We should tell each other why to listen to albums

[lunatic core]

This thread needs more cool and swagger.

[rag and bone]

Been timidly wanting to give this a go. The first album that comes to mind is a favorite of mine of the last couple years, The Hunches- Exit Dreams. It was their third and final LP and easily one of my favorites in recent memory. I guess you could call the album "garage rock" but it's so much more. The album has both visceral and vulnerable sides to it I can't really describe but are seamlessly strung together. At times, it's kicking you in the face with downright raucous, sloppy punk songs (see: "Deaf Ambitions", "Street Sweeper") that make me long to be in the middle of some wild drunken crowd in a dive bar. Then, you have songs like "Not Invented", "From This Window" and "Fall Drive" that slow things down a bit but are these awesomely dreamy, fuzzed-out emotional songs that get me teared up without having any idea what the fuck they're even singing about. The whole record has this feel of being down and out but still holding on to this intoxicating, puncher's chance optimism. Bottom line, this album makes me feel something each and above all I think that's why I continue to go back to it time after time. Anyway, I'd recommend checking it out.

[TallGuyCM]

That Seefeel record is phenomenal. There are a few moments where it tiptoes the New Agey line a bit much, but overall I was thoroughly impressed when I listened to it today.

[PotVsKtl]

Blood on the Wall - Awesomer
A 32 minute slab of male/female alternating vocal lo-fi Vasolines-y grunge pop shebang about drugs and feeling uncomfortable and the sun. Simple and sultry like a tangerine in a bowl of tacks.

[TallGuyCM]

Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash

All these years later, after listening to hundreds of albums, this still remains my very favorite. It is one of only a handful of "perfect" albums that I've ever heard. Some of it borders on that cheeky late 60s songwriting style that some might not find to their liking, but it's innocent enough and that I give them a pass for that. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" is one of the best opening tracks I've come across on an album, and "Guinnevere" is just haunting. Bands like Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear owe their entire careers to this album, and it's not hard to see why. The harmonizing is just exquisite, and is something that hasn't been replicated to quite the same extent since.

Grade: A+

[TallGuyCM]

Ofege - Try and Love



The other day I found myself falling into a musical rabbit hole of sorts, and after one thing led to another I discovered this album. Summed up as "afrobeat but with fuzzed out guitar accompanying it," I couldn't wait to put this on and see what it sounded like. The addition of a lead guitar is a novel idea, but there are more than a few moments on this record where it's so at the forefront that it takes away from what's going on behind it. Still, it's a really good album, even if at times it does lean more toward Abraxas-era Santana than it does Zombie, and if I didn't think it was I wouldn't be recommending it in this thread. I'm really interested to hear what bmack and others have to say about this one.

Grade: B+

[TallGuyCM]

The Monk - Black Monk Time (1965, Infinite Zero)



Do you remember how punk rock is full of energy and don't-give-a-fuck attitude? And how people thought that really was a product of the late 70s response to economic downturn and social upheaval? Well, turns out being stationed in Germany in the early 60s as part of the US Army disenfranchised people pretty well. Cue The Monks, five American servicemen who decamped to Hamburg, Germany, cut their hair into monk tonsures, wore the robes and played the most demented 60s scuzz garage rock you'll ever hear. Monk Time alone is worth the whole record, with a batshit insane rant from Gary, the singer, a pulsing organ riff and so much energy it jumps off the turntable. Every song is like that, and you'll be amazed to realize that, unlike almost every other band that sounded this way, they were contemporaries of the Velvet Underground and the Doors, and were not familiar whatsoever with their styles. You like good music? IT'S MONK TIME.

Grade: A

Right when you start to think that there aren't that many more great, original sounding albums out there that you haven't heard, something like this is sitting out there just waiting to be listened to. And you realize that music is practically infinite at this point, and are filled at once with a sense of both wonder and cheer.

[SoulDischarge]

(but call me)

[TallGuyCM]

wat

[SoulDischarge]

Track number five, probably in the top 10 songs of all time.

[Spooks]

You should listen to Save Yourself by the Make-Up because it's a perfect album. It was their final album, and their best. Formed after the dissolution of the great post-hardcore free jazz tongue in cheek hip prophets Nation Of Ulysses, the Make-Up became a place for members of that band to further explore the gospel and soul influences that were hidden under the surface of all the frantic punk fury of the NoU. After lots of dicking around, some of it quite inspired, they finally whittled down their core aesthetic to nine impeccably written gems for their swan song. "Save Yourself" is a love letter from the creature to Dr. Frankenstein that is simultaneously moody, funky, sexy, rocking and hilarious. Much of the rest of the rest of the album manages to pull off a similar synthesis. There are groovy rockers like "White Belts," with its white boy funk, the ambiguous gospel testimonial "The Prophet," and 60's soul/garage rock hybrid "C'mon Let's Spawn," which celebrates the joys of being a big fish in a small pond. Ian Svenonious gets to pull out his ridiculous but somehow totally convincing seductive crooner persona on the atmospheric slow jams "The Bells" and "I Am Pentagon," without a doubt the damn sexiest song ever written about math. Then there's just straight out weirdo anthems like "Call Me Mommy" and the nervous indie funk of "Feelin' Man." They end the whole thing with an extended take on the garage rock classic "Hey Joe," which devolves into a full on freak out by the song's end. If you're a fan of Beck's Midnite Vultures, but want an indie smart ass take on black music that's a little more effortless in it's emulation and more indebted to the 60s than the 80s, this is the album for you. Or if you just like great indie rock tunes with a sexy smirk, don't hesitate. Also, they just re-united, so what better time to discover this too often neglected classic?

I couldn't agree with you more. The Make-Up made ATP last weekend. Hopefully they'll play more shows again

[FEELS]

Alright. I have never wrote a "review" on an album or anything, so I hope this isn't too horrible. I feel like some of you might have not heard this album before, to the others that have and didn't like it, maybe this will inspire you to give it a re-listen. To those that love it, I love you too. Here it goes..

The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2 (K Records, 2001)

tumblr_m4i9ojtCmk1rwuj4h_1337826716_cover.jpg

The Microphones were a band formed and fronted by Phil Elverum from 1996-2003 (He has since changed the project's name to Mount Eerie.) This album, his 5th release is damn perfect. Starting with the first track "I Want Wind To Blow", pianos creak, guitars twang, floorboards crackle, and every note seems to hang on to dear life, creating an atmosphere of restlessness. Phil wants "wind to blow", he wants someone or something to sweep him off his feet, and this song represents that longing like no other. The second and title track starts off with a screeching guitar before the acoustics come in to create a suffocating feeling, this song seems to be about a failed suicide attempt. "I faced death, I went in with my arms swinging. But I heard my own breath, I had to face that I'm still living. I'm still flesh, I hold on awful feelings. I'm not dead, there's no end, my face is read. My blood flows harshly, my heart beats loudly". Lyrics that paint a powerful picture are a reoccurring component throughout this album. Phil remembers lost love ("The Moon", "Headless Horseman"), confronts and deals with heartbreak ("I'll Not Contain You"), realizes and accepts his place among the universe ("I Felt My Size"), and most of all finds a sense of redemption and comfort. The theme of man among nature is also seen in this album. All within beautifully arranged melodies. Or as theklein25 would say, this album makes me feel like I'm coming out of the womb again, to face the harsh realities and simple beauties that the world beholds.

Grade: A+++

I would post some songs from it on here, but every single one is great. So go and listen to this.