It's been a while since I've posted in here and since I know you've all missed me and are SO curious as to what I've been listening to.. I'm going to fill your happy asses in.
Dr John- Gris Gris
Two weeks ago I had no clue who Dr. John was until my man Chris Bishop made an iTunes playlist for me with him on it. It didn't take much hunting to find this freaks extensive collection of psychopath rock n' roll. It's catchy, weird and raw as fuck sounding. A few years back he teamed up with Dan from The Black Keys to do an album. Apparently there's a video of him out there playing with The Black Keys and Dr. John has this 5 foot headdress on, playing a keyboard with his eyes rolled back in his head like a serial killer.. come on! What's not to like about that? No posing involved. Get into it!
Stars of the Lid- And Their Refinement of the Decline
This is one of my favorite albums to fall asleep to while I play on Lumosity . As of late, it's been the soundtrack to my morning commute. There are no real song structures on this album. It's a collection of drones and tones swelling up and down to perfection. My only complaint is that they write soundtrack/background noise material with songs that are only a few minutes long. I don't think I've ever made it through this album all the way through without it putting me right to sleep. Definitely not an album you can put on in your car to show your friends, but only because all of my friends are retards.
This is one of my favorite albums to fall asleep to while I play on Lumosity . As of late, it's been the soundtrack to my morning commute. There are no real song structures on this album. It's a collection of drones and tones swelling up and down to perfection. My only complaint is that they write soundtrack/background noise material with songs that are only a few minutes long. I don't think I've ever made it through this album all the way through without it putting me right to sleep. Definitely not an album you can put on in your car to show your friends, but only because all of my friends are retards.
Autolux- Future Perfect
Who saw this one coming? This has made top 10 favorite albums blog posts, albums of the week, albums you should listen to,.. blah blah blah. Hands down my favorite album by my favorite band. Every time I listen to it it feels like it's my first time hearing it and I get excited all over again. So many textures and layers over catchy, well written songs. I can't get over how well this album was put together, too. With just the right amount of textures to make it thick yet not enough muddy enough to actually enjoy.
Ohgr- Undeveloped
This is another album that seems to have snuck its way into several of my recent posts. Dark synth music that has catchy enough music and beats to be played at all the "clubs" I fucking hate, but a vocalist who makes most people cringe. I've gone off on stories on how this project started so I won't repeat myself, I'll just say the music is amazing. One track has the 911 call when Michael Jackson died back in 2009 underneath several layers of noise synth parts, until it explodes into the next track.
PJ Harvey- White Chalk
This was actually one of the first albums I reviewed for this bullshit blog several years back. I always throw this album on for vocal inspiration. The idea behind this record was to write on instruments she had never played before. The album sounds extremely cold and spooky to me. Lots of subtle effects that make a huge difference in the overall sound. Lots of reverb and delay on.. well just about everything. I think this an album that everyone needs to listen to at least 10 times.
Pigface- Gub
Although this album was NOT released on Wax Trax!, I actually almost wrote an entire entry on the Wax Trax! label, but realized it would probably be too long of a rant to be considered healthy. I write these in between calls at my shitty job throughout my shift, so it would be difficult to really dive into a post that I would feel to be extremely important.. but it's coming soon. Pigface was a mad scientist collection of musicians from the industrial scene starting in the very early 90's. It originally started with the touring members of Ministry's "The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste" tour, it has members of Skinny Puppy, My Life With the Thrill Kill Cult, Pixies, Tool, Front Line Assembly, Nine Inch Nails, The Jesus Lizard, Godflesh, Swans, Lords of Acid, and so many more. This specific album does not contain all these members, but was just as eclectic and fucking LOUD as you can imagine.
Kraftwerk- Autobahn
Kraftwerk is always in some sort of rotation for me, but Autobahn has been something that continues to pop up the last few weeks. I've actually never seen the cover posted above. It looks a little too "human" to be a Kraftwerk record cover, but I'm still into it. Literally any time anyone mentions Germany's Autobahn, this album (specifically the title track) pops into my head. The title track seems to go on forever, yet it never seems to be enough. I consider this Kraftwerk album to be a little smoother sounding than some of their other work.
Silversun Pickups- Pikol
This was the beginning of the Silversun Pickups. It wasn't as clean and loud as their debut album "Carnavas" that would come out one year after this EP, but that's what I loved about it! It sounded like they played the songs live in a bedroom. The noisy parts were exceptionally noisy and didn't seem too thought out. The vocals crack in a few parts that simply don't happen on the debut album. I LOVE the sound of Carnavas, but I can relate to the sound of this album so much more. It's one of those albums that the louder it is, the more it sounds like you're in the room with them while they're recording. "Kissing Families" is one of my all time favorite songs, too.
Ok, now I'm in the mood for writing in this stupid thing again. More to come soooooooooonnn!
-Novak