What Are you Listening to Right Now?

General music discussion.
WestwayKid
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

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matedog wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 10:54am
Kory wrote:
17 Apr 2018, 4:45pm
muppet hi fi wrote:
17 Apr 2018, 4:38pm
Kory wrote:
17 Apr 2018, 4:22pm
I never got into this band, not for any particular reason (just never got around to it). What draws IMCT'ers to them?
For me, it's tremendous songwriting - pop-tastic melodies and hooks; Westerberg, as a singer, was always reaching for notes (often out of his natural range) for the sake of melody and atmosphere, and seems to have almost no emotional filter to his writing, singing and his phrasing as well; the band were walking encyclopedias of rock n' roll, blues, country, folk and early pop, as well as being hip to various jazz traditions.

Plus they could (and the surviving members still do) play like motherfuckers.
Where would you recommend somebody with my tastes to start checking them out (if you know my tastes well enough)?
More serious Mats fans could probably elaborate better, but basically they started as a punk band and become a more traditional alt rock band as their career progressed. Their comp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Y ... k_I_Was%3F covers the bigger songs well. Personally, I think Westerberg has a great, weathered voice and a natural talent for melody. There's a great chaotic energy in their early material, the later stuff is where his voice/melodic skills really shine. The latter stuff got me into them, but eventually I got into the early stuff more.

A few personal favs,
Punk era:



Non-punk era:

(fuck all y'all, I dig the horns)
A really great band. One of my earliest faves as a snotty teenage in the early 90's. I think the above summation is pretty good. I also got hooked on their later stuff before really getting into their early stuff. Westerberg is a great songwriter and towards the end he really started to dominate the band's musical direction. "Let It Be" remains my favorite album. It has pretty much everything: obnoxious punk-pop, incredible melodies, wonderful lyrics that really dig at what it's like growing up, and even a KISS cover!

If you listen to their discography from start to finish you can hear their rapid development. "Sorry, Ma..." is pretty much pure chaotic energy...but it hints at the melody that starts to come out on "Hootenanny". "Let It Be" is a further development - chaos still abounds - but the corners are getting smoothed - bringing out the details. "Tim" is the ultimate refinement of their early material: loud guitars, great lyrics, humor, chaos, and so much more. "Pleased to Meet Me" is a transitional record - moving beyond (but not completely) their out of control "punk" years. Final two albums "Don't Tell a Soul" and "All Shook Down" are where Westerberg really moves them into a polished, singer-songwriter sound - still able to rock - still full of attitude - but definitely more pop than punk (still great records).

Westerberg's solo career has been hit and miss. I'd say he's better when he doesn't sound like he's trying to impress. I've always liked Tommy's solo work: kind of all over the place and somewhat obscure - but usually enjoyable.

I think they always carried that "shiftless" Midwestern working class drunk label - usually with pride - but in the end I also think it became a burden. The recent bio "Trouble Boys" was an incredible read. I don't know if I've ever come across a band that tried so hard NOT to be successful. Just self sabotage at every stop - but I also think a lot of that came from never being able to think of themselves as ever being better than a bunch of idiots from Minnesota.
"They don't think it be like it is, but it do." - Oscar Gamble

Dr. Medulla
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

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Image
I just learned that Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins put out an album a few years ago with a singer who isn't that far off from Liz Fraser's voice. It's a lot more sedate and conventional that Cocteau albums, but, yow, it does generate some familiarity.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Kory
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by Kory »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 1:29pm
Image
I just learned that Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins put out an album a few years ago with a singer who isn't that far off from Liz Fraser's voice. It's a lot more sedate and conventional that Cocteau albums, but, yow, it does generate some familiarity.
He also put out an album quite recently with a new group, Lost Horizons, called Ojala which I found quite disappointing.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

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Kory wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 3:17pm
He also put out an album quite recently with a new group, Lost Horizons, called Ojala which I found quite disappointing.
The only non-Cocteau thing I've heard from him was a record he put out under his own name in the late 90s. It was, charitably, thin gruel. I'll see about dialling up Lost Horizons, tho, just to see what's what.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by Kory »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 3:25pm
Kory wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 3:17pm
He also put out an album quite recently with a new group, Lost Horizons, called Ojala which I found quite disappointing.
The only non-Cocteau thing I've heard from him was a record he put out under his own name in the late 90s. It was, charitably, thin gruel. I'll see about dialling up Lost Horizons, tho, just to see what's what.
Yeah I'll be curious what you think—I found it pretty lackluster.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

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Kory wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 3:44pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 3:25pm
Kory wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 3:17pm
He also put out an album quite recently with a new group, Lost Horizons, called Ojala which I found quite disappointing.
The only non-Cocteau thing I've heard from him was a record he put out under his own name in the late 90s. It was, charitably, thin gruel. I'll see about dialling up Lost Horizons, tho, just to see what's what.
Yeah I'll be curious what you think—I found it pretty lackluster.
Very much a mixed bag. Some stuff I liked—especially the one with Karen Peris from The Innocence Mission—but a decent chunk was uninspiring.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Kory
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by Kory »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 7:51pm
Kory wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 3:44pm
Dr. Medulla wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 3:25pm
Kory wrote:
18 Apr 2018, 3:17pm
He also put out an album quite recently with a new group, Lost Horizons, called Ojala which I found quite disappointing.
The only non-Cocteau thing I've heard from him was a record he put out under his own name in the late 90s. It was, charitably, thin gruel. I'll see about dialling up Lost Horizons, tho, just to see what's what.
Yeah I'll be curious what you think—I found it pretty lackluster.
Very much a mixed bag. Some stuff I liked—especially the one with Karen Peris from The Innocence Mission—but a decent chunk was uninspiring.
Vindication!
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

Marky Dread
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by Marky Dread »

Some Dave Davies.
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Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

coffeepotman
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by coffeepotman »

Such a great album! I love Dave's songs, top quality, all Kinks fans should have this

Wolter
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by Wolter »

Image

Television, The Blow-Up. Guitars! Guitars! Guitars!
”INDER LOCK THE THE KISS THREAD IVE REALISED IM A PRZE IDOOT” - Thomas Jefferson

"But the gorilla thinks otherwise!"

Dr. Medulla
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by Dr. Medulla »

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If all they ever released were ep's, their significance would still be assured. One of those acts who just plain didn't sound like anyone else, but plenty in their wake have tried to sound like them (and largely failed at it).
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

101Walterton
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by 101Walterton »

Wolter wrote:
19 Apr 2018, 1:16pm
Image

Television, The Blow-Up. Guitars! Guitars! Guitars!
I’ve listened to more Television this year than any other year and it is thanks to Spotify keep putting Guiding Light on my playlists.
Marquee Moon on heavy rotation.

Marky Dread
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by Marky Dread »

coffeepotman wrote:
19 Apr 2018, 12:44pm
Such a great album! I love Dave's songs, top quality, all Kinks fans should have this
Agreed.
Image

Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

Marky Dread
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by Marky Dread »

I reckon this one would be right up Revbob's street.
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Forces have been looting
My humanity
Curfews have been curbing
The end of liberty


We're the flowers in the dustbin...
No fuchsias for you.

"Without the common people you're nothing"

Nos Sumus Una Familia

Kory
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Re: What Are you Listening to Right Now?

Post by Kory »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
19 Apr 2018, 1:52pm
Image
If all they ever released were ep's, their significance would still be assured. One of those acts who just plain didn't sound like anyone else, but plenty in their wake have tried to sound like them (and largely failed at it).
Pretty much the entirety of contemporary gaze is a cross between CT, JMC, and MBV. The problem with being so influential is that nobody likes to experiment with the template.
"Suck our Earth dick, Martians!" —Doc

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