Low – Long Division (and actually any Low album at the moment)
I still remember when Double Negative was released, knocked me off my feet even as a long time fan of records like that and TWLITF. RIP Mimi 😢
